About the Wilson Trophy
The Wilson Trophy is widely regarded as the premier team racing event in the world, attracting some of the world’s most skilled exponents of the discipline, along with many fleet racing and match racing world champions and Olympians.
The regatta is held annually in May, taking place at the ‘theatre of dreams’ that is West Kirby Marine Lake. The venue is perfectly suited to team racing with (usually) uninterrupted winds blowing across the Dee Estuary with racing taking place meters from the shore, complimented by commentary and a grandstand for spectators. This is the stadium racing that so many other disciplines are trying to recreate but West Kirby have been doing it, and doing it well for 70 years.
With typically close to 300 races being run over the three day, the Wilson Trophy is equally well regarded for its off the water activities where long standing friendships are rekindled from around the world and the infamous Wilson dinner which now always includes a mystery guest speaker, the awarding of the Joyce Evans Trophy to the crew deemed most worthy and the now traditional singing of Jerusalem lead by Wilson stalwarts the Southampton Male Voice Choir. Fierce racing, fiercer socials and the 8am start times on Saturday and Sunday really make for one unforgettable event.