IDEAL sailing conditions greeted sailors as they prepared for another weekend of Illusion team racing at Bembridge.

The challenge for the weekend was eight two-man teams racing against each other in twin matches, concluding with the finals on Sunday.

Throughout the first series of four, ten-minute matches, the strongest teams emerged with few surprises.

The team BSC1, which comprised Mark Downer and Monty Irwin, emerged victorious with seven match wins.

Sailing for the Army Sailing Association (ASA), David Peerless and Andy Snell yielded six victories.

The St Thomas Hospital Sailing Club team (STHSC), manned by David Russell-Jones and Matt Solan, followed with five wins.

Sid Wareham, contemplating his first Illusion race for the Royal Naval Sailing Association (RNSA), impressively notched up three first places.

Expecting more racing action on Sunday, the officials decided to push ahead into a further two flights.

However, Sunday’s forecast promising southerly winds didn’t materialise.

The air circulated unevenly in the harbour for the first 45 minutes, before a steady wind allowed a course to be set outside, just north of the breakwater.

In the first match, the RORC team made BSC1 earn their win.

BSC3, the team of Tim Lyle and Will Lowe, however, stole a surprising win against the RYS team of Alastair Speare-Cole and Charlie Egerton-Warburton.

The increasingly tricky conditions made for some interesting matches, including a surprise victory by the Royal Naval Sailing Association over ASA.

After a day of challenging sea conditions, the second round-robin concluded, with the clear winners being BSC1, closely followed by ASA.

STHSC ended in third place and RNSA concluded the weekend in fourth.