Bourne End Week 2016 at Upper Thames Sailing Club
by Debbie Kite 8 Jun 2016 17:10 BST
28 May - 1 June 2016
2016's Bourne End Week at Upper Thames Sailing Club was a great success, with entries up, wind every day, and the sun did shine for the first three days. The sailing was competitive and the socials very well-attended, especially the famous cocktails and party night. The week was sponsored by local Volvo dealer Squire Furneaux Maidenhead, online chandler Virtual Rigger and Andrew Milson estate agents.
Bourne End Week is the home of the Thames A-Raters National Championships, and this year the prestigious Queen's Cup race was filmed by sponsor VR and can be seen on the VRsport.tv channel. Vagabond helmed by Ben Palmer was the clear winner of the Queen's Cup (presented by Queen Victoria in 1893), but was beaten in the overall 8-race Thames Championship by winner Scamp helmed by Jonathan Smith, and Atlantis helmed by brother Julian Smith.
There was an excellent turnout for the Merlin Rocket fleet for the River Championships, with 19 boats starting over the four days. The leading boats fought neck and neck over the first three days, with the lead swapping many times between Caroline Croft and Beka Jones in 1672 The Oldie and Rob Cage and Nicky Erskine-Tulloch in 1692 Hullabaloo. Rob and Nicky emerged victorious after the last two races on the wettest BEW Tuesday in living memory! Third place overall was taken by UTSC boat Quiver sailed by John Meadowcroft with 11-year old son Dan crewing.
Club members were joined by visitors from other clubs as far away as Royal Cornwall SC for the other racing for Wayfarers, OKs, N12s, Solos and Fast handicap. The winners were:
- Wayfarer - Peter and Beth Brewer in Kimsar
- OK - Garth Thompson in Not Fade Away
- N12 - Neal and Freya Lillywhite in Indecision
- Solo - Ross Lonsdale
- Fast Handicap - Chris Gould in SuperNova
- Handicap Burnham Bowl - Alex Pausey with Jade Hart in N12 Cinzano
The lively social programme included a hog roast, Sunday's cocktail party and supper with live music in the marquee, and culminating with a busy Queen's Cup Bank Holiday Monday crowd of spectators who enjoyed bubbles and berries on the lawn in the sunshine.
Full results are on the UTSC website, www.utsc.org.uk, and a date for the diary: BEW 2017 will be from 27th to 31st May.