Setley Cup 2025
by Luke & Emma McEwen 27 Dec 2025 13:04 GMT
26 December 2025
Sixty-two kids and teenagers with their home-made model sailing yachts gathered at Setley Pond in the New Forest for the 43rd annual edition of the traditional Boxing Day races across the pond.
There were 25 monohulls competing for the Setley Cup and 37 multihulls for the Seahorse Trophy, a great spectacle of ingenuity and excitement. A gaggle of grownups came along to cheer on the sailors and enjoy the sunny, post-Christmas sociable scene.
Some of the competitors had clearly put in months of careful design and development, crafting masterpieces of carbon fibre and 3D printing, with square-top rigs, hydrofoils and high hopes for a win. Some of the younger kids had parental assistance, one father of a 15-week-old sailor was heard saying "I've waited 30 years for this opportunity to build my child a boat". Other boats were built on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or even Boxing Day morning from a mixture of empty bottles, shopping bags and Lego, but still beautifully decorated and just as keenly launched.
In contrast to the last 2 years of windless drifting, we were blessed with a good (albeit cold) northeasterly breeze this year, with some sharp gusts catching out those who'd made their sails too big. Indeed, the winning multihull in the finals was heavily reefed with scissors to avoid the fate of others which had pitchpoled in the heats.
The starting team herded the eager sailors with their boats in two flights per class onto the small launching beach, aided by the shiny brass Setley Cup Sound System kindly provided by Piers Thomas. The boats left in waves like the D-Day landings towards the far shore, where the finishing team faithfully recorded every boat that completed the challenging crossing.
Meanwhile, the less successful boats were gathered up by the rescue boat, a busy activity in the early races as flaws in design or construction became apparent. A moment of drama came with the realisation that the rescue boat itself was gradually sinking; the bung had not been inserted in the aft tank when it was launched. A quick haul-out for draining solved the problem and back they went into action.
As radio control is not allowed, the boats must find their own way across the pond. The start is clearly a point of focus for the sailors but too big a push can be counterproductive, indeed very late starters often come out on top... it's the finishing that counts. There's always an element of luck; particularly the multihulls have a habit of getting entangled with each other - one pair locked in mortal combat still managed to reach the finish, the leading boat being pushed backwards all the way.
Congratulations to all the competitors, particularly Quinn Yeabsley with "QR Racing" which won the Setley Cup and Oli Thomas whose catamaran "Gulf" won the Seahorse Trophy. Huge thanks to all the volunteers, including Abigail, Arthur and Maddie Greaves, Helen and Joanna MacAlister, Tim and Abby Hire, Stuart Thomas, Mark McCafferty, Hugh and Delma Evans, Tom, Barbie, and Emma McEwen; also to Roy Froud and Andy Baker for providing the rescue boat, Paul French for the photos, Sanders Sails for donating cloth to many of the competitors and the Royal Lymington Yacht Club who sponsor the event, allowing us to run it for free for all local children.
Finalists:
| Pos | Boat name | Sailor |
|---|
| Monohulls |
|---|
| 1 | QR Racing | Quinn Yeabsley |
| 2 | Bouncing Bean | Tom Marver |
| 3 | Bottle Rocket | Lola McCafferty |
| 4 | Swift like the Badger | Gilliat Van Harris |
| 5 | Boxing Day Sails | Matthew Thomas |
| 6 | Blue Turtle | Clara Nurton |
| 7 | Mr Rainbow | Ariana Stock |
| 8 | Filippo Berio | Morven Young |
| 9= | Growler 4 | Primrose Roberts |
| 9= | Slipper 1 | Henry Nurton |
| 11 | Bob the Boat | George Roberts |
| 12 | Totty 2 | Ottolie Turnage |
| Multihulls |
|---|
| 1 | Gulf | Oliver Thomas |
| 2 | Kiwi | Otis Akester |
| 3 | The BFB | Barney, Flicky & Baxter Barker |
| 4 | Emirates | Kit Nurton |
| 5 | Rooster Booster | Reuben Stock |
| 6 | Ocean Leopard | Jasmine Akester |
| 7 | RS Cat 2 | Morris Geerling |
| 8 | Snowflake | Athena Littlejohn |
| 9 | Blue Scooter | Ralf Mumford |
| 10 | M-Foil | Max McCafferty |
| 11 | Banana | Florence Mason |
| 12 | Fixer Upper | Olivia MacAlister |
| 13= | Yum Yum | Ada Irwin |
| 13= | Tiger Shark | Alfie Ellis |
| 15 | Sophie the Giraffe | Isabel McLaughlin |
| 16 | Wizard | Hugo Clegg |