The 2024 Burton Blizzard

The 2024 Burton Blizzard © Bill Hooton

The 2024 Burton Blizzard © Bill Hooton

The Burton Blizzard is the third leg of the East Midlands mini-series. A series hosted across Burton, Ogston, Staunton Harold and Notts County, that attracts some of the finest local, national, and international sailing celebrities.

After two cracking events at Notts County and Staunton Harold, it was Burton's turn to play host before the series' conclusion at Ogston on the 24th/25th Feb.

Now in its third year, the Burton Blizzard saw weather that did not, for once, live up to its name. Indeed, there was much surprise at the mostly mild, mostly dry, and even occasionally sunny conditions enjoyed by the weekend's 40+ competitors. The event is one inclusive for both boats and boards, and therefore runs two separate courses - one for dinghies and one for windsurfers. The following report is that of the dinghy racing. There will be a windsurfing report to follow.

Saturday started with bacon sarnies and a characteristically warm and welcoming briefing by BSC Commodore and Race Officer, Adam Kenney. Afterwards the fleet, rather promptly, got themselves on the water for the morning's pursuit race.

Starting at a leisurely 11.30am, 10 of the race's 80 minutes were spent tediously waiting for the arrival of the first boats' start time. After what seemed to be the first recorded case of 10 minutes actually taking an hour, the artist formally known the Laser 4.7 and two Comets got themselves under way, and there was much rejoicing. 33 minutes after the first gun, the 505s began what was to be an epic game of 'catch-up'.

Due to the joys of shifty, gusty, inland sailing, it did not take too long for the mid-fleet to bunch itself up. Nevertheless, Ogston's Chris Fowler and Burton's Amelia Gay in their Comet and ILCA 4, managed to hold their own out front for an impressive time despite having their heels bitten by Martin Honnor's Solo.

The 2024 Burton Blizzard - photo © Bill Hooton

With Martin breaking out front, the rest of the fleet chased him down. Merlins, 5oh's, Scorps, Phantoms, K1s and all that come between attempted to pick their way through the fleet in hope of catching the Solo. However, even after an extremely impressive show of downwind angle-playing, that dragged Mike and Carl's 505 into 2nd place with 8 seconds to go, no-one could get passed Martin and he took the, ah, er, well, honours. Notts County's Chris Martin and John Tailby worked some magic in their Merlin to slip into 3rd place before the fleet headed in for a well-prepared lunch.

Two handicap races started post-lunch with a general recall. This was entirely the fault of the race officer who, after being shouted a considerable amount of unsolicited advice, got race two away at the second attempt. To this, again, there was much rejoicing.

Having missed the podium in the morning's pursuit, Staunton Harold SC got into gear with Pete and Rach Gray comfortably winning race 2 in their Scorpion. Burton's Duncan Adams won out a right ding-dong with Nottingham, Northampton, and Burton SC's Richard Nurse, and took 2nd; and Martin Honnor took another podium spot by sitting his Solo comfortably in 3rd.

The third and last race of the day saw the Sims/Gibbon 505 take an early lead, and this lead only extended once they got the kite up. Their efforts were enough for them to bag first place. However, it has to be said, this victory was snatched from the clutches of Mike's own father, Richard who, in his K1, had to make do with 2nd! Gloriously, it was a Burton SC 1,2,3 with local legend Tommy Hooton taking 3rd in his Contender.

Sunday's racing started at exactly 10.30am, with all the fleet ready and raring to go in a slightly fresher westerly breeze. After spending slightly more time and effort setting the start line, race 4 got away with very little in the way of abuse.

The 2024 Burton Blizzard - photo © Bill Hooton

The race was led on the water by Tommy Hooton in a Contender, and this remained the case for the race's duration despite serious attempts by an RS400. However, Tommy's lead was not enough to bag gold as he was knocked to silver position by Pete and Rach Gray's Scorpion who took gold on handicap. The race's podium was completed by Chris and John in the Merlin.

The event's last race got under way with a completely uncontroversial individual recall, and the regrettable lobbing of two Solos. Pete and Rach won, Richard Sims' K1 again bagged a 2nd place, and a Phantom carrying Duncan Adams slid into 3rd.

This concluded a weekend of racing that saw Pete and Rach win in style, Martin Honnor bank his consistency and bag 2nd overall; and Duncan Adams beating Richard Sims to 3rd place overall by just a single point - a real testament to just how close the racing gets at East Midlands mini-series events and a reminder why they really should not be missed!

A special shout out has to go to 8yr old James Short who, through hard work, patience, and perseverance, won First Junior crewing for his dad in an Enterprise - no mean feat!

Congratulations to all competitors and everyone involved. We can't wait to see you all again next year, if not before.

The East Midlands mini-series concludes at Ogston on the 24th and 25th of February. Entry is free for all paid up members of Ogston, Burton, Staunton, and Notts County, but everyone is welcome to join in! Check out: www.ogstonsc.org/open-meetings.html for more info.

Report Courtesy of Race officer,

Overall Results: