It was a sail-away success as sailors took to Scammonden Water.

An annual post-Christmas race, dubbed ‘The Freezer’, took place at the picturesque reservoir yesterday.

Hosted by Scammonden Water Sailing Club, 15 members and visiting sailors took to the water for the open race.

And competition was tough as sailors filled the start line for the hour-and-a- half race.

They competed in a range of dinghy sailing boats and, thankfully, the 70mph gusts of earlier in the week eased to 12mph – the perfect sailing wind.

Winner was visitor Wendy Jones, of Dovestones Sailing Club, Oldham, who took first place in a Streaker dinghy.

Paul Cornish for Scammonden was in second place in a Laser Radial and Chris Smith, also for Scammonden, finished in third place in a Laser.

Sailing continues over winter with the Snowball Series which is also open to visiting sailors.

Visit www.Scammondensailing.com