Bartley Beast Series Finale 2026

Bartley Beast Series Finale © Chris Oates

On the first sunny day of the year, 16 double-handers arrived at Bartley for the last leg of the Bartley Beast. Bracing themselves for cold temperatures, the sailors found the sunshine a welcome relief, though a little more breeze would have been even better.

Despite the light airs, there was enough wind for racing and the fleet was set off across the reservoir. There was an individual recall for one or two of the keener Merlins, either Paul Hollis or Rob Kennaugh, but they dutifully headed back and the fleet was cleanly away at the second attempt.

James Wells and Anna Aylward in their Merlin Rocket were first to round the top mark, followed closely by Jeremy Shinton and Harry Ashworth in an Albacore, then Ed Bradburn and Ollie Goodhead in another Merlin, with a few Merlins bunched together behind. A navigational error from the visiting Merlin of James and Anna saw them round the buoys and head for the wrong mark, but the hoisted kites behind them alerted them to their mistake and they were soon back on course.

The course made full use of the reservoir but also used temporary marks, as race officer Steve Hawley had seen that there was next to no wind in some corners.

Bartley Beast Series Finale - photo © Chris Oates

The wind was light, shifty and patchy throughout the race, allowing a couple of boats to pull out a gap when they could get into the pressure. There was very little wind and some big shifts near the finish line, but on corrected time the final order was James and Anna 1st, Jeremy and Harry 2nd, and Caroline Whitehouse and Sophie Downing 3rd in an RS200.

For the second race the wind had continued to shift, so the course was reset and the temporary marks moved, and the fleet was away again with a clean start.

Heading in towards the shore and the first mark, things initially looked good before the leaders sailed completely out of the pressure. This allowed boats over to the left of the course to sail in what little breeze there was and mix up the order. Ed and Ollie in their Merlin managed to snake their way to the front and then extended their lead for the rest of the race as the fleet contended with the light airs.

The wind had definitely dropped from the first race but was still sailable, with crews scanning the water for any pressure and trying to spot where the next shifts would be. The first downwind leg proved interesting: the angle initially looked like a reach, but boats across the fleet started to gybe to catch the breeze closer to the mark, and the order was mixed up again.

Bartley Beast Series Finale - photo © Chris Oates

The race continued in the same vein, with a fleet of nine Merlin Rockets all racing each other hard and swapping positions, while the Albacores also fared well in the light airs.

The final results saw Ed and Ollie 1st, Jeremy and Harry 2nd again, and James and Anna 3rd. Caroline and Sophie also sailed another good race to finish 4th.

The 2025-2026 Bartley Beast double-handed champions were James Wells and Anna Aylward (Hooe Point SC) in their Merlin Rocket, with an impressive three wins, two seconds and a third. Runners-up in this year's Beast were the mother-and-daughter duo of Caroline Whitehouse and Sophie Downing (Bartley SC) in their RS200, with third spot taken by Phil Smith and Bill Calthorpe (RYA) in their Albacore.

Competition was fierce in the junior Topper fleet, who started just after the double-handers in the tricky conditions. The first race saw Jake Day (Bartley SC) take top spot, followed by Daniel Good (Bartley/Wavemakers ASF) and then Charles Lim (Bartley/Wavemakers ASF) in third. Race 2 was a mirror of the first, with the top three competitors all finishing in the same positions again.

Bartley Beast Series Finale - photo © Chris Oates

Overall, it was a very tightly contested series in challenging conditions, but the 2025-2026 Bartley Beast junior champion was Jake Day (Bartley SC), runner-up was Charles Lim (Bartley/Wavemakers ASF), and in third spot, despite missing the final round, was Sophie Forbes (Bartley SC).

For the first race of the single-handed fleet the wind was coming from the near shore of Bartley, making conditions at the windward marks tricky. Manoeuvring became unpredictable, with helms unsure whether a tack, a gybe, or simply a desperate attempt to keep the boat moving forwards would be required.

The wind made large swings throughout the first race for the 21 competitors who lined up, with Andy Bownes (Barnt Green SC) having a great first beat in his Solo to take the lead by some margin.

The next windward mark was more of a washing machine, which bunched the pack together. The long run to Mark 7 saw a polarising choice: near shore or far shore. Poor Harrison Allen didn't know which mark was next, so the initial confusion over the wind was exacerbated as the fleet split before his eyes.

After holding the lead for as long as he did, Andy Bownes had to settle for third place on handicap, with the Supernova of Mike Gibson (Bartley SC) finishing second and the Comet of Debbie Degge (Bartley SC), former Topper extraordinaire, taking top spot.

With the breeze settling down in a good direction, the stage was set for a second race with significantly less tomfoolery. Chris Swallow (Burton SC) and Jeremy Hudson (Bartley SC) took great advantage of the conditions in their K1s, with Mike Gibson breaking the K1 lockout to take second place, pushing Jeremy into third.

With this being the final race of the 2025-2026 Bartley Beast series, Mike Gibson (Bartley SC) took overall honours, becoming the single-handed champion in his Supernova. Second was Jeremy Hudson (Bartley SC) in a K1 and in third was Chris Swallow (Burton SC), also in a K1.

The Bartley Beast series continues to go from strength to strength, with more than 50 different single-handers, 27 double-handers and 28 junior boats taking part across this year's series.

Think you can tame the Beast? If so, look out later in the year when we publish more information on the 2026-2027 series.

Double Hander Series Results:

Single Hander Series Results:

Junior Series Results: