Two catamaran sailors from Brightlingsea Sailing Club are taking part one of the longest open boat races in the world – the thousand-mile Worrell 1000 along the east coast of America.

Will Sunnucks and Mark Self are – at the time of writing – lying fifth, despite missing after after their F18 was flipped in surf and dismasted when attempting to reach the shore on the second day of the 12-day race.

Crew Mark Self, left, and helm Will Sunnucks

With three days to go in the 12 day race, the pair have a cumulative time 73.5 hours, around nine hours behind the race leader. of Will, of Coggeshall and Mark, who runs Advantage Sails in Brightlingsea, are experienced long-distance racers and were the first British team to complete the Worrell back in 2000. Their best result this time round has been a second in the Daytona to Jacksonville leg.

The race from Hollywood Beach in Florida to Virginia Beach,Virginia – which began as the result of a bet between two brothers in 1974 – sees crews sailing all day, sometimes arriving at checkpoints in the dark after racing for up to 19 hours.