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The fleet enjoyed a fantastic week at Abersoch with sunshine
every day and, amazingly for Wales, virtually no rain. South
Caernarvonshire Yacht Club provided an excellent race committee
who set good courses and made some timely decisions to shorten
races just as the sea breeze disappeared. The wind was generally
light apart from Friday, when it picked up to a good force 3-4
and distinctly shifty. Windward tactics were often critical.
On some days one side of the beat definitely paid and on other
days, taking the shifts and staying in the middle seemed to work.
Racing was tight at all levels of the fleet. At the top of the
fleet, there was only one point between the top two boats of
Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne and Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
going into the last race, with the winner of the week undecided
until the last few seconds. Tom & Liz achieved third place
in the final race to equalise points with Graham & Zoe, but
the tie break was broken in favour of Graham & Zoe who had
more wins. Click here for the
overall results and here
for the subsidiary trophies. The Burton Cup was won by Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne,
with Ian & Alex Gore coming second to take the Coronation
Cup for married couples. 
Coronation Cup winners Mr & Mrs Ian Gore In the subsidiary trophies, Rebecca Johnson & Laurence
Walker showed fantastic speed in several races to win the Corrigan
trophy for under 21 helms, with Andy Millar and Chloe Willis
in second place. In the Arrows trophy for new helms to Burton
Week, former i14 helm Richard Tricker & Lindsey Iles were
first with Andy Dale & Clare Pickett close behind. Tim Laws
& Sam Game won the Joe Yorke trophy, coming 7th overall and
Caroline Martin, sailing with Andy Douglas, won the Money Cup
for first lady helm. 
First lady helm Caroline Martin Gavin Willis won the Clinker Trophy for his home-designed
and home-built "F'in Boat", just ahead of Geoff Camm
& Amelia Hall in their home-built Big Issue "Two Fat
Ladies". 
Gavin & Jasmine Willis in Gavin's homebuilt boat The Admirals Cup was won by John & Alison Cheetham in
their single-bottomed Crusader "Rebel". 
Admirals' Cup winners John & Alison Cheetham The Decanter Trophy was presented to Kevan Bloor for his many
services to the class over the years, including certification
officer and organisation of Burton Week. The Burton Brick was
presented to Jimmy Whitehead for attaching his boat to a gate
mark which was being towed by a rescue boat in a bid for increased
speed. Race 1 - Sunday
Race 1 got off in perfect conditions - fantastic force 3, sunny
and slight sea state. The race officer set a 4 lap triangle-sausage
course, full hiking up wind and lovely planing reaches. The conditions
were pretty shifty and getting it right up the first beat was
critical. Steve Adshead was pathfinder which proved helpful for
positioning on the beat helping him get to the windward mark
2nd just behind John Meadowcroft who flew up the first beat.
But the Giffords soon overtook and then held their nerve and
the leading position to the finish despite the Stewart-Ross attacks
from behind.
Race 1 results
1st Anthony & Jo Gifford
2nd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
3rd Bruce & Claire Johnson
4th John & Juliet Brown
5th Ian & Alex Gore
6th John Meadowcroft & Rosie White
John Meadowcroft and Rosie White were first to the windward
mark in most races Race 2 - Monday morning
Well the forecast was pants but following a 2 hour postponement
a fantastic breeze filled in - not sure what or where it came
from but we enjoyed sailing in it anyway. Tim Laws & Sam
Game were pathfinder. Steve Sallis & Jenny James came out
of the middle of the gate start with a nice starboard lift and
pulled out nicely from the pack and led to the windward mark,
Tom Stewart & Liz Ross were hot on their heels. The P course
was brilliant in the force 3 with great waves for surfing on
the first reach and a tight fully hiked second reach. Steve and
Tom were pushing each other hard for the next two laps. The wind
started to go light on the final run and in fact a land breeze
started to take over causing some tricky conditions on the run.
The OOD wisely decided to shorten at the leeward mark and Steve
Sallis & Jenny James took the gun. Ian & Alex Gore were
on the left of the run and picked up a gust which took them over
the top of Tom Stewart & Liz Ross, propelling them into second
place.
