West Lancashire Yacht Club 24 Hour Race 2026 in association with International Paint
by Alex Halliwell 16 Sep 07:23 BST
12-13 September 2026
Can you believe this race is sixty years old this year? West Lancashire Yacht Club would have loved to have celebrated this huge milestone in dinghy endurance racing, but sadly our Covid gap diverted our attention, with 3 years and no race and a great deal of uncertainty about whether it would even be possible for the club to run an event of this magnitude again.
It is a credit to the determination of the club and its members and all the loyal followers of the race and our sponsors that this juggernaut of a sailing event is back up and trucking.
This event would not be possible without all the clubs who come and bring rescue boat crew, scrutineers, scoring etc. who enable the club to keep running this classic dinghy sailing event. (Apologies if I missed your job off the list your contribution is recognised and we would love to see you back in 2027.)
Because this is a report about the 24-Hour Race, we cannot talk about the actual sailing without mentioning the enormous party that comes before on Friday night. There was a great atmosphere with everyone enjoying the party and catching up with friends. Sailors danced the night away enjoying music from the Lalalalas and DJ Enterprise.
West Lancashire Yacht Club was delighted earlier in the year to hit seventy-five entries and opened a waiting list for entries. It was wonderful to see a Firefly win last year and for other teams to have a successful race and even better to see so many Fireflys back on the water this year. It is a while since we have had so many boats on the lake and it was an amazing spectacle to see the lake so busy, not least because it was, shall we say breezy and rather gusty in some parts of the lake which made for good spectating on the shore. In fact, there were so many boats waiting to launch that some teams nearly missed the start as they were a little shy and clearly keen to preserve their energy to put in that fastest first two laps.
It was great to see so many teams this year, from all around the country, including the northwest, northeast, midlands, Scotland including regulars from St Mary's Loch SC, Largs SC and Oban SC. We also had visitors from the South-coast including Wilsonian from Kent, Tudor SC from Portsmouth and Southampton. We also saw teams from clubs who have not been for many years return. It was great to see boats from Winsford Flash SC and Blackpool & Fleetwood YC. Budworth SC's Bill Kenyon has been instrumental in supporting West Lancs revive the race, ensuring that his club and others providing volunteers to support the event as well as many sailors.
The seven flights of boats including GP's, Enterprises and Fireflys got away cleanly in what is probably best described as a downwind start. Not an easy feat especially when you have a minute to time your run to the start through the box with little margin for error. I hear it was a little fresh up at A mark at the end of the first leg with many boats having a little swim while enjoying the fact that you can stand up in the marine lake. Congratulations go to Budworth's A team, who must have stayed the right way up and pointed in the right direction in the big gusts which were pounding the boats as the beat back up the lake behind the islands. They took the Radio Merseyside Cup for the fastest first two laps.
The gusty conditions gave the spectators lots of entertainment but also the protest committee who sat solidly from around 2pm to 8pm. They heard what they felt was a recent record of fourteen protests.
It did not take long for the GP of South Staffs A to reassert their dominance on the event taking an early lead over Budworth A and West Lancs A teams. At Midnight South Staffs were the leading boat and had won the dusk race. Nipping at their heels were the Fireflys from The National Firefly Associations and Rutland SC A team and West Oxfordshire A team and the GP's of Hollingworth Lake and Royal Windermere Yacht Club. It was great to see some Enterprise teams having some really competitive racing this year and congratulations must go to the new team from Oban SC who stole the march eventually finishing 9th overall, just in front of RNSA and Scammonden SC in 11th and 13th respectively.
The livelier conditions of Saturday afternoon gave way to calmer winds into the evening with what seemed a perfect breeze keeping the boats moving cleanly round at midnight. The Race Committee and I sure the competitors and spectators were glad the forecast winds and heavy rain never materialised. However, at around 2:30am things took a disappointing turn as the nice breeze went flat calm and the boats' lap times started to drop from 15 minutes to 40 minutes to in some cases over an hour.
This year we were treated to a mild night which was also dry. A huge improvement on the stormy conditions of last year. This meant there seemed to be far more people around through the night than usual and the constant chat of the competitors helped keep the race committee awake. Around 4:30 the wind swung 180, leaving many teams a little disorientated in the dark. Many teams clearly used to bigger waters found that putting their centreboards fully down was slowing them down considerably. The GP team from South Windermere had a particularly frustrating time after cracking their centerboard from the bolt into three pieces. A quick repair with epoxy and duct tape got them up and running again however the epoxy went off in the boat, and they were left with the centreboard epoxied fully down, turning them into a keel boat, which was less than ideal. Full credit to them for finishing the race in what must have been difficult conditions. The team did not let it get them down, ensuring an excellent selection of snacks went out in the boat to keep spirits up.
This year there were two new special races scheduled for Saturday afternoon which were devised to recognise and encourage our younger competitors. One race for helms who are sixteen and under (with a crew over 18 years) and another for under 19's (helm and crew). The club must thank The National Firefly Association for the presentation of the under 19' trophy NFA 80th Anniversary Trophy and to Principal Race Officer Mike Butterfield who obtained a special trophy for the under sixteens. The HMS Conway Memorial Cup, (from the now closed school of the same name) which Mike tells me has been repurposed for this event and was originally a swimming trophy. I am sure the irony will not be lost on competitors as the Race Committee had to take the decision to reschedule the race to Sunday for this trophy as it fell within the windiest part of the forecast on Saturday afternoon.
Winners of the Dawn Race were Oban SC in their Enterprise which was exactly right for the light conditions. Also enjoying the lighter wind was the Enterprise of St Mary's Loch SC who won the fastest lap at 08:00. They celebrated by leaping from the boat as they crossed the finish line.
Congratulations to Nantwich & Border Counties (Old Boys) who were the inaugural winners of the NFA 80th Anniversary Trophy and to Shustoke Sailing Club who took the HMS Conway Memorial Cup without having to swim a single stroke in very flat conditions.
The final special race of what became a terribly busy morning was the Heineken Cup for all the fastest lap after 10:00 by all lady crew. Congratulations to the ladies from Bath University A team who took line honours in their Firefly.
Our admiration must go to the team of two from Royal Windermere B team, Jack & Michael Wilson who sailed the entire race to raise money in memory of their Mum, a past Commodore of Royal Windermere. Congratulations guys, you have also joined a small group of heroes who have managed this feat before you.
Congratulations to South Staffs SC A, who have been dominant in this event over so many years. However, there would be no winners without other competitors. So, we cannot wait to welcome you all back next year.
Without our volunteers this event would not happen, we thank you for your time and generosity. A special mention must go to Richard Craig of SailPics, not only for his amazing pictures year after year but for the new scoring system he has worked so hard on over several years which debuted this year, ensuring this race can go forwards, embracing new technology.
This event would not be possible without our amazing sponsors. A huge thank you must go to International Yacht paints. It was great to see Simon Parker and his team from International again at this year's race supporting grass roots sailing. We must also thank Marine Supplies Direct, Rooster, Ocean Plaza and TEU who help to provide the many containers we use on site.
Everyone at West Lancashire Yacht Club is looking forward to Welcoming you back in 2027. Make sure you get your entries in early, so you do not miss the cut!
Full results can be found on the West Lancs website, wlyc.org.uk/page/wlyc-24-hour-race.