55th Eskimo Pursuit Race at Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club

55th Eskimo Pursuit Race prize winners © Peter Jackson

Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club held their 55th Eskimo pursuit race on New Year's Eve.

Team Rooster's Andy McKee and Chris Massey walk the tight rope to win the 55th Eskimo Pursuit race. 29 boats were greeted with 9-13 knot breeze on the last day of 2016 at Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club. Andy and Chris set off flying in the Scorpion chasing the leading pack which included Chris Robinson in his Solo and John Hayes/ Poppy James in their GP14.

John quickly recovered a tricky situation to release his GP14 from a loose anchor line when rounding buoy No. 12. Andy was also tided onto the same line, wrapped round his fixed rudder; where he proceeded to vault off the transom to walk the tight rope down off his rudder and flip back into the Scorpion with a display of acrobatics that would have impressed Blackpool circus.

Timing couldn't have been more critical as Mike Preston and David Manifold found the gears in their Flying Fifteen to set up a six boat race including Steve Blackburn in a Streaker with only 5 minutes left on the clock against an ebbing tide and shifty winds.

It was Andy McKee and Chris Massey's Scorpion that popped out in front, closely followed by Mike Preston and Dave Manifold in the Flying Fifteen. John Hayes/ Poppy James gained third place in their GP14 and Chris Robinson securing fourth place in the Solo.

Thanks to our race officer Peter Mountain for a challenging course on the River Wyre and our sponsor's Rooster Sailing for the prizes awarded to the top 10 places.

Chris Robinson was the winner of the first Single Hander, Peter Jackson earned the price for first Merlin Rocket and Rob Mountain received the prize for the first Multi hull.

Overall Results: