168 entries for Burghfield Optimist Open Meeting

by Event media on 9 Feb 2009
On Saturday 31 January, 168 young Optimist sailors braved a bitterly cold easterly wind of between 13 and 18 knots, for the Burghfield Optimist Winter Open.

The first race started at 10:30 and was a series of 3 windward leewards along the whole length of the lake, separated by short reaches, with each fleet starting one after the other.

Beginning with Silver, each fleet came in separately for a well organised lunch with the other fleets returning to the start for the next race. The wind increased throughout the day causing a few capsizes! With courses lengthened with additional loops and the non-stop sailing we were all very tiered by 3:30 when we came off the water.

The Open attracted 50 Gold fleet sailors from home clubs as far afield as Restonguet in Cornwall, Portdinorwic in North Wales and Scaling Dam in North Yorkshire. Made up mainly of sailors from the IOCA National and Intermediate Squads, and the great conditions looked like giving the sailors a great opportunity to put their three months of squad training into practice.

With the easterly wind allowing the full length of Burghfield to be used. With four different winners through the four races it proved to be a highly competitive regatta where consistency paid; the first two finishers both counted results in the top five.

Optimist Gold Fleet - Top Ten

1st 5807 Sophie HAMILTON Burghfield SC 8.0
2nd 5789 Tarra GILL-TAYLOR Spinnaker 12.0
3rd 5791 David PAIN Cardiff Bay YC 16.0
4th 5608 Arran HOLMAN Hollowell 17.0
5th 5806 Issy HAMILTON Burghfield SC 17.0
6th 5833 Charlie COX RLYC 20.0
7th 5296 Kirstie URWIN Royal Lymington YC 20.0
8th 5731 Josh SPARKS Royal Lymington YC 21.0
9th 5683 Matthew WALLIS Spinnaker 25.0
10th 5640 Toby MORSLEY Portdinorwic 26.0

The Optimist Winter Open meeting at Burghfield welcomed 70 Silver fleet sailors to the club, several traveling from as far a field as Cornwall, North Wales and North Yorkshire to compete in a close fought four race series.

Tight grouping and regular place changes in all four races showed the silver fleet sailors to be evenly matched, but overall, top 3 consistency paid off for James Taylor who claimed first place with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd to count. Sarah Norbury took 2nd with 10pts, with Martin Wrigley 3rd 1pt behind in third.

Optimist Silver Fleet - Top Ten

1st 5857 James TAYLOR Burghfield SC 6.0
2nd 5464 Sarah NORBURY South Staffordshire 10.0
3rd 5594 Martin WRIGLEY Llangorse 11.0
4th 5736 Sara DOUST Cardiff Bay YC 13.0
5th 5685 Dyfan WILLIAMS Mumbles / CBYC 15.0
6th 5775 Hugo ANDREWS Hayling Island SC 17.0
7th 5800 Ross MACKLEY Spinnaker 19.0
8th 5766 Georgia BOOTH Scaling DAM SC 20.0
9th 5501 Callum LAMBOURN Swarkestone 22.0
10th 5724 Morgan DIBB Warsash 23.0

Of the 40 sailors who took part in the Bronze fleet, 39 scored a series, testament to the skill and persistence of sailors just entering main fleet but not selected for any IOCA or RYA squad. All of the four races got away first time with no sailors troubling the pin end observer. There was strong competition throughout the fleet with the tail-enders determined to race each other right to the finish.

The wind had increased 18 knots for the fourth race but this played to the strengths of David Brand (12) of Papercourt, coming home first to seal 2nd overall with 8 points. A 3rd place in the fourth race for Ellen Greenwell produced a series of 5 points, making her the Bronze fleet winner, this was a well deserved result from a sailor who has worked extremely hard over the past year.

Optimist Bronze Fleet - Top Ten

1st 4972 Ellen GREENWELL Warsash 5.0
2nd 5763 David BRAND Papercourt SC 8.0
3rd 5506 Oliver MORRELL Spinnaker SC 10.0
4th 5042 Jessica EALES RLYC 11.0
5th 5579 Max CLAPP Royal Southern 15.0
6th 4568 Matthew THORNTON Burghfield 16.0
7th 5591 Ailsa MUSKETT Royal Lymington YC 18.0
8th 4767 Ross BANHAM Bewl Valley SC 20.0
9th 5780 William BEDFORD Spinnaker 24.0
10th 5471 Ella MITCHELL HISC 26.0

Sixteen hardy and plucky 8 to 13 year olds took part in 4 hours of cold winter sailing in the Regatta fleet. With the race officer setting a rectangular course, the scene was set for some good sailing in an easterly 12 knots.

Race one saw the sailors finding their way around the course with Jennifer Lorimer from Warsash holding onto an early lead to win the race. Sophie Heritage from Yarmouth came in 2nd and Jack Mitchell from HISC 3rd.

Race 2 had Sophie gaining her first win of the day, subsequently winning Race 4, with Alex King from Warsash 2nd and Jennifer 3rd.

In the afternoon, the racing was hottting up (unlike the race officer), with sailors closely contending the lead. Race 3 saw Jack having his first win of the day with Jennifer 2nd and Joshua Waha from Royal Southern 3rd.

Race 4 some very close racing with Sophie, Alex & Jennifer gaining 1st, 2nd & 3rd. In the final Race Peter Baddeley from Burghfield taok the lead off the line, but falling to second place behind Jack by the windward mark. By the finish line Peter was 3rd with Jenny 2nd and Jack 1st.

Optimist Regatta Fleet - Top Ten

1st 4976 Jennifer LORIMER Warsash 7.0
2nd 5877 Sophie HERITAGE Yarmouth 9.0
3rd 4440 Jack MITCHELL HISC 9.0
4th 4396 Alex KING Warsash 15.0
5th 4916 Peter BADDELEY Burghfield / WLSC 18.0
6th 5089 Joshua WAHA Royal Southern YC 19.0
7th 5810 Alex MIDDLETON Burghfield 24.0
8th 4355 Ross THOMPSON FPSC 29.0
9th 528 Piers NICHOLLS Hayling Island SC 36.0
10th 2417 William BARRETT Burghfield 41.0

These events are not easy to put on and require a lot of people to help. The club would like to thank everyone who helped and especially the sponsors: Sew Your Gear, Snow and Rock, Mayday Chandlery and Optimist Online. The prizes were superb and and that will be remembered by everyone who was there.

Event website - http://www.burghfieldsailing.org