Race 2 results
1st Steve Sallis & Jenny James
2nd Ian & Alex Gore
3rd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
4th Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
Second in the Clinker trophy: Geoff Camm & Amelia Hall Race 3 - Monday afternoon
The wind stayed steady but light from the new direction so the
OOD went to attempt the second race of the day. Caroline Martin
& Andy Douglas were pathfinders, the windward leg was very
biased and the pathfinders were almost laying the windward mark.
The Martin-Douglas boat looked well placed on the right hand
side to take the lead to most of the beat but wind filled and
lifted from the left at the final approach and so the left hand
boats got to the mark first. Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
were first with Tom Stewart & Liz Ross hot on their heels.
Camm - Ballantyne stayed ahead for both downwind legs of the
P course and a battle ensued on the next beat. With the first
lap having taken an hour the OOD decided to shorten at the next
windward mark. A tacking duel between Stewart-Ross and Camm-Ballantyne
commenced in the final 200m to the line. With the gusts and shifts
each boat looked a possibility to win, but Stewart-Ross just
pipped Camm-Ballantyne by a few inches.
Race 3 results
1st Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
2nd Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
3rd Tim Laws & Sam Game
4th Antony & Jo Gifford
5th John Meadowcroft & Rosie White
A very tight finish between Tom Stewart and Graham Camm
in race 3 Race 4 - Tuesday - the BURTON CUP
Again- against all odds (if you believed the forecast) a nice
breeze filled in F2-3 in time for a slightly delayed start. Jon
Ibbotson & Lydia Wood were pathfinders and set off on what
looked like a nice port lift. Unfortunately for them the wind
filled and lifted from the left benefiting John Meadowcroft &
Rosie White who rounded the windward mark first (yet again).
They were closely followed by a pack containing Terry & Angela
Cooke, Antony & Jo Gifford, Mike Cooke & Emma Wilkins,
Rebecca Johnson and Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas. Caroline
Martin & Andy Douglas used their lightweight downwind speed
to overhaul Terry & Angela Cooke and take second, however
the Meadowcroft & White team kept their lead for the next
lap.
With some long shifts coming through, the next beat was tricky
for all. The Gores and Giffords made progess through the fleet
closing the gap on Meadowcroft- White to take second and third.
On the third beat the wind was equally shifty and Graham Camm
& Zoe Ballantyne made use of these to climb into the pack
and get into fourth place. By the third windward mark the Giffords
and Gores had climbed into first and second. On the downwind
leg the leading pack went high but both Camm-Ballantyne and the
Cooke-Wilkins teams stuck to the rhumb line and gained. On the
long run to the leeward mark Cooke-Wilkins pulled through into
third closely followed by Camm-Ballantyne. The penultimate beat proved decisive with the wind going light
near the top Camm-Ballantyne pulled through tussling with Cooke-Wilkins
for the lead. On the penultimate reach the Gores picked some
good gusts and waves to close the gap on the leaders. On the
final reach the Gores sailed over Cooke-Wilkins and challenged
the leaders - Camm-Ballantyne. With the wind potentially dying
for the final beat the race officer choose to shorten to 1/3
mile and with the shifty winds Camm-Ballantyne took no chances
and covered the Gores well to take the gun. Race 4 - results
1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
2nd Ian & Alex Gore
3rd Mike Cooke & Emma Wilkins
4th Tim Laws & Sam Game
The Burton Cup fleet Race 5 - Wednesday morning
And yet again the weather gods beamed on us this morning as we
woke to see not a glassy mill pond (as predicted) but a breeze
starting to fill. The OOD scheduled a P course, Rebecca Johnson
& Laurence were pathfinders. The wind started to fill from
the left hand side of the beat favouring the early starters out
of the gate. Tom Stewart & Liz Ross just pipped John Meadowcroft
& Rosie White to the windward mark, closely followed by Chris
Bishop & Pip Jefferies then Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne.
Tom Stewart & Liz Ross held their lead to the leeward mark
of the P course but team Camm-Ballantyne closed the gap, overtaking
team Bishop and team Meadowcroft on the run to take second. On
the second beat team Bishop hit the turbo button, sailing around
all of the holes to take the lead. Places were unchanged on the
next two reaches but the wind started to die on the run and the
race officer decided to shorten at the leeward mark. Team Camm-Ballantyne
and Stewart-Ross both banked the left side of the run which held
the wind long enough for them both to pass team Bishop.
