707s racing at close quarters are Pocket Battleship, left, owned by Andrew Prestwich, which came second in the opening weekend of Burnham Week, and Racehorse, owned by Richard Bavin, which was third. Photo:Steve Cox

A good level of entries and competitive racing has delighted organisers of Burnham Week, one of the biggest events in the East Anglian sailing calendar, which got under way over the bank holiday weekend.

Jo Barker, chairman of Burnham Week’s organising body, the Joint Clubs Committee (JCC), said she was absolutely delighted that 140 boats had been entered for the races.

“When you consider that a lot of regattas are losing people, we are very happy to have maintained our numbers,” she said.

Rain squalls made conditions challenging on Saturday and Sunday in particular, although there were also good blows for much of the time under mainly overcast skies. It was drier, with more sun, on bank holiday Monday.

Racing at Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex, run by the JCC of the town’s four sailing clubs – the Royal Burnham, the Royal Corinthian, Crouch Yacht Club and Burnham Sailing Club – is divided into three parts, giving entrants the choice to race one or all three series. The opening bank holiday weekend series is now complete, then comes the week series, and the final Saturday is designated as Trophy Day, with all classes racing for their Saturday Trophy and IRC Class One boats competing for the prestigious Town Cup.

The opening weekend’s racing attracted entrants ranging from 92-year-old Col Bobby Melville, racing his Royal Corinthian One Design, Corinna, to children as young as seven in their Optimists.

Among the outstanding results of series one was in the Royal Corinthian One Design class, where Peter Marchant won all three races to clinch the title.

The Squib class, with more than 20 entries, was one of the most hotly contested and was won by Malcolm Hutchings, in Lady Penelope, adding to his trophy cabinet after his win at Cowes Week in early August with his crew Andy Ramsey.

Full results are available on the Burnham Week website – www.burnhamweek.org.uk – where you can click on the results tab.