Endeavour Trophy 2024 – Champion of Champions Event.

Oliver Groves and Esther Parkhurst, representing the 2000 class, claimed the prestigious Endeavour Trophy after a nail-biting weekend of racing on the River Crouch. The duo, from Beaver Sailing Club in North Yorkshire, showcased remarkable consistency throughout the two days, ultimately securing victory by a clear four-point margin.

Day one saw Groves and Parkhurst take the lead after four races, with a series of strong results (1st, 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd), positioning them as overnight leaders. Despite their impressive performance, they faced stiff competition from Waszp sailors Sam Whaley and Jess Hammett. Whaley and Hammett dominated much of the first day with three race wins, but a disappointing 11th place in the second race left them trailing by six points. Whaley later reflected on their tactics, explaining how their focus was on strong starts, sailing fast, and capitalising on the shifting conditions. He expressed optimism for the final day, hoping to discard the 11th-place result and make a strong push for the top spot.

Groves credited their day-one success to strategic decisions on the water, particularly in navigating the wind shifts and pressure zones. “We had some bad starts,” he admitted, “but we made good decisions upwind and downwind” Parkhurst added that the day had exceeded their expectations, as they had aimed for a mid-fleet finish at best.

Other notable performances on the opening day included Edd and Thomas Whitehead (RS400), who placed third overnight with consistent finishes in the top five. Topper 5.3 champion Jessica Powell, sailing with Rob Henderson, also impressed with a fourth-place result in one of the races, ending the day in eighth overall.

The second day brought even more challenging conditions, with light and shifty winds complicating the racecourse. However, Groves and Parkhurst remained composed, focusing on protecting their lead rather than aiming for individual race wins. In the critical fifth race, they finished fourth, while their closest rivals, Whaley and Hammett, managed only eighth. This gave the North Yorkshire duo enough breathing room to maintain their advantage.

Groves and Parkhurst were elated with their overall victory, particularly as they had only participated in the 2000 nationals to gain extra experience before another competition. Borrowing a boat from a friend for both events, the pair’s unexpected success has them contemplating future races in similar fashion. Reflecting on their win, Groves remarked: “We knew we were close, but until we saw the final result, we didn’t want to get too excited. We’re absolutely delighted.”

Whaley, competing in his fourth Endeavour Trophy, acknowledged the challenge of the light and tidal conditions and praised Groves and Parkhurst for their consistency. “They were one step ahead,” he said. Despite the disappointment of missing out on the title, Whaley was satisfied with a second-place finish, emphasising the fun and competitive spirit of the event.

The Endeavour Trophy weekend concluded with dinner and prizegiving at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, where competitors, members, and guests reflected on two days of intense racing. The trophy, a symbol of sailing excellence, now belongs to Groves and Parkhurst, who will take it back to North Yorkshire, closing the 63rd edition of the Endeavour Trophy in style.

Event Photography: Petru Balau Sports Photography

Overall Results

Brief history of the Endeavour Trophy

The Endeavour Trophy is a solid silver scale model of the J Class yacht Endeavour presented annually to the Champion of Champions at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham-on-Crouch.

The origin of the trophy stems from Tom Sopwith’s J Class yacht Endeavour, America’s Cup Challenge in 1934. Following a pay dispute and dismissal of his east coast-based professional crew, Sopwith teamed up with ‘Tiny’ Mitchell, the Commodore of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club at the time, to recruit amateur members of the club to form a crew.

Although Endeavour won the first two races against Rainbow, and lost the series, this was the closest England ever came to winning the coveted America’s Cup.

In recognition of this achievement, the late Robin Judah – respected member of the RCYC – established a series of races for dinghy sailors to determine the overall dinghy champion of champions from the UK’s most popular dinghy racing classes. Beecher Moore, former Endeavour crew, and marketing man behind the successful dinghy designer Jack Holt, joined Judah in his quest to run this event and presented for the overall winner, his solid silver scale model of the yacht.

The first invitation-only race took place in 1961 and the winners were Peter Bateman and Keith Musto, representing the International Cadet class. The event is now recognised as one of the ultimate achievements in British dinghy racing.

The competition is exceptionally challenging and those who qualify through winning their own class championship, are given the opportunity to race equally talented sailors in this unique, highly demanding two-day event on the river Crouch.

Given the diverse entry, which includes singlehanded, doublehanded, heavy and lightweight crews, and to ensure the racing is as fair as possible, carefully selected, strict one-designs are chosen for the event. The original idea back in 1961 was to use the club’s own fleet of 15 Royal Corinthian One-Designs but they were considered too specialist and would have placed a perpetual limit on the number of entries. The first event was, therefore, sailed in Enterprises.

Since then, numerous one-design classes have been used for the event including the GP14, Laser 2, Lark, Enterprise, RS400, Topper Xenon, and the Topper Argo. The 13ft (4m) Phil Morrison-designed RS200 – a smaller version of the RS400 – has been the chosen class for the Endeavour Championship since 2015. It weighs in at 78kg and is an ideal choice to suit a wide crew-weight range.