Southport 24 Hour Race 2024

The 53rd West Lancashire Yacht Club 24-Hour Dinghy Race (More commonly known as the Southport 24 Hour Race 2024) was a dinghy race that took place between 21 and 22 September 2024.^[1] The event was sailed on Southport marine lake in Merseyside, England.

Both Enterprises and GP14^[2] classes were allowed to compete in the event.

The race saw many returning and new clubs and competitors, including Olympian Michael Beckett racing for Looe SC, 15 time winners of the event Bolton Sailing Club who finished 5th, and the winners of the previous seven Southport 24 hour races, South Staffordshire Sailing Club.

The 2024 edition of the race was the first since 2019, after the event was postponed due to Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, and was then cancelled for financial reasons in 2022.^[3] Initially planned to take place in 2025, West Lancashire Yacht Club were able to restart the race for 2024 on the condition that participants volunteer as safety crews and other roles.

The following list contains every entered boat in order of their hull number. Past winners are highlighted in bold.

At 12:00pm, the first flight of boats set off in around 20 knots of wind on an overcast day, with the rest of the flights following in 1 minute intervals. All boats except two started the race, Pwllheli SC and Winsford Flash

Sailing Club, who's B team was merged with the A team due to a lack of sailors. Hollingworth Lake's A team led after the first lap, followed by South Staffs A, and the Enterprise of Looe SC.^[4] Hollingworth would go on to win the BBC Radio Merseyside Cup for the fastest first two laps. Prior to the race start WFSC A had jib sheet blocks break on both port and starboard sides making the jib difficult to pull in. The team made the decision to switch from their starting hull to the boat they had intended to field a B team with. After making two stops to replace a lost spinnaker pole and then to replace crews, The team made the hull swap at around 1700 hours, also bringing in the first junior helm of the event. Also around this time, Budworth A overtook HLSC A for 2nd, instigating a battle between SSSC that would last until the end of the race as the two boats traded places. The Dog Watch Trophy for the fastest first two laps after 2000 hours would be won by Budworth A. At 2100 hours, BSC (A) and SSSC (A) would be a lap ahead of 3rd and beyond, turning the regatta into a two horse race. Liverpool YC retired from the race after only 23 laps.

As the sun set the Sefton Sea Cadet boat was forced to withdraw until morning due to safeguarding concerns as they were the only team made up primarily of sailors under the age of 18. The battle between the A teams of Budworth and South Staffs continued through the night, with South Staffs taking the advantage at midnight as they won the Midnight Cup for fastest next lap after 0000 hours.^[5] The weather remained warm and dry through the night with winds holding steady at approximately 10 knots.

At 08:00 hours, the signal was made for the start of the race for the Coddington Cup, awarded for the next fastest lap. Budworth A were first to clock in a time, closely followed by South Staffs A and Bolton, with all three teams showing strong early pace in steady morning conditions. Later in the morning, attention turned to the Heineken Cup—awarded for the fastest lap completed after 10:00 hours by a female helm and crew. The race was one of the most anticipated of the event, with several teams eager to see how they ranked in what has become a standout contest in recent years. The Street sisters from Welsh Harp SC took the honours in a GP14, laying down a strong lap to secure the win. South Staffs B and Budworth B followed behind, also sailing GPs, in what turned out to be a tight race for the win in the cup. Budworth went on to beat South Staffs to the finish, as they finished on the same lap as one another, allowing Budworth to take their first win over the 2nd most successful club in the event's history.

Budworth SC A won the 53rd 24 Hour Race on the 22nd of September 2024. This was their first win of the event, despite being one of the most prominent sailing clubs in the North West of England^[6] and being winners of the 2022 RYA Club of the year.^[7] Overall split winners are denoted in bold, and class winners for each flight in italics.