Burnham Week 2026 - Day 3
by Petru Balau 1 Sep 11:40 PDT
23-30 August 2025
With lots left to race for, the third day of Burnham Week 2026 set up to be a spicy and, due to wind over tide, wet affair, while the town was buzzing with crowds gathered to celebrate the August Bank Holiday and to be entertained by pirates.
The dinghies, sailing from the Burnham Sailing Club start line, were first to resolve any unresolved business, as the front passing through caused havoc in the fleets. Proving that sailing is for all ages, there was a difference of more than 50 years between the youngest trophy winner and the oldest.
The Burnham Week veteran, having participated since 1958 and one of the most vocal supporters of the dinghy fleets in Burnham Week, Ant Law retained his lead at the top of the Fast Handicap fleet, sailing on the slowest boat entered and proving that slowly but surely is going to win the regatta.
He was followed by Emily Davis and Richard Pye, from Draycote Water Sailing Club and BSC's own Jo Tribe and Marcus Collingbourne.
The Dinghy Slow Handicap fleet was won by Sammy Buckley and Seb Warren, followed by Jess Wright and Molly Mears, both pairs sailing on RS FEVA XL and hailing from Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.
The ILCA/Laser combined fleet, the largest dinghy fleet at the current and quite a few of the past editions of Burnham Week, was won by James Hutton-Penman, followed by Noah Mathers and Nick Hutton-Penman.
The winner of the Phantom fleet was Creeksea Sailing Club's Bill Taylor, with Mark Spruce from Lee on Solent Sailing Club taking the second spot.
At the Pile House Line, under the watchful eye of race officer Edwin Buckley and Team Phoebe, there were quite a few things left to settle.
Maybe keeping an eye on the National Championships scheduled for the end of the week, only two Ospreys braved the conditions and it was Roger and James Blake that took the win, on countback from Robert Shaw and Ian Little.
Lucie Prior, well known to Burnham Week followers from her exploits in a Squib a few years ago, received a special trophy for being the youngest lady helm for the weekend in the Osprey fleet.
In the 707 class, after a not so great start of the weekend, Flynn Davies, crewed by Niamh Davies, Ben Beasley and Juliette Letort booked two more wins to top the table and take home quite a few of the trophies in play.
In second place was Alex Hill, crewed by young Eddy Hill and Rich Lewis, Alex Shanahan and James Wade, while Paul Woodward, with David Tomlinson, Jake Bonsor and David Adams, from Royal Temple Yacht Club, took the third.
In class 1 & 2, despite Dabtoe nabbing a win, helmed by Nick Moulton, Paul Trueman's Exile took home the Bank Holiday honours, while Tabitha & Nicholas Plank' Slingshot got the third.
John Saunders' Jeannie won the Bank Holiday weekend, along with a plethora of other trophies as they won every day's race, being followed by Richard Taylor's Rondo and Dan Wastnage and Doug Duce's Flashheart, in second and third place.
Class 6 was one to look forward to, as Ian and Michèle Langston's Fifi and Richard Moore's Ophelia both got a win and a second during the weekend and the relevant trophies.
It was Fifi that took home the main prize, after winning Monday's race, while Ophelia finished second and Simon Sanders's Vovager taking the third spot.
Moving to the one design fleets, the International Dragons saw two boats, Peter Marchant's Beauty And The Beast and Ian Gray's Still Crazy share the top spot, separate on count back.
Eventually, Beauty And The Beast took the honours, while Still Crazy came second, with Rob Campbell's Dublin Bay closing the top three.
The situation in the RS Elite Fleet seemed quite settled, yet, as the wind and the tide go the same way for everyone, Bill Blank, sailing Blind Squirrel, secured the weekend win, helped by a well-placed fourth-place discard.
Neil Fulcher's All The Gear narrowly missed the top spot, on countback, while Richard Bavin's Serious Moonlight closed the top 3.
Despite being quite far back in the Royal Corinthian One Design fleet during the author's customary fly by, the orange Cormorant, helmed by Justin Waples, clawed its way back to a top 3 finish, enough to win the weekend, followed by Paul Buckley's Coryphee and Martin Makey's Corinna.
Will Dallimore, sailing on Mandarin, ended the weekend at the top of the Royal Burnham One Design fleet, while James Dallimore, on Whimbrel, took the second and Simon Hollington's Beryl took the overall third.
In the East Coast One Design class, things changed dramatically, with Rufus Whiteford - Gigi's win promoting them to the top of the weekend, followed by Ian Wilson - Widgeon and Nicholas Cottrell - Nancy, the last two separated by count back.
The author could be a bit biased, but the Squib class proved, yet again, to be one of the most entertaining fleets to watch.
You definitely had to be there to witness Nick (Milton), neck and neck with Nick (Bacon) on the finish line, with the glory going to Mr Milton.
Or the two legends of the class, Phil Aspinall on his yellow Guy Fawkes trying to close down Robert Coyle on Humphrey, with Mr Aspinall having to give way, maybe due to the media boat being parked on the finish line.
With many more events up and down the fleet, it was Micky Wright and Alex Porteous - Spoof, national champions not that long ago, that took the weekend win, followed by Ben Hutton-Penman and Ian Brand - Easy, on count back and Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Carley - the well known blue boat, Lady P, in third.
Racing continues on the Crouch, with daily racing from the Pile House line, John Torrance Trophy at the Burnham Sailing Club for dinghies on Wednesday Night and the much coveted Town Cup on Saturday.
Full results at www.burnhamweek.com/results-2026