Jump to content

Southport 24 Hour Race

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The West Lancashire Yacht Club 24 Hour Dinghy Race, has always been more commonly known as the Southport 24 Hour Race. [1] [2] [3]

West Lancashire Yacht Club 24-Hour Dinghy Race
Most recent edition or competition:
2024
First held1967
OrganiserWest Lancashire Sailing Club
ClassesGP14, Enterprise, Firefly, Formerly Lark
StartSaturday, 12:00
FinishSunday, 12:00
Length24 Hours

The race is a national endurance race for classic sailing dinghies (Enterprise and GP14 - formerly including the Lark and Firefly classes) held in Southport, Merseyside, England.[4] and is organised by the West Lancashire Yacht Club.

Entries are invited from recognised clubs, class associations as well as university sailing teams.

The race had a long history, dating back to 1967, and had always been held in September. The race was not sailed in the year 2000 due to the fuel crisis and again in 2020 until 202 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. An early race in the mid 1980s was stopped during the night because of the fierce weather conditions. The Club formally withdrew the race from the sailing calendar in January 2022 quoting difficulties with the organisation, with the race revived for the 2024 edition. The 2024 race brought a collaborative approach to organisation with competitors requested to share organisational roles and volunteer for on the day duties. It also reduced the dinghy entry classes to only the Enterprise and GP14. A 2025 race has been confirmed by the club.

A report of the 53rd Southport 24 Hour Race [5] was published in September 2019 by the Southport Reporter and a video report of the race was published on YouTube.

The average turnout, which had stabilised in the years prior to 2020, had been between 60 and 70 boats, although the 50th anniversary race, held in 2016, attracted 82 entries. Recent entry numbers had been held up by the fact that many of the competing clubs had entered two, three or even four teams. Races in the early years had seen as many as 100 entries with a waiting list.

The race starts at 12 noon on the Saturday. The competing teams then raced their dinghies around the Southport Marine Lake (a man made feature containing 2 islands)[6] for the next 24 hours, finishing at noon on Sunday. Crew changes only being allowed in a specially dedicated docking area. Most entries were made up of teams with around 12 sailors. Competitors were not permitted to sail in more than one team during the event. However, there was nothing (other than exhaustion) to prevent a crew of two from sailing the whole event in one boat; 2 people sailing non stop was successfully sailed by Adam McGovern and Chris Robinson of Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club in the 2007 race.

Winners

[edit]
Year Winning Club
1967 West Lancashire YC
1968 West Kirby SC
1969 Cambridge University CcC
1970 Bolton SC
1971 Oxford University YC
1972 West Lancashire YC
1973 Grimsdale Cleethorpes YC
1974 Nottingham University SC
1975 Northwich SC
1976 Bolton SC
1977 Winsford Flash SC
1978 Bolton SC
1979 Southport SC
1980 Bolton SC
1981 Tynemouth SC
1982 Liverpool University SC
1983 Monklands SC
1984 Southport SC
1985 Bolton SC
1986 London Corinthian SC
1987 Bolton SC
1988 Sutton SC
1989 Bolton SC
1990 Bolton SC
1991 Winsford Flash SC
1992 Bassenthwhaite SC
1993 Bolton SC
1994 Bolton SC
1995 Bolton SC
1996 West Lancashire SC
1997 Blackpool & Fleetwood YC
1998 Blackpool & Fleetwood YC
1999 Blackpool & Fleetwood YC
2001 Enterprise Class Assoc. / Frensham Pond SC
2002 West Lancashire YC
2003 Bassenthwhaite SC
2004 Bolton SC
2005 Bolton SC
2006 Lark Class Assoc. / Sail 4 Cancer
2007 Bolton SC
2008 South Staffordshire SC
2009 South Staffordshire SC
2010 420 Class Assoc.
2011 Hollingworth Lake SC
2012 Hollingworth Lake SC
2013 South Staffordshire SC
2014 South Staffordshire SC
2015 South Staffordshire SC
2016 South Staffordshire SC
2017 South Staffordshire SC
2018 South Staffordshire SC
2019 South Staffordshire SC
2024 Budworth SC

References

[edit]
[edit]