Williams and Iles take Burton Cup

A report from the National 12 championships in Weymouth

The fourth race of the National 12 championships at Weymouth, The Sir William Burton Cup, was raced on a triangular course in a perfect F3-4 with sunshine replacing the rain of the previous day.

Steve Sallis and Jenny James were pathfinder, with the fleet equally splitting out of the gate. John & Katy Meadowcroft were first to the windward mark having taken a starboard lift out of the gate and then tacked onto port for the mark as the wind backed. Richard Williams & Lindsey Iles flew past on the first reach to take a strong lead. Jon Brown & Rachel Williamson also had a speedy reach which took them through to second place. Will & Arthur Henderson caught up on the next reach and took third place.

On the next beat, the left hand side paid and Richard Williams pulled even further ahead. Ian & Alex Gore and Steve Sallis & Jenny James caught up the leaders significantly, so that places in the top ten changed frequently over the next lap, but Williams and Iles kept their lead to the finish.

Championship leaders Tom Stewart & Liz Ross worked hard for the whole race, getting as high as third but then fell foul of the wind swings on the third beat.

Race 4, The Sir William Burton Cup

1 Richard Williams & Lindsey Iles
2 Jon Brown & Rachel Williamson
3 Will & Arthur Henderson
4 Ian & Alex Gore
5 Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne

1st Admirals Cup
Graham Iles & Emma Wilkins