Why is the Endeavour so sick?

Andy Nicholson looks at the diagnosis and various remedies being tabled for the UK's champions of champions event

Having spent the weekend at the Endeavour Trophy, I came away thinking that this was a pretty sick favourite uncle of a sailing event. Only 13 boats were on the course with almost an entire lap from first to last place.

The competition is held on the Crouch river in Essex over two days of intense short racing, conducted for the past eight years in RS400s. Competitors have to win their own Nationals to get an invite and over the 40 years the event has been run the winner has been awarded the title 'The Champion of Champions.' I am not a dinghy sailor myself, but this did mean that I looked on with fresh eyes, and I spent a lot of time talking to various sailors about why this favourite uncle was quite so ill.

I was not alone in this quest. The organisers of the Endeavour Trophy, the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham, are well aware of the situation too and are keen to turn it around. The sailors in attendance also wanted to air their views and put them down on paper at the end of the event - in the form of a short questionnaire for the RCYC.

The principle problem is that not enough people are turning up. But why aren't they? Of the 23 classes who confirmed they would attend, nine of them didn’t turn up. These were: 420, 49er, Fireball, International 14, Laser, Laser 4000, Laser Radial, Mirror, RS 800

One of the significant limitations of the event is that it relies on competitors getting their hands on an RS400 to compete in. From the conversations I had with people it seemed that this task was down to the sailors themselves tracking down a boat and persuading a friend or complete stranger to lend it to them. If you already have an RS400 then life is much more straightforward.

Then it may be that the RS400 itself is putting people off. Everyone agreed that in light airs the whole competition is very tight - crew weight is not so much an issue, nor is super slick well practised RS 400 technique. But the Endeavour is held each year in October; when it is traditionally windy.



Of the 14 that started the racing on Saturday around five had gear failure problems, four of them at some point during the day actually went back ashore to fix things and missed races as a result.

A combination of the above factors is probably what damages the attendance. A mid-week forecast of easterly gales, blisters and the drama of locating, collecting, sailing and returning the borrowed boat are the hurdles.

In addition to this some classes do not have the Nationals until late August and it doesn’t give the winner much time to get organised, and they probably didn’t keep a couple of weekends in October free just in case they won the Nationals and got invited to the Endeavour.

Some of these issues are in the process of being addressed: Principally the class of boat that is raced, and should second/third place helms be invited if the Nationals winner cannot make it for some reason.

The change in boat has to happen. The event has been dominated for the past few years by good RS400 sailors and even they are keen to see it changed. It also seems to be putting off the trapeze sailors; of all the classes that did attend this year, only two, the 29er and Musto Skiff are trapeze boats. Six of the nine who didn’t turn up were also from trapeze boat classes.

The RS200 is seen as the best replacement as the ideal crew weight is slightly lighter - a heavy helm can take a lighter crew, and a light helm can take a heavier crew. The boat is regarded as easier to sail for the majority.

It is also necessary for the class chosen to be big enough so that boats can be lent to competitors.

Another school of thought is that the class should rotate on a yearly basis - RS200 one year, Lark the next then the Laser 2000 and Enterprise for example. This then reduces the demands on one particular fleet each year and mixes it up enough in the boat speed department. Most people agree that it should at the very least be a reasonable performing two-handed hiking boat suited for short course racing on the river.

Competitors are well looked after when they attend the Endeavour. An entry fee of around £50 each covers breakfast, lunch (which is delivered to them on the water), a hearty bowl of pasta when coming ashore and dinner for two nights, plus they are offered accommodation in members’ houses locally.

The evenings provide an excellent opportunity for people from a cross section of classes to meet. The reasonably formal dinner on the Saturday night is tailor-made for an inspiring guest speaker to rally the weary troops, but the Endeavour is so sick that even the gentleman lined up by the club couldn’t attend at the last minute either.

So what could be done to get the Endeavour out of the A & E ward and back on the mend and on the road the full health?

There are plenty of views and opinions on what is the best way to go. Changing the boats is one of the more straightforward decisions, but there is an opportunity here to reinvigorate the event much further, it will however take some extra administration for all concerned and a bit of dinghy community spirit.

I think it is fair to say that an individual sailor will not set out at the beginning of the season with the sole aim of winning the Endeavour Trophy; the small task of winning the nationals/Europeans/worlds first gets in the way.

But why doesn’t the class itself have it as one of its aims? Like the European Car of the Year award, the winning class should be able to call themselves “Endeavour Trophy Winners 2006”, they should have a replica trophy on their class stand at the Dinghy Show and a feature in the show guide written about them. All classes fight for attention and want more people in the class, what better way to stand out and give your class some cred?

The classes should take on the burden of providing the means and the tools to get their representative to Burnham. Surely they can take 50p out of an entry fee to go into their Endeavour fund. This could pay for the fuel to collect a boat and deliver it to the sailor, all their entry fees, stickers on the sails shouting ‘2003er Class’ and have some left over to buy some new rope, or a new fitting so the boat is given back to the owner with a small token of thanks.

Going to the Endeavour is then not a chore for the Nationals winner, but a prize.

I also cast my vote in favour of class rotation. This will encourage all sizes of helms and crew each year and maybe entice some more trapeze sailors too. What better way to get your class in the spotlight again than having it as the Endeavour boat. A little bit of pressure to outdo last years effort by the “2003er Class” should ensure that a list of available boats is ready before the summer and these are then allocated to the nationals winners as they become known.

Other ideas muted include having bosuns on the water to tackle gear failure there and then - where are RS (LDC)? Some more support for the younger sailors was also suggested - the national champion doesn’t have to give away all his hard fought for knowledge, but a demonstration of any little tricks or techniques will help.

You very quickly get to the possibility of having 25-30 boats attending. Now you have 60 sailors - who are very good sailors. This opens up the possibility of some knowledge sharing across the classes through a hosted forum in the evening. Did a class find a particularly brilliant new venue this year? Did anyone have a particular problem with a supplier? Did a new training programme work wonders? Typed up and distributed to all the class associations, it may be a useful annual document.

If the barriers to attend are principally the forecast, then the event should see a turn around in fortunes. It looks like everyone needs to feel involved in the Endeavour and in some way share a responsibility in keeping it happening and the measure of real talent it is. That includes us at TheDailySail, we’ll do our bit – and give it the press it should demand.

Do you have any views on the Endeavour? Please send them to yourviews@thedailysail.com