Despite the disappointment of parking the boat on the Bramble Bank at the start of the HWS this year, not being able to defend our Class 2 title as a result, and suffering the frustration of watching the boat sit without keel and interior with workmen crawling all over her (it will be worth it!) the Flair boys and girls have remained very busy and the Gul kit has been seen strutting it's stuff all over the South Coast.

Mark the mast man has been sailing with the newly launched First 40.7 "Love Shack" with owners Tim Spalding and Gareth Lloyd-Jones. IRC 1 has proved to be a super-competitive division but despite being new this year the boat is proving to be THE 40.7 to beat and has racked up consistent top 5 finishes and currently lies 5th overall in class behind such luminaries as Exabyte 2 and Deliverance 2. With two more reasonable results and taking discards we will be on the podium at the end of the series. Not bad for a boat that still has bar-codes and price tags on it and a somewhat flexible crew list!

Steve Davis (Flair's mainsheet man and RCC helm) and some of the Poole guys have been campaigning the Impala "Uproar" in the PYRA Winter Series. Despite only owning the boat for a couple of weeks before the first race Steve and his crew (including partner Kate and Flair bowman Ian) have put in a spectacular set of results to lead IRC 2 by 9 points after 6 races. (See results sheet attached).

As well guesting on Uproar, Ian the bowman has also been seen getting in touch with his dinghy sailing roots as crew on his girlfriend Rachel's (420 squad member and part of the Team Macgregor Match Racing Ladies National Champions crew) 420 and RS200 in various events in Poole and Chichester Harbour.

The Macgregor tribe continue to sail anything that they can get their hands on. Lucy now has her 470 and having taken the national ladies title on her first outing (inland in Oxfordshire as well!) and also sails keelboats whenever possible or there is a matchracing title up for grabs. Kate (13) has taken her first steps into the 420 fleet and shows real promise despite being the youngest helm in the fleet by a considerable margin. Jim's attention is on 2005 and the repair of Flair IV as well as a potential Flair V. A number of options are currently being discussed and there should be some very exciting news about the campaign for next year.

A huge thank you for your continued support for all members of the Flair and Macgregor teams this season and we look forward to getting back on the top of the podium next season.