Burton week

Full results - Subsidiary Trophy results - photos on Fotoboat - Fancy dress photos

The practise race

The dinghy park was frantic with last minute measuring, adjustments and general preparations for the week. There are a number of new faces and boats and some recently renovated. Dare Barry has brought his latest Pudding, the practise race was the third time the boat had hit the water. The latest Pudding has higher freeboard for more leg room and a modified bounyancy layout. Jo Richards is sailing his original Bouncer design N2993 which he has modified to add a double floor, widen the decks at the stern and controversially removed the dagger board. Bouncer looked fast in the practise race, watch out for some top results during the week.

A nice force 3 greeted the fleet for the practise race and the rain mostly held off until we'd finished. A port biased line meant there was a scramble for that end. Tom Stewart was hot off the blocks and lead for one lap until his jib sheath exploded on the mast. This let Graham & Zoe past but the Giffords were also in the wings. The pack behind included Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas, Jon Ibboston & Charlotte Stewart, Jo Richards, Fran Gifford & Sophie Mackley and team Perkis - lots ofl contenders for the top slots during the week.

Weather not looking great for Sunday but at least we're not at work!

Race 1 - Sunday

Hooray - no rain! We've had sunshine (between the clouds) and just about enough wind.

The wind started from the North but 30 minutes before the start a weak sea breeze emerged from the opposite direction and battled with the gradient wind. After an hour the sea breeze was victorious and the race office attempted to start in a South Easterly force 1-2.

The fleet were very badly behaved but the race officer was very tolerant. As a result the fleet had 4 attempts at the start and the race office kept the black flag at bay. On the final attempt few enough
people were over that the race officer could call them all and the rest of the fleet got away.

Gavin & Sabrina Willis had the best start at the port end of the line and managed to tack on to port very quickly to take an immediate large lead. There were some radically different tactics applied to the first beat. The Willises led a pack going right towards the shore whilst a second pack led by Frances Gifford & Sophie Mackley headed left out to sea. Tom Stewart & Liz Ross battled with Frances & Sophie and also Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne to get to the left hand side. In the end the left paid
with a little more breeze and a bigger port lift into the windward mark.

Graham & Zoe just crossed Tom & Liz's bow on the final approach to the mark to take the lead. They battled for the next 2 laps but Graham & Zoe managed to stay ahead to the finish.

1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
2nd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
3rd Kerry Harris
4th Steve Norbury & Andy Hill
5th Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas

Race 2 - Monday

The day dawned bright and sunny with a light northerly breeze . The race officer sent the fleet out early rather than waiting for a confirmed sea breeze which proved to be a good decision. As the fleet
sailed out the sea breeze started to take hold and the wind veered to north easterly.

Unlike race 1, the fleet were well behaved and the start got away cleanly first time. There was a difference of opinion within the fleet as to which side would pay. There was a bunch of boats at both the committee boat end and the pin end with few in the middle of the line. The left side looked good initially and Rosie White & Clare Hunter took an early lead. Tom Stewart & Liz Ross went out right along with Jo Richards & Holly. On the second half of the beat the wind started to vapourise and a big hole developed on the left. The right now looked better. A big band of sea breeze could be seen hovering just above the starboard lay line. First into that breeze were Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne closely followed by Tom & Liz. Graham & Zoe covered Tom & Liz as they searched for the wind and rounded in the lead.

Having succesfully negotiated the holes in the wind the next challenge was to find the wing mark, of which there were a number to choose from with two other championships being held in the bay. Graham & Zoe set off in the general direction of a reach and finally spotted the wing mark half way down the leg. For the next four laps Tom & Liz were hot on the heels of Graham & Zoe and as the wind filled in on the runs they got within 6 boat lengths. On the heels of Tom & Liz were Jo & Holly in Bouncer who were going very well down wind.

With the shifty breeze Graham & Zoe kept a tight cover on Tom & Liz during the next four beats. The wind picked up to a good force 3 on the final lap. Tom & Liz picked up the pace but couldn't break the tight cover.

