Burnham Week 2019 - Day 2
by Sally Harbott 26 Aug 2019 07:14 NZST
24-31 August 2019
Another gloriously sunny day in Burnham on Crouch for Day Two of the East Coast's premier regatta. At Pile House over 100 boats came down to take part in their racing, with the Multihulls starting first.
Again, an Easterly breeze gave the competitors a fantastic windward start. The Multihulls headed down to Greenward before going up to Roach and then down river towards Outer Crouch. Nick Wood in Origami took his second win of the week with John Galloway in Threedom second.
Class One and Two started next and Jeannie owned by John Saunders got the best start, being pushed up by Jackal, the J92 owned by Harden, Scneidau and Oram. Their course took them to Clarks before they ran up to Redward, again the South Shore looked like it paid on this leg. Intense, owned and sailed by Lizzie Brown soon took the lead with Paul Trueman in Exile following. Jackal took third on the water with John Saunders and the Maxi 1000 Eclipse owned by Clive Cherry and Daryl Mylroie following. Don Rawling in Skullduggery, instantly recognisable by its black hull and skull and cross bones decals and the lowest rated Quillet owned by Ron Nichols last on the water. The start showed competitive racing but as the race progressed, the boats became more spread according to waterline length. On corrected time, Intense won, with John Saunders in his Elan 31 Jeannie about a minute and a half behind on corrected time, with Exile third, Jackal fourth, Eclipse 5th and Skullduggery 6th.
Class Five saw Spring Chicken put about by Stephen Gosling in Grace and Danger just before the starting gun. Richard Moore in Ophelia was OCS but returned quickly to continue the race. Ant Law in Tifano was at the pin end, but a little behind the line. Traigh were also in the mix on the line and the fleet all crossed several tacks as the course took the down river to Clarks, before a quick run up to Redward. When the fleet rounded Redward, Ophelia was leading with an early drop before rounding, being only four up. Grace and Danger were close behind and dropped their red and white kite at the mark before rounding. Spring Chicken were close behind but dropped down river of the mark, and Traigh, owned by Dan Tribe went for a safe early drop well down river of the mark; this allowed the folk boat Tifano to close the gap somewhat. On corrected time, Ophelia, Richard Moore's MG27c won by 58 seconds from Spring Chicken, his MG Spring 25, sailed this week by Phillip Harbott, Grace and Danger were third. Ophelia leads the series on countback from Spring Chicken.
Three boats again started in Class 6. A Drascombe Lugger, Emily Jane raced and was the smallest boat in th class. Toucan owned by Ron Woolhead took the lead, with David Hill's Contessa 32 Spangle next. Toucan led for the whole race, with Spangle still in contention for the first part of the race, however, a navigational course error led to David Hill retiring from the race after finishing. Toucan was the only boat to finish in this class.
The RS Elites were again having two races back to back. The first of the day saw them going to Clarks and Redward a couple of times to give good windward leeward legs. Paul Fisk took the lead and held onto it throughout. The fleet enjoyed close racing, 107 used the South Shore advantage on the run during the first leg to make up several places. At the Redward mark the fleet saw close roundings and several place changes in the middle order. Legs Eleven, Paul Fisk also won, putting him ahead overall on 4 points, with David Wood's Oink Squeal in second overall taking two seconds today after her two fourths yesterday. Richard Bavin in Serious Moonlight sitting third overall.
The Dragons had a short course with them going to Clarks, Redward, and Inner Crouch before returning home. Pageboy XI won, with Avalanche, Mark Wade taking her second second of the weekend to lead overall going into the final day of the weekend. Peter Marchant in Beauty and the Beast took third.
Tony Hall in 707 Cezanne, had a great start as did Baby Beluga, helmed by Nic Tolhurst, owned by Debbie de Boltz. As the race progressed, Beluga stretched her lead and Tony Hall rounded Redward in second, with Scarlett Anderson third and Jason Phelps in fourth. The order did not change for the remainder of the race.
The Squibs again were out in force, looking stunning on the start line, a multi-coloured mass of powered up racing day boats. As they settled into the race, Squiggle, yesterday's winner, worked her way to the front along with Mickey Wright in Spoof. Over the course, the mid fleet chopped and changed positions regularly as they chose different shores, but the leaders held on, with Mickey Wright taking first and Jono Brown in Squiggle second, and Jack Grogan in Knock Knock third. Squiggle is leading on three points.
The RCOD fleet saw yesterday's leader in the middle of the fleet with RC7 and RC 6 at the front in the early stages of the race. The distinctive orange hull of Justin Waples in Cormorant and his brother in the pink Corpo Santo worked their way up towards the front as the race continued. Martin Makey in Corinna held onto first and took the bullet, with Cormorant second, and Corpo Santo third. Corinna leads overall.
The RBOD fleet had a good course and enjoyed a tactical windward leg, as well as a hard fought down wind run. Number 20, Ariel led and took line honours, with Red Jacket second, Angela Shepherd in Aqua Marine third, and Mandarin fourth. Overall Ariel leads on 3 points, with the Herrings in Red Jacket on 4 and Will Dallimore, Mandarin, on 6.
Four Ospreys started today and had two races back to back. Roger Blake in Dark Matter won the first race of the day, losing out to Mellow Yellow, Mick Greenward in the second. However, Dark Matter leads overall.
Up river the dinghies got another two races in. In the Phantoms, Bob Portway is leading on four points. In the dinghy handicap class, the Finn sailed by Keith Fedi has 3 firsts and a second to give him the lead overall.
More pictures and full results at www.burnhamweek.com