Brewin Dolphin RS Elite National Championships and International Grand Prix at Cowes - Day 1

'Shaken Not Stirred' sailied by Colin Smith, Tom Hewitson and Jo Hewitson in the Brewin Dolphin RS Elite National Championships (day 1) © Paul Wyeth / www.pwpictures.com

Tom Hewitson, the defending champion, leads the Brewin Dolphin RS Elite National Championships and International Grand Prix at the end of the first day of racing. Hewitson and his crew scored two wins, in the first and last races of the day - with a fifth place in the other race - to lead by two points from Ossie Stewart.

Describing the day Hewitson said it was, "quite tough, quite difficult", but adding that he is pleased with the day's results, despite a mistake in the second race that cost him a few places. He is being crewed by his wife Jo, and Colin Smith.

Olympic medallist Ossie Stewart, with Geoff Carveth and his son Tom crewing, put in a consistent set of results, with fourth, second and third places to be in a position to challenge for the lead on Friday. This follows a very tight battle for the Southern Area Championships last weekend at Hayling Island Sailing Club, in which these two teams could only be separated on a countback, which went in Hewitson's favour.

In third place, some ten points further back is Toby Strauss, making up a trio of Hayling Island Sailing Club boats. The other race winner on the first day was Russell Peters, who finished third in the open race of the event, then won the second race, but was a victim of his own enthusiasm being "black flagged" in the third race. He is down in eleventh place on the leaderboard, but shouldn't be written off at this early stage of the event.

Conditions for the day were "fair", with the breeze averaging about 15 knots, starting in the west and swinging gradually towards the south west. The event is being run by the Royal Yacht Squadron and finishes on Sunday.

Event website: www.rys.org.uk/events/regattas/rs-elite-international-grand-prix/rs-elite-international-grand-prix-2020

Results after day 1: