Please select your home edition
Edition

Keelboat Endeavour 2025 at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club

by Petru Balau 25 Mar 11:59 UTC 22-23 March 2025
Keelboat Endeavour 2025 © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

Joe Cross, Russell Wheeler, Matt Hitt and Tim Lees, representing the Sonata class, won the 2025 edition of the Keelboat Endeavour, hosted by Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, in Burnham on Crouch, Essex, over the weekend of 22nd and 23rd of March.

Six teams lined up to the start of the 2025 edition of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Keelboat Endeavour, to compete for the Robin Judah Trophy, commissioned in memory of Robin Judah, one of the founders of the original Endeavour Trophy for dinghies, an Olympic sailor in the Dragon class in 1968, and stalwart of the club.

The wind proved to be a tricky customer on Saturday, making the choice of side instrumental, with the slightest change in wind direction making or breaking a race, while the clubs fleet of five 707s, recently refurbished by Allen Brothers, the global supplier of performance sailing hardware, based not far from the club and with new running rigging supplied by Robline evened the playing field.

Despite the light conditions, with race 8 being very close to being cancelled due to time limits, Edwin Buckley, the Race Officer, squeezed twelve races in the first day, with each team competing in ten.

The Sandhopper sailors, Peter Thompson, Howard Warrington, Alex Warrington and Clara Hunter, back after missing the 2024 edition, narrowly missed beating the sister class, the Squib, by only 3 points and finished the day in sixth place.

The day started perfectly for the Squib champions, Micky Wright and Alex Porteous, with help from Chris Agar and Dave Hyde, with a win in the first race, yet the wind conditions proved to be a bit trickier to handle and they had to wait until the last race for another win, finishing the day in fifth place.

Quentin Strauss, Sarah Burgess, Philip Catmur and Richard Tucker, the Dragon class representatives, needed a few races to get a handle on the 707 spinnaker system, but after the issue was solved, they finished just outside top three, by only 3 points, with a win in the sixth race.

The day didn't start well for the Flying Fifteen class, represented by multiple world champions Graham Vials and Chris Turner and complemented by Andrew Lawson and Chris Waples, which suffered a few breakages, swiftly remedied by the race bosun Nick Milton, had to pick up the pace and finish the day in third place, with wins in races 3, 5 and 11.

The K6 crew, Laurence Crispin, James Bennett, Bertie Barker and Harry Barker, showed enough consistency to finish the day above the Flying Fifteens, by only 1 point, a huge improvement from the last edition and with great hopes for the next year.

Yet, the clear winners of the day were the Sonata sailors, Joe Cross, Russell Wheeler, Matt Hitt and Tim Lees, runners up of the 2024 edition, which not only scored an impressive 6 out of 10 wins, but also never dropped below second place in the overall results table throughout the day.

The day ended with the customary delicious curry prepared by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club chefs and a few drinks in the club's bar area.

Sunday morning brought dead calm, with the wind almost filling, but not quite and the race officer had to cancel the day of racing at noon.

The Sonata representatives were awarded the Endeavour Keelboat Trophy, a half hull model presented by Robin's daughter, Catherine.

This year's Endeavour Keelboat Trophy was sponsored by Allen Brothers and Robline, while Ksail provided the live results platform.

While many of the competitors travelled from all over the country to attend the event, special mention needs to go to the competitor who was stuck in Spain on Friday afternoon, with no plane to Heathrow and had to take a flight to Paris, an Eurostar train to London, for a quick late night turnaround to collect his kit, before a dash up to Essex, with the Club's breakfast saving the day.

Overall Results:

Rank Team Name Num RacesTotal PointsAvg Points
1Sonata10414.1
2K610333.3
3Flying Fifteen10323.2
4Dragon10292.9
5Squibs10242.4
6Sandhopper10212.1

Related Articles

Fishing: Patterning brown bass
Post-spawn through summer smallies Whitewater Fishing B.A.S.S. tournament pro, Alex Redwine, talks fishing the transition period Posted on 26 Jun
2025 Bahamas Fly-fishing Tournament Series
Anglers to compete across some of The Bahamas' top bonefishing spots The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation announced the launch of Bonefishing Tournament Series that will showcase diverse pristine flats across four islands - Grand Bahama, Andros, Eleuthera and the championship round will be held in Exuma Posted on 20 Jun
Mote leads seagrass restoration initiative
Florida legislature establishes the Seagrass Restoration Technology Development Initiative Seagrasses play a crucial role in the health and resilience of Florida's coastal ecosystems. They provide nursery habitats for keystone species and stabilize shorelines and sediments. Posted on 20 Jun
Maritimo M50 Flybridge & S60 Sedan Video
We speak to Maritimo's Neil McCabe & Phil Candler We talked to Neil McCabe, Maritimo's Design Office Manager, and Phil Candler, Maritimo's General Manager Operations, to find out more about the M50 Flybridge and S60 Sedan during the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show. Posted on 17 Jun
“I'm living my dad's dream”
Carl made sure to provide young Kyle the chance to be a seasoned pond hopper Carl Cortiana is about to turn 70, but he still remembers the days four decades ago when he'd cast a practice plug across the living room floor and his toddler son, Kyle, now a highly accomplished Vexus pro on the MLF Toyota Series. Posted on 14 Jun
Stories From The Salt - Ep.6
Insights from PENN's top anglers Whether you're a passionate saltwater angler who eagerly dedicates every spare moment to being out on the water, or you simply enjoy watching the techniques and experiences of others, we invite you to anchor up and learn some valuable insights Posted on 14 Jun
Bulwarks and Bulldust – watch Episode Six
Episode Six is now live - Are boat shows still relevant? Episode Six - asks the question, 'Are boat shows still Relevant?' We also offer some thoughts on changes and updates. The final episode of Series One is now live Posted on 13 Jun
Scania, Viking showcase renewable diesel
Mack Attack shows outstanding efficiency without compromise in performance of Scania V8 Engines Scania, one of the world's leading manufacturers of engines, announced today the successful demonstration of the performance and viability of renewable marine diesel fuel in a Viking 48 Convertible powered by twin Scania 1,150 HP DI16-liter V8 engines. Posted on 10 Jun
Sportfishing industry applauds decision by NOAA
Elimination of proposed South Atlantic bottomfishing closure The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries withdrew the proposed bottomfishing closure from Amendment 59 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic. Posted on 10 Jun
Marine Auctions: June online auctions
Bidding to open on Friday 20th June The Bidding for the June Online Auction will commence on Thursday 20th June and will end on Thursday 26th June at 2pm AEST. Posted on 7 Jun