The final race of the National Squib Championships in Weymouth Bay, hosted by Weymouth Sailing Club, was to be a battle of the giants, Jono Browne and Chris Agar in 142, 'Two Counts' and six points behind, multi-championship winners Tom Jeffcoate and Mark Hogan in 136 'Ric-o-Shea'.
On the day, the wind blew at 25 knots from the west, kicking up a short steep sea, which Squibs can easily handle (although it can be somewhat wet).
Peter Aikin, the PRO, laid a 'championship' course of four laps of a windward-leeward course with a beat of 1.25 miles - making the total course ten miles as the seagull flies.
On the first beat, Jono opted to head north towards the beach, where the waves were slightly less obstructive. His Lonton & Gray sails gave him enough power to round the first windward mark in the lead, with 'Ric-o-Shea' (using Batt sails) not far behind.
Despite trying all the tricks in the book 'Ric-o-Shea', they were unable to steal the lead and finished in first and second places, respectively.
The Irish teams did not thrive in the strong conditions, with 'Outlaw' Ian Travers and Keith O'Riordan in 26th place, 'Volante' Simon Watson and Geordie Withers in 32nd., 'Femme Fatale' in 37th. 'Slipstream' in 38th and 'Incendio' in 40th.
