News

University staff and alumni help clinch Clyde Challenge 2004

(13 May 2004)

A yacht crew including the School Administrator for the School of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Dr Charlie Shaw, and a Queen's Campus alumnus Bob Stephenson (Health & Human Sciences) have recently returned from the Firth of Clyde having won the Clyde Challenge 2004.

The Clyde Challenge is an invitation-only race, hosted by Largs Sailing Club, for yacht crews from all parts of the UK, who face a series of challenges including sailing, running, orienteering, cycling and quizzes.

Before it could compete in the Clyde Challenge, the winning yacht, Freetimer, skippered by Dr Andrew Dawson, a Hartlepool-based microsurgeon, had to be sailed with a skeleton crew, of Charlie Shaw and chemical engineer Andy Broadbent, from its home mooring at Hartlepool, via Peterhead, Inverness, the Caledonian Canal, Loch Linnhe and the Crinan Canal, a distance of 420 nautical miles, in just over a week. The three crew members from the delivery trip were then joined by the remaining crew in Largs.

The Clyde Challenge took place over three days (23rd-25th April) with sailing races interspersed with the shore-based challenges on each day. The various races included sailing from Inverkip to Gourock harbour, where three runners were disembarked into an inflatable dinghy, under full sail. Whilst the yacht circled in the bay, the runners rowed ashore, ran 4km, before rowing back out to be picked up by the yacht, again under full sail, before sailing on to Holy Loch Marina.

Competition was extremely tough, with three yachts crewed by the Army and one by the RAF, but Freetimer was consistently the best performer in the yacht races, never lower than third in the running and cycling. The clincher was winning all three of the quizzes, which with two medical doctors, a dentist, two PhD's and a lawyer in the crew was not surprising.

As reigning champions, the onus is now on Freetimer to return next year to defend the trophy.