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Allen Endurance Series Round 3: Round Sheppey Race

by Simon Lovesey 12 Sep 2018 15:55 BST 8-9 September 2018
60th Round Sheppey Race, part of the Allen Endurance Series © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

The Round Sheppey Race concluded the 2018 Allen Endurance Series. In its 60th year the Round Sheppey race, covering a 40-mile clockwise circumnavigation of the Isle Of Sheppey, claims to be the UK's longest annual dinghy, cat & board race. Including sea, river & estuary sailing with tidal conditions, the Round Sheppey Race provides many challenges, including the competitors having to cross under a low road bridge.

The 2018 Round Sheppey Race saw around 100 competitors, across a variety of craft, including cats, dinghies and sail boards, many travelling some distance to attend, including from Ireland and all corners of the UK.

First off at 10am in a lightish breeze were the sailboards and slow dinghies, including top junior sailor Aaron Evans, fresh back from competing at the Topper Worlds in China. Quickest out of the blocks was the sailboard of Andy Gibson, often seeing speeds well into double figures, recorded on the SailRacer GPS trackers as the fleet headed east.

The mid-speed dinghies formed the next start, with the bulk of the fleet starting in the third and last start, including the cats and fast dinghies.

The first leg of around 10 miles in the open waters of the Thames Estuary, gave some fast reaching. As the fleet headed into the confines of the Swale and a head wind, speeds started to drop. The famous (or infamous) part of the Round Sheppey Race is the section passing under the old low road bridge, which forces boats to capsize. First to this critical point was Andy Gibson (sailboard), after 1 hour and 50 minutes, over 25 minutes ahead of the next competitor. The next arrivals at the bridge was a much busier affair, with many turning up at similar times.

Andy Gibson took overall line honours by some margin and the Sailboard division. The conditions suited the Darts with the class taking the top four places in the dinghy and cat division, Chris Goymer and Paul Wiseman from Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club winning on corrected time, from Debs Waters and Barry Peters from Worthing Sailing Club, with Mark Robson and Kerra Pearce, UKIDA completing the podium.

Combining the scores based on the SailRacer GPS data, Andy Gibson (sailboard) took the overall win to be awarded the Allen £100 voucher, with Chris Goymer and Paul Wiseman (Dart) second and Debs Waters and Barry Peters (Dart) third.

On the SailRacer Speed Wall, Andy Gibson (Sailboard) was fastest on corrected and actual speeds over a sustained period, recording 12.03 kts on the SailRacer GPS trackers. On adjusted speeds, the 29er of Simon Conway and Tom Mitchell was the fastest skiff, Mike Gough (Catapult) fastest cat, and Aaron Evans (Topper) the fastest dinghy.

Allen Endurance Series

The 2018 series covered three of the UK's long distance races: Solent Forts, East Coast Piers and Round Sheppey. With racing covering over 120 miles, the Allen Endurance Series challenged sailors over some varied courses to find the UK's top long distance racers this summer. All races were tracked by SailRacer, allowing organisers and supporters to monitor boat positions, which has provided a wealth of analytical data such as top speeds and distance sailed. Allen provided over £1,000 of prizes across the Series and individual events.

