Blazes at Burghfield

Event Date: 16/17 April Burghfield SC hosted the first Blaze event of the year with 21 entries for a weekend of training and racing.
Light winds on Saturday gave a good opportunity to hone close-quarters boat handling ready for 3 races on Sunday.

An early Sunday start saw Paul Hemsley take the lead in Race 1 from Mike Lyons and Ian Foxwell while others struggled to make much impression in light and shifty conditions.

By Race 2 the wind had built to a gusty F3 and saw Ian Foxwell and David Angwin fast off the line with Hemsley, Lyons and Dan Partington chasing hard.
By lap 2 Partington, Lyons and Hemsley had taken advantage of the shifts to break away with Foxwell, Angwin and Simon Beddows in the chasing group. A close 3-boat battle through to the finish saw Lyons take the win from Partington.

Big shifts and gusts in Race 3 rewarded those who read the shifts well and took advantage of good planing conditions on the reaches. Foxwell demonstrated great recoveries from both a capsize and running aground to chase Partington, Lyons and Pete Barlow home. Good courses, hospitality, and some testing conditions gave an excellent start to the Blaze season!

Overall Results:
1st Blaze 668 'Daredevil' Dan Partington (Bala SC) 3pts;
2nd Blaze 720 'Twist & Shout' Mike Lyons (Burghfield SC) 3pts;
3rd Blaze 656 Paul Hemsley (Burghfield SC) 4pts;
4th Blaze 702 Ian Foxwell (Wilsonians SC) 7pts;
5th Blaze 679 'Jester' Roland Smith (Black Swans SC) 11pts.