It was great to see so many cherubs make the detour to Largs on the way to the nationals for what proved to be a challenging weekend sailing. On Saturday there were three races round the cans in Largs channel in some very shifty and varying breeze which probably went from about 5-20knots throughout the afternoon. Primal sailed all three races and was joined by a different cherub in each of the races. Cheese started the first race before realising there main was slowly making its way back down the mast Strawberry raced the second race and Aqua the third.

Sunday was the distance race round the island eight cherubs started the race with Dave and Lara probably making the wise decision to stay on the shore. Before the start Stu Hopson and Tim Noyce on Sweet dreams managed to make their mark on the million pound super motor yacht, rumoured to belong to a Russian Billionaire football chairman, anchored near the start line. Initially the breeze failed to settle and was up and down but once we turned the corner the wind got up and the waves appeared which made heading to windward hard work. The first casualty in the fleet was Sweet dreams who were forced to retire when there forestay failed and there rig fell down. The next boat to retire was Cheese before bed time due to the lack of jib cleats on the boat the crews arms were starting to tire and would potentially not have survived the race they therefore made the wise decision to head for home. Finally Aqua was forced to retire and now has a nice Tom shaped hole in the jib.

The remaining five cherubs battled on and thought it might get easier when they rounded the first mark, after a few capsizes from all the boats Atum bom were first round followed by Primal scream, Squid pro quo, Lost in space and Dangerous strawberry. At the mark both Atum and Primal found it impossible to bear away when Atum tried their rudder broke but they managed to fix this quickly and get back sailing and when primal tried they got blown over by the wind therefore both boats were forced to go the long way round further out into the channel for an interesting and tough sail through the waves before it was safe to bear away and head down wind and eventually get there kites up. The other boats with the 97 rules sails managed the bear away and gained the advantage by being able to hug the shore By the time everyone reached the bottom mark the squid had done incredibly well and caught up with Atum while Primal had lost a lot after a couple of capsizes on the last leg.

It was soon time for the gybe at the bottom of the island Atum turned first and hit the water a move which was mirrored by the squid. Everyone was now on the way to the finish line and the wind had dropped considerably in the Largs channel Atum took off to the finish and first place, Primal was closing in on the squid until they got into the lee of a large yacht and went for a quick swim and the squid got a well deserved second place followed by Primal in third. A short while after Lost in space completed there epic journey, congratulations to Tim and his crew who has never crewed a cherub before for completing such a gruelling race. The final boat to make it round the island after a gallant effort was Strawberry who had had a tough time round the back of the island, with many capsizes and a large part of the Clyde in their boat, so well done Stu and Oliver and everyone else who completed the course.

• Results:

1. Atum Bom; Will and Lucy lee
2. Squid Pro Quo; John Hacket and Robert Kennaugh
3. Primal Scream; Phil Alderson and Carol Low
4. Lost in Space; Tim Unerman and Joe Siman
5. Dangerous Strawberry; Stu Tinner and Oliver Hobson

• Aquamarina; Andy Lang and Tom Gruitt Rtd
• Sweet Dreams; Stu Hopson and Tim Noyce Rtd
• Cheese Before Bed Time; Ben Howett and Calum Reid Rtd

For photos see http://www.pfmpictures.co.uk/ for contact details and email Marc Turner for availibility