49th 24 Hour Race at West Lancashire Yacht Club
by Alex Halliwell 24 Sep 2015 08:02 BST
12-13 September 2015
West Lancashire Yacht Club 49th 24 Hour Race took place over the weekend of the 12th & 13th September, with the grand total of 63 teams taking part.
Organisers spent an anxious week leading up to the race watching the forecasts which were changing hourly but repeatedly showing gusts up to 29 knots in the night and talk around the club bar had started to include tales from the legendary year the race was stopped when the marquee blew down! Fortunately it was not to be and although the first few hours of the race were sailed in fresh and largely dry conditions by four o'clock in the afternoon the wind had moderated and shifted to the south east providing more pleasant sailing conditions for the competing teams.
Spectators were able to enjoy all the drama of a blustery downwind start at midday, as the fleet got away cleanly in flights of ten boats. The Enterprise of Pilkington A chose the unconventional technique of starting whilst capsized.
The first few laps were key, with the Lark of South Staffs Sailing Club planning clear of the fleet on the first run, where they built a lead which was only eventually challenged by their GP team. Further back in the fleet the racing was close, with the 420 (GP) and Merlin Rocket (lark) Class Associations charging through, into the top ten having started in the 2nd and 3rd flights. Conditions down at A mark were challenging with a tight gybe required to make the fetch up the lake in one tack around the spit. Navigation was made even trickier by the appearance of a large crocodile on the race course. Many of the competitors were dumbfounded by it's appearance and there was a lot of chat about whether a crocodile would be required to give room at the mark. The ferocious beast spent a great deal of time trying to get in the enterprise of the London Corinthian B team when it capsized. It turned out that crocodiles are quicker than crews at climbing back into capsized boats and they take a lot of space in the boat when they do so.
As darkness fell conditions were calm with a pleasant force 2 keeping the boats moving nicely through the night. In these conditions the two enterprises of West Lancashire Yacht Club A and the Enterprise Association team were able to make real inroads into the top ten boats, climbing up to 5th and 6th.
As daylight broke over the Marine Lake positions were constantly changing. Teams opted for different strategies during the night, with one team putting in a 7 hour stint, long enough for the helm to compete in the midnight race and the dawn race.
At midday on Sunday, 24 hours after starting it was the Lark team of South Staffs SC which went on to take line honours, closely followed by the GP's of South Staffs SC and Budworth SC. The Enterprise of West Lancashire Yacht Club finished 4th with the Lark of the Merlin Rocket Association making up the top 5.
For full results please go to www.wlyc.org.uk
West Lancashire Yacht Club would like to thank all the teams who supported the 49th edition of this race and our sponsors, GJW Direct Dinghy Insurance, Robinson's Brewery, Ramada Hotel Southport, Monkey's Fist, TEU Containers, Dorman and Oakhurst Southport.
We would also like to extend an invitation to all clubs, old friends of the race and new, to join us for the 50th addition of this famous dinghy event next year over the weekend of the 17th & 18th September.
Plans are already being drawn up to make next year really special. Can you help us? We are particularly looking for any film, photographs and memories of the event? Are there any sailors out there who have competed in every race?
Please feel free to drop us a line on
Despite the grand age of this challenging race, it still proves a popular event with clubs, with Liverpool Yacht Club bringing more than 70 of its members to sail in the race this year.
Great team performance by Budworth SC at the 24hr Race (from Martin Joesbury)
All three Budworth SC teams achieved their primary goals at this year's 24-Hour Race, hosted as ever by West Lancs YC on Southport Marine Lake on September 12/13.
The club brought three GP14s to the start line, quite a feat of organisation in itself, but add to that the shore support, food and shelter for around 30 club members over two days and it is an achievement only made possible by months of careful planning.
Conditions at the start of the race were blustery and generally testing, causing a number of capsizes. But Budworth's established and well-honed A team, under the captaincy of Bill Kenyon, got off to a good start, kept their noses clean and maintained a position in the top five throughout the race, adapting well as conditions moderated during the evening.
Their aim was to improve on last year's fourth position and they nailed it with an excellent third place overall. Next year's objective has to be to break the hold of South Staffs SC, impressive winners again this year.
Budworth B, led by Jon Chapman, set out to retain the Masters' Trophy, but suffered an early setback with a quarter-lap penalty in the first hour. They also had to contend with spinnaker halyard problems all night yet relentlessly worked their way back up the rankings to finish 11th – their highest ever position – and first Masters' boat for the second year running.
C team captain Caroline Cawood co-ordinated a determined effort by less-experienced club members, many of whom had not sailed together before, let alone in a GP14. Despite early capsizes, their perseverance and good humour paid dividends as they completed 73 laps and finished a creditable 45th overall, a significant improvement on the previous year's position.
Team Budworth is grateful to Preston Audi for its continued support and to club members for lending boats, offering technical support and providing food.