Pank wins Gore Trophy

Anna Willard reports from the Firefly Nationals

Jono Pank and Jo Taylor took home the Sir Ralph Gore Challenge Trophy on day 4 of racing at the Brixham firefly nationals after an exciting 3 hour race in breezy conditions.

The Gore Trophy was first awarded in 1947 and along with the Prince of Wales cup in International 14s and the Burton Cup in national 12s is one of dinghy racing’s most prestigious trophies.

Simon Spolton and Susanna Bickford led the fleet to the windward mark and stayed at the front for much of the 12 mile course. Speeding down the reaches Ian Willams and Lizzie Edwards also briefly took the lead . But by the final beat the race was wide open with 5 boats battling it out for the top spot. Working the shifts, Pank and Taylor took first with Paul Kameen and Angus Armstrong in second and Tony Gunstone and Lucie Buck finishing third.

The second half of the fleet sailed a close race for the Marlow trophy. On the same course and start as the Gore, Amy Morris and Gilly Ansell had their best race of the series to sail home with the trophy. Damian and Lucy Boreham finished second and Will Mason and Becky Ryan in third.

After a minor disagreement about the finish line was amicably resolved, a champagne prizegiving was held in the dinghy park. Duckhams went to the 1969 Gore winner Mike Arnold for running over a kite surfer and missing the finish. Crews spent the evening doing fruit punch boat races and cointreau waves and playing games. A BBQ at the club finished off the evening.

The Gore result which counts to the overall results leaves the championship wide open.