POOLE Yacht Club’s Bob and Margaret Clewer used boat speed and local knowledge to win all three races at the annual Yachting World Dayboat Open meeting.

Hosted by their home club last weekend, a somewhat depleted fleet took to the waters as the weather did its best to put off crews.

Several Dayboat regulars were not in attendance but 12 Poole boats and three visiting crews enjoyed three competitive races.

The Round the Harbour Islands action for the Tanglefoot Trophy, a traditional and popular feature of the event on the Saturday, had to be abandoned because of strong, gusty winds and heavy rain.

This seemed to be a relief to the Dayboat crews who had rigged their boats in preparation and had got very wet before even leaving the pontoon. All returned to the clubhouse and enjoyed the hospitality in the afternoon before returning for an excellent carvery supper in the evening.

The weather on Sunday looked much more promising, with a forecast for sunshine and moderate wind. There were frequent wind shifts which led to many changes in position but the Clewers went on to win all three races. The other places were hard fought, with visitor Michael Hew-itt gaining second and Poole’s Sue Clayton finishing third.

Event organiser Phil Lokier presented the Newton Trophy to the winners and bottles of wine were distributed to the first three crews.

• Lilliput Sailing Club member Martin Barker completed the Three Peaks Challenge in 27 hours, raising money for Sailability.

Barker said: “Ben Nevis was torrential rain and 50mph winds all the way, with sub-zero temperatures at the top.

“Scafell Pyke was much better weather but a very hard climb, especially starting at 5am after driving through the night.

“It rained from start to finish on Snowdon and the cloud base was so low we couldn’t see further than 50m in front of us.

“I didn’t quite reach my donations target but, hopefully, will get a bit more now it is done.”

To donate, visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/martinbarker2