What’s Happened to Burnham Week?

[Frayed Knot]

We’ve finally managed to get away for a week or so & sailed down to the Crouch to revisit old haunts.

Although not interested in racing we always enjoyed the bustle & spectacle of Burnham week when we were based here in the eighties & early nineties so were looking forward to seeing it again… where is it?

Sailing up the river on Tuesday we passed through a fleet of RB onedesigns, half a dozen Squibs plus about seven or eight racing cruisers - that was it.

Walked into town yesterday and other than a Thames barge, some bunting & a few things dressed over all there was no sign of anything going on.

We used to anchor down river & watch fleets of fifty or more go by, including some spectacular boats and some well known faces; today, I think we saw five pretty ordinary cruiser-racers.

 

[PeterWright]

Hi FK,

A few things have led to the demise of Burnham Week:

Firstly, yacht racing is much in decline since around 2000 - these days folk just don't have the spare time to organise a regular crew where each ember can turn out to at least 80% of the boats race programme for the year andbthosevthat did have the time have got older or more sadly passed away. The Sail East series of regattas, providing a programme of round the cans races from Kent to Suffolk is no more and even EAORA is much diminished, so Burnham Week has been hit by that same trend. The most successful yacht racing club in Burnham in the 80's and 90's was the Crouch Yacht Club, which has now been wound up.

Secondly, yachts have got bigger. Short tacking a Stella over the tide on the Crouch mudflats is great fun, but in a Dufour 40 it's just tedious. This was starting to take effect in the 1990's, but the Combined Clubs Committee still insisted on including upriver races in the programme for class 1 which p****d off many of the visiting class 1 yachts, who therefore withdrew from Burnham Week.

Ramsgate has immediate access to open sea and the River Orwell to Dovercourt Bay, providing sea room for racing far more suited to yacht racing, so those East coasters who still want to do some racing each summer are favouring those places. The rail access to Burnham from London, which really boosted the beginning of Burnham as a yachting centre, is no longer relevant.

There may be other reasons, but whatever they are, Burnham is no longer a major centre for yacht racing, it now seves better for keel boats such as Dragons, One designs and Squibs and dinghies.

Peter.

 

[mrming]

All yacht racing on the East coast is sadly diminished unfortunately. As PeterWright says, Ramsgate is still hanging in there, and in Spring and Autumn the Medway is still just about seeing fleets too.

I’m lucky enough to get good racing by travelling to the South coast and to Ireland. Almost everyone I sail with grew up with parents who sailed (and usually raced). I meet very few people who’ve come into the sport fresh. It’s sad to see yacht racing becoming inaccessible again after the boom of the 70s and 80s, but for the moment at least, new people don’t seem to have the time, money, or motivation to take it up.

 

[DavidonMersea]

the rain ay
We’ve finally managed to get away for a week or so & sailed down to the Crouch to revisit old haunts.

Although not interested in racing we always enjoyed the bustle & spectacle of Burnham week when we were based here in the eighties & early nineties so were looking forward to seeing it again… where is it?

Sailing up the river on Tuesday we passed through a fleet of RB onedesigns, half a dozen Squibs plus about seven or eight racing cruisers - that was it.

Walked into town yesterday and other than a Thames barge, some bunting & a few things dressed over all there was no sign of anything going on.

We used to anchor down river & watch fleets of fifty or more go by, including some spectacular boats and some well known faces; today, I think we saw five pretty ordinary cruiser-racers.

I asked the same question on here 2 or 3 years ago.. It was pointed out to me that people only get so much holiday from work, and people don't want to spend their holiday time in (usually) the rain at Burnham, when they can go abroad to almost guaranteed sunshine in the Med for very little.

I was surprised when you only saw half a dozen squibs racing. I was in Burnham last Saturday, and there were 20 squibs racing

 

[Frayed Knot]

Thanks for the replies, I had no idea.
I suppose, David - you’ve provided the answer to the Sqib numbers yourself - it being a weekday the others were probably at work (the skippers & crews - not the boats)
BTW my onboard auto-corrector says there were eight, not six

 

[Tomahawk]

There is also a certain amount of clique attitude in the various clubs. Actually contributed to the demise of the Crouch by making everyone who wasn't "in" very unwelcome. The Colne YC is going the same way.

 

[fifer]

All yacht racing on the East coast is sadly diminished unfortunately. As PeterWright says, Ramsgate is still hanging in there, and in Spring and Autumn the Medway is still just about seeing fleets too.

I’m lucky enough to get good racing by travelling to the South coast and to Ireland. Almost everyone I sail with grew up with parents who sailed (and usually raced). I meet very few people who’ve come into the sport fresh. It’s sad to see yacht racing becoming inaccessible again after the boom of the 70s and 80s, but for the moment at least, new people don’t seem to have the time, money, or motivation to take it up.

