In June our Knowledge and Learning and Marine teams joined forces to take part in the Eddystone Pursuit, a 26 mile sailing course around the stunning Eddystone Lighthouse. Our team were delighted to win the Smeatons Trophy. They were sailing Traci and her husband Andrew’s 40ft yacht, Trilogy. The weather was light and really sunny which made for an amazing day, with a lovely evening meal and prize given afterwards at the National Marine Aquarium.
The event, which is the South West’s largest sailing fundraising event, has a total prize money of £20,000. The Smeatons Trophy is for boats where three or more of the crew are from one organisation. It is awarded based on placing in the race, when you enter and the amount of sponsorship the team raises.
Stephens Scown raised £335 and with additional winnings on the day plus £800 prize money we totalled £1094.13 from the £20k prize pot making a grand total of £1429.13 going towards our charity, Cornwall Air Ambulance.
Traci, who organised our team said: “I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who sponsored us. It was a great day on the water, getting to know colleagues from our marine team a little better. It turns out they really know how to race! Through skill, team work and a lot of good fun we were able to finish 9th in the pursuit, after starting in 63rd place. Our finishing place along with sponsorship and having registered early for the event meant we won the Smeatons Trophy. The best bit about that was adding an additional £800 to the amount we donate to the fantastic charity Cornwall Air Ambulance.”
Cornwall Air Ambulance is the charity that our Cornwall offices have chosen to support this year. It has a massive appeal on at the moment to buy a new helicopter. They attend up to 800 emergency situations each year – from traffic accidents to people falling ill in remote locations or getting into difficulties at sea.
We’d strongly recommend this as a great charity event for those with a passion for the sea: see https://www.eddystonepursuit.com/ for more details.