Low key opening at Lake

IT was a quiet start to the season of racing at Hollingworth Lake on Sunday.

There were nine boats out in the sunshine and light westerly wind.

The wind faded for the third race and most sailors decided not to compete.

There were five junior boats out but they had difficulty in racing to their handicap performance in the conditions.

So it was the established seniors who won the day.

Taking wins in the first and third races, Martin Brennan, in his Solo, proved that he had not lost the knack on winning in light and variable winds.

Richard and Heather Marsh, in their RS400, took the second race win.

As the fastest boat out with its spinnaker, it has to have a multi minute lead to win on handicap.

Nick Hornsby, in a Solo, was consistent with second places that meant third place overall.

Jessica Marsh and Annabelle Bramwell sailed their Toppers to fourth and fifth places overall.

●●EMMA Raducanu insists working on her game rather than winning matches is the priority this year.

The former US Open champion has won three of the seven matches she has played in 2024 following her return from triple surgery last spring on both wrists and one ankle.

The 21-year-old said: “I want to work on becoming a better tennis player.

“I think for me I’m not too concerned about this year’s tournaments. A lot of people out there would say that I need matches, but I think that for me I want to work on my game and development.

“Taking time to do that is very necessary and not just following the crowd, or playing a lot of matches, or dropping down

(below the WTA Tour) to do that. I want to work on developing skills.”