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MORE of your views on what could and should be done with the Endeavour Trophy

From Nigel Wakefield, Lark national champion crewing for Sarah Richards at this years Endavour:

Having won the Lark nationals, the invite to the Endeavour is not only an honour but a bit of a poison chalice. The first decision is whether to switch crews to get somewhere near the competitive RS400 weight, we decided that I'd help win the entry so I'd stay. We are 5 or 6 stone (25%) under the correct competitive weight. You have all the issues of borrowing a boat and sorting insurance, in this respect we couldn't have been luckier. There's very little point turning up without a practise event, so we did an open and I lost any chance of winning the Firefly travellers series. The event itself clashes with one of the bigger Lark opens and so we lost any chance of winning the Lark travellers series. We'd planned to some rig development/experimentation for next year and so we've lost time on that.

On the day we finished 6th and were pretty chuffed.

Would we do it again (given the chance)? I'd have to speak to Sarah but would be inclined to give it a miss. We probably wouldn't do any better without traipsing around RS400 open meetings, sailing at events in a boat not suited to us. Alternatively Sarah could look for an athletic 17 stone crew and become properly competitive.

There has been some discussion over whether the RS400 is the right boat. When the RS400 was chosen, it was considered the new boat for couples. Over the last ten years the recognised ideal weight has steadily increased and many couples have switched to the RS200. The RS400 crew weight isn't representative of dinghy sailors generally, and I believe this has contributed to the diminished entry. Whatever boat is used, there will always be classes that struggle to get near the ideal weight. Presently there are many that can't get a big enough crew. If the RS200 was used, this would not be an issue and even Finn sailors would be able to get sufficiently small crews.

From Jim Champ:

It’s always been a bit of a joke really. When sailed in Enterprises the Enterprise champion or someone who sailed in a very similar boat usually won, in RS400s it’s much the same. Let's face it, if the champions in the performance classes were interested in sailing a slow boat around a river they wouldn't be sailing the boats they are anyway. It only tests the skills required in the boat used, and nowadays, with classes far more diverse than they used to be, it’s just not that interesting.

Were it possible to hold it in International Moths, for instance, this year the Moth Champion would win, the Cherub Champion (who also sails Moths) would be second, and most class representatives wouldn't even make the start line.

To make it a realistic test it would have to be sailed with races in each of several different classes. Say a Topper race, a Laser Race, a RS300 race, a RS600 Race, an Enterprise Race, a RS400 race, a 420 race, a 29er race, an RS800 race, some classes at Weymouth, some on the Crouch and some at say Grafham Water. Obviously such a thing is completely impossible to organise, so just treat it like the bit of light-hearted fun that is all it can be.

From Geoff Gibbons:

I believe the problem is more likely regatta fatigue. In order to elevate the event back to the centre of attention it should be moved and sailed alongside the London Boat Show now at Excel.

The change of date should mean more desire and time to make sure of attendance and the resulting racing being easier to watch should get lots of class supporters cheering from the dockside.

It would then take a very brave National Champion to decline to attend knowing that his fellow class members will observe their absence. If for sound reasons a National Champion cannot attend, then the class slot should be taken by another top competitor from the class. Give the class association the responsibility for making sure a quality representative appears.

From Robert Greenhalgh:

The Endeavour Trophy was (and still is-less so) a very prestigious Trophy to win; culminating the UK season with a Champion of Champions of all classes.

I have been eligible to attend the Endeavour Trophy for the last 6-8 years having won a dinghy National Championship. I competed in the event once many years ago and came away thinking I would never do it again:

1. Burnham is too far and a very bad venue - no dinghy regattas take place at any other time of the year - RBYC need to give it up
2. The timing of the event is badly suited to weather conditions
3. The event is often won by the RS400 rep or very similar (as you would expect). Discouraging other to have a go! The RS400 is probably the best boat for the event!!

Possible thoughts:
1. Move the venue!! Winner chooses the venue: within reason, strict rules, Central South Coast, followed by Midlands (Grafham) alternate years
2. Open it up to more sailors, 2 from each class and sportsboats as well

Emma Harris writes:

I just read your article with interest. I won the Lark Nationals 2 years ago and didn't attend the Endeavour for one reason only - it was sailed in RS400s.

I sail my Lark with Becky, who is around 10st and I am around 11st. All up in a 400, we would be far too light and not strong enough to be competitive especially given the time of year and the likely weather conditions.

As far as I was concerned there was only really one way around the problem and that would have been to enlist a big strong lad to sit in the front of the boat, but Becky and I won the Nationals as a team and this wouldn't have been fair to her.

The choice of the RS400 not only excludes light girl teams, but also a great number of youths, who, surely should be encouraged if the Endeavour is ever going to be the sought after title it was 20 years ago?

The 200 would be an obvious choice, or, if the event's popularity picks up again, a choice of 200 or 400 for the heavier weight crews (as we don't want to go to the other extreme!)

The other thing I would change is the one thing that's impossible to change - that's the location!!! Who wants to sail on a muddy ditch in the middle of October??? But I don't suppose the Royal Corinthian would take kindly to that idea!

