Due to the unfortunate circumstances of the Coronavirus pandemic and the requirement for people around the world to minimise contact with others in efforts to contain the spread of the virus, the UKFSC committee has taken the difficult decision to postpone this year’s event and roll it forward to next year.
As the world recovers and things begin to get back to normal, the biggest and potentially the best United Kingdom Firefighters Sailing Challenge (UKFSC) in its 17 year history will be missing a year for the first time and will be held next in 2021.
The planning and organising carried out by the committee will not go to waste. UKFSC 2021 will take place from Monday 10th May to Thursday 13th May 2021. The committee, with much appreciated cooperation from Sunsail, Fairview, Cowes Yacht Haven and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, has been able to ensure everything has been re-arranged for next year.
The UKFSC would also like to thank our Sponsors for 2020, WH Bence, EMILYRobot, Domestic Sprinklers, and Coldcut Cobra for their support at this time.
The event has continued to grow year on year. There are now more people taking part, more yachts being chartered, and more money being donated to charitable causes than ever before. The committee hopes that competitors and sponsors alike understand how the difficult circumstances faced this year have led to this postponement and feel able to continue to attend and support the event in 2021.
Dates
Monday 10th May to Thursday 13th May 2021
The yachts may be collected on Sunday evening for practice on the Monday if booked in advance. Many crews take advantage of this opportunity as the racing becomes more competitive each year.
Venue
Sunsail Port Solent Hampshire
Racing takes place in The Solent off the Isle of Wight on the UK’s south coast. Overnight marina berthing is in Gunwharf Quay on Monday and West Cowes Marina on the Tuesday and Wednesday.
Yachts
There are two types of yachts; the brand new Sunsail Jeanneau 41.0s and the Fairview Beneteau 37s. Both are well equipped, fast and fun offshore yachts which crew up to 10 and 8 respectively. The 41.0s are designated as the Spinnaker Class the Beneteau 37s are the White Sails Class with a genneker option. Both are fast, but forgiving and provide opportunities for those with less experience to get involved and gain experience alongside more seasoned sailors. Changing conditions on the race course will create opportunities for crews on both types of yacht.
Sponsors and Supporters
The growing list of sponsors supporting the event includes two Platinum Sponsors EMILY andBence. Coldcut Cobra is now a Silver sponsor and we have Checkmate Fire, Domestic Sprinklers and Terberg as Bronze sponsors.
We would be happy to speak with organisations interested in sponsoring the event this year or in future years.
Additionally, lots of other organisations support the event with donations of goods and services to help raise money for the UKFSC charitable causes, in particular, Elliot Brown, Nomad Sailing, Latesail, Coast, Niton 999, Elvis & Kresse, WAHSA, ISC Solutions, The Beer Emporium and Firesport UK.
The combined efforts of these organisations, the event participants and the UKFSC committee has enabled over £115,000 to be donated by UKFSC to charitable causes. This is something UKFSC is very proud of and we hope we are making a positive difference to the lives of the beneficiaries receiving these donations.
New this year as a way of generating more income for charity donations, UKFSC has branded merchandise available via https://ambers43.co.uk/. Please take a look and see what is on offer.
If you would like to find out more about UKFSC, or you would like to help organising, or sponsoring, or you want to have a go at sailing this year please make contact through any of the links below, a committee member will answer your query or put you in touch with someone who can.
For more information, go to www.ukfsc.org.uk
