As the commodore Keith Brodie promised, Saturday at Sidmouth Sailing club was again warm and sunny with a northerly wind.

As the commodore Keith Brodie promised, Saturday was again warm and sunny with a northerly wind. What he didn't manage to achieve was a constant direction though as the wind swung anywhere between north and south east making the sailing tricky. Five Scorpions, five Lasers and three Toppers took to the water with the likes of Kevin and Sam Gosling and Hope Brodie getting their feet wet for the first time this season. The first race, with a congested mass sea start, soon saw the youngsters taking control with Alex Hayman with crew Hope Brodie leading from start to finish in the Scorpion and Tom Francis doing the same in the Laser. Paul Kennedy managed to buck the trend in the Toppers and finished ahead of Sam Gosling and his son Rory. Following some close racing and several changes in the minor positions of both the Scorpions and Lasers, due to the shifting wind direction and strength, the finishing places were Scorpions, second Kevin Gosling and new member, third Oliver Salter and Heather Martin, fourth Simon Price and Imogen Dinham-Price and fifth Nick Jennings and Scott Tobin. Lasers: second Ed Rhodes, third Bob Vine, fourth H Thompson and fifth Paul Wilson. Race two saw the safety boat crew of James Francis and Commodore Brodie change the course with the wind appearing to drop, and a prompt start by race officer Alex Pyle. The start was again a lively affair with several differences of opinion as to who had right of way and Alex and Hope coming out with a poor start, Obviously, the conditions were better suited to some sailors than others and the Topper race results were the same as race one as were the Lasers with the exception of Bob Vine getting ahead of Ed Rhodes to take second. The Scorpions saw Oliver and Heather benefiting from an early course error by Kevin Gosling win, followed by Alex and Hope recovering to second and, unusually, a dead heat between Gosling and Simon and Imogen.With the evenings now lighter, Wednesday racing starts again this week and a good turn out is expected.Thanks, as always, to the race officer, safety boat crews and tea boy John Keast.