The Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship

by Henri-Lloyd 4 Mar 12:00 GMT 18-19 & 25-26 April 2026

The Warsash Spring Series has been a staple of many sailors' calendars since it was founded in 1984, when it was known as the Silver Salver, with racing mainly taking place on Sundays.

2026 sees a new format, bringing with it a new energy designed to increase participation. With Henri-Lloyd announced as title sponsor, the Warsash Spring Championship - as the series will now be known - will taking place over two weekends in April.

Warsash Sailing Club has an enviable position at the mouth of the River Hamble, with plenty of dinghy park space and excellent pontoons, making it one of the best locations to sail from for Central Solent racing. The dinghy scene has been flourishing lately, with an active youth section and 180 entries for the ILCA National Open in March, so seeing their keelboat racing follow suit is hugely encouraging.

Mark Jardine spoke with Commodore Roger Cerrato to find out more about what's lined up for the future, and started by asking why they made the switch to the new Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship format.

Roger explains: "We've had debates for the past three or four years as to whether to continue with a long series or reduce it, but it really came to a head last year when the numbers had fallen significantly, so we decided to focus on two weekends. It seems to be what people want, rather than the commitment of sailing every Sunday for six weeks."

There are so many pressures on people's time now and even sailing just on a Sunday still takes up a full weekend, so having racing on both Saturday and Sunday over two consecutive weekends makes things far more condensed, while providing a great amount of racing time; this has appealed to sailors, especially those with family commitments:

"People can remind their families that it's not every Sunday for six weekends, and just focus on those two weekends. With the timing after Easter it's easier to drum up enthusiasm as it's like a switch in people's minds. Those who lay the boats up for winter will usually spend Easter weekend either doing some racing, otherwise, getting the boats launched, making sure everything's rigged, and maybe getting the crew out for a shakedown sail. After that, they feel ready to do some racing, and having two weekends then gives them a good block of four days. When you spend four days with the same crew, you're going to be a lot more keyed in at the end of that than when you started. It sets you up for the entire season.

"With the RORC Easter Challenge in Cowes just beforehand, which is a training event, it's also a great way to lock in anything you've learned that weekend if you're taking part."

The two weekends of the Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship are the 18th / 19th and 25th / 26th April, which also generally have more hospitable conditions than earlier in the year, which is nice to look forward to after enduring what hasn't exactly been the nicest start to the year weather-wise.

With just a few days gap between the two weekends, sailors can generally leave the boat set up, ready to go for the second weekend, further reducing preparation time and increasing time on the water.

"One of the things we've offered for visitors with a SB20 for example, or with an RS21, is space available in our dinghy park. If it was still a six week series there's no way we could facilitate that. Some sailors come down from North Wales, and now they've got somewhere they can leave it if they want to," adds Roger.

As well as the SB20 and RS21 classes, the Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship offers IRC racing over both weekends, and J70 class racing on the first weekend, to tie in with their calendar and requirements, and the club are open to other classes joining in the fun as Roger explains:

"We'd absolutely love another class who could muster a fleet of six or more boats to come and participate, so that's in the Notice of Race to keep it fluid. We've got the resources out there and set up, so it makes sense and works well all round."

Henri-Lloyd are actively supporting organisations who are showing initiative and increasing participation in sailing, with their sponsorship of JOG being a classic example, and the team had seen the progress Warsash Sailing Club has been making lately, so Henri-Lloyd's' Ross Partridge contacted Roger to see how they could work together.

"I've participated in the series myself for years and years, and I thought it would be really nice to put something back," said Ross. "Seeing Warsash Sailing Club flying our flag, wearing our kit, and helping sailing grow, is really heartening."

The Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship takes place on the weekends of the 18th & 19th April and the 25th & 26th April 2026 with IRC handicap racing, and SB20 and RS21 one-design racing over both weekends, while the J70s will be racing on the first weekend only. You can find more information, including the Notice of Race and Entry Form at warsashsc.org.uk/springseries