Burnham Week 2023 Day 5
by Sally Harbott 31 Aug 2023 05:02 NZST
26 August - 2 September 2023
A gusty Westerly meant a different skill set was required afloat today in Burnham. The first couple of classes started against the end of the flood and as it was wind over tide the pre start area was choppy.
Class One all started at the Committee boat end of the line. Mantra got their AP kite up first followed by Cobra and Santa Evita. Cobra sailed middle of the river and headed South whereas the remaining four headed up to the North Shore out of the tide. When the fleet came up the Roach having sailed out to Outer Crouch 4, Phil Collard in the highest rated boat Cobra had a big on the water lead. The next three rounded Jubilee altogether with Jeannie just ahead of Slipstream and the Mantra. They set their spinnakers as they neared the end of the Roach on their way to Clarks, with Mantra setting her asymmetric.
At the finish Cobra took line honours just over 16 minutes ahead of Slipstream. However Lizzie Brown in Slipstream took the win from Cobra by 31 seconds. Mantra sailed by Phillip Harbott was third. Lizzie Brown leads John Saunders in Jeannie by 2 points.
Class Six had five starters and their start was closely contested and they headed off on the run with headsails poled out. As they approached Jubilee, JodeAnni rounded first with Mick Hill in Ningaloo rounding second then came Eclipse and Dabtoe, Nicholas Moulton, rounding together with some of the dragon fleet. Ningaloo took line honours but in corrected time the win was taken by Daryl in the Maxi1000 Eclipse with JodeAnni sailed by Daniel Southey second and Lucy Lee third. Overall Eclipse leads two points ahead of JodeAnni.
Dragons were six in fleet today and all headed to the committee boat end of the line before hoisting spinnakers and heading off down to Holliwell and back to Clarks with their final leg up the Roach to Jubilee. Ian Gray in Still Crazy won from Peter Marchant's Beauty and the Beast. Hands Off, Andy Moss came in third. Beauty and the Beast leads Still Crazy by 3 points.
The Squib fleet had a good start with the fleet spread out across the line. The fleet split with some heading to the South Shore and some diving straight to the North Shore. In the gusty conditions some sailors struggled to set spinnakers and later on there were some spectacular broaches in the fleet heading up the Roach to Jubilee. Malcolm Hutchins in Lady Penelope was leading the fleet with Humphrey rounding second and Mickey Wright third. These positions held and mean that overall Spoof and Humphrey are on four points apiece. Spoof leads on count back from Robert Coyle in Humphrey.
The RCODs started their first of two races with spinnakers up and sailed down to Pinto on the South of the river before heading back to Redward.
Nick Bacon in Corella took the bullet in this race with Cormorant, Justin Waples, second and Coralie third. The fleet stayed afloat for a second race and again Nick Bacon took the win.
Overall with the discard kicked in Corella leads on 3 points with Cormorant on 6 and Coralie, Sue Law, on 9.
The RBOD fleet seemed to really enjoy the windier conditions. On the gun three were quickly off with kites up and Mandarin with Beryl and Red Jacket tussled at the front of the fleet. Mandarin edged ahead slightly as they set off towards their first mark which was Clarks. Will Dallimore's Mandarin won from Stephen Herring in Red Jacket with Beryl, Simon Hollington third. Red Jacket is leading overall on three points. Mandarin and Beryl both have 5 with Mandarin ahead on count back.
The classic ECODs were the last class off and some were reefed. At the start, two were OCS and returned slowly against the building ebb tide. Wizard had some issues with their kite in the hoist and took down to Fairway 1 to get it set. Number 2, Widgeon, Ian Wilson, stayed up with them for the first part of the leg. By the time they got to the Roach to head for Jubilee, David Smith in Wizard had a long on the water lead and won with Gigi, Celia Wilson second, Widgeon owned by Ian Wilson third and Witch, Paul Jeffries fourth.
Results at www.burnhamweek.com/results-2023