Race 5 results
1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
2nd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
3rd Chris Bishop & Pip Jefferies
Joe Yorke Trophy winners Tim Laws & Sam Game Race 6 - Wednesday afternoon
The wind god had a break for lunch until 2pm and then decided
that rather than have an afternoon nap it would have one last
blow of the day. Gavin & Jasmine Willis were pathfinders
and set off on a port header. Lots of people tried to start early
so there was a bit of carnage on the start. Jon Ibbotson &
Lydia Wood took some fantastic shifts up the middle of the beat
to have a huge lead by the windward mark.With the wind oscillating,
either the left or right hand packs could have taken the lead.
Soon after Jon rounded the top mark, the wind went right which
propelled the boats on the right into the lead, Tom Stewart &
Liz Ross taking second closely followed by the Gores, then team
Camm-Ballantyne then Tim Laws & Sam Game. The next two reaches
were tight offering little opportunity to overtake. Over then
next lap team Ibbotson and Stewart extended their leads. The
wind god gave up at 1530 and the race office had to shorten at
the second gybe mark of the second lap. Team Ibbotson maintained
their comfortable lead to take the gun.
Race 6 results
1st Jon Ibbotson & Lydia Wood
2nd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
3rd Ian & Alex Gore
4th Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
5th John Meadowcroft & Rosie White
The fleet gybing Race 7 - Thursday
As predicted there was a lack of wind first thing, but after
a four hour postponement the sea fog cleared and the wind filled
in. Antony & Jo Gifford were pathfinders and looked good
on the first beat along with the other late starters with Chairman
Nigel May crewed by Hannah looking good for second. The right
hand side of the beat seemed to pay with a bit more wind but
there were also a few shifts in the middle of the beat. Geoff
Camm & Amelia Hall took some good shifts and lined up on
the starboard layline looking good for first but Graham Camm
& Zoe Ballantyne tacked underneath them and just laid the
windward mark before Gavin & Jasmin Willis had chance to
reach in over the top of them. Places changed a little over the
next two laps and the wind died towards the end of the second
lap but Camm-Ballantyne kept the lead.
Race 7 results
1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
2nd Steve Sallis & Jenny James
3rd Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas
4th Antony & Jo Gifford
5th Bruce & Clare Johnson
Arrows winners Richard Tricker & Lindsey Iles Race 8 - Friday, last race and end of the week (we want more
sailing)
There was all to play for on the final race and everyone in the
fleet had people to beat, none more so than Tom Stewart &
Liz Ross who were lying second on Thursday night. They needed
to get 1st or 2nd to win the week and needed Graham Camm &
Zoe Ballantyne to be fourth or worse. Mike Cooke & Emma Wilkins
were pathfinders in a fresh Force 4 Northwesterly breeze. The
wind was surprisingly shifty coming off the land. John Meadowcroft
& Rosie White hit the left hand corner whilst Tom Stewart
& Liz Ross went right. Team Meadowcroft-White yet again were
first round the windward mark closely followed by Tom. They kept
their lead down the reach and for the next beat, with Tom in
second and the Giffords now pressing hard in third. Tom hit the
fourth windward mark and the Giffords overhauled them to take
second. Positions were unchanged down the run, and the Giffords
took the lead at the leeward mark. All three were trying hard
on the final beat, both team Meadowcroft-White and the Giffords
were proving fast upwind so Stewart-Ross took a left hand flyer
in the final 400m, this looked good for them briefly but the
wind came back from the right hand side and the Giffords sped
through to the line to take first closely followed by team Meadowcroft-White,
leaving Tom Stewart & Liz Ross in third, drawing on points
with Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne, the tie being broken on
number of races won in the favour of Graham & Zoe.
Race 8 results
1st Antony & Jo Gifford
2nd John Meadowcroft & Rosie White
3rd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
4th Steve Sallis & Jenny James
New helm Andy Dale with crew Clare Pickett
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