Force 300 - Dramatic Weather Results in Change of Course for Sailing World Record Attempt

Allington Hughes' sponsored professional sailor and Olympic hopeful Chris Russell has set a new World Record for ‘the longest single handed, non-stop distance sailed by a male, unassisted in a dinghy’.

Chris set out to break the overall existing World Record (set by female sailor Tania Callas at 282 nautical miles), but extreme wind and waves resulted in an initial change of course, miles lost and eventually it was deemed too dangerous for Chris to stay on the water any longer.

Chris made the difficult decision to abort the attempt at 20:45 on Wednesday 20 August 2014, having spent over 16 hours on the water and sailed over 100 nautical miles. This effort still set a new world record for ‘the longest single handed, non-stop distance sailed by a male, unassisted in a dinghy’, which is now awaiting verification from Guinness. This was Chris’ first ever World Record attempt and despite having fallen short of his initial goal, he aims to try for the overall record again within the next six months.

Chris had intended to sail from Porth Eirias, Colwyn Bay, across the Irish channel to the shoreline near Dublin port and back again. However the weather dictated Chris’ journey stayed in and around the Colwyn Bay and North Wales coastline. Chris’ attempt was closely monitored by a land-based crew and he was followed by a support team and an independent adjudicator in a rib at all times.

Chris Russell commented, “I'm exhausted, but extremely satisfied with the performance myself and everyone else in the team put in over the last 30 hours.

“We started out in near perfect conditions, but within one hour of setting off we were unexpectedly hit by a really bad patch of weather and my average speed dropped significantly. By the halfway point [approximately 15 hours into the attempt] I knew that achieving the goal of 300 nautical miles would have taken me beyond the safety time limit I'd set for the challenge. However, I was determined to log as many miles as I could before the wind died at sunset.

“I'm confident that I've been able to set at least one new World Record over the last 24hours and I'm very proud of the results from this challenge. It was a great learning experience and it is without a shadow of a doubt that I'll try again to break the 300 nautical mile barrier in the very near future! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone around me for continuing to support me, and help make challenges like this a reality."

Everyone at Allington Hughes would like to congratulate Chris on a truly heroic effort, and we look forward to supporting him even more in his goal to hit that 300 mile World Record.

Chris Russell ready to take off from Porth Eirias on his World Record attempt

Force 300 - World Record Attempt!

Professional sailor and Olympic hopeful Chris Russell will be attempting a World Record for ‘the longest single handed, non-stop distance sailed, unassisted in a dinghy’ throughout Wednesday 20 August and Thursday 21 August. The current world record, according to Guinness, is 282 nautical miles – Chris is aiming to sail 300 miles, under the campaign name Force300.

Chris will set off from Porth Eirias, Colwyn Bay at first light on Wednesday 20 August and plans to sail back and forth across the Irish Channel multiple times (weather permitting). Jade Paveley, Motorsport driver and representative from one of the event’s sponsors North Wales Honda, will mark the occasion by ‘christening’ the boat with a bottle of champagne. Among the team following Chris on the sea are two sailors that compete professionally worldwide – Xavi Tous and Benjamin Wempe – and an impartial adjudicator.

Chris, Jade, Xavi and Benjamin are all athletes that Allington Hughes are proud to be supporting. We have been involved with Chris' campaign to reach the Rio Olympic games for a while now, plus Jade, Xavi and Benjamin are all part of the D2R Foundation which we recently became involved with. 

Upon completion of his attempt, Chris will be celebrating his achievement at Colwyn Bay beach on Sunday 24 August 2014 at 2pm. The celebrations will run concurrently with PromXtra – which stretches across the two-mile promenade at Colwyn Bay, and had a turnout of almost 80,000 people last year. Members of the public, supporters and sponsors are encouraged to join Chris and the crew at the Force300 area of the beach on Sunday. 

This will be Chris’ first ever World Record attempt and he will be documenting the build-up and the journey itself online. He will be providing live progress updates throughout the attempt via #Force300, his twitter handle @CRSailing, and the Force300 Facebook page. Chris will need plenty of words of encouragement to help him endure the challenges faced when attempting to travel over 300 miles alone at sea, and supporters are encouraged to use these social media reaches to do just that. 

Everyone at Allington Hughes would like to wish Chris the very best of luck, and we have complete confidence in his ability to break that World Record! 

Chris Russell is attempting to sail 300 miles non-stop and unassisted in order to break the world record.

Denbigh and Flint Show 2014

Thursday 21st August brings around this years Denbigh and Flint Agricultural Show at The Green in Denbigh.

The show attracts people from all walks of life to enjoy a day out looking through the various stands at the show, watching the numerous agricultural competitions taking place and enjoying some friendly chat with a nice hot cup of tea from the hundreds of exhibitors.

Allington Hughes will again be partnering up with Wright Marshall (formerly Wright Manley) again this year, and we are thoroughly looking forward to seeing as many people as possible.

As per usual we will be providing refreshments throughout the day, but for the lucky crowd who fill our gazebo at around midday there will be some delicious homemade sandwiches and cakes produced by Stuart Russell from The Kitchen.

There will be a large presence at the Allington Hughes stand, and our team from the Llanrwst office will also be at the show representing the NFU Cymru so be sure to pop along there too!

We will be having our customary Luxury Hamper competition and lots of free giveaways to go along with it.

So if you are already going or contemplating a day out, be sure to pop by stand H5 and say hello! Everyone is invited! 

The Free 2 Network Awards 2014

Allington Hughes are very proud corporate members of local networking group Free 2 Network. 

The network is made up of well over 100 members who meet on a weekly basis across a number of venues in North Wales and Cheshire. With over 300 events a year, the network is one that continues to deliver for its members and combines a relaxed atmosphere with the opportunity to forge strong business relationships.

Every year, Free 2 Network has an awards evening to celebrate the achievements of business and entrepreneurs. The awards come in all shapes and size from Male and Female Entrepreneur of the year, to Green Business of the year and Networker of the Year.

Allington Hughes have decided to partner one of the awards this year and have chosen the coveted Business of the Year award. 

Each year the awards attracts a celebrity guest judge from the world of business. In 2013, Rachel Elnaugh, one of the original dragons from the hit BBC show Dragons Den was the celebrity judge. This year, Saira Khan, a finalist in The Apprentice and skincare entrepreneur will be taking on the role and deciding who the awards will be presented to.

The awards are held at a glittering event in the St Georges hotel in November, and we will be sure to keep everyone informed of the deserving winners for 2014!

If you would like more information on Free 2 Network or the Awards themselves, please visit the website here.

The Free 2 Network Award partners for 2014.

The Allington Hughes Free Drop in Service

At Allington Hughes we feel it is necessary to offer our assistance to the local community wherever it is appropriate. This has recently come in the form of free drop in clinics held at our Wrexham and Chester offices.

Every Monday we open our doors for Housing, Family Law and Employment Law advice from  9.30am to 12.30pm in our Wrexham office.

Every Tuesday from 9.30am to 12.30pm our Chester office offers the same service for Employment matters.

The service we offer is completely free of charge, and there is no booking required as it is specifically designed to try and be convenient for people just wanting a brief insight into their legal issue. This is often used to see whether any further action is needed, in which case they must make more formal arrangements to see a solicitor.

Any of our specialist advisers are available to be seen across our three offices in Llanrwst, Chester and Wrexham. 

The McLintocks Golf League 2014 - Winners!

Each year our friends over at McLintocks Chartered Accountants organise a golf league for the local professionals of Chester and the surrounding area. 

The league takes place at Chester Golf Club, over three separate rounds of golf between professionals from Banking, Wealth Management, Accounting and Solicitors.

Last year, the title was won by Jonathan Seddon of Seddon Wealth Management and he was keen to retain his crown this year. 

Here is a brilliant little piece written by McLintocks to sum up the final day of competition:

The final round of the McLintocks golf league took place on Thursday 17th July at Chester Golf Club in sweltering heat on the same day as the first day of the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. Talk around the practice putting green was all about Rory McIroy’s impressive first round score of 66 in the morning as everyone was trying not to think too much about their own game and the 27oC temperature!

Lots of friendly banter was exchanged on the first tee as the competitors were all trying to gain a mental edge. Louie Middlehurst from Allington Hughes, the leaders hit his tee shot out of bounds on the first so some of it must have worked!!. Jonathan Seddon from Seddon Wealth Management and Neil Chaddock from McLintocks had a great front 9 and carded an impressive 22 points. This put Seddon Wealth Management into the overall lead going into the back 9 by 2 points. When Jonathan Seddon chipped in on the stroke index 1 13th hole for 4 points Allington Hughes were rattled and thought their chance was gone. Could the defending champions win for a second year?. Then Louie Middlehurst rose to the challenge and even though he was behind a tree on the 16th hole he managed to hook his second shot around the trees and onto the green to 10 feet, shot of the day!!. He duly rolled his putt in for birdie and four points to regain the overall lead.

By the 18th everyone was gasping for a cold pint and we were all hoping that the power was back on in the clubhouse. Fortunately it was and the presentation was made by Mike Caputo and Neil Chaddock from McLintocks to the champion Louie Middlehurst from Allington Hughes who finished with an impressive combined score of 120 points 1 ahead of last years champions Seddon Wealth Management.

Allington Hughes would like to thank McLintocks for all of the effort that goes into organising the league, it truly is a fantastic event. There must also be thanks to all of the competitors who support the league on each occasion and make playing in it so much fun, there really are some great friends and associates made. 

Bring on Next year!

Mike Caputo of McLintocks presenting Louie Middlehurst of Allington Hughes with the trophy alongside organiser Neil Chaddock also of McLintocks.

The Allington Hughes Captains Golf Day 2014

July 11th saw the return of the Allington Hughes and North Wales Crusaders captains golf day.

The Nicklaus course at Carden Park was again the venue, with a field of over 40 taking to the course to battle it out and be crowned champion for 2014.

Yet again we were very fortunate with the weather, with the sun blazing all day and barely a breath of wind to be felt. 11 teams entered the competition, with many including one of the players from the North Wales Crusaders.

There were some very competent scores within the first groups, however it was when the 2nd to last group of David Walker and his team handed in their card, that the truly outstanding score of the day was found. Playing a stableford format, with the best 2 scores out of the 4 players on each hole to count, a total of 99 points was enough to secure a 7 point victory for David and his team.

One of the members in David's team, Steve Platt, also won the individual prize with a very impressive solo score of 43 points.

Second place was secured by the Urban Developments team, who carded 92 points.

There is a photo album of the day on our facebook page.

We would like to thank everyone who was involved with the day, it was a superb event and we look forward to welcoming you all again next year. 

The fantastic Carden Park was the setting for the Allington Hughes Captains Golf Day