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Musto Performance Skiff’s raced at the Royal Corinthian
Yacht Club, Burnham on Crouch on Saturday 9th December
for the Burnham Icicle Trophy.
Following several weeks of windy and wet
weather the event was held in brilliant sunshine and
8-15 knots of westerly breeze, which brought the crowds
out to watch the spectacular close racing.
This trophy was originally presented by
the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club as the premier dinghy
winter handicap trophy attracting the top sailors from
the UK dinghy scene by invitation from the 1950’s –
1990’s. Sailors such as Roger Angell, Keith Musto and
Peter Bateman are some of the previous winners. So it
proved to be a great way for the sailors to celebrate
their recent ISAF status achievement, and race to be
added to this long list of famous sailors.
Club members and guests laid bets with
the Musto team of girls, led by Sarah Hastwell. Half
the money went directly to charity and the remainder
being split by those who picked the winner of each of
the 5 individual races. To add to the fun, 13 of the
club’s youth fleet, the Otters, were picked out of a
hat to take part with the skiff sailors in one of the
races.
When this happened, each boat's position
received a 50% joker bonus, and hence the results were
calculated by a high points system. The kids all seemed
to have a great time, and were given crewing jobs on
the skiffs, such as trimming the spinnaker on the downwind
legs. All had big smiles as they came ashore, and Deborah
Shanahan, Otter Commodore, mentioned that all the weekendsof
coaching that the club lays on for the Otters proved
invaluable.
There were 5 races over short courses
in front of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club for the
several hundred spectators’ watching from the club and
seawall.
Racing was dominated by current Gold Cup
and UK National Champion Richard Stenhouse with Deborah
Shanahan (as his crew) from the RCYC Otters on the RNLI
Helly Hansen skiff, who led the fleet home in 4 of the
5 races. However, he was given good competition from
local sailor Dan Dixon sailing DEM Foils, as well as
Ian Trotter (Ovington Boats), Simon Reynolds (Noble Marine
Insurance) and Rick Perkins (Harken).
Between the club, skiffs and friends £435.15
was raised for the event charities, which were:
- Cancer Research UK
- Essex Air Ambulance
- John Merricks Trust
- RNLI
- British Heart Foundation
Racing was managed by PRO Edwin Buckley
and his team, and onshore commentary was supplied by
Alistair Munro and Paul Manning, who provided updates
and banter on the racing.
There was also a bottle of Moët champagne won by
Henry Heathfield, who guessed closest to the maximum
speed recorded on Richard Stenhouse’s skiff throughout
the day. For the record, this was 20.4knots, and Yachts
and Yachting / Garmin were thanked for letting them
use this idea in the event.
Paul Manning from Ovington Boats thanked
the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Commodore Martin Makey,
Paul Noonan who provided the instant result service,
the rescue team, which included the local RNLI boat
and crew, and all who helped to make the day a great
success.
 Paul
also thanked his project partners Ovington Boats, and
the major class suppliers Harken, Selden, Hyde Sails,
DEM Foils and Hi-tech Sailing as well as their main
sponsor Musto Ltd and sponsors Blue Marine and Greatkit/Gerber
for their generous support of the class.
Martin Makey, Commodore of the Royal Corinthian
Yacht Club, thanked the class for the great spectator
sport, and looked forward to having them back in ’07.
Full
event results are available from the club website
Photos: Sarah Perkins & Paul Clarke
(High
res versions for download here)
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