Burghfield Gul open meeting

The penultimate leg of the generously sponsored  National 12 Gul series  took place at Burghfield Sailing Club where the weather conditions were  certainly better than the weather which caused the postponement from early in the year. So no snow to contend with but instead a very pleasant sail (if you avoided the rain showers).Strong winds were predicted but only materialized in the odd gust. It should be noted that three of the boats were being sailed with a parent/child combination to show what a great family boat the twelve is as well as having one of the most competitive fleets .

Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne dominated the first race with the following pack led by Tom Stewart and Andrea Ralph, with Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart in third.

Races two and three were held back to back and race 2 again saw Graham and Zoe lead at the first mark. This time though they were pushed very hard by Tom and Andrea who took the lead and led most of the race until Graham and Zoe found a way past on the last reach. Behind them it was John Meadowcroft  sailing with son Oliver who held third for a while until a vicious gust sent them swimming. Oliver did a great job in preventing a further capsize while John was trying to get back in but their race was over. Nick ( I need a new crew each week) Copsey   sailing with Lewis Bowen  led  Jon and Charlotte for a while until they got taken out by one of the club racers .and could not catch up again. Behind them there was a lot of place changing going on between John  Thornton with daughter Rebecca, Nigel and Chris White, now with a more stable Chapter, and Chris and Katherine Martin sailing  the Whites less stable Numinous design.

Having won the meeting Graham and Zoe decided they needed to rescue their children  as soon as possible so headed for shore. Race three saw Jon and Charlotte get a great lift off the start line and held a big lead at the first mark. Tom and Andrea looked to be catching and got very close but then Jon and Charlotte sailed away with Tom beginning to wonder if it was a mistake to bring Nick his crew as they were getting quicker as the day went on and. The final beat to the finish line saw Tom and Andrea holding on by half a boat length from Nick and Lewis.

The Admirals cup fleet was won by Tom Lee and Clare Hunter from Neal and Freya Lillywhite

Overall results

1st Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne  

2nd Tom Stewart & Andrea Ralph

3rd Jon Ibbotson & Charlotte Stewart 

4th Nick Copsey & Lewis Bowen

5th John & Oliver Meadowcroft  

6th Chris & Katherine Martin

7th John & Rebecca Thornton  

8th Nigel & Chris White

9th Tom lee & Clare Hunter  

10th Ed & Tom Storey 

11th Neal & Freya Lillywhite