The fleet of ten boats set off up-river to the Voose mark in a brisk westerly breeze gusting to 23 knots. The spinnaker run before the wind back down river to the Dennis mark saw Jacobi establish a lead, followed by Forza! and Jetta.
The fleet then headed out to the Rosemullion mark in the bay. Jetta recorded a maximum speed of 12.5 knots, and just managed to pass Forza! at the mark. Once back in the River, Jabadeo, previously so successful in lighter winds, ran into sail problems. The result was that their large red spinnaker took control of the boat, and flew dramatically above the normal position before it could be tamed. Unfortunately three yachts mistook the penultimate C mark, and headed for the Central mark, instead of the Committee mark, and so did not qualify for a place. The IRC handicaps gave a very close finish, with Jetta only five seconds ahead of Jacobi on corrected time, with Demolition finishing only 19 seconds later.