Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club’s Ryan Bush was the winner of the single-handed open meeting held on Cheddar Reservoir.

Sailors from as far afield as Morecombe and Salcombe battled through icy conditions and snow to Cheddar Reservoir to take part on the club’s single-handed open meeting.

A brisk northerly wind had brought winter-like conditions, but did not deter the 54 boats that arrived to take part in the three-race, one-day competition.

The racing was split into four fleets of boats – the Byte, Laser, Solo and OK. The wind funnelling down the Gorge made the conditions particularly tricky, with everything from strong gusts which caused a few boats to capsize, to near becalmed conditions.

In the Byte class, it was Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club’s 15-year old Ryan Bush who showed the fleet the way to go. Winning the first and second race, he was third in the final race, giving him overall victory ahead of the nine other boats in the class.

Another young sailor, Benjamin Flower (16), from Babbacombe, also showed the older sailors on the course the way to win by taking first place in the hotly-contested Laser class.

BCYC sailor John Lapes came fourth, having disadvantaged what could otherwise have been a winning streak with a premature start in the first race.

In the OK class, leading BCYC sailor Ian Harris fell foul to the shifty conditions and achieved fourth place overall, with the first place going to West Oxfordshire sailor Richard Burton.

The Solo class, which is one of the most popular fleets sailing at BCYC, was won by Plymouth sailor Simon Jones, with BCYC’s Mark Tinker coming third overall.

The next event at the club is the Enterprise Inland Championships May 7-8. Come and see top sailors from all over the UK competing in this event, as well as celebrating the 60th anniversary of the world-popular sailing dinghy.

Come and see if sailing is for you at Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club’s open day on Saturday May 21 (10am-4pm). Please pre-book to get out on the water by emailing communications@bcyc.org.uk