Toby Matthews writes:

Fantastic article on the Endeavour trophy! Some very well made points.

I stress, at this point, that I have never done the Endeavour and, furthermore, am not likely to do as my sailing is not at the required standard. I have asked about the trophy in both the classes that I have sailed - Merlin and Canoe.

The suggestion that the classes run the entry rather than individuals sounds like a sound idea. It would allow classes to put suitable people in the boat and to organise it throughout the season. For example, the Merlin class has four major trophies - Nationals, Inlands, Salcombe Week and Silver Tiller. Does the entry necessarily need to be restricted to the National Championships winner, especially when Salcombe week is held in water more similar to Burnham?

Also, in Merlins, the optimum weight for crews is 20 to 22 stone compared with 25+ for RS400s (I believe). Allowing the class to organise the entrant would allow them to get a crew of correct size into the boat. Rotating boats would also deal with this. Can a couple of people in Laser Radial class, Europe etc really be expected to sail (and furthermore enjoy sailing) a boat that needs big grunt. That being said (and speaking as a larger chap) it is refreshing that there are still boats around that need a bigger person on board.

Why don’t RCYC organise the boats themselves, similar to the way the Modern Pentathlon horses are organised? Sailors turn up; pick lots for their boat and head on out.

A mass manufactured boat (or else one where there are a lot of boats around) does sound logical, particularly if it’s relatively cheap to run and repair. On this note, why aren’t Laser and RS fully involved with the event - it should be a fantastic way of strutting their stuff. (Equally, if this was the case, would competing classes be happy to support the event?)

Should the entry be restricted to one boat per class? Do boats that have 10 – 20 champs entrants have the same entering rights as boats with 60/70+. I know that this could be a nightmare to organise though.

Phil Lawrence writes:

With all respect to the lovely hospitable people of Burnham (and they are):

It's the end of a long season and you have spent all your available sailing time (& cash). Would you drive all the way to Burnham to sail in muddy super tidal river, in a forecast easterly gale, in October, in a £7,000 borrowed boat that you were going to have to return to it's loving owner in one piece afterwards? I'm surprised that 14 turned up!

Probably time to move it around the big 5 reservoirs or Portland or Hayling and maybe sail it alongside another event such as the Top Club or an RS gig to crank the party up.

Or maybe sadly, it's just another event that has had its day and the world has moved on?

From Mark Barnes:

One point, thedailysail could be the title sponsor for the event as most of the staff sail. This could be in the context of providing on the water support boat(s) for repairs with returnable kit supplied by RS if the RS400 was used. Also with the quality of modern handheld video cameras, good quality footage could be taken for little cost, using say two land and one on water camera. The cost of editing would be a different matter but possibly using contacts you could overcome that and what an advert that would be for TheDailySail. Ball firmly in your court.

I have sailed many classes at the front over the years, the main issue is co-ordinating getting boats of suitable quality to the competitors, hence the demise of the Enterprise in the event. I for one have not attended at least one in the past as (ent.) as getting the boat organised etc was a nightmare as we would of only got it that week. So the other issue is the class picked should freeze out the weekends either side of the Endeavour to assist in releasing their fleet.

Ed: The Endeavour was one of the first events that TheDailySail looked to support. However it was felt (from all parties) that we could best assist the event by giving it some good coverage and even getting a little bit of a debate going. The RCYC had Airwaves TV at the event and I am sure the finished video edit will be shown in the future.

Steve Bolland writes:

I have done the Endeavour Trophy once, in 2000, as the representative of the Lark Class. It was the most un-enjoyable day's sailing I have had in a long time (I couldn't sail on the Sunday due to an injury to my crew). The reasons for this were twofold:

1) The choice of boat (RS400). It heavily favours heavyweights. Larks are mostly sailed by mixed crews so a female crew in the RS400 was never going to be ideal. Of the 20 boats competing that year in the Endeavour, only 3 had female crews. I chose to sail with the crew I won the Nationals with even though I knew we would be less competitive as a result although I noted that many helms brought in beefy male crews especially for the Endeavour. This is not something I think should be encouraged as both helms and crews win Nationals, not just helms. I thought at the time that the RS200 would be an ideal choice, although a rotation of classes which you suggest in your article is also a good idea.
2) It was cold! Very cold. Possibly putting off the event until the Spring of the following year would allow more practice time in the chosen class and potentially offer better weather.

James Boyd writes:

It strikes me that the concept of the Endeavour Trophy is an excellent one that should be nurtured. Clearly the boat used for the event needs to be changed and what is really needed is an extremely run-of-the-mill doublehander that everyone is likely to have sailed at some point in their illustrious careers. The point is first to find out who is the best of the champions and only second to have a burn around the bay in an exciting boat.

Another point for consideration is that there should be a singlehanded version of the event in Lasers and a catamaran version in Hobie 16s.

Maybe the national champion in the class chosen shouldn't be invited or should be made to tow a bucket.