Mylor Yacht Club's race final Friday evening was the last in the A series and brought several "close shaves," writes Jeff Baker. This description applied to all three classes that raced with every class needing to go to the last race of the series before a winner emerged, and even then it was by the slightest of margins.

A series is split with three races before and three after the mid summer series to enable those who go cruising to be competitive. Whether this suits the gaffer and shrimper class is harder to say, but of the eight boats contesting this series Henrietta and Grace of St Just were very close on points and whoever won the last race was going to win the series.

In the event, Grace (John Benge) was pipped at the post by Henrietta (Julian Wolfram) with Ark Royal (Chris Gill) a very creditable third.

Ten boats took part in U class, including a new entrant for the last race, Dave Sincock in Mavis Cruet, who made a promising start and could do well next year. Mary Boon, skippered by John Cruise (your usual correspondent), won the series with a lead of just 12 seconds over Freyja, with Jackie Baker at the helm.

All entrants in the last race had to deal with the delightful distraction of Frenetic Caper (Bernie Bagley) adorned with balloons and with those aboard in Morning Dress in celebration of the honeymoon crew, Laura and Scott Drysdale.

Nineteen boats entered in Q Class (PY division 2), which is not a "white sail" class although only about three choose to declare a spinnaker. This class saw a similarly close series, with Khamsin, Haven and Dhokos being in contention for prizes. Chalonnaise and Kaleno achieved good results in the stronger winds and were close behind in fourth and 5fifth.

So ended an exceptional season at Mylor, with plenty of entrants in almost all classes and some good competitive fun as well. Brilliantly organised by the sailing secretary and race officers, our safety boat crews and teams responsible for flags, timing and recording gave their consistent professional best week after week. Despite the frequently poor weather, not a single race was lost.

Having spent some race evenings on the Committee Boat, it's a joy to watch the intense concentration and sheer excitement on the faces of skipper and crew as they try to get ahead of the competition.

Be assured that, though Mylor is renowned as a friendly club, this does not detract in any way from the competitive spirit of those leading the field. Roll on next season - after the Pantomime of course!

A Series Results -U class: 1, Mary Boon (J. Cruise); 2, Freyja (J. Baker); 3, Alexis (P. Pope).

Q class: 1, Dhokos (H. Stannard); 2, Haven (S. Wilkes); 3, Khamsin (P. Williams).

Gaffers and Shrimpers: 1, Henrietta (J. Wolfram); 2, Grace of St Just (J. Benge); 3, Ark Royal (C. Gill).