They were among nearly 2,000 crews who entered the annual spectacle – and some of their performances were up there with the best of the lot.

Chichester's Mark Taylor led a four-man crew on board Marbella, which was the first South Coast One design boat to finish.

They were third overall in the ISC class, which had around 700 entries.
Taylor was joined on board by brother Alan Taylor, Alan Moore and regular crew Monty Wragg.

Mark Taylor (51), who has been sailing for 30 years and is a member of the Innshore Cruising Club at West Wittering.

Marbella completed the challenging course in 9hr 7min.

Taylor said: "We won the class last year and were pleased with how it went this year. The conditions suited our boat. There was a stiff wind and it was quite rough."

Another Chichester-based boat to fare well was Scallywag, sailed by Stephen Lawrence and Ali Tyler. The quarter-tonner waarschip came eighth overall in the IRC class.

Meanwhile, a three-boat team from Arun Yacht Club, based at Littlehampton, beat 11 other teams to win back the coveted Team Challenge Trophy, which they last held in 2005.

A record 12 boats from the club entered the race this year and won the trophy for the best overall team result.

Club honorary racing secretary Dick Holden said: "The race is very much a feature of the club calendar.

This year it was held in strong winds, making the journey there and back an adventure in itself, with some very fast sailing in big waves. Many of the club's cadet members were involved in the racing."

The winning team comprised the Seawolf 26 Sooper Trooper (Richard Dobson), the Limbo 6.6 Dedicated Dancer (David Robinson) and the Four-21 "Scampi" (Andy Walker).

Sooper Trooper finished 49th out of 870 in the ISC section.