With six nationals among the club's ranks, it is no surprise that Stone Sailing Club have a representative in this weekend's Endeavour Trophy, the annual champion of champions event organised each year by Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.

For various reasons, Danny Dixon and Gareth Davies (Boss), Dan Tindale (Shearwater), Lee Morgan (FS Catamaran) and other inland and junior champions are not eligible, so Colin Turner, from the highly competitive singlehanded RS600 class is left to carry the hopes of his club on his shoulders.

Turner, from Chelmsford, has been sailing the RS600 for less than three years and admits that his national title success at Weymouth this summer was a bit of a surprise.

"Brian Greensmith, who finished second, was so confident that he would win that he had already organised his trip to Burnham for the Endeavour Trophy," explained Turner.

"We had a chat about it after the nationals and he agreed to crew for me. I've sailed and crewed in several different classes of dinghy in the past, but switching from a single-hander to a two-man boat could present some problems.

We know we're going to be up against some really hot guys, but our own fleet is pretty competitive, too."

Though former Laser world champion and Olympic gold medal-winner Ben Ainslie failed to make an impression on his two recent Endeavour appearances, single-handed sailors have done particularly well in recent years.

Last year, single-hander national champions filled the first three places, Solo, Laser and OK, while Jim Hunt, the winner in 2000 and 2001 was also fifth in 2000.

Unfortunately, his hopes of becoming only the second person to achieve an Endeavour hat-trick has disappeared as he failed to qualify this year.

One of this year's favourites will be Geoff Carveth, the winner in 1999, who is aiming to equal Ian Southworth's record of four wins, between 1983 and 1988.

Carveth, who was fifth last year, underlined his superb form this season by not only becoming RS800 champion with crew Craig Davies but also finishing second in RS400 championship.

Paul Goodison, Britain's top Laser helm, who was runner-up last year, is another fancied starter, as are Richard and Kit Stenhouse, who represented OKs in 2000 and appear this time under the Musto Performance Skiff banner.

Published Thursday October 31, 2002