Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Keelboat Endeavour 2026
by Petru Balau 17 Mar 06:55 NZDT
14-15 March 2026
Joe Cross, Matt Hitt, Tim Lees and Russell Wheeler, representing the Sonata class, won the 2026 edition of the Keelboat Endeavour, hosted by Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, in Burnham on Crouch, Essex, over the weekend of 14th and 15th of March.
Nine teams lined up to the start of the 2026 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 Sonata team - Joe Cross, Matt Hitt, Tim Lees and Russell Wheeler - returned to defend the trophy they secured in 2025.
After missing the previous edition, the Hunter 707 class made a comeback with Richard Higgins, Andy Marshall, Hugh Watson and Nick Elder on the team.
Joe Llewellyn, Ben Vines, James Grant and Matt Alvarado competed for the Elite class in its debut appearance.
The Flying Fifteen team, following several strong results in recent years, featured Andrew McKee, Emily McKee, Richard Jones and Mal Hartland.
Representing the Squib for the second time were Tom Jeffcote and Mark Hogan, joined by Phil Aspinall and Micky Wright.
Last year's runners-up for the K6 class, Lawrence Crispin, Luka Crispin, Allen Burrell and John Heyes were back for another go.
The Ajax class was represented by Jackie McKellar, Giles Wright, Neil Baker and Chris Mayhew.
For the International Dragon, the team comprised Mark Wade, Amanda Wade, James Wade and Chris Brittain.
Flynn Davies, Chay Taylor, Ben Hutton-Penman and Niamh Davies entered the competition as the 2025 British Keelboat League champions.
The five strong 707 Corinthian fleet, freshly fitted with new mainsheet tracks and jib cars by Allen Brothers and new low stretch main halyards by Robline, was put to good use, while the wind switching from westerly to northerly to southerly, forced Edwin Buckley, the race officer, to change the race area twice.
The wind strength kept the teams on their toes and made for quite close racing at times, with Joe Cross, helm of the winning crew, noting how easy it was to go from first in one race and fifth in another.
The first part of the Saturday, with a westerly wind, saw the fleet race in front of the town, with no less than 6 teams scoring at least a win. The Elites were leading with a 3.86 avg, followed by the BKL and 707 teams, each with 3.71 avg.
With the wind going north, the race officer took the decision to move the fleet up the Crouch, for a few more races on the day, leaving the 707 as leaders overnight, followed by the Sonatas with 3.78 and the Elites with 3.62.
With all eyes on the Sunday's weather forecast or just the rugby game, the competitors enjoyed a spirited evening at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, fuelled by the delicious curry prepared by the chefs.
Sunday morning brought strong southerly winds and the decision was made to not fly the spinnakers, yet the race officer was forced to abandon racing, after only 3 races, due to the upcoming storm.
The day was convincingly won by the Sonata crew, with 2 wins, putting them ahead of the 707s by 0.02 average points. The Elites finished the event in 3rd overall, followed by the BKL winners in 4th, the K6 in 5th, Squibs in 6th, Flying Fifteen, Dragon and Ajax in 7th, 8th and 9th.
The Sonata representatives were awarded the Endeavour Keelboat Trophy, a half hull model of the J-class yacht Endeavour - competitor in the 1934 America's Cup, presented by Robin's daughter, Catherine.
A number of spot prizes were awarded by the RCYC Rear Commodore of Sailing, Justin Waples and gracefully provided by Allen Brothers, with the mention going to Niamh Davies, which got hers for being the youngest competitor and definitely not for "you are all middle-aged" comment.
The event marks the beginning of a fully packed year of sailing, with the Squib Gold Cup just around the corner and the preparations for the Burnham Week 2026, the premier east coast regatta, already under way.
Full results can be found here.