Wilson Trophy 2025 at West Kirby Sailing Club
by Tony Marston 30 May 07:31 NZST
2-4 May 2025
Close Racing - 76th Wilson Trophy at West Kirby © Dan Booth
Thirty-four of the best teams in the world competed over two and a half days for the coveted Wilson Trophy, including five teams from the USA and four from Ireland. The event used a Swiss League round robin format followed by the knockout stages for the top eight teams on Sunday afternoon.
Mainly strong winds accompanied by sunshine and blue skies, which produced some challenging conditions and the need for reduced sail area on Saturday.
After a hard day's racing the legendary Wilson dinner took place on Saturday evening with the competitors appearing in all their finery and partying the night away against the backdrop of a beautiful West Kirby sunset across the Dee estuary.
The Wilson Trophy is a unique experience, both on and off the water, with 30 Fireflys, 20 Umpires, Race Committee, Beach Party and over 200 volunteers from West Kirby SC working tirelessly to provide the very best event possible.
Thanks go to all of them and our sponsors and Boat Patrons who generously support the Wilson Trophy every year - in particular, Mike Hartley deserves special mention for labouring overnight Saturday (with only few cans of alcoholic refreshment for company) to ensure that a damaged Firefly was ready to go at 08.00 sharp on Sunday morning!
Sunday dawned with very light airs but the sea breeze filled in and continued to build until there was no choice but to once again move to cut down sails for the semis and finals.
After 272 races the quarter finals were reached - 6 of the teams were tied on 10 race wins but after count back Royal Corinthian Tigers lost out and had to settle for winning the Wilson Plate.
The Quarter Finals (best of three) were held in challenging conditions which were thrilling to watch especially with Jim Gaskin's live commentary just metres away from the 'Theatre of Dreams' that is West Kirby Marine Lake. George Jesters (IRE), Biscayne Bay YC (USA), Elmside Neighbours and Yale Corinthian emerged victorious over West Kirby Hawks, Bristol Pistols (USA), OCSS and Rock City Cruising Club (USA) - the 2024 winners.
After a change to cut-down sails for the Semi-Finals there was no touching Biscayne Bay and George Jesters who went into battle in the finals.
In front of a large crowd of supporters who were enjoying watching the close racing in the West Kirby sunshine Biscayne Bay YC team, in their first year at the Wilson Trophy, emerged victorious over the George Jesters, continuing the dominance of the US teams who have won the Wilson Trophy for the last four years.
Wilson Trophy Winners - Biscayne Bay YC
Runners Up - George Jesters (representing Royal St George YC)
The Under 21 Trophy was won by Royal St George Youth team (also representing Royal St George YC)
We are already looking forward to next year's Wilson Trophy (8th -10th May 2026) and welcoming you all back to West Kirby Sailing Club on the Wirral Peninsula.
The full results and history of the event can be found on www.wilsontrophy.co.uk
Sponsors: Ring-O-Bells, Olsen Actuators & Drivers, Serenity Clinic, RSK, FC Hardware, Andre's, Deeside Services, Tanskeys, West Kirby Rotary, Carlsberg, The Waverley.