Content for id "mainnav" Goes Here

Mercator sails to victory

Mercator Group was the fastest team of the week in the Set Sail Trust Pilot Challenge. As well as more than 300 school children and disadvantaged adults being given the chance to spend time on replica 18th-century sailing boats, the week long event saw teams from Set Sail Trust sponsors compete in races.

The course started and finished at the Sailing Club line and teams raced in sailing boats Polly Agatha and Merlin. KPMG, Mercator, Deutsche Bank and the Long Port Group wr ethe winners of individual heats with HSBC picking the award for for the most sporting team. Mercator director Clive Dansell collected the 'fastest team' award on behalf of his team-mates describing the experience as 'fantastic'. 'We didn't expect to be the fastest overall,' he said. 'It was nice to give the guys at work a fun evening out. We were delighted to win. Only about half our team had been sailing before, so it was even more of a challenge on an 18th-century yacht.'

Merlin skipper Lance Whitehead said there had been some very good sailors amongst the teams. 'A lot of them certainly got stuck in.' he said.

'It was a pleasure to work with them and and to be in Guernsey, where we've had a fantastic time, meeting so many people from all walks of life and giving them the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary.'

Set Sail trustee board chairman Andreas Tautscher was glad the trust had been able to thank the companies who supported the event by giving them the chance to race.

'Everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves and we've had some great feedback from different groups this week,' he said. 'We're very grateful for the support. The races have been very competitive and we hope it'll be just as good as next year.'

All funds raised will go to Guernsey Sailing Trust (community windsurfing) project.

As printed in the Guernsey Press 23rd June 2011