Royal Air Force Yacht Club Brady Trophy at Rutland - preview

The Brady Trophy is the premier dinghy sailing prize for the Royal Air Force. This year, the Trophy celebrates its 60th Anniversary, having been first won in 1949 by Squadron Leader W.H. Cauley. The Trophy itself is one of eight sterling silver trophies presented in 1946 by retired solicitor Charles E Brady to the RAF Sports Board for different sports. Hand made in Sheffield in 1938 by James Warrick, the trophy is a very unusual lidded sterling silver cup with cast dinghies.

Traditionally, the event has been sailed in the RAF’s own fleet of two-man dinghies. For many years this was the Enterprise, with its distinctive blue sails. A number of clubs have hosted the Championship; in the 1980s, the RAF settled on the use of the new reservoir at Rutland Water, which had become a principal RAF sailing centre, with local bases of Wittering, Cottesmore and North Luffenham providing a healthy membership. A move to Grafham Water, home of RAF Stations Brampton and Wyton then followed.

As the RAF decided to change the Enterprise for the Laser 2000, we entered a period where the number of dinghies from the split fleets meant it was difficult to meet the full demand. For 4 years, the event was opened to all dinghies, sailed at Bala Sailing Club, and run as a series of handicap races. 5 years ago, however, the ever increasing size of the Laser 2000 fleet allowed a return to a single fleet format – which should now see us settled for a few more years to come.

By the 1980s, it was not unusual to have 50 entries for the event, and the competition to win was intense. A few people have made the Brady Trophy theirs for a number of years; in the early days, W Owens won it 4 times, ceding then to Flight Sergeant Dougie Newman, the most prolific winner, with 6 wins between ’58 and ’70. Chief Technician Bott took the longest run of wins, with 4, in the 1970s. In the recent past, Flight Sergeant Ian Marshall dominated with 5 wins in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Over the past decade, the reduced size of the RAF combined with the significant level of operations of those remaining has reduced the number of entries. Nevertheless, the standard of sailors means the Trophy is still competitively fought for. In this 60th anniversary year, we are hoping to attract back some of the former winners for a special competition integrated with this year’s championship. With 5 former winning helmsmen still in the RAF, hopefully, 2009 could be a fantastic celebration of the Trophy, with sailing at the highest levels. The event will be held at the end of September, and fittingly, returns to RAF Rutland.

If you have competed for the Brady Trophy some time during the last 60 years and would like to celebrate this anniversary or you are a serving member of the RAF and would like to compete more details of the event and entry forms can be found on the RAFSA WEB page www.raf.mod.uk/rafsailing/dinghy/ alternatively information can be obtained from Flight Sergeant Laurie Dengate at RAF Wittering - 01780 783838 ext 7773.