British Keelboat League at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club - Preview
by Nick Milton 3 May 22:27 NZST
18-19 May 2024
British Keelboat League at Burnham © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com
With a little over two weeks to go before the British Keelboat League event at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, the fleet of 707s have been further enhanced with new liveries highlighting the invaluable support from Allen and Robline.
The BKL is open to teams from any British sailing club and aims to break down barriers to keelboat racing with a #rockupandrace series offering inter-club fleet racing at venues around the country.
With a rigged and ready-to-go fleet of keelboats at each weekend qualifier, teams compete in a series of short sprint races against other clubs.
The top teams are then invited to a national final to battle it out for the overall BKL title and a chance to compete in the SAILING Champions League 2025.
This year's final will be hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club in September 2024.
For those unfamiliar with the series, the format is short course windward / leeward fleet racing with up to 5 boats in each race, with a high scoring system being used to establish the winner. The recent Keelboat Endeavour event at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club saw 10 teams compete in 30 closely fought races, with each team racing 15 times over the course of the weekend.
The BKL events work on multiple levels - they can be a fun weekend of tight, fun fleet racing, but also as a qualifying pathway to the Sailing Champions League events in Europe, as seen by the teams from Marconi Sailing Club and West Hoe Sailing Club who competed in the recent event in Vilamoura, Portugal.
Could your club make it to the 2024 BKL finals and win through to compete in Europe?
With a number of teams already entered, entry for the event at the Royal Corinthian is open, with the early bird discount extended to 5th May 2024, and includes:
- two days of umpired fleet racing in our refitted and ready-to-go matched 707s on the Rivers Crouch
- all on-the-water support and racing run by our most experienced Race Officer Edwin Buckley
- Camping and motorhome parking - we have a field with electric hook up
- Accommodation is also available at the club (book via the office - 01621 782105)
- An evening meal in the club on Saturday evening
www.royalcorinthian.co.uk/british-keelboat-league
We very much look forward to welcoming you all to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club for a fun and competitive weekend of racing - don't delay, enter today!