The Burton week fleet arrived in Teignmouth to be greeted by strong
winds and driving rain. Conditions were perfect for discussing sailing
in the Race office (the Saturday coaching session was blown off). Sunday
dawned with a perfect F4 breeze with the occasional F5 gust, there were
some nice waves providing good surfing, a few wobbly gybes and two great
races.
Sunday - The fleet were eager in race 1, so eager
the first start was recalled and the black flag shown for the second
attempt. Richard Williams & Lindsay Iles showed their usual Burton week
form and dominated the whole of the race taking a clear victory. Jon
Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart looked good in second pursued by both Kevin
Iles & Jane Wade and Steve Norbury & Andy Hill in their newly launched
Feeling Foolish sporting Selden rig. Two fast reaches saw Graham Camm &
Zoe Ballantyne catch up. On the final lap Jono & Char had a luffing
match with Kevin & Jane, a gust filled from behind allowing Graham & Zoe
to capture second.
The black flag appeared immediately in Race 2 and kept the fleet well
behaved. The fleet split sides with top contenders heading in packs both
left and right. In the end left paid with Kevin & Jane lifted up to the
mark on the port lay line. Team Selden were second hotly pursued by
Graham & Zoe and Jono & Char. Graham & Zoe went high on the reach to
become neck and neck with team Selden at the gybe. A wobble at the gybe
saw team Selden capsize leaving the fight between Graham & Zoe and Kevin
& Jane. Graham & Zoe kept the lead.
The weather on Monday was as bad as the forecasts predicted and racing
was cancelled. Fortunately Mike Shallow brought a barrel of beer so the
fleet has a good evening to look forwards to (sponsored by the Canon
Brewery).
Monday - Too breezy
Tuesday - brought on a good breeze, windier than
Sunday in the gusts but some sunshine with it (interspersed with large
downpours). The first race of the day was abandoned almost at the finish
due to some confusion with the course. For the re-sail the start line
had a little port bias, but 3 minutes after the start the wind went
really hard left as a band filled from the port side. Jono & Char were
first to tack into this and were lifted all the way to the windward
mark, but the wind just kept going left and the boats further to port
kept gaining with Kevin & Jane, Rich & Lindsay and Antony & Jo powering
through. Rich & Lindsay rounded first and held the lead to the finish.
The fleet looked a little tired for race 2 (having essentially sailed 2
races in a force 5 - gusting 6 already). The start line was more even
this time but Kevin & Jane got a flying start and were able to tack
across the fleet after 2 minutes. The windward mark was tucked under the
cliffs so unsurprisingly the wind went light and shifty on the approach
to the mark. Graham & Zoe picked up some good shifts in the middle, Rich
& Lindsay continued with speed on left whilst Tim Laws & Charlie
dominated the right hand side. When the all came together at the mark it
was Rich & Lindsay first, then Tim & Charlie closely followed by Graham
& Zoe. The wind filled from behind on the reach and boats planned to
windward and leeward of the leaders. Antony & Jo took a good inside
track to sail into second whilst Graham & Zoe kept high and took first.
The first run was pretty wild and there was much conservative sailing.
The top places were unchanged on the second beat the crucial moment
turned out to be at the second windward mark, Graham & Zoe were caught
in a big gust and couldn't bear away letting Antony & Jo inside. Graham
& Zoe pursued on the next run and reach and got within feet but Antony &
Jo covered hard on the final beat so they kept the lead. Rich & Lindsay
sailed very fast up the final beat to take second by a whisker.
Wednesday - The Burton day dawned breezy again!
The line was port biased but relatively short and the beat was port
biased. The wind shifted left shortly after the start and stayed left.
Rich & Lindsay hit the port lay line early and rounded the windward mark
first closely followed by John & Katy Meadowcroft then Graham & Zoe. The
Meadowcrofts made use of their wings and overhauled Rich & Lindsay on
the first reach and Graham & Zoe got past Rich & Lindsay on the second
broader reach. Rich & Lindsay took back second on the second beat but
Graham & Zoe claimed the position back on the second set of reaches.
The wind continued to got left during the third lap. The Meadowcrofts
kept their lead up the third beat but Graham & Zoe closed the gap on the
reaches. The second reach became a run and Graham & Zoe just managed to
surf into lead at the leeward mark. The Meadowcrofts put in a solid
third beat and reclaimed the lead by the middle of the beat..
