Burnham Dinghy Easter Regatta at Royal Corinthian Yacht Club 2025
by Petru Balau 23 Apr 05:50 NZST
19-20 April 2025
ILCAs/Lasers sail in front of the RCYC clubhouse - Burnham Dinghy Easter Regatta © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com
Royal Corinthian Yacht Club hosted the 2025 edition of the Burnham Dinghy Easter Regatta, open to sailors from RCYC and the neighbouring clubs, Royal Burnham Yacht Club, Burnham Sailing Club and Creeksea Sailing Club, over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, 19th and 20th of April, 2025.
Eight boats braved the sunny, but windy weather, with the gusts hitting 29kts, on the first day of racing, on a course shared with Squib and RS Elite fleets, making for some interesting mark roundings.
The gusty conditions proved quite challenging for the ILCA 6/Laser Radial fleet, yet seemed perfect for the smaller ILCA 4/Laser 4.7 rigs, with George Hutcheon, sailing on an ILCA 4/Laser 4.7, taking the win, ahead of Stuart Mears and Ally Hall, sailing on a Merlin Rocket.
James Hutton-Penman, ILCA 6/Laser Radial, took third place by only 1 second on corrected time, ahead of Noah Mathers, ILCA 4/Laser 4.7, while Lucie Prior, ILCA 4/Laser 4.7 followed in fifth.
Keith Gilmore and Nick Peel, both on ILCA 6/Laser Radial, after spending quite a considerable amount of time tangled at one of the marks, had to contend with 6th and 7th, while Liam Hannah and Katie Reilly, Enterprise, had to unfortunately retire due to a main sheet breakage.
The excellent performance of the ILCA 4 fleet is even more impressive considering the fleet also participated in the Otter Easter Regatta, earlier in the day.
The second race of the day was shortened considerably, a move highly appreciated by all competitors and was won by James, with George following in second and Stewart and Ally in 3rd, while Noah, Lucie and Nick taking the 4th, 5th and 6th.
The second day of racing saw not only a more manageable weather, but also quite a few changes in the fleet.
Charlie Matthews, fresh from scoring a second place at the Blaze East Coast Championship, joined the racing in his Blaze, while Stewart swapped the Merlin Rocket for an RS200, to be crewed by his daughter, Molly.
The Otters Nathan Flynn and Florence Fisher joined the racing, both sailing in ILCA 6/Laser Radial, in 11-20kts of wind.
As expected, both races were won on the water by Charlie, yet the margin was not quite high enough to win him the races and due to an unfortunate capsize during the second race, pushed him back quite a bit.
The first race of the day was won by James, ahead of Charlie, with Noah taking the 3rd and George the 4th, while Lucie got the 5th, ahead of Nick, Nathan, Florence and the Mears.
The second race of the day and final of the regatta saw the ILCA 4/Laser Radial get the top three positions, with Noah taking the first, George the second and Lucie the third, with James and Nathan ahead of Charlie in 6th, while Nick, Florence and Stewart and Molly took 7th, 8th and 9th.
The very good results achieved by the ILCA 4/Laser Radial fleet are testament to the quality of the youth sailing on the river Crouch, especially the Corinthian Otters organisation.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Class | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 209087 | James Hutton‑Penman | RCYC | 3 | 1 | 1 | ‑4 | 5 |
| 2nd | ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7 | 221322 | George Hutcheon | RCYC | 1 | 2 | ‑4 | 2 | 5 |
| 3rd | ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7 | 189093 | Noah Mathers | BSC | ‑4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 4th | ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7 | 179051 | Lucie Prior | RCYC | ‑5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 5th | MERLIN ROCKET | 3772 | Stewart Mears & Ally Hall | RCYC | 2 | 3 | (DNC) | DNC | 18 |
| 6th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 221487 | Nick Peel | BSC
RCYC | ‑7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
| 7th | BLAZE | 834 | Charlie Matthews | RCYC | (DNC) | DNC | 2 | 6 | 21 |
| 8th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 209957 | Nathan Flynn | RCYC | (DNC) | DNC | 7 | 5 | 25 |
| 9th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 189090 | Florence Fisher | RCYC | (DNC) | DNC | 8 | 8 | 29 |
| 10th | RS200 | 879 | Stewart Mears | RCYC | (DNC) | DNC | 9 | 9 | 31 |
| 11th | ILCA 6 / Laser Radial | 211921 | Keith Gilmore | RCYC | 6 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 32 |
| 12th | ENTERPRISE | 21438 | Liam Hanna & Katie Reilly | BSC | RET | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 35 |