Grantham sailor Millward wins on Loch Earn in Scotland

Grantham sailor Val Millward’s journey to Scotland took her nine hours to reach her accommodation at St Fillans.

Val’s boat had gone on before her and it then had to be picked up from Ecclefechan.

The weekend weather consisted of light winds with a chance of rain. Fortunately, what wind there was, was westerly, down the Loch and not across it.

There were nine Challengers sailing in the event. Four races were planned on Saturday, just in case the wind dropped completely on Sunday.

Val won the first one and the last one. The first three sailors only had one point between them by the end of the day.

Val has been second in almost every event this season. Could she break the mould this weekend?

On Sunday, her friend Duncan won the first race with Val second.

Another friend, David, won the next race but Val, doing the maths on the water, knew she had to keep Duncan behind her to win the event.

It was all very close and tactical, but Val hung on to second place in the last race to win the competition overall.