Bourne End Week Regatta at Upper Thames Sailing Club
by Roy Burnham 2 Jun 2008 22:17 BST
24-27 May 2008
The annual Bourne End week regatta took place on the River Thames at Bourne End over the May Bank Holiday weekend. This year the weather was anything but kind, and Race Officer Bruce James had to contend with cancellation of 2 races because of safety concerns due to the strong easterly winds followed by the frustration of an almost windless day during which the competitors had to battle with the strong stream following the heavy weekend rain. All of this when the north of the country was enjoying sunshine!
However the weather did not deter the competitors in the A Rater, Wayfarer, OK ,Merlin Rocket and Handicap fleets from enjoying very competitive racing in the testing conditions. The sight of 6 upturned A Raters plus 4 Wayfarers scattered across the Thames was something which the spectators will not forget in a hurry. The A Rater Championship report will feature separately. For the dinghies, the 8 race series was shortened to 6 due to the weather.
The OK fleet was dominated throughout by Tom Pearce who had flown in from Australia to compete. He also won the Silver Jubilee Championship Trophy for the best overall performance of the week. UTSC Cadet Alex Hobern came a very creditable third in the fleet of 10 boats and he will surely be featuring on the OK Open circuit in the coming season.
The 10 strong Wayfarer fleet was won by Paul and Liz Spencer from WOSC, and the Merlin Rocket series was won by Jeremy Deacon and Joanne Phillips from neighbouring club Cookham Reach. The Handicap fleet was won by UTSC sailors Simon and Jemma Davis in their RS 200.
The social side of the week including the famous Cocktail Party and including a Curry Night, a video-disco and a Mexican evening were all well supported as usual. Camping in Sin City was crowded and rather damper than most would have liked, but despite the conditions a good time was had by all!
We look forward to welcoming the A Rater fleet from Thames again next year as well as dinghy sailors from other clubs to experience one of the Y&Y Top 50 “events to do before you die” .
Overall Results:
OKs
1st Tom Pearce
2nd Garth Thompson
3rd Alex Hobern
Wayfarers
1st Paul and Liz Spencer
2nd Phil and Sam Preston
3rd Alan and Karen Goodrum
Merlins
1st Jeremy Deacon and Joanne Phillips
2nd Chris and Liz Chacksfield
3rd Alan Markham and Jon Preston
Handicap
1st Simon and Jemma Davis, RS200
2nd Mark Whitfield, Laser
3rd Adrian Hart, Laser 2000