Simon Claims Victory In Eddies Endeavour

Gunfleet Sailing Club held the second personal handicap race of the season on Sunday 4 October 2026, for the Eddies Endeavour Trophy; every sailor being given their own unique handicap based on what would have had to be applied for them to have won any race in 2026 that they entered; a complicated table looking at 46 previous races with up to four different sail sizes to be considered for each entrant.

The weather forecast predicted extremely light airs but an hour before the race a gentle onshore breeze appeared and this was to freshen as the event progressed.  With the last of the ebb tide holding the competitors back, there was a case of bunching RS Aeros at the Outer Distance Mark as the race got underway.  Paul Jackson, Dave Ingle, Brian Allen and Tim Dye all wanted to be at exactly the same spot at the same time but, as they headed towards Lilley Farm buoy, Dye immediately tacked out to sea to break away and get clean wind.  Unfortunately that sent him out into the adverse tide and did him no favours, whilst Allen pulled away from the others as he beat parallel to the shore, put in a perfectly timed tack and made the windward mark well ahead of everyone else.  Ingle mistimed his tack but was still second to go round, followed by Jackson.  A little further back it was Paul Stanton leading the Laser fleet but, by now, Allen in his RS Aero appeared to have a comfortable lead.  The second leg was a reach out the Seaward buoy, a gybe before running in to the AWS mark.  There then followed a beat back out to Seaward and whilst many competitors hardened up, rounding AWS, and then headed along the coast before tacking, Dye immediately headed straight out to sea having judged that the tide had started to turn some 40 minutes early; others followed and positions began to change.  Tom Bartlett in his RS Aero slipped ahead of Jackson whilst Gary Hollis was champing at the stern of Finley Taylor in the Laser fleet.  From Seaward it was a second reach, this time to the Kingscliff buoy, before heading back to the line.  As the craft completed the first lap, and the personal handicaps applied, it was Simon Kedge’s Laser that was in the lead, followed by Jackson and then Ingle.  During the second lap the wind freshened, Dye picked up several places, and Taylor noticeably closed the gap on Kedge but was unable to overtake him; the top three positions remaining unchanged.

Eddies Endeavour - Personal PY Trophy:
1.    Laser – Simon Kedge
2.    RS Aero – Paul Jackson
3.    RS Aero – Dave Ingle