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24
Hour Yacht Race 07
THE weekend of
15 September 2007 to 16 September 2007 will herald the West Lancs. Yacht Clubs 41st running
of the only 24 hour race for sailing dinghies. The race takes place
on the relatively safe waters of the Marine Lake on Southport’s
Promenade; the first race which took place in 1967 and was
inaugurated to celebrate the centenary of the Borough of Southport
and support Liverpool University Sailing Club’s wish for an
invitation race for university sailing clubs.
The race is open to teams from sailing clubs and universities and is
for classic dinghies, the three classes of boat are the GP14,
Enterprise and the Lark, all are sailed by a crew of 2, the race has
become very much, “a classic for classics”. All the types
have won the race in the past with a Lark taking its first overall
win last year, this year celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the
introduction of the Lark dinghy.
The race is sailed over a course laid out on the lake, being started
by the Mayor of Sefton at 12 o’clock on the Saturday and continuing
none stop for 24 hours finishing lunchtime on the Sunday. Each boat
will be sailed by a team of any number the team decides, changing
the crew of 2 whenever they wish, this year it is likely that one
team will attempt to sail the full 24 hours with just 1 crew of 2
people. Last year’s race was contested by 67 teams and more are
expected this year, the entry is limited to 97 boats for safety
reasons. The overall winning team in 2006 was the Sail for Cancer
Lark with the first University Team Loughborough Students Sailing
Club in an Enterprise, the Masters class (over 40) going to Ogston
Sailing Club (Red) Masters. The winning boat in 2006 completed 86
laps representing a distance of over 100 miles. There are many other
prizes awarded for fastest laps and special categories.
The event is sponsored by Mainspeed Marine who provide on site
chandlery and technical support for the whole 24 hours and by ‘Dinghy
Sailing’ magazine providing support for the entertainment.
The official charity will again be ‘Sail 4 Cancer’, over
Ł6000 was generated for the charity by last year’s race. ‘Sail 4
Cancer’ was set up by a group of keen sailors who have lost a
close relative/friend to cancer in recent years. The Charity, which
is run entirely on a voluntary basis, was set up to raise funds for
cancer treatment/research through the organisation of sailing
events. The Charity also provides sailing opportunities for cancer
patients and their families, with the aim of improving quality of life.
Sail 4 Cancer is now a worldwide charity with operations in the UK,
Ireland, Australia and soon the rest of Europe.
The event is a weekend of excitement, challenge and very much a
social occasion as well as a competitive race, with food and bars
for the full duration and entertainment on the Friday and Saturday
evenings, together with the opportunity to raise funds for an
important charity.
Further information from
24-hour-race.wlyc.org.uk.
Also you can find out more by watching
our online video of the event by clicking
here. |
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HENRY BLOFELD
- The Voice Of Cricket
HENRY Blofeld,
one of Britain’s most celebrated cricket commentators and the doyen
of BBC Radio’s Test Match Special, will take to the stage this
autumn in a totally different guise, when he embarks on an extensive
provincial theatre tour in his own 1-man show, 'An Evening With
Blowers'.
Famed as ‘the
voice of cricket’ and one of the great characters of the game,
Blowers, as he is affectionately known, is as renowned for his
catchphrase, my dear old thing; for his musings on pigeons,
double-decker buses, planes, tea ladies, and of course, cakes, as he
is for his much-loved commentating prowess. He remains one of
the most respected and knowledgeable commentators in the sport and
one of the most charming.
A must for cricket
fans young and old alike and anyone else who enjoys a cracking yarn
well told, An Evening With Blowers is a thoroughly quintessential
British affair in which Henry trawls through his extraordinary life
and career, and pays homage to his insatiable passion for cricket.
Along the way he
recounts stories and anecdotes of some of the many characters he has
encountered on his journey including Ian Fleming (who appropriated
his name for his arch villain, Ernst Blofeld, in the James Bond
books On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Thunderball and You Only Live
Twice), Noel Coward, Nigel Havers, Boris Johnson, a whole gallery of
cricketing folk and folklore …and all points in between. Hilarious
tales abound in this often side-splitting and highly entertaining
stage show, all told with Henry’s well-known self-deprecatory
humour. He is, quite simply a marvellous raconteur as his many fans
and listeners to BBC radio will testify.
Henry was brought up
in the idyllic Norfolk countryside amid a vibrantly eccentric
Edwardian household, and later educated at Eton and Cambridge. He
dropped out to pursue a brief career in finance, before beginning
his
chequered career in journalism which later led him broadcasting and
later still to Test Match Special where he continues to hold court
to this day to Test Match Special where he continues to hold court
to this day. All this offers rich pickings and provides a colourful
and enjoyable backdrop to a very special evening.
Presented by Neil
O’Brien Entertainment, An Evening With Blowers opens at the Stables
at Milton Keynes on Sunday, 2 September 2007. The 1-man-show will play 24
provincial theatre venues and concludes on Sunday, 28 October 2007 in Tavistock. A second tour is set for spring 2008.
The tour will be in
Southport on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 at the Southport Theatre.
For more information
or to book tickets call:- 0870 6077560.
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