With winds exceeding 30 knots in the gusts, Race Officer Kim Allen and team made the wise decision to postpone the first race of the eight-race champion-of-champions series at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club (1-3 October).
The extreme conditions also meant the pre-race on-the-water training session, directed by ABC for Winning coach Adam Bowers, was curtailed leaving the 30 national champion teams benefiting from a shore-based rules seminar with rules expert Trevor Lewis, and a race tactics talk by Bowers. Bowers talking about the session said: "There are many who have raced at this event before but there are also those who are totally new to the Endeavour Trophy, so my participation is to level that playing field a bit. Unfortunately the serious weather meant we couldn't get on the water today but hopefully the shore-based sessions gave a taste of what to expect on the water tomorrow."
Competitors were also blessed with the presence of Robin Judah, the man behind the creation of the Endeavour Trophy 50 years ago. Judah, a former International Judge and Umpire, flew in from his hometown of Bermuda this morning especially for the three-day 50th anniversary Endeavour championship and will be the special guest at the Endeavour Dinner at the RCYC tomorrow evening.
Thankfully the weather front is forecast to pass through by the morning leaving more favourable conditions with winds in the 11-13kt range to allow the first six, short/sharp, windward/leeward races to take place on the River Crouch.
The level of competition is expected to be extremely high with 30 fully charged national champions from the most popular dinghy racing classes itching to get out on the water to race the Ian Howlett-designed Topper Xenon. This class, which has been used successfully at this event for the last five years, offers an ideal all-up crew weight range of between 18-24 stone (114-152 kilos) and because it's a relatively new design and has no class championship, there is no class champion to gain an unfair advantage.
Topper, who have specifically built and kindly loaned the fleet of 30 brand-new Xenons for the event, have been working closely with Hyde who are supplying sails, Allen Brothers the fittings, Selden the masts, and English Braids the rope. Together they have been able to produce an 'Endeavour boat' that is arguably the most fair choice of class in the history of the event. Other key sponsors include Noble Marine who has insured the fleet, Petticrows who has provided shore support, and Musto who has donated a £1,000 voucher for the overall winners of the 2010 Endeavour Trophy.
The race schedule starts tomorrow (2 October) at 1030. The plan is to run six races back-to-back on windward/leeward courses lasting a minimum of 35 minutes per race. The 50th Endeavour Trophy dinner is at the club that evening, and the final races of the Endeavour Trophy are taking place on Sunday morning. The special 50th anniversary Masters' championship on the Sunday will start at 1400, and the prizegiving for both events will take place as soon as possible after the last race.
Endeavour Trophy 2010 entries (30)
Class Helmsman and crew
B14 Tim Harrison and Jonny Ratcliffe
Blaze Rob Jones and Ian Clark
Cadet Andrew and Christopher Smith
Enterprise Nick Craig and Toby Lewis
Fireball Chips Howarth and Simon Potts
Firefly Ben Vines and Eddie Webb
420 Phil Sparks and Piers Strong
GP14 Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe
Hornet Richard Garry and James Beer
Lark Harry Pynn and Michael John Gifford
Laser 2000 Jasper Barnham and Graham Sexton
Laser 4000 Alistair Hodgson and Sue Ogg
Merlin Rocket Stuart Bithell and Christian Birrel
Mirror Chris Rust and Ollie Newman
Musto Skiff Bruce Keen and Penny Clark
National 12 Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne
Osprey Gareth Cauldwell and Robin Toozs-Hobson
Pico Jack and Peter Lawson
RS Feva Robert Baddeley and James Taylor
RS200 Dave and Jane Hivey
RS300 Steve Bolland and Pete Cruickshank
RS500 Tim Wilkins and Michael Geerling
RS600 Jamie Mawson and Chris Fry
RS700 Jon Heissig and Nicky Griffin
Scorpion David Wade and Steve Hall
Solo Matt Howard and Simon Haighton
Topper Edward Jones and Hector Simpson
29er David Conlon and Finbar Anderson
Vortex Phil Whitehead and Jonathan Lister
Wayfarer Michael McNamara and Chris Videlo