The wind continued to track left for the final lap making the first
reach now very tight. The lighter weights needed the outhaul and
cunningham on! The Meadowcrofts extended their lead on the tight reach
into a solid lead. To reduce the risk of a disaster they tacked around
the final gybe mark. Graham & Zoe attacked Rich & Lindsay on the final
reach which had now become a run. Graham & Zoe just managed to get ahead
by the leeward mark but Rich & Lindsay showed superior upwind speed and
claimed second place by a boat length. The Meadowcrofts claimed a solid
10 boat length victory to win both the prestigious Burton Cup and the
Coronation cup for married couples. They really got their new Paradigm
going in this race. Congratulations guys!
Three vintage boats took to the water, we think at least 2 finished.
Commendations go to Richard White in Mr Jones, Paul Turner sailing with
Antony Copsey and Tim Gatti.
Thursday brought sunny conditions for the first
time in the week and a nice force 3 but with the sea breeze fighting the
gradient breeze. The first race of the day saw a very starboard biased
line and a tight pack at the committee boat end. However in the final
seconds of the start the sea breeze came back and the wind went hard
left. Bruce & Rebecca Johnson tacked onto port at the very port end of
the line and pointed directly at the windward mark. Matt & Joe Stiles
were right with them. The Johnsons rounded the windward mark first with
the Stiles close behind. The Meadowcrofts started in the middle of the
line and played the shifts well to get a reasonable position at the
windward mark but then showed fantastic downwind speed to take third by
the leeward mark. The wind behaved for the next lap and the Johnsons
protected their position well to claim their first trophy of the week.
The Stiles took third and the Meadowcrofts third.
The wind settled for the second race. The line had a slight starboard
biased and again the committee boat end was packed. The wind lifted off
the line as the fleet started. The Meadowcrofts tacked and ducked some
transoms on the start to head right and pop out first at the windward
mark closely followed by Jon Ibbotson and Char Stewart. Graham & Zoe
showed some good down wind surfing skills to catch up and take the lead
by the leeward mark. The wind continued to swing right making the beat
starboard biased. Graham & Zoe protected their position well to keep the
lead. Jono & Char took second and the Meadowcrofts third.
Final day - The forecast for Friday was light
winds, the actual turned out to be F5 with the occasional F6 gust coming
off the land from the North West bringing some big swings. Fortunately
the sun was out making it wild but perfect sailing conditions.
In race 1, Stevie Sallis & Sam Childs looked good initially but binned
it in on the first gybe. The Meadowcrofts were looking good for a top
spot but lost their forestay up the second beat. The Giffords took first
for a lap until the final gybe when they too took a dip letting Graham &
Zoe nip in to claim the lead and their third win of the series. Steve
Norbury & Andy Hill showed fantastic downwind speed to take second place
followed by a very close race between Kevin & Jane and Jono & Char who
finished in that order. The series contenders Rich & Lindsay finished
5th meaning that in the final race they needed to beat Graham & Zoe by 5
points to claim the series but also needed to keep Jono & Char at bay.
The wind stayed up for the final race of the series. The line was port
biased until the final minute when it shifted massively right. Steve
Sallis & Sam Childs again looked good taking an early lead, this time
they kept it upright for the gybe and extended their lead. Kevin & Jane
and Jono & Char fought it out with John Meadowcroft & Rosie White (in a
new boat) for second. Rich & Lindsay took a dip to windward on the first
gybe loosing valuable places to Graham & Zoe who then kept ahead
protecting the series. Jono & Char claimed second which we think was
enough to take second in the series (full results to follow) with Kevin
& Jane taking third.
Vintage performances (reported by Paul Turner)
N2399 – Richard White crewed by Lesley Iles only got 200 yards off
the beach before realising that the rudder was far too small, capsized,
and sadly retired.
N2255 – Tim Gatti crewed by Seb sailed well all week in his beautiful
Mk12; and didn’t disgrace the old yots!
N202 – Paul Turner and Anthony Copsey in the original Starfish – the
boat hadn’t been raced in 40 years and only been on the water once for
her re-launch at TVSC a week before. The 1962 boat is as about original
as you can get except for the (awful!) 1969 Bruce Banks sails! Paul only
made it 100 yard off the beach before capsizing – a misunderstanding
between helm and crew! But we bailed and started the race – and
finished, albeit 1+ hour after everyone else (well Gattiman was only
about ½ mile ahead of us). Very grateful to the large reception
committee/beach party for helping two very tired people + yot off the
water; and thank you to Anthony for being such a good sport!
Results