1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
2nd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
3rd Jo Richards & Holly
4th John & Katy Meadowcroft

Race 3 - The Burton Cup

The forecast was for a force 2/3 from the north east. The day started very sunny but little sign of a sea breeze developing. The race officer thought the sea breeze might not kick in so knowing how long the Burton cup can take, he made an early choice to get on the water and make the most of the wind
available.

The fleet were clearly excited by the Burton cup and needed three attempts at the start with the round the end flag coming out for start two and the black flag bringing the fleet into order for the third attempt. The wind was indeed from the north east and very shifty.

Jon Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart looked good on the middle-left of the beat whilst the Meadowcrofts and Giffords looked good middle-right. Places swapped continuously as the fleet made their way up the 1 mile first leg. It wasn't until the final hundred metres that a leader became evident as the wind
favoured one side then the other. It was Jon & Charlotte who rounded first followed by the Pellings, Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas and the Meadowcrofts. The reaches were long and hard to overtake on, so no places changed until the following beat.

On beat number 2 the Pellings found some nice shifts to take the lead and Tom Stewart & Liz Ross fought their way up to 4th place by the second windward mark. Again no place changing on the next two reaches, but the wind filled from behind so the fleet bunched up.

The wind had swung round for beat 3 so the sailors needed to quickly re-establish their bearings. The Pellings had clearly got the hang of the conditions and stretched out their lead. The Meadowcrofts looked to the right hand side in an attempt to keep their second place but Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne took advantage of some better shifts in the middle to pull through into second. Again no places changed on the reaches.

There was little place changing on lap 4 as the wind seemed to have stabilised a bit but a few boats gained lots by testing the corners of the beat, in particularly John & Mandy Thornton who had joined for the day.

The start of the final beat provided some tense racing. Graham & Zoe caught up to within a boat length of the Pellings and a tacking battle ensued. The Pellings were unwilling to budge an inch and covered very tightly until Graham & Zoe had to back off, in an attempt to stop the pack behind who were being led by Tom & Liz from overtaking. Having consolidated their position on the pack Graham & Zoe had another attempt to overtake but again the Pellings fought it off successfully. After recuperating Graham & Zoe put in one final attempt but to no avail, the Pellings crossed the line several boat lengths ahead to claim the Burton Cup. Graham & Zoe took second with John & Mandy Thornton popping out the right hand side of the beat to steal third from Tom & Liz.

1st Paul & Guy Pelling
2nd Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
3rd John & Mandy Thornton
4th Tom Stewart & Liz Ross

Race 4 - Wednesday

The forecast was for another toasty day with beaming sunshine - yippee! Unfortunately the wind forecast was not so good, 5 knots from the north east and little prospect of a sea breeze as a result. The strongest wind of the day was forecast for around lunch time so the race officer postponed for an hour, which gave the fleet time to recover from the championship dinner the night before.

When the fleet got to the starting area there was indeed an nice stable breeze from the north east. After just one start and the raising of the round the ends flag the fleet behaved and got away cleanly. Antony & Jo Gifford looked good playing the shifts up the right of the beat. Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas were looking good on the left of the beat. Tom Stewart & Liz Ross popped out of the right hand side into the top pack in the final quarter of the beat. But in the end it was Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne who made it into the lead at the windward mark having made use of the shifts up the middle. A close bunch followed round the windward mark led by Jo Richards & Holly Scott,including

Antony & Jo Gifford, Tom Stewart & Liz Ross, Paul & Guy Pelling and Caroline Martin & Andy Douglas.There were 3 yellow buoys in the bay to choose for the gybe mark and the fleet struggled to decide which one to go for. Eventually the other gybe marks were moved by the other race teams operating in the bay leaving one for the 12s clearly indicated.

With a tight pack the run of the P course proved challenging, not helped by the light winds and the tide. Jo & Holly kept their second place, whilst Tom & Liz pulled through into third playing the left of the run in slightly more breeze.

