Sailing: Debutant topples Peters

THE DEBUTANT Rob Greenhalgh and his Team David McLean won the 1999 Hoya VisionCare Ultra 30 Grand Prix series in Havelet Bay, Guernsey, yesterday when he toppled the defending champion, Russell Peters, in the deciding nine-race regatta, writes Stuart Alexander.

Peters, of Hampshire, had been in the wars on the opening day, when his boat, DBS, was badly damaged in a collision, for which he accepted responsibility, with the man who was to end third overall in the series, Scotland's Kevin Sproul.

Peters missed two races as his team worked overnight on repairs. That left him with too much to catch up and Greenhalgh, at 21 the youngest skipper on the circuit, made the most of the light airs to rack up vital points.

This week is a vital one for Britain's Olympic hopes Ian Walker and Mark Covell, third in the first race of the Olympic-qualifying Star World Championships in Punta Ala, Italy.