Forecasts for the week had been varied with most claiming wind to start with and then dropping off by the Tuesday. Some, may have wished in earnest for this to be true, for as the club awoke on Monday morning it was clear that this was not going to be a light wind Burton Cup. In fact, it turned out to be the windiest day of the championship , which in some ways is a blessing as it means the 13mile course can be completed quickly although also meant it was more than likely it was going to stretch and test people’s fitness and boat handling.
As the Fleet left the sheltered estuary from where they had launched and headed out into the relatively shallow waters of the racing area, the wave pitch increased and the wind rose to a steady F4-5. As the fleet hung around the start line waiting for the final marks to be laid, a few took the tough, though perhaps wise, decision to head for home rather than risk damage to themselves or their boats.
With the course set, the start was but a couple of minutes late, and with no black flag to intimidate, the fleet crossed the start line on the first attempt, though the individual recall was raised for some slightly over enthusiastic people keen to get on their way.
First boats hit the windward mark (1mile distant) in approximately 12mins, with Tom Stewart leading the pack and Will Warren in second, Jon Ibbotson, Graham Camm and John Meadowcroft close on their heels. The Mark was in reasonably sheltered waters and all the fleet was getting safely through though, Timn Gatti was knocked down early on the beat and was struggling to catch up, having filled is vintage boat to the brim and wishing he had brought a bigger bucket with him!
As the fleet came across the top reach, Gavin Willis was the first to suffer a capsize as he got caught by an errant wave in the breeze. The gybe mark was a different matter, set in slightly deeper water and more open to the prevailing wind and tide, it became a mortuary for many on the first lap as it caught the unwary out with confused seas and bigger waves. As the number of capsizes escalated in direction proportion to finding a route through the carnage, it was those to took the wider safer line to survived more easily to continue on the next reach. 
As the boats picked themselves up off the water and headed down the next leg , looking back it was possible to see Jonathan Reubin in 443 (built in 1939!) largely submerged on the first reach. Suffering rudder pintle failure, he fell over, and on righting the boat punctured a buoyancy bag with the errant rudder- and so , rather prematurely ending his Burton Cup attempt.
As the race went on there were various further retirements, some for gear failure and some to physical tiredness. Meanwhile back on the course the laps were of the course were being rapidly reduced as the leading boats screamed round the course making headway on catching the tail end racers. A battle was, as usual, raging for places slightly down the leader board though Tom had once again eaked out a safe lead from Steve Sallis who in turn was leading Will Warren. John Meadowcroft was working hard to hold his 4th place from Jon Ibbotson and Graham Camm and though he was doing it well, an errant gybe on the final lap dropping him in the water left him trying to catch up again with too little distance remaining. Further down the fleet,as you would expect, individual battles were happening on all legs of the course with personal victories being recorded on many occasions.
After a somewhat fast (2hours for the leaders) 123 mile race the finishers were coming through the line having made the final beat to the windward finishing line. Tom Stewart once again took the bullet for the special event with Steve Sallis 2nd, William Warren 3rd, Jon Ibbotson 4th. Of the non- foiled boats, Jon & Juliet Brown made it across the line first in 9th place, Anthony & Jo Gifford (3348) first in the AC fleet (15th) and day visitors Vince & Fiona Philips(2531) leading the Vintage fleet by coming in 30th.
Sir William Burton Cup results 2011
