Fotis Boliakis, with his son Evan as crew, won the 2008 Cedar Point Open, better known as the Bedford Pitcher after the magnificent old trophy awarded to the victors. A clash of dates with the North Americans made for a smaller turnout than expected, but for the organizing fleet the good news was that a Cedar Point Yacht Club boat won the event for the first time since Dick Gordon back in 1969.

Saturday saw only one race completed in very light air, and this was dominated by the flyweights. Each of the first three boats had a combined crew weight of around 300lb, with Boliakis father and son heading the way. Second were Will Swigart and Carroll Beek MacCallum, and third Pete Cusick with his small Optimist-sailor son Jack stepping in as crew for the day. Those of us with 450lb in the boat said never mind, the forecast for Sunday was 15-20 knots...

Ha. Another light air day, with the wind maxing out at around 8 knots in the afternoon. Race officer Rich Gold did well to get in two decent races in a shifty easterly. Thierry de la Villehuchet and Witold Gesing won the first race, and Gary MacDonald and Jim Pickering nipped in second in the last race, and certainly none of those could be described as lightweights. It must be something to do with skill after all. Messrs. Boliakis, Swigart and Cusick dominated the weekend and formed a small leading group usually out ahead of the rest, going faster, especially downwind, and obviously sailing smarter.