If I lived closer to the coast I'd love to get involved in regular racing but the closest I'll be to the coast in the next 10 years is 90mins. Too far for midweek but maybe doable for a Saturday if fuel prices drop and I get a load of DIY out the way anyway.

I think the main factors driving lower uptake in younger people are general migration/concentration of younger people in big cities (largely away from coastal towns - both due to commercial/industrial decline and the growth of tertiary education), expansion of service industry economy requiring younger people to work evenings and weekends, lower wages and higher living costs. On top of that many people will prefer spend any spare cash on regular gym going and saving for travel abroad.

Even if someone else is picking up the tab for the actual boat, there are still significant investments required in waterproofs etc which many will baulk at.

Plus I think yachting has a stuffy image. And whilst existing yachties may not be unfriendly, I don't think they are on the same wavelength to understand what younger people might look for. Younger people who sail and want to sail together with friends will likely charter abroad rather than join a local race scene.

 

[mrming]

I grew up sailing in the late 80s to mid 90s, in Ireland. My parents sailed / raced in a club. I did the junior sailing there and went on the dinghy sailing circuit at weekends. When I went to uni I joined the sailing team. After uni my other mates who I had sailed dinghies with were doing various IRC events around the UK and Ireland, and I was lucky enough to get invited along. 25 years later the core of that crew is still together, with a few additions (and a couple of extra boats) along the way.

Eventually I moved to the East coast UK and bought a small race boat myself, and joined a club. What I noticed is, there are not many people with kids in the East coast clubs to start that cycle off again.

People seem to be getting into yachts when they’re getting close to retirement. When I was racing the above small boat we were in our 30s and most of the rest of the fleet were 50+. So I get the point about what young people want and it not being yacht clubs full of retirees.

The better news is that there are still lots of young people racing yachts on the South coast, often travelling down from London for the weekend. So if you do get any free time, get yourself down to the Solent where the scene is still a blast.

 

[fifer]

I grew up sailing in the late 80s to mid 90s, in Ireland. My parents sailed / raced in a club. I did the junior sailing there and went on the dinghy sailing circuit at weekends. When I went to uni I joined the sailing team. After uni my other mates who I had sailed dinghies with were doing various IRC events around the UK and Ireland, and I was lucky enough to get invited along. 25 years later the core of that crew is still together, with a few additions (and a couple of extra boats) along the way.

Eventually I moved to the East coast UK and bought a small race boat myself, and joined a club. What I noticed is, there are not many people with kids in the East coast clubs to start that cycle off again.

People seem to be getting into yachts when they’re getting close to retirement. When I was racing the above small boat we were in our 30s and most of the rest of the fleet were 50+. So I get the point about what young people want and it not being yacht clubs full of retirees.

The better news is that there are still lots of young people racing yachts on the South coast, often travelling down from London for the weekend. So if you do get any free time, get yourself down to the Solent where the scene is still a blast.

What solent racing do you get involved with? I'll be based in cambridge, so its a good coupe of hour drive to get there.

 

[mrming]

What solent racing do you get involved with? I'll be based in cambridge, so its a good coupe of hour drive to get there.

Mostly JOG, and RTI once a year. It’s a journey for me too but if it’s a weekend it’s worth it.

 

[flaming]

What solent racing do you get involved with? I'll be based in cambridge, so its a good coupe of hour drive to get there.

I live in Suffolk, so about an hour further... Of our crew, only 2 regulars live within an hour's drive of Hamble.

I grew up sailing on the east coast, but only cruising, and got into racing later. Which prompted a move to Southampton.
Circumstances have dragged me back to Suffolk, and whilst I've looked into east coast yacht racing, I've decided it's not for me. The 3 hour drive down is the better option...

The reality is that if you want competitive racing within a not completely absurd travel time, the Solent is really the place to be.

If you want to give racing a try, drop me a PM. If I don't have a spot I'll probably be able to find you one on a friendly crew.

 

[johnalison]

Although I don’t follow it, the Haven races off Harwich seem to be pretty active whenever I go out at weekends, so I think it is mainly boat size that is the issue, as stated. When we raced in the Blackwater, mostly in a 26, I think the largest boat was Terry Swann’s High Tension, but that was exceptional. Larger boats raced from W Mersea, but even for them the waters around the Bench Head must seem a bit restrictive these days. The fast boats have got so large and fast that there is a major division between the average cruising sailors and the racers and the former no longer see racing as part of their remit.

 

[DavidonMersea]

Eventually I moved to the East coast UK and bought a small race boat myself, and joined a club. What I noticed is, there are not many people with kids in the East coast clubs to start that cycle off again.

Have a look at the Dabchicks at West Mersea, there are 100's of kids there, always has been

 

[DanTribe]

There is also a certain amount of clique attitude in the various clubs. Actually contributed to the demise of the Crouch by making everyone who wasn't "in" very unwelcome. The Colne YC is going the same way.

