Burnham Week open to all

by Sue Pelling 8 May 2015 13:33 BST 29 August - 5 September 2015

A good breeze is guaranteed to bring out the smiles in the Dragon class at Burnham Week © Roger Mant

Racing is always neck and neck in the competitive Squib class at Burnham Week © Julio Graham

2015 marks start of new era for leading east coast regatta

Exciting changes that include opening up the entry of the Town Cup to all IRC/SER yachts rated 0.890 and above helps to re-establish Burnham Week as one of the prime sailing events on the east coast.

This popular family regatta, which runs from 29 August to 5 September 2015, offers a week of challenging racing and legendary shore-side activities including Bank Holiday Monday Quay Day.

The success of the three-part regatta format, introduced several years ago to give competitors the chance to race one or all three independent sections (first Bank Holiday Weekend series, week series, and final Saturday Trophy Day), was one of the first steps to modernise and encourage more participation at the event. Now the organisers – the Joint Clubs Committee (JCC) – have taken further steps and introduced fresh ideas to account for changing trends.

Breaking with tradition and opening up the entry of the Town Cup on the final Saturday to all yachts rated under IRC/SER instead of the traditional IRC Class 1 yachts, offers more competitors a chance to win the coveted prize. With the finish line set just off the Town Quay, spectators will also have the opportunity to really embrace the excitement of the racing as it unfolds in the closing stages of the race.

One of the organisers' key objectives, to make the event accessible to all comers, triggered the idea to introduce additional features including motorboat, and rowing gig events during the Bank Holiday weekend. In an effort to encourage the growing population of motorboaters on the east coast to join in the Burnham Week fun, special prizes – with results based on predicted logs – will be awarded to motorboat participants. The gig racing, which proved highly popular last year is expected to be even more competitive with at least 18 boats already signed up for the JCC-supported Quay Day racing.

Jo Barker (Chairman JCC) commented: "Valuable competitor feedback over the years has allowed us to constantly make improvements. The changes and interesting additions this year means the event is more 'inclusive' and we hope that this will help to encourage more and more people to get involved in the future."

The regatta action kicks off on the Bank Holiday weekend with racing for all IRC/SER yachts, which includes a chance to win the Commodores Cup on Bank Holiday Monday. There will be races for local handicap cruisers (spinnaker and non-spinnaker), one-designs including Dragons, Squibs, 707s, Royal Corinthian, Royal Burnham, and also several dinghy classes notably Ospreys and Phantoms plus fast and slow dinghy handicap.

The Mid Week Regatta that runs from Tuesday to Friday will see plenty of activity this year particularly with the addition of Hunter 707 class that will contest its national championship (1-4 September). Squibs, Royal Corinthian and Royal Burnham One-Designs will make up the bulk of the other mid-week classes, plus a new format for cruiser/racers, which gives an opportunity to compete under local handicap in two classes, is likely to generate more interest.

The final Saturday is Trophy Day including the prestigious Town Cup. The remainder of classes will race for individual class trophies, all of which will be presented at the prize giving later that evening.

To tie in with the event's fresh, new look, and coincide with the launch of the 2015 regatta a stylish new website has been created. The new site www.burnhamweek.com is designed not only to help simplify the process of entering the regatta, and provide instant updated race results but it also provide a useful information resource for competitors, visitors and press.

About Burnham Week

Burnham Week has been running for over 100 years, which makes it one of the oldest regattas of its type. It is organised by the Joint Clubs Committee known as JCC, which incorporates Burnham's four clubs – Royal Burnham YC, Royal Corinthian YC, Crouch YC, and Burnham SC.

Because the event has always taken place at the end of August, historically it marked the closure of the racing season and, in its heyday years between the late 50s and 70, Burnham Week attracted some of the largest racing boats on the circuit. Many of these ocean racers headed to Burnham for the final regatta of the season after completing the Fastnet Race.

The Town Cup contested by the largest yachts at the regatta on the final Saturday, is one of sailing's most prestigious trophies. It was first presented in 1927 and is awarded on an annual basis by the Town Mayor at the prizegiving ceremony at the Crouch Yacht Club. The winners are obliged to fill the cup, and parade it around the Town. One of the most popular winners, in 1972, was the then Prime Minister, Right Hon. Edward Heath MP and his team aboard Morning Cloud.

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