Over the weekend of 18th and 19th of June, Marconi Sailing Club played host to the 33rd East Coast Piers Race. Not being held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID it was a welcome return for the classic long distance sailing event.

Since the last event, we have also lost a dear catamaran sailing friend in Robin Smith.

35 years ago a small group of Marconi Sailing Club cat sailors met in the now-defunct Marconi Social Club bar to chat about the idea of a long-distance charity cat race to raise funds following the death of a fellow cat sailor. Robin Smith had brought along a silver Rose Bowl and proposed we used it as a trophy. A small team bit the bullet… and the East Coast Piers Race was born.

Round 2 of the Allen Endurance Series was set to be a big one with 59 competitors pre-entered for the weekend. Part of that bumper entry was a fleet of keen Dart 18s also treating the event as one of their TTs.