Sunday July 4 2010 and 13 hardy souls braved the chill of a clear winter's morning to front up at Champion Lakes for the Perth Metropolitan Ranking regatta.

As is the norm in Perth during winter, if there is a large high pressure system hovering overhead, the mornings drop to almost Zero degrees, the skys are blue and clear, and the wind forgets to blow. Such was the case this morning.

PRO Rob Mews was faced with the challenging task of getting in enough races to constitute a series. We sat round till nearly midday watching a mirror lake. A couple of zephyrs teased the race committee into thinking we might get a race in.

By 12.30pm, there was just one race completed. Rob decided to call lunch, and the breeze again teased us.

Finally, as about 1.00pm, a bit of a breeze decided to wander in, and another couple of races took place. It was clear that there were a number of skippers who could challenge for the top placings. Roger Paul, Rosco Bennett, Rob Murdoch, Glenn Dawson and Graeme Howie all had good placings.

As the afternoon wore on, the patience of some was severely tested. Massive wind shifts, breeze appearing out of nowhere and disappearing just as fast took it's toll, and a couple decided it was really not sailing as we knew it.

By the end of a concentration sapping afternoon, Rosco and Roger were only seperated by a point, with Rosco taking out the Championship. Rob Murdoch completed the podium after missing out on top spot by only 3 points.

RSAWA would like to thank Rob Mews for a tough job well done. Gordon Loan again provided his expertise in scoring. Fred Webber and Rod Moss assisted on the day, with help from Moby and Alwyn. Tim Jones did a great job in the dinghy, being kept very busy chasing what little wind there was around the lake with marker buoys.

Photos of the event are in the Photo Gallery under the "Champion Lakes" gallery.

Results to follow.