Pembroke Haven Yacht Club's Tenby Passage Race has always been one of the highlights of the local yaching calendar; this year's race on June 7 surpassed expectations, with near perfect conditions and the largest number of competitors anyone in the club can remember. The record entry of 36 boats, most of which had failed to pre-register, left race officer Andrew Humble little choice but to postpone the start for half-an-hour while he got to grips with the paperwork. Luckily this turned out for the best, as what had been a disappointingly gentle breeze filled in from the north-west and provided a decent blow and a beat to windward for the start. With an ebbing tide and 36 boats jostling for position (in front of a sizeable number of spectators on Hobbs Point), it was inevitable that there would be a few premature starters. Among them were two of the favourites to win the race, Riot and Moondust. Both lost a few minutes returning and re-crossing the starting line, leaving Maelstrom ahead of the fleet in clear air. By the time the fleet had left the Haven and turned the corner towards Tenby, it was well spread out, but nevertheless an impressive sight with brightly coloured spinnakers almost the width of the horizon. The long run down to Caldey Island was punctuated for some by the tail end of a thunderstorm that was slowly moving south-east; however, there was generally more need for sunblock than foul weather gear. The last leg around Caldey and northward towards Tenby harbour has often proved challenging and this time was no exception, with a sudden drop and then a shift in the wind making conditions awkward for the front runners and allowing the rest to start catching up. In the event, the fastest boats completed the course in less than five hours and the slowest in a little over seven-and-a-half. The time lost at the start was too much for Riot and Moondust to regain and the Division One and overall winner was Maelstrom (Doug McIntosh, PHYC), a little over seven-and-a-half minutes ahead of Riot (Alan Watkins, PYC) on corrected time, with Moondust (Steve Badham, PHYC) in third place. In Division Two, the competition was closer still, won by Starlight Express (Roy Gwillam, NYC) and with only 15 seconds between Sol Quest (Chris Thomas) in second place and Artful Dodger (Dan Jackson, Tenby SC) in third. The closest racing, however, was in Division Three with a spread of just 15 seconds across the top three places. Winner was Leonore (Alan Prichard, PHYC), second Tejeda (John Griffiths, Tenby SC) and third Scarlet O'Hara (John Williams, PHYC). After the race, Tenby Sailing Club provided wonderful hospitality as they always do, and PHYC vice-commodore Dennis Mitchell thanked all concerned, especially the long suffering member who sat in the attic all afternoon recording the finishing times. The prizes were presented by David Grainger on behalf of sponsors, Grainger Tubolt Ltd., whom PHYC would also like to thank.