East Coast Piers Race 2011

This year we were unlucky with the wind.  If there was a chance of doing the race on the Saturday then most people need to get to the club and set up on the Friday night which means taking part or all of Friday off work.  This would not be an option for me. Besides the beer was cheep!                                                                                     

I understand the argument with regard to an early start on a Saturday and no one would turn up if it was a 8.30 start, however if the tides allowed why not have a midday start and finish the race in the early evening. Looking at some of the times even if the race was run for 7 hours if it started at 12.00 competitors would be off the water by 7.00 in the evening. It is June time so it will not get dark until 9.00 maybe 10.00 but this would allow the race to be run on the Saturday only , and I emphasis only, if the conditions allow. If it is run on a Saturday people could still hang around for the Sunday racing if they wanted to. A midday start would allow a greater chance of a sea breeze kicking in later on in the day.

 

Just a thought.

Hi John,

A good idea in theory and a consideration we took for next year becuase the tides are so rubbish. The main issue is with all of the helpers we have on the main race day.

Because it is a long distance race we have to start early to ensure enough time to get there and back. An early Saturday start would mean people having to take the Friday off work to complete, we thought this might be too much to ask.

The volunteers also help us to put out 25 mother boats and 10+ ribs every year, asking them to be available for one day is a massive challenge if we asked for two I think we would fail in our support along the course. This doesn't include the 75 club members on site on Sunday who also help in various different ways to pull everything together.

The majority of the mother boats leave the club on Saturday morning to make their way up the course to their position or stop somewhere to make the Sunday morning journey less painful. You could argue this is their fault for sailing a cruiser, either way they are a massive help if a competitor needs a break for some reason. They also write down every boat as you sail past to track the competitors up and down the course.

There are some stats on the website (http://www.eastcoastpiersrace.com/html/stats.htm) about when the race turned but only from 2002 onwards.

Keep the suggestions coming, we like the feedback to ensure the competitors keep coming and have an enjoyable weekend.

P.S. For us the bar takings also do matter, we are not there to con you but the beer is donated by Adnams and we sell it for a very generous £2 a pint and all the money goes to charity. The more you drink the more money we make for charity

Cheers

Andrew

Here we go

Race Report - http://www.eastcoastpiersrace.com/html/2011-race-report.htm

Saturday Results - http://www.eastcoastpiersrace.com/html/results/saturday/2011saturday.htm

ECPR Results - http://www.eastcoastpiersrace.com/html/results/ecpr/2011ecpr.htm

Colne Point Results - http://www.eastcoastpiersrace.com/html/results/colnepoint/2011cp.htm

Thank you to everyone who makes this weekend possible, we raise lots of money for a very good cause.

See you next year!!


Edited by a_dowley - 13 Jul 11 at 2:57pm

I know the top ten john but am keeping it to myself