CANOPUS, skippered by Andrew Slack, won its first race for the season relishing the slightly stronger breezes than those experienced in earlier races.

The start was a crowded affair at the pin end with a bingle resulting in Bandit turning back and doing a 360, resulting in the loss of a couple of minutes.

In the absence of Fresh, which was bogged in the marina, Son of a Son took the early lead, followed by Shilo, which started well again.

Towards the rear Tawhiri had a good first leg to the Submarine Buoy, leading Centaur (Craig Marshall) and Bandit (John Penny).

A run to number six Beacon and shy run to number two buoy saw Time Out (Fran Solly/Barry Hockaday) move into second place with Shilo (Wayne Smith) third and Speakeasy (Grant Eckermann) fourth.

A beat to nine buoy followed, which Son of a Son (Stuart Cox) inexplicably overlooked, leading to his disqualification, so at eight buoy (Fanny Point) Speakeasy was the leader.

From eight buoy there was a long run to three beacon with a jybe at the mark and a run down to Axels. Shilo took the course along the island while the rest of the fleet took the more direct route.

This gamble didn't pay, resulting in Smith dropping further back. Time Out passed Speakeasy, which was having kite hassles and Skye (Johnathon Newbury) had some kite/headsail problems and fell back as well.

From Axels to the yacht club finish was a reach with some navigating through centreboard fleets for added interest.

Time Out was first over the line followed by Speakeasy, Shilo and Canopus.

Rhythm II, Tallulah, Bandit and Caitlyn followed, with Skye followed by Centaur and Tawhiri.

Handicap winner was Canopus, just seconds ahead of Speakeasy and Time Out with Tawhiri fourth.

These points take Speakeasy to the lead of the harbour series ahead of Rhythm II and Bandit with two races remaining in that series and to second place, one point behind Bandit in the overall points.

Next week is a fun race before a long break because of the Lincoln Week Regatta so it is hoped that as many yachts as possible will participate.