Enterprise Grand Prix at Burghfield Sailing Club Overall

Winner Richard Estaugh covering runner-up Ian Fisher just before the start of the final race Photo: Simon Smith

The first event of the newly sponsored Grand Prix Series was held by Burghfield Sailing Club on the weekend of 28/29th April, the event attracted 42 boats from across the UK.

The racing started at lunchtime on Saturday, three races were held during the afternoon in difficult conditions. The first race was won by Richard Estaugh crewed by Pete Rowley followed by Ian Fisher and Simon Cook in their new Speed FRP hull. Conditions during the race were very gusty causing capsizes throughout the fleet. Chris and Al Fry turned up late sailing their new JJ Boats Ent into 13th.

The OOD and his race management team did an excellent job managing all the races in the series getting the starts away in difficult shifty conditions with a minimum of general recalls. The second race was similar to the first with Estaugh first and Fisher second, with Nigel Bird & Katie Dolling in third. The third race was held back to back in very similar conditions, this time however Fisher won from Estaugh followed by Chris Bridle & Andy Ritchie who led a very close pack of boats behind. The overnight results gave the overall lead to Richard Estaugh followed by Ian Fisher and Nigel Bird in Third.

Burghfield Sailing club provided a nice meal on the Saturday evening with a quiz for entertainment, the bar was open until late, the bar staff offering excellent service. Accommodation was available on site and many people took up the various offers. Thanks go the kitchen staff who provided the evening meal and then were up early to cater for the breakfast early shift.

Sunday morning brought bright sunny conditions with a light breeze that was to diminish as the day moved along. The fourth race started late at 11.00 am in a light breeze with the first recall of the day. The race was restarted with Estaugh holding the early lead, the conditions caused many place changes with shifty conditions upwind and the prevalence of running legs caused a similar situation off wind.

Ex-Burghfield sailor Howard Frear from Frampton won from Ian Fisher and Richard Estaugh in third, Jon Woodward and Richard Adams quietly pulled through to finish fourth. An excellent final day was to give Jonathan and Richard third place overall. The final race was sailed in very light conditions and was won by Paul Plested from Windsford Flash S. C. followed by Woodward and Estaugh in third. This result meant that Richard Estaugh & Pete Rowley won the first event of the 2001 calendar, followed by Ian Fisher and Simon Cook in Second.

Overall Results:

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com Enterprise Page
• Burghfield Sailing Club

Results generated and submitted using Sailwave - completely free Windows sailing scoring software