The rains of the previous days had cleared and a race fleet of 13 yachts [seven in Division One and six smaller boats in Division Two] took to Jervis Bay on a warm sunny day with 15 to 20 knot NE winds forecast.

The first Summer Series race scheduled for late November was postponed due to severe weather.

With the club's race schedule adjusted two races were run last Sunday.

The first race was a short sprint race at the northern end of the bay.

The starts of the two divisions were staggered with Division Two getting away first, taking on a four nautical mile course.

Starting into the wind, that was building but still under 10 knots, Steve Lee in Y-Knot began pulling away from the rest of the boats in the division.

Y-Knot led at the first race mark and was never seriously challenged for the rest of the race.

Y-Knot was, however, carrying a significant handicap and would need to build a substantial buffer to win the race.

Y-Knott crossed the finish line first in a time just shy of 57 minutes, four minutes ahead of Summer of 69, helmed by Kevin Lord.

Brian Horley skippering Reflections crossed the line three minutes behind Summer of 69.

Once handicaps were applied to the results Y-Knot was pushed back to last place with Brian Horley (Reflections) first, Kevin Lord (Summer of 69) second and Denis Meredith (Wotalife) third.

The Division One fleet took on a slightly longer, 5.8 nautical mile course, with Steve Simpson helming Bodacious getting a good start and beating the other yachts to the first mark.

A navigation error saw Bodacious passed by most of the fleet with Rick Early helming Sojourn 3 taking the lead.

In a close race Sojourn 3 was chased by Invincible, skippered by Trevor Kanaar, and Paul Gooey in Out of the Blue.

Out of the Blue flew their spinnaker in the downwind leg towards Callala Point and took the lead.

Then when they had trouble dropping their spinnaker Sojourn 3 and Invincible got passed.

The three leading yachts then raced closely with Out of the Blue passing Invincible again.

In a tight finish Sojourn 3 crossed the finish line first in a time of 1.10 hours, just 30 seconds ahead of Out of the Blue.

Invincible crossed just 40 seconds behind Out of the Blue.

Once handicaps were factored in Trevor Kanaar (Invincible) was awarded first place with Paul Gooey (Out of the Blue) second and Steve Simpson (Bodacious) third.

After a brief break the fleet started the second longer race with Division 2 starting first again tackling an 8.3 nautical mile circuit. Y-Knot beat the rest of the division to the 1st mark again.

Relentless, skippered by Trevor Smith, had a great race revelling in the conditions as the winds built to over 15 knots.

Relentless crossed the finish line first in 1.51 hours, one minute ahead of Y-Knot.

When handicaps were applied to the yachts race times Denis Meredith (Wotalife) took first place with Trevor Smith (Relentless) second and Pru Harper (Sirocco) third.

The Division one yachts took on a longer 10.3 nautical mile course.

Out of the Blue and Sojourn 3 had a close race to the first mark, with Out of the Blue just crossing ahead.

Sojourn 3 then passed Out of the Blue and led for the rest of the race with Out of the Blue and Invincible chasing close behind.

Sojourn 3 crossed the line first in 1.53 hours, less than two minutes ahead of Out of the Blue.

Invincible was another five minutes further back and Bodacious kept in touch with the leaders crossing fourth with a time of 2. 2 hours.

Once handicaps were put in place, Steve Simpson (Bodacious) was awarded first place with Steve Sargent (Shambala) second and Paul Gooey (Out of the Blue) third.

Following the race, the winners were presented with bottles of Mountain Ridge Wine.

With two races of the Summer series run Division One has Bodacious and Invincible tied for the lead with one point each.

In Division Two Wotalife and Reflections are also tied in first place on one point.

The club's next event is the annual Cat Classic, round 3 of the Round the Bay Series on Sunday January 24.

Catamarans from visiting clubs are expected to attend, with a special trophy awarded to the winning catamaran.

The race is open to mono hull yachts as well, if you would like to enter your yacht or be part of a crew go to the club website www.jbcyc.com.au