PARKSTONE Yacht Club's pursuit race for the Arripay Trophy took place on Bank Holiday Monday, and, in dull weather and a north-easterly force three to four wind, 27 boats came to the line.

These craft of all shapes and sizes were set off at various times according to their handicap with the Cadets going off first and the F18 cats last, an hour and 10 minutes later.

The hope of any pursuit race is that they will finish together after a race of two hours and 15 minutes duration.

They do not of course which is fortunate for race officers Andy and Carol McEwen, who would have had an impossible task if they had.

The first boats to cross the line were a mixed bunch though, with five different classes in the first eight to finish.

First over was the B14, basically a two-man scaled down version of the well-known 18ft skiff, expertly sailed by Richard Edwards and James Coupe.

They started 50 minutes after the Cadets but pulled it back on the long beat.

These two local dentists then extracted the Micheal when they put up their spinnaker and pulled away, leaving the other race competitors numb.

All proceeds from the event go to the local branch of Macmillan Cancer Relief and PYC's grand total for the charity stands at more than £24,000.

The competitors' entry fee, donations from local companies and individuals raise funds for this worthy cause.

B14 results: 1 Edwards and Coupell. XOD: Willie McNiel and Mark Flanders (second Monohull). Dolphin: Barry Harris and Derik Harris (thirrd Monohull). Dart: Geoff Sherwood and William Sherwood (first Multihull). Merlin Rkt: Christopher Bailey and William Hearn (first junior under-18).

Parkstone Yacht Club hosted the second of three Indicator events at the weekend to select the team to represent the UK at the Cadet World Championship in Germany.

The exciting event attracted an impressive entry of 96 boats and the race course was set up in the area between Poole Yacht Club and Brownsea Island.

The light north-easterly wind, with 60-degree wind shifts, caused some problems for the race officer and the race was restarted after two general recalls, the last on a black flag, this was won by Andrew Mackay and Jonathan Kimber.

As hopes for further racing that day faded, a few knots of breeze appeared steadily from the south, the race team moved quickly to lay the marks and into starting sequence and two-thirds of the fleet managed the initial triangle to the shortened course finish.

While some clearly felt the conditions were not suitable for racing, it was surely no coincidence that the race was once again won by Mackay and Kimber.

Sunday was a much better day, with a stronger breeze.

The fleet got away after a short delay and fitted in three closely fought races, during which the wind steadily tracked to the north.

By relaying the course and shortening the legs, the race officer was able to offer the full course of a triangle, two sausages and a finish leg in all but the first race of the day.

The mid-fleet finish of the final race was so close that those writing the numbers could not keep up and the results were recorded only after careful replaying of the race officer's tape recording.

Sunday race one winners: Thomas Makey and James Harley (Otters). Race two: David Ellis and James Ward (Torbay). Race three: James Wade and Anna Graves (Otters).

The event was won overall by Thomas Makey and James Harley and the silver fleet winners were Alistair Holliman and Sara Underwoood (Frensham Pond).

Parkstone acquitted themselves well with a fifth overall from Robbie Allam and Katrina Brewer, 12th from Sam and Sophie Pearson and third in the Silver fleet from Will Hearn and David Cumming.

Result: 1 Joint Venture (P Harlow and S Cutler), 2 Chanterelle (G Wallen and A Renton), 3 Chavirez (S Brown and S Southam).

In the GP14s Monday series, 18 GPs set off in an easterly breeze.

Calypso led at the windward mark, lost it to Gateaux Passion for a while, but regained it to win.

Moby workered her way up to third.

Result: 1 Calypso (T Moore and R Lane), 2 Gateaux Passion (M and M Williams), 3 Moby (A Welch and T Palamarcuk).