Allen National 12 Burton Week 2023 at Brixham Yacht Club - Day 2 - Sir William Burton Cup Race

Allen N12 Burton Week 2023 silverware and glasses © George Finch

The well known and much desired Sir William Burton Cup is awarded to the winner of the Sir William Burton Cup Race. Since 2021, the race changed from a its initial form as four laps of a triangle course, with each leg a mile long, and a beat to finish.

Now, the race course can be one of the four courses set out in the SIs and must be held for a minimum of two hours for the leading boat. Not only is there the prestigious trophy for the winner, but subsidiary trophy entries receive glassware or trophies too, so all to play for throughout the fleet!

2023's edition of the Burton Cup saw Brixham Yacht Club's PRO Sean Semmens set Course A, which is a triangle / sausage course. Following a delayed start whilst the boats from the famous Cowes to Torbay Powerboat Race left the race area, the fleet headed out into the bay, sailing in more breeze than yesterday.

In perhaps a rare occurrence for the Burton Cup, the N12 fleet got away cleanly on the first start. Jon & Sam Brown (N3483) had superior boatspeed off the line and headed left. Unlike yesterday, going "full left" wasn't guaranteed to be a beneficial move. First round the windward mark were Ollie Meadowcroft & Cally Terkelsen (N3543) followed by Tom & Isobel Stewart (N3544). Ollie & Cally kept the lead until Lap 2 where Tom & Isobel managed to overhaul them.

The wind began to decrease as the race continued, but prior to this a few of the sailors still felt the need to cool off. Robbie Stewart (N3501) dived over the side during a tack, leaving crew & mum Charlotte to helm and recover her son. Luke Hartley (crewing for dad Jeremy in N3537) almost did the same. Kevin Iles & Katy Meadowcroft (N3527) unfortunately continued their theme of having a top 10 position and then going for a swim, there has to be a better way for Kevin to keep his cool...

Throughout the fleet there was a significant amount of place changing and the fleet stayed fairly close together, with everyone able to find opportunities to overtake. A good example of this was shown by Geoff Camm & Steve Carver (N3515) who attempted to sneak inside George Finch & Toby Hunt (N3551) at the leeward mark, only for a wave to come crashing into Geoff & Steve forcing them to bare away and nearly head off on a dead run. Rumour is that superstar Steve saved the capsize!

It was during the fourth beat and final run when Ollie & Cally came back close and put serious pressure on Tom & Isobel, but were unsuccessful, so it was to be Tom & Isobel Stewart who'd take home the Burton Cup for 2023. 3rd place were the evergreen Steve & Jo Sallis (N3531), followed by Antony & Jo Gifford (N3529) in 4th. Unfortunately for James & Rory Gifford (N3484) they didn't beat their parents today and lost a few places on the final run as a small breakage meant they were unable to adjust their rudder angle.

Jon & Sam Brown (N3483) pulled through the fleet after their "hard left" 1st beat which didn't pay off (plus their mast ram control un-cleated itself) to finish in 6th, just behind Graham & Anya Camm (N3530) who sailed some spectacularly fast reaches to recover to finish 5th from a mid-teens 1st windward mark rounding. They were thankful for the wind beginning to drop off for the 2nd half of the race, as were Ian & Alex Gore (N3513) who are continuing to sail their borrowed Feeling Foolish (without T-Foil rudder) incredibly quickly this week.

Subsidiary Trophy Winners:

1st Boat not using a T-Foil Rudder- Ian & Alex Gore, N3513 from Up River YC
1st Corrigan Cup Entrant (Under 21) - Ollie Meadowcroft & Cally Terkelsen, N3543 from Upper Thames SC
1st Canter Trophy Entrant (Over 21 but under 40) - George Finch & Toby Hunt, N3551, from Royal Harwich YC

1st Grand Master Entrant (Over 55) - Steve & Jo Sallis, N3531 from Hykeham SC
The Coronation Cup (1st Married Couple) - Antony & Jo Gifford, N3529 from Royal Tay YC

2023 Sir William Burton Cup Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the National 12 Sir William Burton Cup then enter your Gear Guide information here