One of the Royal Southampton YC's major short-handed offshore events, the Channel Triangle, started off Hill Head on Saturday 7th June.

There is a crew limit of a maximum of four people on each boat, and the fleet has seven boats sailing two-handed, six with three crew, and just two with the full complement of four.

Taking a week to complete, the sixteen boats that are entered are racing to Deauville in Normandy, then around the tricky Cherbourg peninsula to St Peter Port in Guernsey, before a final race back to Southampton at the end of the week. A 36-48 hour stopover in Deauville and Guernsey gives time for a little rest and relaxation.

Contrary to the gloomy forecast, the first race set off in light cloud and sunny intervals and a pleasant 8-10 knot breeze, with the J120 Charley J (Charles Ivill) and Dawson Penn's First 51 Paragon taking an early lead after a short windward first leg and as the boats set their spinnakers on a broad reach out through the forts.

Mid-channel the breeze died for a while, the difficulties added to by fog patches. With time ticking away, it was the lower handicapped boats that gained from this slow spell, and at the finish off Deauville the winners on corrected time were The Flying Fish (Laser 28, Kathy & Rupert Smalley), followed by Ian Ward's Moody 29 Bedouin 2nd, and Andy & Peter Pickett's quarter-tonner Moondog of Jersey 3rd.

After two hard days of socialising in Deauville and Trouville, the crews were glad to get back to sea on Tuesday afternoon for the start of the 2nd race, setting off in a 15-knot south-westerly which was again expected to slacked during the night and on Wednesday.

(Race proceeding).