Burnham Week 2025 - Day 5
by Petru Balau 28 Aug 20:52 AEST
23-30 August 2025
Charlie Matthews, sailing a Blaze, won the 2025 edition of John Torrance Trophy, part of Burnham Week 2025.
The forecasted squall did not fail to make an appearance and the start of the fifth day of Burnham Week saw the fleets start the races with spinnakers up, heading down the river Crouch in drizzling rain and quite strong gusts.
The cruiser's combined start saw the 9 boats quickly head toward the north shore to get out of the tide. In class 1 & 2, Nicholas Plank's Slingshot got the upper hand over Dan Wastnage's Santa Evita and got the win, helped in no small measure by not running aground. In class 5, Phil Collard's Cobra scored another bullet, to position themselves strongly at the top of the results table and only trying to run over the media boat twice.
The International Dragons fleet saw Ian Gray's Still Crazy take the win, after fixing their spinnaker sheets, while Mark Wade's Avalanche, despite only finishing 3rd on the day, still stand at the top of the Midweek overall results.
In the Royal Corinthian One Design, Clive and Graeme Page's Corpo Santo took the daily win, but as Paul Buckley's Coryphee finished second on the day, they remained first overall.
The East Coast One Design race was won by David Smith's Wizard, top overall as well, while disaster hit Ian Wilson's Widgeon, as they broke the mast, with hopes it can be repaired so the boat can finish the regatta.
The Squib fleet, still the largest in the regatta, saw a number of boats suffer breakages and be forced to retire or not start. The race was won by Nick Bacon and Richard Tucker, sailing on Rojo, while Micky Wright and Alex Porteous finished second, to retain their lead in the overall results. Ian Scott and Iona Martin, sailing on Squabble and Raymond Apthorp and Ian Simmons, Chequemate are draw on points for the second place overall, while Robert Coyle and Marc Rawinsky, Humphrey, are not far behind.
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.
The race was comfortably won by Charlie Matthews, sailing on a Blaze, followed by James Hutton-Penman, ILCA 6/Laser Radial and Malcolm Hutchings, veteran of both the Squib fleet and the Blaze fleet.
After the prize-giving, the Burnham Sailing Club hosted an evening of live jazz music, with the Redhouse Groove Band and a food truck in the courtyard.
The regatta continues on Thursday with starts from BSC line, with a part of the fleets heading up river, one of the most picturesque sailing sites on the East Coast.
Full results at www.burnhamweek.com/results-2025