Burghfield Sailing Club Wednesday Evening Series - Update

by Jeremy Carey 17 Jun 2011 19:20 BST

Halfway point and 515 boats raced so far!

We are now at the halfway point of the hugely popular Burghfield Personal Handicap Pursuit Wednesday Evening Series, with nine of eighteen races completed and 515 boats having entered, it must be one of the biggest long running race series in the country. The secret of success has to be the great format - personal handicap - encouraging experienced racers, novices, youth and adult alike onto the water. Well that and the great food and social gathering afterward in the clubhouse! Rain or shine, wind or mirror, nothing seems to stop club members from wanting to pit their skills against each other every Week. Personal challenge goes beyond just winning one to the races- with personal handicapping it can come down to the pride of how high you can get you handicap or even how low! Can you catch the Oppies in a fading breeze from 30mins behind or just pip the sailor who got in front of you last week, will the course favour you this week? Whatever the challenge-one thing is for certain- everybody is enjoying the occasion and keep coming back for more!

So what are the statistics so far?

• 515 - The total number of entries across all races so far
• 168 - The number of entrants who have completed at least one race
• 9 - number of different people who have won a race (yep- a different race winner every week due to personal handicapping)
• 66 - The number of different entrants who have finished in the top ten over the 9 races so far
• 48 - lowest individual race attendance so far (must have been raining hard that day!)
• 67 - Highest individual race attendance so far (please sympathize with the race officer who has to record the finishers!)
• 57 - average weekly attendance to date

And now for the handicap!

• Current Lowest personal handicap -8 minutes on their class start time
• Current Highest personal handicap +8 minutes on their start time!
• The record handicaps for the last 7 years stand at lowest -11.5minutes and Highest at +9.5 minutes, can these be beaten this year- we'll just have to find out!

But forget about the statistics - they are after all just numbers bouncing around the internet. The comradeship and sense of fair play is what makes it all so special- having that chat with the person alongside on the run - suggesting to a less experienced sailor how they can go better upwind as you pass. The racing is run by the racers, everyone who enters does a duty to help run the event, receives average points for doing that duty, and knows that there will be someone doing the same for them the following week.

What more can I say?

Well... ROLL ON NEXT WEDNESDAY I think!