MEMBERS of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club sailed to a convincing victory over the Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal St George Yacht Club in a three-boat team racing challenge in the waters off Helensburgh.

The Millennium Bowl event was hosted by RNCYC and saw the members of the English and Irish teams travelling to the Clyde to sail in the club’s fleet of one design Sonar keelboats on the East Patch, off Helensburgh Pier.

The Millennium Bowl is a biennial three-boat team-racing competition contested between the Royal Thames Yacht Club, located in London and Cowes, the Royal St George Yacht Club of Dún Laoghaire, and the RNCYC from the Clyde.

The cumulative age of the team boat crew of four must be 160 years with an opposite gender requirement also providing for a senior more social event.

The event had been due to take place last October, but the teams from the Thames and St George’s were unable to travel to the Clyde – though the long wait was more than compensated for by some exciting action over the two days of the event.

Conditions proved light for the first day of racing, and a challenge for the race committee, headed up by Johnnie Readman.

At the close of racing on Saturday, the RNCYC home team had three wins and one loss after one round robin, tied with the Royal St George and all to play for on the Sunday.

The second day of the competition provided even lighter wind conditions, to the frustration of sailors and the race committee alike.

The first race was abandoned, due to being out of time, and the subsequent racing was conducted in Zephyrs, taxing the concentration of the crews from all three clubs.

The draw between RNCYC and Royal St George continued in the teams’ face-off of the second round robin, but the RNCYC team was able to make the best use of their light weather skills, and a final race win against the Thames team gave the ‘home’ crews a tally of six wins from the series.

Rear Commodore (Sailing) Nicole McPherson captained RNCYC to victory over the course of the two days, giving the RNCYC the individual trophy triumphs against both visiting clubs, as well as bringing the Millennium Bowl back to Rhu.

And though St George’s missed out on the prize, a race report on the RSGYC website called the weekend “a great event in the stunning surroundings”.

The next event will be hosted by the RTYC at the Queen Mary reservoir in London.