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Sailing Nationals – Burton Week 2023

Posted on 27 Sep, 2023 in 6Form Reporter, 6th Form, About GMS, Events, Extra Curricular, General News, Trips

Burton Week is the National Sailing Championships for the National 12 Dinghy Class. This competition happens every year at a host of different clubs around the country. This year it was a 4-day event at Brixham Yacht Club in Torbay, “the English Riviera”, promising some sketchy conditions and tight racing. Two of our adventurous Sixth Formers sailed in this important competition: Tré and Lyla Jacobs.

Day 1:

Tré and Lyla arrived at 9 am fuelled by Devonshire pasties, not expecting the conditions out in the bay to be as bad as they became: it was much worse than appeared from the shore. After two races, some good competition, and a few capsizes they finished the day with Tré in 12th and Lyla in 15th position.

Day 2:

In the morning, the weather looked even worse than the previous day and it was to be a three hour long race: The Sir William Burton Cup. Tré and Lyla battled the conditions and the competition ended with Tré in 7th and Lyla in 10th. The real win, however, was managing to keep the boats upright throughout the race.

Day 3:

Much to their relief on Day 3 they had some respite from the heavy winds. However, it was Lyla’s turn to swim due to a catastrophic failure of the rudder, an epic capsize, and a long tow back to shore. Tré finished the day with an 11th and a 4th in his two races.

Day 4:

Day 4 promised some intense racing for all but especially for the ones in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Tré managed to become caught up in this during the last race. While he held on to 2nd place for almost the entire race, unfortunately, he was overtaken on the last leg to finish 3rd. Lyla managed to find a new rudder and achieved a very consistent 10th and 10th.

GMS are extremely proud of our young sailors who showed resilience in challenging conditions. Tré and Lyla say they, “Thoroughly enjoyed the event and were very happy with their overall results”, as is GMS. Roll on Burton Week 2024!