2011 Burghfield Open

Fifteen sailors arrived at Burghfield’s Comet Open on Saturday 1^st October to find very little wind on the reservoir, but plenty of sun and the temperatures breaking the record for October. A wind change shortly before the start prompted the Race Officer to change the course at the last minute, but the line was still biased and the first beat turned into a close hauled sail to the first mark. Ian Stone took the lead followed by Ben Palmer and John Coppenhall. The second leg had turned into a long beat the length of the reservoir, and Ian Stone quickly pulled away, sailing into the tail end of the Solo fleet. Behind him John Windibank worked his way up to second place by the end of the beat. After a short reach, the fleet began the long run down the lake. Following the Solos, the fleet didn’t take the most direct route to the leeward mark. A couple of tailenders saw this, and took the shorter direct route, but failed to make up any distance. Starting the second lap John Windibank moved into a safe second position. Third place was fought over by Brian Weatherley, John Coppenhall, Ben Palmer and Carol Butcher, but by the end of the beat Brian Welham had got through. As the wind dropped the Race Officer shortened the course at the end of the run. Ian Stone and John Windibank took first and second places, but the rest of the fleet became becalmed in a bunch at the top of the run, and the race for third was wide open. This time the majority of the fleet took the shorter route through the islands. However, Carol Butcher and Henry Jaggers opted for the longer route, and as the wind finally filled in a little they pulled ahead to take third and fourth places respectively. The tailenders finally finished after two hours of racing.

Races two and three were sailed back to back, and the Race Officer opted for a shorter course at the far end of the reservoir, where there was more wind. Over the lunch the wind had filled in, providing a pleasant sail. Again the pin end was favoured, and Ian Stone starting on port from this end sailed straight into the lead followed by Brian Welham. These two pulled away from the boats behind that were led by John Coppenhall. At the end of the first lap Brian Welham got alongside Ian Stone at the leeward mark, but during lap two Ian Stone pulled away again and was never caught. John Coppenhall hung onto third, but was finally caught by Annette Walter and then Ben Palmer on the final beat to the finish.

A similar course was set for the final race. The majority of the fleet opted for the left side of the first beat led by Clive Chapman. However, Ian Stone initially went right. As he tacked back to the centre of the course he ended up behind Clive Chapman in second place, but by the first mark he had got past to take the lead, followed by Annette Walter. These two pulled away from the rest of the fleet, followed by John Windibank. Annette Walter caught Ian Stone to win, and this gave her second place overall behind Ian Stone, who had already won overall with his two firsts. John Windibank’s third place in the last race gave him third place overall.

Rank	SailNo	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Total	Nett
1st	152	Ian Stone	Maidenhead	1	1	-2	4	2
2nd	611	Annette Walter	WGCSC	-8	3	1	12	4
3rd	858	John Windibank	Chipstead	2	-9	3	14	5
4th	711	Brian Welham	Maidenhead	-7	2	4	13	6
5th	614	Carol Butcher	Hawley Lake Sail Training Centre	3	-13	7	23	10
6th	532	John Coppenhall	Hunts SC	5	5	-9	19	10
7th	800	Henry Jaggers	Beer SC	4	7	-10	21	11
8th	84	Michael Ettershank	Eyott Sailing Club	-9	6	5	20	11
9th	597	Ben Palmer	Baltic Wharf Sailing Club	-9	4	8	21	12
10th	63	Chris Robinson	Burghfield SC	6	-8	6	20	12
11th	704	Clive Chapman	Littleton	(16 DNF)	10	13	39	23
12th	400	John Sturgeon	Hawley Lake	-13	12	11	36	23
13th	654	Brian Weatherley	Cotswold SC	-12	11	12	35	23
14th	843	Denise Weatherley	Cotswold SC	11	(16 DNC)	15	42	26
15th	57	Steve Gregory	Frensham	(16 DNF)	14	14	44	28