Burnham Week 2018 - Overall
by Sally Harbott 1 Sep 2018 11:39 PDT
25 August - 1 September 2018
Trophy day on the River Crouch was warm, bright and with very little wind to start with. The multihulls were back and three started with Nick Wood in Origami leading the fleet off, and headed off down river. He kept his lead and won on corrected time from Simon Barnes' Persuauion.
Next to start were Class One who were racing the third race in the Town Cup Series. Glorious Fools were leading the series as they went into the final race, but it was still open. Double Trouble and Glorious Fools along with Lucy Lee were on the line as the gun went, but Mantra was up river of the line aground on the North Shore, getting off after four minutes and chasing the fleet.
Duncan Haley in Double Trouble, the Corby 29, was in the middle of the river in the breeze, with the J80 Glorious Fools, being helmed by Doug Duce today tucked up under the North Shore out of the very strong flood tide. Lucy Lee set their code zero and stayed out in the breeze in the middle of the river as long as she could.
The fleet went to Pinto before heading back up river to Redward and carrying out other loops down to Inner Crouch and back up the Roach. Double Trouble led for the first bit, but Digger got through him for a short time in the patchy breeze, however, Double Trouble soon took the on the water lead back.
Double Trouble took the gun at the RCYC first with Glorious Fools second on the water by 4 minutes and 59 seconds. On corrected time Digger Harden and Pete Jackson's J80 Glorious Fools won by just 14 seconds giving them the series win to light the prestigious Town Cup for the second year running.
Class 5 started next with Ant Law and Eclipse on the line on the gun, with Grace and Danger just behind. Safi, owned by Peter Prodger, was at the pin end with excellent boat speed. As they set off down river, Eclipse stayed out in the middle following the breeze, but the breeze was fickle and at times it paid to be tucked in under the shore, and at others it paid to follow the breeze into the stronger tide.
Class 6 had 6 starters and Jeannie got a very good start along with Ophelia owned and sailed by Richard Moore and Spangle the Contessa 32. They headed down river and were catching up class 5 on the water. Jeannie won on corrected time from Ophelia.
The Dragon fleet was back up to 13 and they looked stunning as they filled the start line on the gun. Even they struggled at times on the course with the strong tide, and some were caught and swept a little up river of Redward when rounding. Dublin Bay went aground on the first leg, but managed to get themselves off and continue racing. He later retired as did Ganador, belonging to Martin Makey.
The squibs were out in force today, and the double gun at the start signalled an OCS. A couple to boats from the front of the fleet returned, but the X flag still flew. The fleet headed down river and Malcolm Hutchings in Lady Penelope soon took a good lead from the rest of the fleet. He kept the lead extending it more towards the end of the race. Nemesis, sailed by Ray Apthorp were second, and Jill owned by John and Sue Hardy third. Simon Griffin in Brutus was OCS.
The RCOD class had eight starters and Cormorant, Justin Waples, and John Waples in Corpo Santo along with Sue Law in Coralie were the leading three and they took first, second and third respectively.
The RBOD had ten starters and the top four ended up finishing within the same minute. Red Jacket sailed by Stephen Herring took the win, with Amanda, David Smith, second, White Rose third with Mandarin fourth. Further down in the fleet a couple going aground and losing valuable time.
The dinghy fleet also had a race today and a good fleet of nine started. The Buzz sailed by Chay Taylor led for a while but was eventually overhauled by the highest rated boat, the 29er sailed by Dylan Collingbourne. On corrected time the Buzz won from the first of the RS200s, sailed by Jo Tribe.
Prize giving at the RBYC followed an incredibly successful and enjoyable week. All results and more pics at www.burnhamweek.com