Jo & Holly kept Tom & Liz behind for the next two laps, but on the third beat Tom & Liz pulled through on a series of good shifts on the approach to the windward mark. Tom & Liz pressed on in an attempt to catch Graham & Zoe. Big holes were developing across the race course as the wind died (as forecast) giving Tom & Liz some opportunities to catch up. Graham & Zoe however kept their lead to take the race

1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
2nd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
3rd Jo Richards & Holly Scott
4th Paul & Guy Pelling
5th Antony & Jo Gifford

Race 5 - Thursday

There are a number of requests for redress as a result of the wind in race 5 so anything could happen with the individual results or the race could be abandoned.

In summary, a weak front was expected this morning. At around 09:30am it looked like the front was passing over. The race officer wisely decided to postpone until the wind had filled in fully. A nice force 3 filled the bay at around 11am and the fleet launched.

The wind shifted hard left half way up the first beat favouring those who had kept left. Leading this pack were Frances Gifford & Sophie Mackley with brother Antony just behind. Fran & Sophie rounded the windward mark first with Antony & J just behind. Close on their tails were Jon Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart with Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne trying to overtake on the reach. All was fine on this lap but on the next beat things went a bit random. In summary it paid to go left or right but avoid the middle. Fran & Sophie went hard right, a bold move which initially looked risky, but in the end it paid off as they kept their lead at the second windward mark rounding. They were closely followed by Antony & Jo. John & Katy Meadowcroft led the pack going left. The left going pack looked really good early on and then somehow managed to consolidate their gains when the fleet joined back up with those coming with a huge lift from the right. Meanwhile those who went up the middle playing the shifts suffered.

The third beat was similarly variable as lots of rain clouds appeared and the bulk of the front passed over. As the leaders approached the windward mark the wind started to disappear leaving the fleet slogging away against a little chop. The next reach was very light as the wind vapourised. The fleet bunched at the gybe mark as a little wind filled from behind. Antony & Jo just managed to squeeze in front of Fran & Sophie at the mark. There was a small band of wind filling from the other side of the bay and the bulk of the fleet headed on a tight reach in order to get ot the wind, sailing about 20 degrees above the leeward mark whilst a few decided to stick to the rhumb line hoping the wind might fill from behind. In the end the wind filled from both behind and from the left in zephyr style streaks. The race officer decided to shorten at the leeward mark and the whole fleet crossed the downwind finish line within a few minutes of each other.

Positions were mixed up a little during the flat calm and subsequent return of the breeze hence a redress hearing going on at 1900 this evening.

The result of last night's hearing in the request for redress for race 5 was that the result of the race stood. The results of race 5 were therefore:

1st Fran Gifford & Sophie Mackley
2nd Jon Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart
3rd Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
4th Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
5th Jon & Juliet Brown

Race 6 - Friday
The forecast was for a south westerly breeze of around 10 knots with a warm front passing over the race course mid day bringing grim weather. Luckily for the 12 fleet the breeze arrived after an hour postponement and the warm front stayed away meaning the fleet had a cracking sail in beaming sunshine.

The race officer decided to make full use of the solid breeze and set 3 laps of course A, meaning we would do three sets of triangle and sausages (7 beats in all). The wind was moving through some big swings so judging which end of the line to start was a challenge. In the end the pin end paid. Antony & Jo Gifford looked good starting at the pin end and crossed the fleet on port early on, following the port lift in the middle of the beat. Jon Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart also looked good being more left than the Giffords. Tom Stewart & Liz Ross started at the committee boat end but sailed fast and pointed high to pull up to the top pack by the end of the beat. In the end staying left paid off and Bruce & Clare Johnson rounded the windward mark first.

There was a lot of luffing on the first reach and Tom & Liz overhauled the pack to take the lead which they were then never in any danger of losing. Antony & Jo pulled through into second and despite the fleet having six more beats to catch up they were never under any threat. More place changing happened lower down the fleet. Long marginal planing reaches and shifts, swings and holes in the wind on the beat enabled much overtaking. Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne worked their way up the fleet to take third by the finish. With Jon & Char and the Meadowcrofts close behind.

1st Tom Stewart & Liz Ross
2nd Antony & Jo Gifford
3rd Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne
4th Jon Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart
5th John & Katy Meadowcroft.

Full results - Subsidiary Trophy results - photos on Fotoboat - Fancy dress photos