Beer Bay looked splendid for last Monday evening’s lugger race.

With the smooth sea and the sun shining on the brown sails of the luggers it made a magnificent sight.

There was a very light south westerly wind blowing to greet the seven luggers when they launched from the beach.

At the start of the race the majority of the boats sailed in an easterly direction towards the windward mark.

The Cuckoo and Puffin took a slight lead. The Percy Mitchell had a poor start so she decided to tack westerly which in the end paid off.

First to the mark was the Cuckoo with the Percy Mitchell some way back for second place.

Completing the first round of the race, the Cuckoo was still well ahead of the rest. Percy Mitchell was still holding second position.

At the rear of the fleet, Moondance, Twilight and Mary came around the leeward mark together but it was Moondance who took third place at the buoy.

The Cuckoo still had a commanding lead during the second round of the race.

All the time the wind was steadily decreasing.

On the windward mark during the third round Scrumpy lost two places trying to get around the buoy.

With the light wind and strong tide it made sailing very difficult for the skippers.

The race official decided to shorten the race because of the conditions.

The Cuckoo was still well in front and therefore won the race easily. Percy Mitchell came second.

These two luggers were the only ones to complete the race. The rest were out of time.

Result of the race: 1, Cuckoo (G Dart); 2. Percy Mitchell (R Westcott). Moondance, Mary, Scrumpy, Twilight and Puffin all retired.