Sail 4 Cancer Teams clean up at 24 Hour Race

The weather was kind for this year’s annual West Lancashire Yacht Club 24 hour race, with beautiful sunshine for the spectators and wind conditions to challenge the 70 teams participating, which was fitting as this was the event’s 40th anniversary.



Starting at midday on Saturday 9th August, the 25 knott gusts made for a quick start and some interesting action. Sail 4 Cancer Lark took the lead for the first few hours being closely chased by the consistent winners of the event, Bolton SC. The wind was a constant force 3 / force 4 through to the finish at midday on Sunday 10th.



Sailing a boat non-stop for 24 hours obviously requires “pit stops” to change crew, and speed is crucial. It was these changeovers which, as usual, provided the more hilarious moments of the race, with crews sailing off without their helms and over-enthusiastic shore crew taking the occasional dunking.



Racing with military precision and having been in the lead for most of the event, the highly competitive S4C Lark team, headed up by Simon Cox, sailed easily into first place. The team raised over £2,500 in sponsorship for Sail 4 Cancer.



Taking 4th place was Sail for Cancer – RYA, a youth team sailing an Enterprise which had been donated to them for the event. S4C Enterprise gave the S4C Lark team a run for their money, though after being forced to take a lap penalty for propulsion, first place was out of reach.

Despite the competitive nature of the event, it is also a great social occasion. Em Huddert from Sail 4 Cancer was very impressed, “It can only be described as a sailing festival! It is a fantastic event and one that brings sailing to the spectators, something that is very rare in sailing – Sail 4 Cancer is proud to be associated with this unique event and is ecstatic that two of its teams ended up in the top five.”

The money raised for Sail 4 Cancer will not only go towards cancer treatment and research, but some will be used to fund sailing trips for cancer patients and their families, with the aim of improving their quality of life whilst living with this cruel disease.

Overall Results:
1st Sail 4 Cancer – Lark
2nd Bolton Sailing Club
3rd South Staffs SC
4th Sail 4 Cancer – RYA
5th Papercourt SC