63rd Endeavour Trophy - Dinghy champion of champions event under way at Burnham-on-Crouch
by Sue Pelling 11 Oct 12:34 PDT
12-13 October 2024
Crisp, spring-like conditions and a light breeze greeted the 30-strong fleet of dinghy champions this morning for the 63rd Endeavour Trophy dinghy champion of champions invitational event writes Sue Pelling.
Today's opening training session at the Royal Corinthian YC, Burham-on-Crouch, was headed by Steve Irish - one of the UK's leading dinghy racing coaches. This provided the perfect opportunity for the fleet of champions to acquaint themselves with their boats, and fine tune their rigs in preparation for tomorrow's first races.
While the training session is particularly useful for first timers to this event, seasoned Endeavour competitors including Nick Craig, seven-time Endeavour winner, and reigning champ who this year qualified with his D1 and OK national championship wins, say it's worth making the effort to get out on the water for a vital bit of practice.
"It is such a fantastic event, great racing, even today for the training day you have the opportunity to sail against 20 or so other national champions, so it really pays to join in and take the rare opportunity."
The growing popularity of this event continues to attract a full-house of champions representing a huge array of national and international classes. Over the next two days, the fleet will battle it out on the tidal reaches of River Crouch/Roach in a series of eight back-to-back races (one discard) in identical RS200 one designs (with brand-new Hyde jibs and spinnakers supplied courtesy of RS Sailing), to establish the 2024 best-of-the-best dinghy champion.
This year's Endeavour Trophy is particularly poignant given its historic connection with the America's Cup. For the first time in 60 years Great Britain is in the America's Cup final in Barcelona with Ben Ainslie's INEOS Britannia up against defenders Emirates Team New Zealand, and it will be taking place at exactly the same time as the Endeavour Trophy. The origin of the Endeavour Trophy stems from Tom Sopwith's Burnham-based J-Class yacht Endeavour, and the America's Cup Challenge in 1934.
Back onshore at this afternoon's training day de-brief, competitors made the most of the learning opportunity before enjoying a hearty pasta meal courtesy of Barbuck. Here they took the time to chat to fellow champions about what's in store for the weekend. For some of the younger competitors, many of whom are first timers, it was a golden opportunity. Talking earlier today, Hari Clark (13) from Draycote Water SC, who not only won this year's Topper 4.2 national championship, but also the world championship, said his aim this weekend is to learn as much as possible: "I think I can learn a lot by talking to others, and I am looking forward to sailing against really good champion sailors tomorrow."
Clark who is not only the youngest helmsman at the event, but also at just 30kg must be one of the, if not the, lightest in the fleet. "The light winds expected will be good for our generally lighter weight, so I can't wait to get on the water tomorrow to see how we do. Whatever happens, I intend to have fun."
For Sam Nee (15) and Bridgette (20) - sisters representing the Cadet class from Frensham Pond SC - it's their second time at the event but their aim is to improve on their position last year. "We came dead last year in 2023, so we have lots of scope to improve. That's our aim anyway. We learnt heaps at that event, so hopefully we'll be able to put that into practice this time."
Another team of second timers - Ben Greenhalgh (15) and Tom Sinfield (14), RS Feva national champions - say they also learnt so much from sailing against other champions last year. "It is a very competitive fleet and extremely difficult to do well in such a high caliber fleet. Getting the starts right are so important, and because it was windy last year we were constantly overpowered, so this year although I don't think it will be quite as windy, our goal is to set up our rig to the optimum taking into account our all-up light weight."The fact they sail at Port Dinorwic (north Wales) on the Menai Strait is something Greenhalgh and Sinfield also feel fortunate about. "The Menai Strait is very tidal, even more so than here, so hopefully we can use that experience to our advantage."
At the close of play today, Edwin Buckley, event director and race officer talking about the likely conditions said it's difficult to predict what the weather will throw at us at this stage: "It's going to be a challenge that's for sure, with generally light winds expected. It is however a case of taking one day at a time and seeing what we have to play with on the day. My intention (weather permitting) is to get the fleet down to the start line promptly in the morning after the 0930 briefing and to start the racing on time, which is officially 1025 (warning signal)."
