Burnham Week had 'one of the best turnouts for many years'

Robert Leggett and team on ApeX won the Town Cup to mark the end of Burnham Week 2021.

Leggett, sailing with his Haven Ports Yacht Club (YC) team of Jeremy Littlewood, Mark Evans, Catherine Evans, Luke Brett, and Edward Ireson beat Chris Agar and team on Secrets by just more than two minutes on corrected time.

There was plenty of competitive racing and extremely close finishes in many classes.

Owner and skipper of the Town Cup winner ApeX, Robert said: "We are so happy to have won this most prestigious trophy.

"We sailed the boat round from Haven Ports specifically for the Town Cup and also the EAORA Houghton Cup...so as well as the Town Cup we are double delighted to have clinched the Houghton Cup too."

The Commodores Cup for classes 5 and 6 was also close on corrected time with Daryl Mylrole Maxi 1000 Eclipse winning from Richard Moore and Roger Tolhurst in Ophelia.

Boats in the Dragon class enjoyed close racing, with five finishing within 15 seconds of each other.

Ian Gray sailing with Rene Nel and Alex Burnett on Still Crazy took home the Daily Telegraph Cup.

Ian said: "It was a truly fantastic race and will be remembered for many years to come I expect."

In the Squib class Jono Brown and team aboard Squiggle won the trophy race for the Burnham Bowl.

The Royal Burnham and Royal Corinthian One-Designs also enjoyed close racing with Justin Waples and his team of Steve and Lizzie Rands rounding off an excellent week by taking home the Bar YC Trophy.

In the Royal Burnham One-Design class Simon Hollington and team in Beryl won the Lards Cup with a two-minute lead from Will Dallimore and team in Manderin.

The popular Burnham Week Duck Race took place off the Royal Burnham YC earlier in the day, with more than £800 raised for the Essex Air Ambulance.

The duck race

Commodore of the Corinthian Otters who performed the official start of the race with her flag officers, Milly Drew said: "We were pleased to be able to do as much as possible for the Air Ambulance particularly as there was no race last year.

"Everyone who lives in Burnham knows how important the Essex Air Ambulance is because getting to the hospital by road could be slow and uncomfortable."

After the grand Burnham Week prizegiving, competitors joined guests to celebrate the end of the regatta with a fireworks display and the traditional winners’ parade of the Town Cup.

Summing up the week, principal race officer Edwin Buckley said: "It was a tough week in terms of course setting with the persistent northerly making it difficult to establish beats and runs.

"However, it was one of the most competitive events I have been involved in for some years and I think everyone will agree with me that being able to open the doors of Burnham Week once again after a tough year of restrictions was just the sort of tonic we all needed.

"We had one of the best turnouts for many years, and it was a delight to see so many young sailors competing.

"We are very much looking forward to welcoming everyone back again next year… same time, same place."

For a full list of results go to www.burnhamweek.com.

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