Burnham Week 2024 Day 5
by Petru Balau 29 Aug 07:49 PDT
24-31 August 2024
Southeasterly gentle winds and sunshine sent the Burnham Week fleets down the Crouch, where they enjoyed close racing and, due to the Race Officer planning, a mass finish - while the dinghies competed in the highly coveted John Torrance Trophy.
The class 1 & 2 race consisted of laps around Clarks, Crouch and Ron Pipe and was won by Phil Collard's Cobra, in their bid to collect all the bullets for the week, followed by Digger Harden in Sorcerer, whose try to use "the big boys kite" on the way back to the moorings didn't go exactly as planned.
The class 5, local handicap with spinnakers, on the same course as the class 1 & 2, saw the return of Jack Mills' Outlaw, in the shape of a chartered Royal Corinthian Yacht Club 707 with a distinctive art piece duck-taped to the cuddy, and was won by Richard Taylor's Rondo, sitting top overnight, followed by John Saunders' Jeannie, the new Outlaw and the Corinthian Otters' 707.
The class 6, local handicap without spinnakers, following class 5, saw Richard Moore's Ophelia snatch the win from Philip Harbott's Mantra and move top of the results table overnight, with Daryl Mylroie's Eclipse sitting second, after a 4th place on the day.
The Dragons race, with a course consisting of laps around Clarks, Inner Crouch and Ron Pipe, had Mark Wade's Avalanche take an early lead they managed to defend to the end, with Peter Marchant's Beauty and the Beast finishing second, making both boats draw on points going into the up river race on Thursday.
The day boats shared similar courses, tweaked for the envisioned mass finish, with the common part being the triangle between Clarks, Ron Pipe and Redward.
The Royal Corinthian One Design started first and since Clive and Graeme Page's day started dry, they took the win, sailing on Corpo Santo, in front of Justin Waples' Cormorant, making the overnight results table Cormorant in first place, with Corpo Santo equal second on points with Martin Makey's Corinna.
16 Squibs lined up for their start, with fifteen of them dead set to make some troubles for Nemesis 806, Ray Apthorp and Ian Simons.
Fruitless endeavour as the duo won by a country mile, with the yellow boat, Guy Fawkes 72, Phillip and Marion Aspinall, in a reverse of the previous day's situation, taking the second, making the overnight results table Nemesis first, followed by the National Champions, Micky Wright and Alex Porteous, on Spoof 811, equal second on points with Malcolm and Jackie Hutchings' Lady Penelope 819.
In the Royal Burnham One Design fleet, Stephen Herring's red hulled Red Jacket is steadily working on acquiring all the wins, with Will Dallimore's Mandarin taking the second from James Dallimore's Whimbrel, making the results table Red Jacket, Whimbrel and Mandarin.
Last but not least, the East Coast One Design race, with 7 boats lined up for the start, saw Rhythm, the ECOD Association's boat, helmed by Dan Halley take the win, followed by the local boat Wizard, helmed by David Smith and Beccs Polden's Delphine, with Rhythm, Delphine and Wizard at the top of the overnight results table, on countback.
After a short break, some of the big boat sailors headed over to the Burnham Sailing Club to join the dinghy sailors in taking part in the John Torrance Memorial Trophy, run by Burnham Sailing Club, in memory of John Torrance who contributed so much to youth sailing in Burnham and beyond.
36 boats were at the start, with an eclectic mix of RS Tera, Optimists, Blazes, RS200, Phantoms, lots and lots of Laser/ILCA boats, a Merlin Rocket and a Hadron, with the Bank Holiday Weekend heroes, Noah and Rory, on their RS Feva XL.
Despite the tricky wind conditions and the big commercial boat leaving the Essex Marina during the start, it took the Race Officer only two tries to send the fleet on their way, in glorious sunshine.
The eventual winner was Malcolm Hutchings sailing on a Blaze, keeping the highly coveted John Torrance Trophy in the Burnham Blaze Fleet for another year.
Results are available at www.burnhamweek.com/results-2024