RS400 Open at Burghfield Sailing Club

Even before the RS400 open meeting at Burghfield Sailing Club on Sat 8th October there were challenges for the home club. Scheduled the weekend of the Inlands at Grafham was a major disadvantage. The forecast wind direction all week was predicted from the NNE – across the lake instead of along it. Force 2-3 if we were lucky. But a fleet of ten with six visitors and tight, sprint-style windward/leeward courses ultimately gave rise to some very tight and interesting racing.

The club welcomed back a bit of a gathering of the Martin clan. The light/moderate and shifty breeze set many sage heads nodding: they'll like that... they will... they said.

And so they did.

Rob and Janet Martin (LymingtonTown) commanded race 1 and it looked ominously reminiscent of days gone by. But unusually for them, that was the only race win they posted all day. Race 2, before lunch, saw Nick and Caroline Martin (Lee-on-Solent) take the winning gun by perhaps the largest margin of the day. And whilst Nick /Caroline nailed another first in race 3 after lunch, with Rob/Jan second, it was never completely clear cut: other teams in the fleet weren't going to sit back and make this easy.

In race 4, Chris Rowland and Steve Middleton (Burghfield) finally worked out how to start a sailboat race and took a reasonably comfortable win. With Nick/Caroline second, John Cooper and Andy Maw (Burghfield) managed to squeeze out Rob/Jan and take 3rd place.

John/Andy have been showing much promise in their 400 and really made a very assertive statement in race 5, port tacking the fleet on a heavily biased pin end, and holding a pressurised lead to the winning gun, the Martins battling away behind him.

And so it was that Nick and Caroline won the event from Rob and Jan. Did they ever really leave BSC? And thanks to all our visitors – coming in from the coast like seagulls escaping bad weather! We hope you enjoyed your day.

And thanks to our race team led by N12 sailor Nigel White. A light breeze from the north was always going to be a real test for the race officer and it is to his credit that only a single lap, from my recollection, got a bit one-sided. Quite an achievement on the day.

And finally thanks to our club secretary Virginia Leigh for great administration and for getting the race results out at light speed.

Overall Results: