The West Lancashire Yacht Club 24 Hour Race, has always been more commonly known as the Southport 24 Hour Race.
The race is a national endurance race for classic sailing
dinghies (Enterprise, GP14, Lark and Firefly) held in
Southport,
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. and is organised by the
West Lancashire Yacht Club
The West Lancashire Yacht Club (WLYC) is a yacht club in Merseyside, England, founded in 1894. In 1999 the club was awarded the status of Volvo/RYA Champion Club, recognising the standard of training and performance of its members in sailing comp ...
.
The race, now in its 54th year, has a long history and has always been held in September, with the 2021 24 Hour Race taking place over the weekend of 11/12 September. The race was not sailed in the year 2000 due to the fuel crisis and again in 2020 due to the Covid 19 Pandemic. An early race in the mid 1980s was abandoned during the night because of the fierce weather conditions.
The average turnout, which has stabilised in recent years, is between 60 and 70 boats, although the 50th anniversary race held in 2016 attracted 82 entries. Recent entry numbers have been held up by the fact that many of the competing clubs now enter two, three or even four teams.
The race starts at 12 noon on the Saturday. The competing teams then race their dinghies around the marine lake (a man made feature containing 2 islands and an interesting, concrete jetty on the eastern side) for the next 24 hours, finishing at noon on Sunday. Most entries are teams of up to 12 crew members. The crews take turns to sail their dinghy in the race. The crews are not permitted to sail in more than one team during the event. However, there is nothing (other than exhaustion) to prevent a crew of two from sailing the whole event in one boat, 2 people sailing non stop was successfully sailed by Adam McGovern and Chris Robinson of Hollingworth Lake Sailing Club in the 2007 race.
As with all sailing events, weather is the important element. The other important feature of the 24 hour race is the lack of light at night. During the hours of darkness, the helm and crew of each dinghy must keep watch for other boats (often capsized) and the curious concrete jetty mentioned earlier. Colliding with one or the other can be very dangerous and may even cause the team to abandon further participation in the event.
Southport Reporter
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Southport 24 Hour Race - 2017 Final Results
Avg PYS
Net Lap Time
Posn Team Name Sail No Laps (mm:ss)
1 South Staffs S.C. (A) GP 13417 86.75 16:36
2 South Staffs S.C. (B) LK 2529 88.00 16:40
3 Budworth S.C. (A) GP Budw A 86.00 16:50
4 Bolton S.C. (A) GP 14187 86.00 16:53
5 West Lancs Y.C. (A) (M) EN 22310 85.00 17:00
6 The Chase S.C. (A) GP 11 85.00 17:04
7 West Lancs Y.C. (B) GP 14150 84.75 17:04
8 Staunton Harold S.C. GP 13300 85.00 17:04
9 Midland S.C. (A) GP 14003 85.00 17:05
10 Sligo Y.C. GP 14132 83.75 17:13
11 Pilkington S.C. (A) EN 23121 83.00 17:15
12 Southport S.C. GP SSC 84.00 17:18
13 Plymouth University S.&P.C. (A EN 17447 81.00 17:46
14 Bolton S.C. (B) GP Jeans 81.00 17:47
15 Chester S & C.C. (A) (M) EN 22536 80.75 17:48
16 Budworth S.C. (B) (M) GP Budw B 81.00 17:53
17 Leigh & Lowton S.C. (A) EN 23221 80.00 17:53
18 West Oxfordshire S.C. (B) FF 4115 77.00 17:58
19 Bassenthwaite S.C. EN 22159 80.00 18:02
20 West Oxfordshire S.C. (A) EN WOSC 1 79.00 18:13
21 National Firefly Association FF 3318 74.75 18:30
22 Midland S.C. (B) GP 14045 78.00 18:31
23 Killington S.A. EN 22816 77.00 18:35
24 Burwain S.C. EN 22499 77.00 18:38
25 Glossop S.C. GP 13143 77.00 18:40
26 Birmingham University S.C. FF 3992 73.00 18:45
27 Midland S.C. (C) EN 22901 76.50 18:46
28 Royal Windermere Y.C. (A) GP RWYC 76.75 18:49
29 Hoylake S.C. (M) EN 20860 76.00 18:54
30 South Staffs S.C. (C) GP 13705 76.00 18:59
31 Toddbrook S.C. (A) EN 2232 75.75 19:02
32 Leigh & Lowton S.C. (B) GP 13654 75.75 19:05
33 Liverpool Y.C. (A) (M) EN 23383 75.00 19:13
34 South Staffs S.C. (D) GP 13794 74.75 19:18
35 Budworth S.C. (C) GP Budw C 74.75 19:21
36 Chester S & C.C. (B) EN 23382 74.00 19:25
37 Earlswood Lakes S.C. EN 15709 73.75 19:27
38 Nottingham University S.C. FF 4195 70.00 19:35
39 Elton S.C. (B) EN 22476 72.50 19:44
40 The Chase S.C. (B) EN 19011 71.75 19:54
41 Covenham S.C. (A) EN 20004 71.75 19:54
42 Covenham S.C. (B) EN 20055 72.00 20:00
43 Errwood S.C. EN 12483 72.00 20:01
44 Pilkington S.C. (B) EN 2312 72.00 20:02
45 Bolton S.C. (C) EN 22344 72.00 20:04
46 Rudyard Lake S.C. EN RLSC 70.00 20:23
47 Aldridge S.C. GP 13944 69.75 20:36
48 Sedbergh School LK 2298 69.75 20:48
49 South Shields S.C. EN K2400 68.75 20:48
50 Elton S.C. (A) (M) EN 20400 68.50 20:54
51 Ulley S.C. EN 22824 68.00 21:01
52 Plymouth University S.&P.C. (B FF 3796 65.50 21:10
53 West Lancs Y.C. (C) GP 12856 67.75 21:12
54 Rossendale Valley S.C. FF 3675 63.75 21:31
55 Bath University S.C. FF 3943 63.00 21:41
56 Queen Mary S.C. GP 9763 65.50 22:02
57 Jumbles S.C. EN 22505 64.75 22:03
58 Manchester University S.C. FF 3434 62.00 22:09
59 Crosby Scout & Guide M.C. GP 13918 63.75 22:29
60 Lancaster University S.C. EN 23194 61.00 23:30
61 Sheffield Hallam University S. EN 21344 60.00 23:44
62 Liverpool Y.C. (B) EN 643 56.75 25:16
63 Etherow Country Park S.C. EN 23196 22.00 64:28
References
{{Reflist
External links
West Lancashire Yacht Club: 24 Hour Race
Online TV Program about the 24 Hour Race
Sailing competitions in the United Kingdom
Sport in Southport