Fourth time for Craig

Nick Craig and Toby Lewis have won the Endeavour Trophy in extremely light winds

The British Champion of Champions event, the Endeavour Trophy, took place this weekend from the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham. 30 National Champions had entered the regatta, the first time all 30 positions have been filled in several years, showing the steady increase of this event’s profile.

Saturday dawned with a force three to four and sunshine providing perfect sailing conditions for the 60 sailors out on the water. In unseasonal sunshine racing kicked off on time at 10:30am after several crews had taken advantage of the free coaching from Adam Bowers on Friday in the Xenons provided for the event by Topper.

With a southerly breeze blowing, the race course was set up the roach river, providing limited space for the highly competitive fleet. GP14 representatives, Ian Dobson and Andy Tunnicliffe showed determination out of the blocks, taking victory in race one, with Endeavour regulars, Chris and Jon Gill (Europe) picking up second position. The two teams highly tipped to take the event, Nick Craig and Toby Lewis (B14) and Roger Gilbert and Jane Willan (RS200) finished the opening race in fifth and 11th respectively, far from the start they would have wanted.

In race two, though, Craig was back on the form that has seen him win three previous Endeavours, leading the fleet across the finish line to take the first of many victories over the weekend. Pete Barton and Olivier Vidal took second place, while light wind specialists, Graham Cam and Zoe Ballantyne (N12) completed the top three.

Gilbert took victory in the next race of the day with Craig second, but from here on in the B14 representatives would have it all their own way, winning the next two races. Camm and Ballantyne added another two sevenths and a third to their total, while Gilbert finished the day with a fifth and two fourths to add to his 11th and first.

With only three races scheduled for Sunday, the event was Craig’s for the losing. The morning dawned with extremely light winds with yet more unseasonal sunshine. In spite of the extremely light conditions, the fleet was sent afloat and found some breeze blowing across the course. The race began in a decent six knots, however, the wind soon began to dye off. Nick Craig and Toby Lewis once again led the fleet across the finish line, with Gilbert and Willan in second. Laser 4.7 representatives, Olly Porter and Ben Harden sailed their best race to cross the finish line in third. With the wind dying to a whisper and the tide growing stronger, only the first six boats managed to finish the race inside the time limit.

It was clear the day was not going to improve any further and the call was made to finish racing for the weekend. With only six points from five races, Nick Craig won the event for his fourth time. This years’ win for his crew, Toby Lewis, represents his second victory in a row after he took victory last year, crewing for Steve Tylcote. “Our scoreline flatters us a bit,” commented Craig after racing. “All the races were incredibly tight and we really had to push ourselves and it was a really competitive event. I think the experience in the boat helps and I have sailed at Burnham many times now. It is not the sort of event you can just turn up to and win on your first attempt now.” Gilbert finished ten points behind Craig and scored his third consecutive second place at the Endeavour. It would seem for Gilbert it is a case of always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Camm and Ballantyne finished in third overall, another eight points behind Gilbert.
With Topper signed up to supply boats for the foreseeable future, Musto providing the £1000 prize money and a full complement of 30 national champions, it would seem the Endeavour is still going from strength to strength.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Class	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot
1	Nick Craig	Toby Lewis	B14	5	1	2	1	1	1	6
2	Roger Gilbert	Jane Willan	RS 200	11	4	1	4	5	2	16
3	Graham Camm	Zoe Ballantyne	National 12	4	3	7	3	7	31	24
4	Tim Sadler	Richard Sault	Enterprise	7	19	3	12	2	5	29
5	Ian Dobson	Andy Tunnicliffe	GP14	1	5	5	21	6	31	38
6	John Pink	Rick Peacock	49er	3	7	12	14	3	31	39
7	Chris Gill	Jon Gill	Europe	2	8	16	19	11	4	41
8	David Wade	Ben McGrane	Fireball	16	9	4	2	16	31	47
9	Ian Coppenhall	Mark Coppenhall	Comet	10	15	9	8	10	31	52
10	Paul Kameen	Steve Tylecote	Firefly	15	6	13	11	9	31	54
11	Steve Cockerill	Keri Harris	Streaker	12	17	8	20	17	6	60
12	Christian Reynolds	Tim Miller	RS 600	9	12	6	9	24	31	60
13	Peter Barton	Olivier Vidal	Cherub	14	2	11	31	4	31	62
14	Martin Cooney	Jon Gorringe	Osprey	18	11	15	6	14	31	64
15	Paul Bayliss	Jane Olive	RS 700	22	14	10	13	12	31	71
16	Mike Hart	Duncan West	Hornet	19	21	17	7	8	31	72
17	Dan Henderson	Bruce Spratt	Pico	8	22	20	10	18	31	78
18	Rob Burridge	Amy Hulley	Laser 2000	17	16	19	5	22	31	79
19	Tim Gratton	Chris Taylor	RS Feva	6	26	18	15	15	31	80
20	Ian Escritt	Ben Rayner	Vortex	13	10	22	17	19	31	81
21	Emma Barry	Dave Gibbons	Mirror	20	20	21	16	13	31	90
22	Richard Stenhouse	Kit Stenhouse	Musto Skiff	21	18	14	18	21	31	92
23	Mike Gibson	Keith Bond	Supernova	24	13	24	23	20	31	104
24	Olly Porter	Ben Harden	Laser 4.7	25	24	28	26	29	3	106
25	Arthur Henderson	Will Henderson	Cadet	23	23	23	24	23	31	116
26	Terry Curtis	Chris Downham	OK	27	29	25	22	25	31	128
27	Neil Ashby	Graham Oliver	ISO	30	28	29	25	26	31	138
28	Jonathan Pakes	Richard Pakes	Lightning	26	27	27	31	27	31	138
29	Christopher Fish	Beth Condie	Lark	29	25	26	31	30	31	141
30	Matthew Jones	Andrew Jones	Laser EPS	28	30	31	27	28	31	144