After the Easter break, the closing races in the Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship took place over April 26-27. Having had no problems with gales or flat calms, the event has been a great success all round, with new entries joining week by week as the weather became warmer. Over the eight race days, the 100 plus team from Warsash Sailing Club has run over 170 separate races and each week title sponsors Brooks Macdonald have welcomed competitors back to the Club with champagne prizes for the lucky winners. Saturday was an exhausting but exhilarating day, especially for the sportsboats in White Group which experienced gusts to 33 knots and lulls at 18 knots. Understandably, there were a number of broaches. Boats.com (Ian Atkins’ J/70) shredded her spinnaker during Race 2 but fortunately had a spare and still managed to win their race. The RAF-crewed J/70 Team Spitfire RAFBF clinched a win by just one second from Django (Malcolm and Tristan Jaques) in the first race, the remaining contests going to Ian Atkins’ Boats.com. Sunday morning found the breeze had dropped to 16-20 knots. By the end of the morning the rain cleared and crews finished the day wearing sunglasses. The White Group committee boat had a busy time when one boat picked up a laid mark and started dragging it along. A replacement mark was deployed but that too was caught and removed by another boat; the two giving the impression of an unexpected “gate” on the course! In the confusion, the race was abandoned and restarted. Boats.com took the first race in the J/70s by 24 seconds from Team Spitfire but dropped to sixth place in the second race when Django was the winner. JOYRIDE skippered by Ian Wilson took the J/70 spring series with a total of 65 points. Taking second in the series was Malcolm & Tristan Jacques on DJANGO with 78 points, and third was Simon Cavey’s JUST4PLAY with 85 points. In the J/70 Championship series, it was clear that Ian Atkins’ team on BOATS.COM had benefitted from their experiences sailing in Key West Race Week, taking ten firsts in 14 races to win overall. Second was Simon Ling’s RAF SPITFIRE crew with 34 points, just one point ahead of Malcolm & Tristan Jacques DJANGO in third. The final weekly champagne prizes were presented by Brooks Macdonald Director John Wallace, accompanied by his daughter Eleanor. The SLAM jacket went to Brian Moreton of the J/70 Jukebox. For more Warsash Spring Series sailing information, visithttp://www.warsashspringseries.org.uk/.