707 East Coast Championships at Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham
by Sophie Mackley 5 May 2005 09:36 BST
Sunshine and light winds at the Hunter 707 East Coast championships © Paul Noonan
Four perfect bullets for Pocket Battleship see them crowned Hunter 707 East Coast champions for the second year in a row.
Hosted by the Royal Corinthian YC in Burnham over the May bank holiday weekend five boats made the trip from Hamble to join the growing local fleet and all enjoyed a weekend of testing conditions, glorious sunshine and some very sticky mud.
Pocket Battleship (PB) set the tone by leading from the front in the first race whilst lots of the fleet piled up at (and on) the committee boat. But this is Burnham and coming off the line last is no reason to think you can’t get to the front after a couple of legs. As Emu proved, having extricated themselves from the mêlée and an anchor chain, rounding the windward mark last they stayed out of trouble while second to last places ran down against the shore with everything up for grabs. PB maintained their lead throughout to finish infront of local boats Emu Excursion and Baby Beluga, then Beaver Hunter and Doh!
Race two was sailed in a light sea breeze and an overexcited fleet were recalled but got away cleanly second time around. Short tacking up the shore and running with the tide was the order of the day on a windward leeward course. PB again showed the fleet a clean pair of heels and were never touched. Trojan managed to get past Baby Beluga to take second, with Emu in fourth and Racehorse fifth.
Sunday dawned sunny and still, and after a short delay race three was underway with a course around the cans. Swordfish, Doh and Trojan resorted for the ‘get out of jail free’ card by skimming the mud on the south bank, as the rest, led by PB, hugged the north side. These three looked good until a considerable windshift and the fleet came together in a pretty similar order. At the finish it was PB, Cacciatore, Emu, Marlin and Baby Beluga
Race four was a windward leeward and place changing in the pack kept everyone on the toes trying to not to get sailed out of the line of breeze on the run. Oh yes, and PB won having led all the way round. Trojan finished second from Racehorse, Marlin and Baby Beluga.
The final day of racing with more sun, light winds, and new faces at the front. Windward lewards again and off the start Emu and Beaver Hunter led the fleet from start to finish with Trojan working their way through the fleet to finish third infront of Marlin and Doh!.
Aquaholics led Trojan and PB up the east bank of the Roach for the last race. But the lack of wind at the mark saw the race abandoned and a wait for the sea breeze to fill in, which it did. A shift right after the start favoured the boats going left and Emu led from Pocket Battleship. They
stayed ahead to finish in that order followed by Trojan, Doh! and Double Trouble.
Overall, Pocket Battleship took the East Coast Championships from Emu Excursion in second. Third were Trojan, one point ahead of Baby Beluga, and Cacciatore finished fifth.
Full report and more photos available soon on www.hunter707.org.uk