Christie Cancer Care on top

Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series was rounded off today

After more than 20 years competing on Loch Fyne, Nigel Biggs and the Checkmate Sailing Team from the northwest of England won the overall Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series Trophy, the top award for the annual regatta which finished yesterday off Tarbert and attracted 160 boats racing in 14 different classes.

Sailing a 35ft J/109 in the highly competitive IRC Class 3, Biggs and crew won by a single from two past winners of the overall trophy. Winning with a stock production boat named Christie Cancer Care to publicise the Manchester centre of excellence which cared for Biggs' late father, it was a poignant and appropriate year for the crew to get their hands on the top award. The nine strong team endured a tough final pair of races today when they started prematurely in the final race of the series and were hampered by slower boats in the first race to post a second and third, their weakest scores of the regatta.

While Cheshire-based Biggs cut his teeth as a racing helmsman as a member of the Scottish 470 Olympic class squad in the mid 1990s, the crew came together originally at Scottish Series as the core team on Welsh-based 38 and 40 footers before racing a 25ft Beneteau Sportsboat when the Checkmate Sailing Team won their class for the first time.

"I've been to the prize giving so many times and been disappointed and so Ireally was not expecting to win, so I am pretty much lost for words. It is fantastic to win at last," said Biggs. "Our philosophy has always been to sail hard, to try and win but with friends and to have a good time doing so."

Conditions for the final day were typical of one of less pleasing faces of Loch Fyne: wet, grey and a mix of light winds peppered with periods ofdifficult gusty breezes.

Other contenders for the top award, which is appointed by an executive representing sponsors and the organising club, the Clyde Cruising Club, included the IRC Class 1 winning King 40 Argie Bargie, a Mark Mills-designed King 40 owned and skippered by Allan Hogg and the IRC Class 2 victor Impetuous, a Corby 37 from Wales which scored six individual race wins with South Queensferry's Hamish Mackay serving as tactician.

"This has been another excellent regatta which I really feel brought the event back to the heart of the village of Tarbert," commented Jamie Matheson of Brewin Dolphin.

Results:

IRC Class 1:
1 Argie Bargie (A Hogg) 12pts, 2 Playing FTSE (J Anderson)14pts, 3 Local Hero (G Howison) 16pts

IRC Class 2: 1 Impetuous (R Fildes)10pts, 2 Bateleur 97 (C Bonar) 16pts, 3 Tan It (P & R Harris) 23pts

IRC Class 3: 1 Christie Cancer Care (Hyland/Biggs) 10pts, 2 Salamander XX (JCorson) 11pts, 3 A-Crewed Interest (K Lord) 25pts

IRC Class 4: 1 niJinsky(R Yates) 12pts, 2 Movistar-Bleu (R Killops) 15pts, 3 Hops (Bolton/Robertson) 18pts

IRC Class 5: 1 Shadowfax (B & S Fortieth) 14pts,2 Antix (J Allen) 14pts, 3 Chia Chia (P & Eagleston) 22pts

CYCA Class 6: 1 Aquasmart (C Davis) 6pts, 2 Skywalker (I Laidlaw) 12pts, 3 Celtic Spirit (BRobertson) 16pts

CYCA Class 7: 1 Bambi (P Doig) 6pts, 2 Tangle O'The Isles (J & V Gough) 8pts, 3 Piecemaker (S Hamilton) 10pts

CYCA Class 8: 1 Hesperus (A McVey) 5pts, 2 What's New Pussykate (S Scott) 6pts, 3 Déjà Vu(A O'Donovan) 14pts

CYCA Class 9: 1 Xanadu (A Knowles) 5pts, 2 Lady Rhona(I Cameron) 7pts, 3 Scary…the Boat (S Andrews) 10pts

CYCA Class 10: 1Finesse (D Walter) 4pts, 2 Poppy (J Roberts) 7pts

RS Elite: 1 Elite (DMacLean) 19pts, 2 Fullmarks (M Brien) 22pts, 3 E'Tu (S Powell) 26pts

Sportsboat Class 1: 1 Tabula Rasa (C Frize) 11pts 2 Water Tiger (CMacDonald) 22pts, 3 Filska (M Smith) 33pts

Sportsboat Class 2: 1 Prelude(Manuel/Bourke) 16pts, 2 Haggis (E Mackay) 23pts.

More photos on the following pages...