Welcome to BA clubs

This unique event is held on the marine lake at Southport on Merseyside. The race involves sailing clubs from all over the UK, this year there were 72 entries. Each club enters a boat and a team consisting ideally of 12-16 people. Three different types of dinghy are eligible to enter – the Enterprise class (which we sail at Wraysbury) and GP14 and Lark classes (both of which unlike the Enterprise carry spinnakers). A handicap system is then used to accommodate as best as possible the differences between the three types of boat. The boats are raced around a course on the lake continuously from midday on the Saturday until midday on the Sunday. Each crew of two people does two shifts of about 2 hours duration. The object is to complete as many laps as possible. Crew changeovers are accomplished in a pit area, ideally without the boat coming to a stop, and can provide great entertainment for spectators (some more enthusiastic sailors have been seen jumping out of the back of their boats and paddling ashore as the new crew jump in).

The race started in perfect sailing conditions, with us having the advantage of being started in the final flight which consisted of only three boats, giving a much less congested start line. We were quickly overtaking slower boats ahead of us and soon settled into a rhythm at around 30^th place. Night sailing on a congested lake can be fairly tricky. In previous years out team has had to contend with near gale force winds at night – however in the event of a capsize the lake is actually deep enough for a reasonably tall person to touch the bottom. There is some background light from the town and each boat is required to rig lightsticks on the mast as port/starboard anti-collision lights. This year the weather was kind to us, with a pleasant wind that dropped only slightly at around midnight.

The next morning however things got a little more interesting, as the forecast weather system arrived. The wind rose to around a Force 5 by 9am, and an increasing number of capsizing boats providing the spectators with great entertainment. Our ladies team of Nancy Jackson and Andrea Goldsack were doing a sterling effort of keeping the boat upright when the rudder failed, resulting in a capsize. They were easily ably to right the boat, but of course had no means of sailing it. This meant a tow back to the pits area to change to our spare rudder, which under the rules meant a 1 lap penalty. With the rudder replaced the next crew set off for the final hour in a still increasing wind. By the time of the finish there were capsized boats all over the lake, and more than one team actually crossed the finish line while capsized – to great cheers of ‘encouragement’ from the spectators.

We finished in 35^th place, the rudder failure and associated penalty costing perhaps 5 places. The wind strength and direction this year favoured the spinnakers of the GP14 and Lark classes over our Enterprise. This is just a part of the character of the race however, and in previous years lighter winds have allowed the Enterprises to dominate the results, and we have gained results in the teens and better.

Congratulations to the Silverwing team of: Steve and Gavin Pearce, Eric Wade, Roger Bennett, John Peck, Ana Biggs, Pete Roberts, Andrea Goldsack, Nancy Jackson, Mike Webb, Carol and Lisa Killham, Tom Pratt, Rob Marriott and Adam Wickenden.

The 24 hour race website can be found at: http://24-hour-race.wlyc.org.uk/