Burnham Week 2024 Day 2
by Petru Balau 26 Aug 2024 19:20 AEST
24-31 August 2024
Sunny, windy and very choppy, the adjectives that best describe the second day of Burnham Week 2024.
The dinghies had another hourglass shaped course for three more races, with the Race Officer trying to get a better vantage point for the onlookers on the town's quay.
The Laser/ILCA day was dominated by James Hutton-Penman with three wins, attributed in no small part to him being the only one that finished the day with no capsize, placing him clearly in the overnight lead.
He did not finish the day dry, as he had to quickly jump into the water to salvage one of the lasers left unsupervised.
He is followed by Duncan De Boltz, who scored three 2nds today and Corinthian Otter Nathan Flynn, with a 4th, a 3rd and a 5th.
The Dinghy Fast Handicap overnight leaders are Flynn and Niamh Davies, whose sailing on their Merlin Rocket, with a top speed of nearly 20 kts, netted them two 2nds and a 3rd.
Yet, the incontestable winners of the day are juniors Noah Mathers and Rory Luddington, who sailed their RS Feva XL to two wins and a 4th, placing them on a well deserved 2nd position overnight, while Jo Tribe and Marcus Collingbourne, RS200, with two 3rds and a 2nd, sit on 3rd.
Unfortunately for the RS Tera fleet, the gusty conditions decimated the fleet in the first race and to add insult to the injury, no sailor sailed the proper course.
The day was won by Arthur Bullen, with 2 wins, followed by Fergus Anderson with two seconds and Harry Bew with two 3rds.
Only 4 points are separating the top three boats and everything is left to sail for, going into the last day of the Bank Holiday Weekend, with Fergus on first, followed by Harry and Arthur.
On the other start line, Pile House, the westerly wind direction meant running starts.
The first to start were the RS Elites and the four boats picking the middle of the river got a quick advantage over the lonely boat picking the north shore.
The race consisting of three laps around Pinto and Ron Pipe marks was won by Serious Moonlight, Richard Bavin, Joey Thompson and Duncan Haley, with Excalibur, helmed by Roger Martin on second and Blind Squirrel, Bill Blank, Stuart Pinch and Sharon Blank on third.
The second race of the day, a two lap around Pinto and Ron Pipe, was won by Blind Squirrel, who seemed to do a bit better in stronger winds, followed by Serious Moonlight and Excalibur.
Overnight, Serious Moonlight is first, followed by Blind Squirrel and Excalibur, with only 4 points between them.
With 24 boats at the start of their first race of the day, the Squibs, with their colourful spinnakers up, made a sight to behold, with Nemesis 806, Ray Apthorp and Ian Simons taking a slight lead and Humphrey 823, Robert Coyle and Marc Rawinsky, having to go back, being OCS.
The race, with a course taking the fleet up the Roach, to Wallaseaness and across the tide to Holliwell for two laps, was eventually won by Budgies Tongue 105, sailed by Jack Grogan and Gina Vince, followed in second place by What's the Story 779, Nic Tolhurst and Ross Corbett and Lady Penelope 819, Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Carley.
The second race of the day for the Squibs took the fleet twice across the tide, from Pinto to Holliwell, to finish with a short trek up the Roach, to Crow and back across the tide to Redward.
Budgies Tongue won again, followed by National Champions, Spoof 811, sailed by Micky Wright and Alex Porteous and Nemesis in 3rd.
Overnight Budgies Tongue move to top, followed by Nemesis in second, Spoof in third, What's the Story in fourth and last year's National Champions, Hawk Tuah 142, Jono Brown and Chris Agar in five, only 4 points separating first and fifth, with Lady Penelope close by, ready to pounce, a testament to the competitiveness of the Squib Class.
The Sandhoppers followed the Squibs on the same courses, with Sea Phantom 33, Peter Thompson and Clara Mintern, taking the first win, followed by Aeolus 161, Paul Gray and Phil Spillane in second and Wild Gull 29, sailed by Kevin Whittle and Matt Lis, in third, while the second race was won by The Dogs 5 156, Mark Jewell and Paul Farrel, with Sea Phantom and Wild Gull in second and third.
