Irish dinghy sailors have finished top of the UK's prestigious Endeavour Trophy
On Sunday October 5th in the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, Two Irish teams topped the podium of the Endevour Trophy. This would be the british equivalent of the Champions' Cup, but it is contested by 30 champions' from both their Junior and Senior Classes.
The event took place in the up and coming Melges 15 class where sailors battled wind speeds of up to 30knots in a four race no discard series.
Northern Ireland's Michael Sims and Rob Gullan of Ballyholme Yacht Club, representing the 505 class secured the 2025 Endeavour Championship trophy with a string of top results.
Monkstown Bay Sailing Club's Chris Bateman and Lucy Loughton who won their spot upon winning the B14 World Champions early in 2025 sailed an impressive series, including a final race win to take second overall, while former Endeavour champions Matt Burge and Christian Birrell of the Osprey class finished third.
First timers to theTrophy, Chris Bateman and Lucy Loughton were naturally delighted with the outcome. Like most of the fleet who were not only getting to grips with a totally new Melges 15 Endeavour boat, but had to contend with exceptionally challenging conditions;
“We had a small mistake in the first race with some teething issues. The first gybe we went for a swim but after a while we found our feet. The second race I misjudged the start but managed to claw back up to fourth, and the other two races we found our groove. We were actually hoping for another race but understand the time constraints of completing the whole series in one day!”
Bateman commenting on the day’s tactics added:
“The big thing was starting. If you got that right in the first two races it made life easier. Once the tide turned at midday it was a case of playing the tides. The issue if you took the south shore as we did, was then having to cross the river to get to the mark, so it was all about timing. Thankfully in that last race we did just that and crossed ahead of those on the north shore and were able to maintain our lead to the finish.”
The Melges 15 as the new one-design Endeavour class has certainly made a big impression in its debut year. With different winners in every race and a good mix of new faces at the front of the fleet from both ends of the age spectrum, indicates it has totally levelled the playing field.
Overall Results (top 10) no discard
- 1st 505 – Michael Sims & Rob Gullan (17.1pts)
- 2nd B14 – Chris Bateman & Lucy Loughton (20.0pts)
- 3rd Osprey – Matt Burge & Christian Birrell (20.0pts)
- 4th D1 – Nick Craig & Toby Lewis (21.0pts)
- 5th Firefly – Oliver Meadowcroft & Sam Webb (23.0)
- 6th 29er – Jac Bailey & Ben Sinfield (27.0)
- 7th Supernova – Alex & Iain Horlock (33.3pts)
- 8th International Canoe – Sam Barker & Josh O'Brien (37.0pts)
- 9th RS100 – Ian Gregory & Nigel Wakefield (40.0pts)
- 10th Returning Champions – Oliver Groves & Esther Parkhurst (41.0pts)