Series winners will be announced next week: allen.SailRacer.org

Overall Results: with further breakdown available

PosHelm/CrewClassSail NoClubRatingStartFinishElapsedCorrected
1Chris Goymer/Paul WisemanDart 187727Royal Yorkshire YC82411:30:0013:47:0902:17:0902:46:27
2Debs Waters/Barry PetersDart 187382Worthing82411:30:0013:57:5302:27:5302:59:28
3Mark Robson/Kerra PearceDart 187962UKIDA82411:30:0014:01:2302:31:2303:03:43
4Chris Brunger/Ian BrungerDart 187677IOSSC82411:30:0014:01:3902:31:3903:04:02
5Alex MontgomeryCatapult1 90311:00:0013:55:3002:55:3003:14:21
6Chris SaundersBlaze810Wilsonian SC102711:00:0014:21:1703:21:1703:15:59
7Joe Baker/Mark LunanDart 187000IOSSC82411:30:0014:12:1402:42:1403:16:53
8Richard Golden/Charles HowlingFormula 181421Hayling Ferry SC68011:30:0013:44:2702:14:2703:17:43
9Richard SmithRS 6008Wilsonian91611:00:0014:02:1303:02:1303:18:56
10Emma Stevenson/Tim BowdenOsprey1175Weymouth92811:00:0014:08:0903:08:0903:22:45
11Mick Greenland/Lee MarriottOsprey1372IOSSC92811:00:0014:09:0303:09:0303:23:43
12Peter Badham/Richard BottingFireball14792Draycote Water95311:00:0014:15:4003:15:4003:25:19
13Michael IszattRS 600951King George SC91611:00:0014:08:3703:08:3703:25:55
14Chas BedfordShadow X31IOSSC75011:30:0014:07:1302:37:1303:29:37
15Aaron EvansTopper47780Silver Wing135810:00:0014:46:1304:46:1303:30:46
16Keith McDonald/Andy BrittainFireball15132Small Heath YC95311:00:0014:21:3303:21:3303:31:29
17Peter BartonRS Aero 92549Lymington Town101911:00:0014:36:0003:36:0003:31:58
18Simon Conway/Tom Mitchell29er79Docklands91211:00:0014:13:3703:13:3703:32:18
19Mike BellBlaze613Bughfield102711:00:0014:39:1003:39:1003:33:24
20Derek Darley/David JollySprint 15 (2 ppl 2 sails)1991IOSSC92711:00:0014:17:5503:17:5503:33:30
21Mike GoughCatapult540Yorkshire Dales SC90311:00:0014:13:4603:13:4603:34:35
22Gavin Thorpe/Alex DuffieldLaser 200022262Bough Beech SC110910:30:0014:28:5603:58:5603:35:27
23Andrew BunyanSprint 15 (1 person)1546Stewartby92711:00:0014:20:3403:20:3403:36:22
24Stuart Hall/Adam WickendenWayfarer10710Silverwing110210:30:0014:28:4403:58:4403:36:38
25Steve Restall/Chris StubbsRS 4001189Downs SC94211:00:0014:25:2803:25:2803:38:07
26Peter Deeming/Martin CraggLaser 20002903Weird Wood110910:30:0014:34:2404:04:2403:40:23
27Rob Dunkley/Angie DunkleyRS 4001313Hollowell SC94211:00:0014:35:2003:35:2003:48:35
28Alastair ForrestCatapult524Catapult Assoc90311:00:0014:27:2003:27:2003:49:36
29Neal Gibson/Keith MaceyRS 800982Downs79911:00:0014:03:3303:03:3303:49:43
30Tim Mathews/Thomas MathewsTopaz Uno Race1723Grafham Water120710:00:0014:38:0404:38:0403:50:23
31Elizabeth Pilling/Nick BushRS 200775Sheffield Viking104610:30:0014:34:2304:04:2303:53:38
32Andrew Everitt/Jason DrydenLaser Vago XD (2 ppl)1061North Herts & East Beds107110:30:0014:41:0704:11:0703:54:28
33Adrian Howe/Fenella WilliamsHurricane Sport429Oxford69211:30:0014:13:2902:43:2903:56:15
34Edmund Cross/Fionn Barr CrossTasar1226Sheffield Viking101511:00:0015:02:5504:02:5503:59:20
35Gareth Tulley/Darren TulleyTopaz Magno3757Aylesbury SC117510:00:0014:42:0604:42:0604:00:05
36Chris Hore/Steve KendalLaser Vago XD (2 ppl)182Hampton Pier YC107110:30:0014:47:5404:17:5404:00:48
37Andrew PriechexifriedRS Aero 969Shellness SC101911:00:0015:05:3304:05:3304:00:58
38Anna Cowlishaw/James CowlishawRS 500522Sheffield Viking96311:00:0014:53:1503:53:1504:02:13
39Steve Bailey/Simon LimbAlbacore5881Nottingham103810:30:0014:41:3404:11:3404:02:21
40Tim PrykeLaser Radial129844Tonbridge Town114210:00:0014:38:0504:38:0504:03:30
41Andrew Begley/Reuben ChownLaser 20002740Weir Wood110910:30:0015:00:3004:30:3004:03:55
42Russel Wheeler/Liam WheelerRS Vision IOSSC112810:00:0014:38:5204:38:5204:07:13
43Ken FowlerRS Aero 71897Highcliffe SC106810:30:0014:55:3204:25:3204:08:38
44Craig DabbsSprint 15 (1 person)204IOSSC92711:00:0014:52:0303:52:0304:10:19
45Sam Wilford/Andrew WilfordRS 4001083Hollowell94211:00:0014:57:1703:57:1704:11:54
46James Spod/John Rees42041566 111110:30:0015:13:2404:43:2404:15:05
47Mark Hope/Paula BeveridgeRS 400735Hollowell SC94211:00:0015:02:5104:02:5104:17:48
48Nick Hawkins/Mike JudsonWanderer1604IOSSC119010:00:0015:07:3905:07:3904:18:32
49Paul Jarrett/Francesca JarrettLaser 20002967Gunfleet110910:30:0015:26:2804:56:2804:27:20
50Colin Gibson/Paul ElliottWayfarer8619HCYC110210:30:0015:28:0904:58:0904:30:33
51Brian CulverLaser135408Hampton Pier YC109810:30:0015:27:1004:57:1004:30:39
52Gerald Bass/Graham DrurryLaser 30003539IOSSC108510:30:0015:29:4704:59:4704:36:18
53Elena BalychevaByte CII2624IOSSC114410:00:0015:42:5905:42:5904:59:49
54Kevin Conway/Paul VambeckMerlin Rocket 3 (sail 3157‑3330) PN+303324Wicklow101011:00:0016:05:5005:05:5005:02:48
55Bob Morris/Ian Morris / Simon LaverockWayfarer79IOSSC110210:30:0017:43:0207:13:0206:32:57
DNFSam Gibson/Jamie Linkson / Tom HaslamTopaz Xenon4193HCYC107910:30:00   
DNFK. Eayrs/A. EayrsGull2863Weir Wood135510:00:00   

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