Champion of Champions gets underway at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham-on-Crouch
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 retained 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 |
Supporting partners
RS Sailing
Produce a wide range of award winning sailboats including the RS200 used for the 2016 Endeavour Championship. The company is based in Hampshire and is supported by a worldwide dealer network, and active class associations throughout the world.
Allen Brothers
Allen Sailboat Performance Hardware – designers, manufacturers and distributors of performance dinghy and keelboat fittings.
http://www.allenbrothers.co.uk
Calltracks
The Calltracks tracking solution is a comprehensive and easy-to-use web-based system, which enables businesses to take better control of their sales and marketing activities.
Hyde Sails
UK managed and owned company, producing performance sails worldwide for dinghies and yachts for over 40 years.
Magic Marine
Develop and produce technical dinghy and catamaran sailing gear worldwide.
Kingfisher DSM Group
Kingfisher yacht ropes is DSM group’s own brand of high performance sailing ropes and equipment.
Lonton and Gray sail makers
Manufacturers of quality sails for dinghies, keelboats and Squibs, all made in the UK.
Endeavour contact
Edwin Buckley on +44 (0) 7768 003 453 or email edwin@sweetings.uk.com.
Endeavour Trophy
https://www.facebook.com/Endeavour-Trophy-175425519205632/
Event website