Allen RS Feva Grand Prix at Burnham Sailing Club

Allen RS Feva Grand Prix at Burnham © Steve Johnson

On the 13th/14th April, Burnham Sailing Club hosted the third RS Feva Grand Prix. With sponsorship from Allen, a good but chilly forecast and the ever present hospitality on offer, it was sure to be a great event.

Although numbers were down slightly (23 entries) the top of the fleet arrived to demonstrate how close this years competitors are in terms of boatspeed, boat handling and tactics around the course.

With winds ranging from 8 18 knots across the two days together with a flicking easterly, the scene was set for some glam racing. Digger Harden (PRO) did a great job of setting the course to the average wind direction and got six excellent races in.

Overall winning helm, Alice Davis, gives a blow-by-blow account of the racing:

The third GP was hosted at Burnham SC, a place that we regularly train with Squiddies. The morning started with a nice breeze of 12-15 knots and it was coming up the river which was a great place for the course. The tide was quite a big factor in some of the races and we started the event with a first after some close racing, with Millie and Katherine in second and Tom and Tom in third. This was really good as we were hoping for top five results in all the races and to start the event well was encouraging!

We continued into the second race with a shocker of a start and played a game of catch-up into first place. It was some really close racing and we were closely followed by Ralph and Kate in second and Tom and Tom in third. The third race was hard as we had another terrible start and couldn't quite get back into the top five. There was some great sailing at the front however, with Caitlin and Joe with the first, Clara and Anna in second rounded up with Ralph and Kate in third.

Overall, it was a fun day on the water and we were pleased with our results. We were the overnight leaders which was really good, made even better by the amazing quiz Marcus put together for the evening after the jacket potatoes and chilli that was made by the excellent galley for dinner.

Allen RS Feva Grand Prix at Burnham - photo © Steve Johnson

The second day started off to a tough race, where we went from the high teens to third place. This showed us how good our boat speed is but we really need to work on our starts!! First place was Joey and Theo, second was Quinn and Fin, with us in third.

In the second race, we finally had a really good start but went the wrong way up the beat, misjudging the shifts and reaching the windward mark in the mid teens. We then caught up massively downwind after going high and fast and gained into ninth round the leeward mark continuing to learn from our mistakes the previous lap and went into fourth round the windward mark. It was then a very close downwind between us and Ralph and Kate with them just getting us as we rounded the leeward mark. Dylan and Lydia won followed by Tom and Tom and then Joey and Theo in third.

In the last race, we got messed up on the start line and were third from last at the windward mark. It was hard not to give up but we carried on gaining through the race and ending up in 5th again. Joey and Theo took another great win, followed VERY closely by Caitlin and Joe and Fergus and Sam in third.

It was a really fun weekend which we learned that we DEFINITELY need to improve on our starts. It was really nice to see all our friends again as well and we had fun off the water with them. Thanks to the safety team including our coach Jon, Burnham SC for hosting the event, and to all the competitors for some close racing!

So, big thanks, as always, to our sponsor Allen Brothers, the Race Team, everyone involved in the organisation, all those that helped behind the galley.

The RS Fevas are now back to training to get ready for the Feva Nationals at Abersoch on the 25th28th May. Based on the closeness of the racing there are a number of potential champions!

Allen RS Feva Grand Prix at Burnham - photo © Steve Johnson

Overall Results: