Eleven yachts turned out for the ladies’ race at Mylor Yacht Club on Saturday, writes Chris Davis.

This event is a long-standing tradition at Mylor YC, but such numbers have not been seen in this race for some years and a needle match resulted.
The only additional rule for this race is that the person in charge and steering the yacht must be female.   The men in the crew might offer some guidance, when requested to do so, but basically they do as they’re told for once.   

For once this summer competitors had good weather and a decent breeze, 15 knots from the north-west, and Sue McGrath took an early lead in her Dufour 32 Stargazer, taking pole position near the committee boat at the start.

She extended it throughout the race, but she was chased hard by the Contessa 26 Mary Boon, being steered this time by Jeanette Ruberry, and Trish Adams in her Ruster 31, both of whom had started nearer the pin end in clear air on the square start line: this proved to be the favoured end for the beat to Carrick buoy.   

Also chasing hard was the Hawk 20 Khamsin helmed by the owner’s 13-year-old daughter, Maria Chart.   

Jeanette Ruberry’s insightful tactics on Mary Boon at North Bank buoy brought her a successful overlap inside Chardonnay Girl, which meant that Chardonnay Girl was in dirty air for the rest of the race, with the inevitable result: she came sixth.

In the event, Sue McGrath's two minute lead on the water was insufficient to cement her lead once the handicappers had done their work and Jeanette Ruberry managed to sew the race up with a convincing 200 second lead over Trish Adams in Alias, on handicap, with Khamsin (Maria Chart) coming third and Stargazer fourth a few seconds later on corrected time.  


Results - 1st: Mary Boon (Jeanette Ruberry); 2nd: Alias (Trish Adams); 3rd: Khamsin (Maria Chart).