There is some truth in what you say. In my younger days we trawled the four clubs to meet our mates and find the best bands. There was some rowdiness, not always from the youth. Then the clubs started charging entry fees after 9pm, this put a damper on the merrymaking. My kids were teenagers in the 90s and now say Burnham Week is not the same as it was in the good old days.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Surprised that so many yacht clubs still exist . I have with some guilt, only joined some for the attraction of their car parks and/or moorings and hard standing.

Have taken part in a few races but they only underlined that I must be very good at cruising.

 

[Dave 71]

Perhaps, if it has declined from it's hay day, Burnham Weekend would be better?

My wife and I planned to go for a day sail from Fambridge last Sunday week, but in the end elected not to, in part because we didn't know how busy it might be below Burnham. A visiting boat at Fambridge (down from the Orwell) told us it was very busy on the water on Saturday and he'd had a tricky time working up river through a large facing fleet. Interestingly, they had never heard of Burnham week.

We visited shore side on bank holiday Monday, there seemed to be a bit of a buzz around the sailing clubs and plenty of people along the front with a few things going on - down stream, close the start line near the Roach, there were a lot of boats lining up, I didn't count but maybe 50 or so of different types, smaller dinghies mostly, some slightly larger with 3-man crews - sorry I know nothing about racing so don't know the types. There were perhaps half a dozen very pretty boats with (I think, and I'll happily be educated if this is the wrong term) mizzen main sails. I wished I'd taken my camera.

We went out early Saturday morning and sailed slowly (well, motored to begin with) down as far as Foulness before the wind filled in a little, the tide turned and lunch at the Ferry Boat won the keep heading out vs anchor in the Roach vs Pub discussion. Met a few racing boats coming down river, perhaps half a dozen cruising type racers, Benetaeu Firsts, Jen Sun Fasts, that sort of thing, and one very fancy looking bespoke(?) racer, Oyster Catcher XXXV, which seemed to have foils. I did wonder who she would be racing against. Shame there aren't a few more of them, that would be an impressive sight.

 

[oldgit]

Came back up the Medway from Conyer.
Glorious Bank Holiday Monday, mid afternoon,a fresh NE breeze , just nicely taking the top off the warm sunshine.
You could count the number of yachts out on your fingers.
No obvious activity going on at any of the Upnor boat clubs.

 

[The Q]

My club was suffering from dropping numbers and few youngsters joining... It didn't help when the county got rid of their sailing fleet...

Then 15 or so years ago they started a Club sailing school, all volunteer run.. We have up to 80 kids turn up on a Thursday afternoon / evening for training, and it took a while, but that has fed through to the normal weekend racing.
Many children have not had a family history in sailing , so their parents don't sail... But they get bored sat on the bank and we have three Keelboats for adult training, so we are gaining parents learning to sail and volunteering for the duties..

 

[Capt Popeye]

Might ask , are there any Sailing Personalities these days , which are in the News and Current Affairs etc etc , in bygone days these personalities gave the Yachting a lot of regular publicity ; the likes of Uffa Fox and Prince Phylip come to mind ; They are now gone , so who do we have anymore ; are there any Royalty that are presently engaged in Sailing etc ?

In the 50s n 60s we had active Yachting corresspondence in some National Newspapers , like the Daily Mirror and Daily Express , whos owners had an interest in Sailing ; Do we have any similar now ?

Maybe them Ultra Fast Flying machines that seem to be the 'IN' thing are far to way out for Normal Yachtsmen , Dinghy sailors etc to aspire to

Re East Coast re Cowes localities ; back in the 50s n 60s the East Coast produced many fine Dinghy Sailors , that could match the Cowes likes of Uffa ; duno what the East Coast can offer up nowadays ; so , are there any outstanding Dinghy Sailors on the East Coast ? that one can recall ?

 

[johnalison]

Might ask , are there any Sailing Personalities these days , which are in the News and Current Affairs etc etc , in bygone days these personalities gave the Yachting a lot od regular publicity ; the likes of Uffa Fox and Prince Phylip come to mind ; They are now gone , so who do we have anymore ; are there any Royalty that are presently engaged in Sailing etc ?

In the 50s n 60s we had active Yachting corresspondence in some National Newspapers , like the Daily Mirror and Daily Express , whos owners had an interest in Sailing ; Do we have any similar now ?

Maybe them Ultra Fast Flying machines that seem to be the 'IN' thing are far to way out for Normal Yachtsmen , Dinghy sailors etc to aspire to

Re East Coast re Cowes localities ; back in the 50s n 60s the East Coast produced many fine Dinghy Sailors , that could match the Cowes likes of Uffa ; duno what the East Coast can offer up nowadays ; so , are there any outstanding Dinghy Sailors on the East Coast ? that one can recall ?

That’s an interesting point. I suppose that you could add The Princess Royal and Edward Heath to the list of notables, and yachtsmen such as Laurie Smith were prominent. Although I don’t follow racing these days, Ben Ainslie is really the only name that comes to mind as someone in the public eye.