Endeavour Entrants 2024
- RS200 - Ben Whaley and Lorna Glen
- National 12 - Tom and Robert Stewart
- Merlin Rocket - Christian Birrell and Luke Patience
- RS Feva - Ben Greenhalgh and Tom Sinfield
- RS400 - Edd and Thomas Whitehead
- OK - Nick Craig and Toby Lewis
- WASZP - Sam Whaley and Jess Hammett
- 420 - Arwen Fflur and Matthew Rayner
- Cherub - Andrew and Jill Peters
- Blaze - Ben Harden and Lucy Ellery
- Firefly - Steve Tylecote and Alice Lucy
- 2000 - Oliver Groves and Esther Parkhurst
- Topper 5.3 - Jessica Powell and Rob Henderson
- Enterprise - Darren and Hayley Roach
- ILCA 7 - Finley Dickinson and Elysia O Leary
- Musto Skiff - Sam and Benjamin Pascoe
- Cadet - Samantha and Bridgitte Nee
- ILCA 4 - Toby Waggett and Jack Hopkins
- Osprey - Matt Rainback and Faye Chatterton
- Aero 5 - Andrew Frost and Sammy Isaacs-Johnson
- Supernova - Sam Knight and Sam Watson
- Graduate - Fresh Abendstern and Ross Southwell
- GP14 - Matt Mee and Jonny McGovern
- Topper 4.2 - Hari Clark and William Whittaker
- 49er - Fin Armstrong and Ewan Gribbin
- Aero 9 - Baabilo Flower and Trudie Fell
- Snipe - Joseph Warwicker and Matthew Wolstenholme
- RS800 - Tommy and Charlie Darling
- 29er - James Crossley and Sam Webb
- GP14 - Emily Page and Mathew Williams
Brief history of the Endeavour Trophy
The Endeavour Trophy is a solid silver scale model of the J Class yacht Endeavour presented annually to the Champion of Champions at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham-on-Crouch.
The origin of the trophy stems from Tom Sopwith's J Class yacht Endeavour, America's Cup Challenge in 1934. Following a pay dispute and dismissal of his east coast-based professional crew, Sopwith teamed up with 'Tiny' Mitchell, the Commodore of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club at the time, to recruit amateur members of the club to form a crew.
Although Endeavour won the first two races against Rainbow, and lost the series, this was the closest England ever came to winning the coveted America's Cup.
In recognition of this achievement, the late Robin Judah - respected member of the RCYC - established a series of races for dinghy sailors to determine the overall dinghy champion of champions from the UK's most popular dinghy racing classes. Beecher Moore, former Endeavour crew, and marketing man behind the successful dinghy designer Jack Holt, joined Judah in his quest to run this event and presented for the overall winner, his solid silver scale model of the yacht.
The first invitation-only race took place in 1961 and the winners were Peter Bateman and Keith Musto, representing the International Cadet class. The event is now recognised as one of the ultimate achievements in British dinghy racing.
The competition is exceptionally challenging and those who qualify through winning their own class championship, are given the opportunity to race equally talented sailors in this unique, highly demanding two-day event on the river Crouch.
Given the diverse entry, which includes singlehanded, doublehanded, heavy and lightweight crews, and to ensure the racing is as fair as possible, carefully selected, strict one-designs are chosen for the event. The original idea back in 1961 was to use the club's own fleet of 15 Royal Corinthian One-Designs but they were considered too specialist and would have placed a perpetual limit on the number of entries. The first event was, therefore, sailed in Enterprises.
Since then, numerous one-design classes have been used for the event including the GP14, Laser 2, Lark, Enterprise, RS400, Topper Xenon, and the Topper Argo. The 13ft (4m) Phil Morrison-designed RS200 - a smaller version of the RS400 - has been the chosen class for the Endeavour Championship since 2015. It weighs in at 78kg and is an ideal choice to suit a wide crew-weight range.
Supporting partners
- RS Sailing
Produce a wide range of award-winning sailboats including the RS200 used for the Endeavour Championship for the last two years. The company is based in Hampshire and is supported by a worldwide dealer network, and active class associations throughout the world.
www.rssailing.com
- Allen Brothers
Allen Sailboat Performance Hardware - designers, manufacturers and distributors of performance dinghy and keelboat fittings.
www.allenbrothers.co.uk
- The Old Salt Loft
The Old Salt Loft is a producer of recycled sail bags, t-shirt, printing, merchandise and embroidery spec.
www.theoldsaltloft.com
- Barbuck
TalkingForms from Barbuck, converts your web forms to inbound sales calls in under 30 seconds, using text-to-voice technology. This allows you to talk to your potential client while they are still in the buying zone and focused on your company and products.
Speed is critical, as 78 per cent of customers will give their business to the first company to respond. Make sure you speak to them first with TalkingForms, and never miss a lead again.
www.barbuck.com
- PB Sports Photography
You are the hero, we document it. Capturing the awesome in everyone in video, still and writing form.
sports.hub47.com
- Hyde Sails
Hyde Sails manufactures sails for the smallest dinghies to round-the-globe cruisers and for racing yachts to traditional sailing boats.
www.hydesails.com
- Noble Marine Insurance UK
Market leading cover and competitive premiums for dinghies and yachts.
www.noblemarine.co.uk
