Class Association
Champion of Champions Endeavour Trophy gets underway at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham-on-Crouch
Training day essential for weekend of stiff competition
Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex (7 October, 2016): The Endeavour Trophy started today with competitors attending the on-shore training briefing followed by multiple short training races throughout the afternoon. The Calltracks-sponsored training session at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club was followed by a video debriefing to further prepare the competitors for their racing over the weekend.
This year sailing is once again in the RS200 and the organisers appointed Steve Irish to lead the training. Commenting on the competitors and their ability to adapt to a new boat, Irish said: “Clearly these sailors have skills that are very transferable. The range of experience is vast and I believe we will have some very interesting and close racing over the weekend. It is excellent to see such a range of sailors and the younger sailors have an opportunity to compete against some of the most experienced dinghy sailors in the world. There is also a healthy spirit of competitiveness amongst all the champions.”
The weather prediction for the two days is primarily a northerly wind but on Saturday, during the racing period, the wind will be lighter with an easterly wind of about 8 knots, accompanied by some rain in the afternoon. On Sunday, depending on which weather model is used, it is predicted there may be stronger winds gusting around 15 knots and some sunny skies. Many competitors relish the stronger winds but they know that the unpredictability of the weather will once again make this an interesting championship.
Prior to the practice session Ben Saxton, last year’s Endeavour Trophy winner and the Nacra 17 Olympic entry for Team GB, said: “This will be my first racing back in a dinghy since Rio and I am looking forward to getting to grips with the boat and fine tuning my skills with Toby so we can hit the ground running tomorrow. There are some competitors who are currently very on-form in the RS200 and we really want to beat them using our combined racing skills.”
Toby Lewis, Ben’s crew explained: “Time in the boat and practice will be very useful – we have both been sailing different boats this last year so we need to get back in tune with each other, something that is crucial if we want to retain the title.”
The record number of 26 entries this year has competitors aged between 13 and 59 years old and subsequently their varying skills and approaches will ensure some interesting results. Edwin Buckley, race organiser, said: “The championship this year sees some favourites returning but there are many new faces with diverse skills that may very well change the outcome of the racing. We are looking forward to varied racing conditions which will make it possible for anyone to win.”
The racing starts at 10:30 on Saturday and will be completed after a total of eight races over the two days. Tradition has it that the race officer tries to get in five or six races on the Saturday so that the Sunday racing is more flexible and not so rushed.
Confirmed Entries
2000 Class Fergus Barnham and Serena De Nahlik
29er Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling
420 Robbie King and Marcus Tressler
505 Andy Smith and Alex Barry
Cadet Jamie Harris and Bettine Harris
D One Nick Craig and Holly Scott
Enterprise Tim Sadler and Jeremy Stevens
Fireball Christian Birrell and Emma Norris
Graduate John Clementson and Jamie Clementson
Lark Stuart Hydon and Rachel Rhodes
Merlin Rocket Roger Gilbert and James Stewart
Miracle Hannah Smith and Nick Smith
Musto Skiff Alex Knight and Megan Pascoe
Nacra 17 Ben Saxton and Toby Lewis
RS 200 Mat Mee and Joanna Wright
RS 400 Paul Oakey and Mark Oakey
RS 500 Edd Whitehead and Karen Oldale
RS 800 Luke McEwen and Emma McEwen
RS Aero 5 Archie Hainsworth and Freddie Wootton
RS Aero 7 David Ellis and Chloe Martin
RS Feva William Pank and Finley Dickinson
RS Vareo David Jarrett and Emma Hivey
Scorpion Chris Turner and Alex Hayman
Skud 18 Niki Birrell and Jonny McGovern
Supernova Iain Horlock and Victoria Upton
Topper 5.3 Samuel Cooper and Alistair Rimmer