While Sea Phantom has a relatively strong grip on the overnight top position, the wild changes in the results scored on each race mean tomorrow anything can happen, making the Sandhoppers a class to watch.
Unfortunately for the Multihulls, their fleet was reduced to two boats after Wandering Glider, Andrew Scurr and Rich Lewis, had to retire from their first race due to some damage.
Origami, Nick Wood, Bobby Wells and Nick Geaves, won both races and sits top overnight, followed by Triassic, Nigel Stevens, Vicky Sanders and Jolanta Radziuk in second and Wandering Glider in third.
The Cruiser class 1 & 2 saw their race around Inner Crouch and Outer Crouch 3 marks, for two laps, be won by Cobra, skippered by Phil Collard, followed, in second place, by Paul Trueman's Exile and Digger Harden's Sorcerer, while Outlaw, helmed by Jack Mills, had to retire with a broken mast, making the overnight order Cobra, Exile, Sorcerer and Outlaw.
The class 5 race, a shorter two laps around Inner Crouch and Crouch marks, saw Richard Taylor's Rondo take the win from Philip Harbott's Mantra, both on the line and corrected time, while the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club 707, helmed by Alex Hill, finished in 3rd.
Overnight, Rondo leads the class 5 fleet, with Mantra in second place and John Saunders' Jeannie in 3rd, with the 707 just one point away in 4th.
The class 6 race, following the same course as class 5, saw Ian Keam-George's Lucy Lee take another win, with Mick Hill's Ningaloo in second place and Nicholas Moulton's Dabtoe in third, with Danielle Southey's Jodeanni closing the pack.
Overnight, Lucy Lee is first, followed by Ningaloo, Jodeanni in third and Dabtoe in fourth.
The Dragons had only one race scheduled and the increased wind going against the tide made for a very wet and bumpy ride, with Hands Off 760, Andy Moss, Tim Wilkes and Theresa Wilkes, unfortunately losing its mast.
The race was won by Beauty and the Beast 746, Peter Marchant, Katie Cole and Noddy Norden, followed by Avalanche 722, Mark Wade, Amanda Wade and Nigel Cole, while Still Crazy 827, Ian Gray, Rene Nel and Mark Ellis finished in 3rd.
Only 8 Phantoms braved the conditions, at the time of their start the wind picking up considerably, and had a long, fast and wet race, with Mark Spruce taking the win, Richard Nurse finishing on second and Titch on third, making the top three of the results table, going into the last day of the Bank Holiday Weekend Richard, Titch and Mark.
The conditions gave the Ospreys plenty of opportunities for planning, yet looked very hard work from the media boat, with Roger and James Blake taking the win and the top of the fleet overnight, with Robert Shaw and Ian Little coming in second and second overall, while Basher Marshall and Jonathan Osgood had to unfortunately retire and are sitting in third overnight.
All three one design classes, the Royal Corinthian One Design, the Royal Burnham One Design and the East Coast One Design shared the same course, with the RCODs going first.
The RCOD race was won by Justin Waples, Steve Rands and Vicky Brookes on Cormorant, putting them first in the overnight results table, followed by Clive and Graeme Page's Corpo Santo, second in the overnight table and Martin Makey, Philip Green and Rosemary Archer in Corinna in third overnight.
Aquamarine, Angela Shephard, Matt Shephard and Sarah Hastwell won the RBOD race, with Will Dallimore's Mandarin in second place and Whimbrel, James Dallimore, Harriet Roberts, Alexander Roberts in third, the results seeing Aquamarine leading going into the last day of the Bank Holiday Weekend, with Red Jacket, Stephen Herring, Mel Lewis, David Harris and Ralph Herring in second place and Will Dallimore's Mandarin in third.
The forecast for Monday promises champagne sailing conditions, the perfect end for the Bank Holiday Weekend and with so many classes having very close results, it's all left to sail for.
Results are available at www.burnhamweek.com/results-2024