Sailing: Smith eyes second place

Lawrie Smith may have left it too late to prevent Tim Robinson from winning the overall title in the 1996 Aquatonic Skiff Grand Prix, but on the opening day of the sixth and final regatta in Torquay yesterday he was determined not to relinquish second place to Adrian Stead, writes Stuart Alexander.

As Brut announced they were withdrawing their support for next year's circuit, Smith, with a one-point margin over Stead, was recording a first and two seconds. The conditions were typically Torbay: a shifty north- easterly for the first two races, a shifty south- easterly for the third.

The British version of a class that made its name in Sydney has a one- design 18-footer but Robinson was able, especially early in the day, to capitalise on experience gained in Australia. Robinson needs to be no worse than 10th in Torquay to win the series, and his gentle two fourths and a fifth yesterday kept him safely in sixth.