Class made to count by Robinson

Sailing

It was a hard-fought five-day battle at the Swan European Regatta with the top prize going to Terry Robinson, Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, in his 48-footer Assuage.

Yesterday's final race for the 51-boat Cowes fleet was staged in brilliant sunshine, a gentle easterly breeze, and all the vagaries which strong Solent tides can offer.

Robinson, who in three weeks' time hosts the unremittingly professional Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup, sees the Swan Regatta, exclusively for that manufacturer's product, as closer to the second-tier Commodores' Cup in standard.

It attracts a wide range of size, age and competence, but at the top end it is the boats that are raced regularly that have won through, despite the difficulties of producing an accurate handicapping system.

Second overall was Chris Jago's 44-foot Flamboyant, with Stephen James' 40-foot Jacobite third.