Strong performance by Oliver who goes last to first to win Cock of the Harbour race with Excitabull

Division one skipper Geoff Oliver gave a good account of himself when he went from last to first with Excitabull in the trophy for Cock of the Harbour race last Saturday.

Excitabull was the scratch boat, giving some of the early starters a lead of up to 30 minutes.

It was a frustrating start for many of the mixed fleet, with a westerly breeze puffing in around six knots when most sailing days it’s more than 15 knots.

Yachts were making numerous tacks as they tried to find some wind as they headed for the first mark, Lenita.

After an hour not one yacht had reached that mark and the start crew decided to shorten the course as it was obvious that not many would complete the harbour course in the time limit.

Excitabull had caught and passed the nine others in brilliant style and was first around Lenita when the call to shorten the course was made.

Aileen Lucas in her Flying Fifteen Crazy was second around the mark, with Stephen Lee in Flasheart just behind.

These two had a ding-dong battle all the way to the finish but were still behind Oliver, who was unstoppable.

Excitabull finished first ahead of Crazy, while Flasheart filled third.

That was the final race in the autumn series.

This Saturday will be the first of the six-heat winter series.