It has been an encouraging good start to the sailing season for Ely’s Nick Copsey.

In mid-March he won the first open meeting of the new season at Hamble, taking home the famous Hamble Warming Pan.

And, last weekend, he travelled to Scotland to compete in the National 12 Scottish Championships.

Sailing with his sister, Tanya, the pair comfortably won the first race but in race two a long capsize left them unable to finish. With racing then abandoned for the day they needed to sail and count all four races to be held on the Sunday.

With overnight winds suggesting Sunday racing would be cancelled it was a relief to find only a gentle breeze again in the morning.

Nick and Tanya made a good start in race three and led all the way. Race four was much closer with many place changes during the race before Nick and Tanya emerged with another win.

After a break for lunch a much stronger breeze greeted the competitors for the last two races. Needing two second places or one win to guarantee overall victory, Nick and Tanya were determined not to suffer another capsize and a more cautious approach paid dividends when the leaders of race four capsized allowing Nick and Tanya to take another win.

A second place in the last race gave them a score of six points from four wins and a second and the title of National 12 Scottish champions They were presented with £100 worth of vouchers from GUL, the class sponsors and the beautiful Scottish Daily Express Trophy.