Llangorse sailor in 24 hour race
Llangorse member, Guy Davison, took part in the annual 24-hour marathon race at Southport - one of a team of 12, Guy toughed it out in a fleet of 75 boats sailing night and day. Before you ask: Yes, they race through the night - using lights attached to various parts of the boats.
Guy writes:-
"Each year, the Southport and West Lancs YC 24 Hour Race brings together the largest competitive gathering of dinghy sailors in the UK. Hosted by WLYC on Southport's Marine Lake, it is a remarkable celebration of endurance, teamwork and the shared spirit of the national sailing community. I have had the pleasure of competing 5 times now, and it is as Yachts and Yachting have said one the sailing events that should be on everyones bucket list.
With 75 boats competing and plenty of wind on Saturday, 20-25 knots at times, the lake demanded absolute concentration. Getting to the front of a fleet of this quality takes skill, preparation and relentless effort; retaining that position through crew changes, fading breeze, darkness, fatigue and an entire 24 hours of racing takes true determination. Our “National Firefly Association team" did exactly that. They worked their way steadily staying in the top five, then held their nerve, focus and lead all the way to the finish coming in a fantastic forth. Last year we took first place, and brought home several trophies. This year we took a lot more again! However the course and wind this year gave the three sail dinghies, being GP14’s, a significant bit of advantage as there was a good long dead run so ideal for spinnakers. So the we took a slightly lower position, it was excellent bearing in mind this year’s conditions.
Our team of 12 had a wonderful range of ages, from 13 to 72 (I wonder who that was…..!!!), and a 50/50 mix of genders and one of our 5 fastest helms is Jenny, our Class Chairperson. I was privileged to sail 3 times, the 2-4pm afternoon slot, then in the evening from 8.30 to 10pm, and finally the lovely quiet and most dark time 2.30 to 4am. Then I had a goodish half night’s sleep in my camper van. That is a part of this event as most teams camp, stay in a van or a local motel nearby. Additional fun is teams bring gazebos, folding chairs, camping stoves and various casseroles and chillies to heat up and feed the starving team mates throughout the 24 hrs and supply endless cuppas.
The finish is on Sunday 12 mid-day, when the first dinghy crossing the line, whoever that is, gets a big gun and after that every finisher gets a loud sound signal and a huge energetic cheer from the supporters who are gathered round the perimeter next to the finish area and club house. The energy and cheering is rampant, joyous and surprisingly emotional.
Finally for those of you who love doing Recorder on our Committee boat, during this race each dinghy has a large luminous number on the bow and a midships, and every time they go through the line, 50 times plus over the race, the Officials in the watchtower record dinghy and time elapsed. This data is immediately recorded in their system and appears on their electronic live results boards all around the club site. So at any one time competitors can see their position overall. This is brilliant and gives sailors immediate ongoing results adding to motivation! Rule infringements gain penalty minutes and in my first spell I had an incident and in the subsequent protest the other boat gained a 12 minute time penalty…. If he had accepted the penalty at the time he’d have got 3 minutes…. Harsh but fair?
The results are determined by the fastest average lap time over the 24hrs, with PY handicaps used to “equalise” the three classes, being Fireflies, GP14s and Enterprises. There were 19 Firefly teams competing, most being from Universities and colleges. The GP14s were the largest contingent.
Maybe someday LSC should enter a team? There’s a thought!
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