Endeavour Trophy – Saxton and Lewis make it five wins in a row

Ben Saxton and Toby Lewis fought back in Sunday’s breezy conditions to secure at the Investec-sponsored Endeavour Trophy.

The defending champions were on top form and demonstrated their superiority on the Endeavour Trophy racecourse for the sixth time and a record fifth time in a row.

An impressive 2, 1, 1 scoreline was just enough to snatch the title by just two points from James Peters and Maddy Anderson (RS200).

With the top four places going to British Sailing Team members, it was also a good day for the RYA Olympic squad.

Chatting about his win, a delighted Saxton says: “Winning the Endeavour Trophy again is a great feeling. It was wicked fun out there and we sailed really well today.”

Having finished the day yesterday in fourth place, Peters and Anderson were on fire with an impressive performance in race one where they managed to hold off Saxton and Lewis and score their first win of the series.

They followed up this with a fifth and a second, finishing the day just two points behind the winners and in second place overall.

With an overnight lead of just one point, Luke Patience and Mary Henderson, knew they had a lot on today.

The breezy conditions didn’t seem to affect them dramatically, given their weight disadvantage against some of the heavier teams, until the final race of the day.

Up to this point they still led the series from Saxton and Lewis but a capsize in the strong building winds dashed their winning chances.

59th Endeavour Trophy – Final positions (30 entries)

1st Defenders – Ben Saxton and Toby Lewis – – 17 pts
2nd RS200 – James Peters and Maddy Anderson – – 19 pts
3rd Olympian – Luke Patience and Mary Henderson – – 21 pts
4th Laser – Sam Whaley and Ben Whaley – – 25 pts
5th B14 – Nick Craig and Emma Clarke – – 28 pts
6th Merlin Rocket – Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey – – 29 pts
7th Fireball – Ian Dobson and Matt Mee – – 33 pts
8th Streaker – Martin Penty and Sam Waller – – 63 pts
9th Hadron H2 – Jack Holden and Sam Mottershead – – 64 pts
10th K1 – Paul Smalley and Mari Shepherd – – 66 pts
11th Supernova – Cliff Milliner and Bec Milliner – – 70 pts
12th 470 Mixed – Jess Lavery and Alex Hughes – – 71 pts
13th Laser Radial – Jon Emmett and Arran Holman – – 79 pts
14th RS800 – Luke McEwen and Emma McEwen – – 81 pts
15th RS Aero 9 – Liam Willis and Will Taylor – – 92 pts
16th GP14 – Sam Watson and Andy Thompson – – 94 pts
17th Blaze – Eden Hyland and Ben Harden – – 95 pts
18th Albacore – Oliver Davenport and Georgia Booth – – 106 pts
19th 2000 – Jasper Barnham and Richard Thomas – – 106 pts
20th RS Aero 5 – William Caiger and Catlin Morley – – 108 pts
21st Scorpion – Peter Gray and Rachael Rhodes – – 115 pts
22nd RS Tera – Alice Davis and Dylan McPherson – – 116 pts
23rd 29er – Oliver Evans and Will Jarman – – 116 pts
24th RS Feva – Joey Taylor and Terry Hacker – – 123 pts
25th Lark – James Goss and Chris White – – 123 pts
26th Cadet – Daisy Nunn and Harry Chatterton – – 137 pts
27th Optimist – Henry Heathcote and Kuba Staite – – 141 pts
28th 420 – Eleanor Keers and Faye Chatterton – – 149 pts
29th Topper 5.3 – Oliver Allen-Wilcox and Freddie Howarth – – 156 pts
30th Topper 4.2 – Sam Grayton and Raife Piggott – – 167 pts

The Endeavour Trophy is a solid silver scale model of the J Class yacht Endeavour presented annually to the Champion of Champions at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham-on-Crouch.

Story by Sue Pelling