Following a rain filled and windy day, Wednesday evening defied the odds and sailors enjoyed a light but constant breeze and sunshine as they raced in the third of the Ferryman Insurance evening series from the Burnham Sailing Club. No RS Elites came to the line this week but the other classes all started. Boats were sent up to Cliff with a circuit around Land's End and then back to fairway 7 & 9 and the finish line. In the 707s Baby Beluga aiming to catch Racehorse by the ultimate mark by working a different shore and the freer breeze had her hopes dashed as the course was shortened for all classes. Zipper had to put in an extra tack for the line which cost her a bit of time and she was around 25 seconds behind Cheetah of Burnham on corrected time. Chorus Line ran hard aground just at the finish line which ended her chances of a win and she eventually got of around 20 minutes later.
On Sunday it was the long distance race from the Crouch Yacht Club, also race three of their Spring series. Six boats made the start line and Zipper was bang on the line and up to windward, with Encore and Double Trouble just to leeward. At the first mark, No3, the boats were in rating order. Zipper managed to get through one boat on the run back up to Creeksea but Double Trouble began to pull away from the rest of the fleet and with the tide gates as well, managed to increase her lead enough to save her time on the others. Because of the wind direction (in the Southern sector) and the low tide, the boats were sent up river as far as Short Pole Reach, with a few circuits around Cliff and No 13 in an effort to keep some windward work in the course, and the longer keeled boats out of trouble. There was much to be done by the crews on the short legs and at some stages the wind died down. However, there was enough to keep the boats out for around four hours with the course being shortened on the last leg down to Horse Shoal Reach. Zipper managed all her manoeuvres successfully and flew a kite as the wind freed on the last leg up to Cliff which gave her an extra margin on her nearest rival Harvest Moon. The final result was Duncan Haley in Double Trouble well ahead finishing three and a half minutes in front of Russ Smith in Zipper on corrected time with Nick Poole in Gambit a minute and 20 seconds later. Paul Drew in Harvest Moon still leads the series, with no discards taken in to account so far.
The Dragons and Squibs were also sent up to Canewdon on Sunday and there was a tight tussle amongst the Squibs who were out in force with 9 starters. In the end Robert Coyle in Humphrey rounded off a successful weekend with a first on both days. Ian Gray also had a successful week winning on Wednesday in Cheetach of Burnham and then a first on Saturday in Scorpio his Dragon and third on Sunday.
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The HDRC boats have started their Tuesday series at their summer venue in Southminster. Eleven entrants enjoyed 9 races in the evening sunshine. Pete Hutchings put in an excellent performance counting four wins and two seconds. He was on 12 points with John Torrance second on 18. Geoff Gritton was third on 22 and Ian Milton wasn't far behind on 25.
l Handicap starters:
1 Ben Harden Laser 4.7 2 Gemma Ball Laser 4.7 3 Chris Hardy Feva
Toppers 8 starters: 1 Robbie Hooper 2 Isabel Turbin 3 Jack Saunders
Optimists 8 starters: 1 Jake Braybrook 2 Chay Taylor 3 Jamie Aldridge
Sports Boats 5 starters: 1 Racehorse R Bavin 2 Baby Beluga J Lewis 3 Joe Blob J Saunders/R Taylor/G Walker
Class 1 2 starters: Quencher R Noble 2 Eclipse C Cherry
Class 2 1 Cheetah of Burnahm H Croker 2 Zipper R Smtih 3 Shallot S Kaczor
Class 3 4 starters: 1 Stiletto C Petrie2 Adarin M Bradley 3 Chorus Line A Heel
Squibs 4 starters 1 Lady Penelope M Hutchings 2 Spoof S Griffin 3 Trophobalst C Goodfellow
l Saturday RBYC start line:
Dragons 8 starters: 1 Scorpio I Gray 2 Valanga T Wade 3 Flame Again D Hall
RS Elites 4 starters: 1 Oink Squeal D Wood 2 Aeolus D Brown 3 No Riff Raff D Warren/G Trench
Squibs: 10 starters: 1 Humphrey R Coyle 2 Lady Penelope M Hutchings 3 Trophoblast C Goodfellow
Hunter 707 1 starters: Pocket Battleship A Prestwich
RBOD 3 starters: 1 Annette T Chambers 2 Mandarin W&B Dallimore 3 Belinda J&P Blakesley
RCODs 2 starters: 1 Corinna R Melville 2 Coram W Wallis
l Sunday RCYC start line:
Dragons 6 starters: 1 Avalanche M&M Wade 2 Tsunami N Cole 3 Scorpio I Gray
Squibs 9 starters: 1 Humphrey R Coyle 2 Electra E Buckley 3 Spoof S Griffin
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