Burnham Week, the East Coast regatta based in the sleepy town on the edge of Essex that rounds off the end of the sailing season is once again underway.

At the end of the Bank Holiday weekend, racing so far has been mixed with light northerly winds, storms, lightening that cast the area into darkness at midday yesterday, being replaced by bright sunshine and fluky, shifty easterlys on Monday.

Racing covers all types of boats from Class 1 down to singlehanded dinghies, entries are spread but small keelboats predominate with a good fleet of 1720s, Etchells , Squibs and Dragons.

Burnham has always been the home of a flourishing active Dragon class with one of the builders, Petticrows, situated on the front next to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. It is thus no surprise that racing in this class has been particularly tight, and local knowledge is proving to be the key. As the wind dropped off today (Monday 27 August), use of the tide became more important, but Burnham has one more trick up its sleeve, mud. At low tide the banks of the Crouch leading out to the racing area take on a distinctly sticky consistency. A tack too late and a race is lost as the keel slides to a halt in the thick East Coast mud. Sue Pelling sailing on board on Dragon 667, Ganador described Mondays sailing as ‘frustrating but enjoyable and an improvement on the torrential rain of yesterday’.

The courses vary each day for each class to maintain the interest and skill levels, ending in the early afternoon to provide plenty of time for the social side of the week. All of the towns’ sailing and yacht clubs open their doors for competitors with each night offering different entertainment.

Results are currently unavailable due to technical problems but it looks sure that the gold cup has been won by Tears for Fears, Squib 801 sailed by Peter Marchant , with three firsts in as many days. Peter is competing with crewman Andy Biddle who has flown the 11 hours from San Fransisco just to race in Burnham,.

Like many smaller regattas this summer entries are down in numbers, whether this is due to the large number of high profile events this year or dwindling support from the East Coast sailing world is not clear. An event which used to attract the likes of Edward Heath and masses of Class 1 boats from around the country in its hey day is now struggling. Its sister week in Ramsgate is growing probably due in part to its timing earlier in the season. Is this the new Burnham, or is east coast racing dying and a gentler breed of cruising sailors taking their place? Maybe it is a question of the need for two such events located so close.