ILCA UK Rooster National Open at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy - ILCA 6

Boy's podium - Rooster ILCA 6 National Open at Weymouth © Jon Emmett

Rooster ILCA 6 National Open at Weymouth © Lotte Johnson / www.lottejohnson.com

The second ILCA UK National Open of the 2026 season took place in Weymouth, where a strong fleet of 80 ILCA 6 sailors gathered for another weekend of high-quality racing.

Once again, parents and supporters were able to follow the action from ashore, enjoying live tracking and the excellent viewing conditions provided by glorious sunshine throughout the weekend. Sailors were greeted on Saturday by light winds and flat water, with racing taking place in testing, tactical conditions where boat speed and decision making were key.

Four races were completed on Saturday in these conditions. With little pressure and frequent shifts, the racing proved challenging, rewarding sailors who could stay composed and pick their way through the fleet.

Lewis Bacon dominated the day scoring a 1,2,(37),1, which landed him on top of the leaderboard and in control overnight. Lewis' success was largely down to his accurate starting and unmatchable boat speed. Toby Waggett followed him with a very decent and consistent set of scores of 4,1,4,2.

Sunday started slow as the entire fleet were held ashore under AP. Eventually a south-westerly sea breeze of around 8 knots filled in under clear skies and the fleet were pleased to launch. Normally in Portland harbour you would expect a stable wind in these conditions, but this was not the case, and sailing was incredibly random and difficult to get to the front without a little bit of luck going your way.

Once again, Toby Waggett showed his class, maintaining consistency across the weekend to secure the overall win and first U17, his day 1 scores aiding him massively in what was an unpredictable day 2.

Jessica Powell (Draycote Water SC) was top female and first U17 girl, finishing 7th overall, an excellent result in a highly competitive female fleet, with Chloe Grayton (WPNSA, Notts County SC) and Katherine Gunn (Notts County SC) following in second and third female places respectively.

Girl's podium - Rooster ILCA 6 National Open at Weymouth - photo © Jon Emmett

For the men, Ollie Atkin (Cardiff Bay) finished second overall by 3 points, impressing in the soft stuff, with some excellent boat speed and really effective defence of attacking boats after developing an early lead in both races. He secured a mighty 2,1. Lewis Bacon took third after some weaker races in what were some really impossible conditions to figure out, but still an outstanding performance.

The event also saw strong international representation, with Miguel Power (Bermuda) finishing 6th overall, and sailors from Hong Kong and Ireland also placed inside the top 15.

With six races completed and one discard applied, the event was ultimately decided by consistency across the series. In a fleet of this depth, avoiding high scores proved crucial, with many sailors carrying costly results such as UFDs and DNCs.

Weymouth delivered a fantastic weekend of racing, combining light-wind tactics with classic sea breeze conditions, all set against the backdrop of sunshine and a world-class venue.

A huge thank you goes to the race team, led by Neil Collingridge, and all of the volunteers, and organisers for delivering another excellent event. With two events completed, the ILCA UK National Open series is well under way with just one event to go this weekend to finish the series. With the forecast looking set for higher winds than weekends 1 and 2, it should be a highly competitive event and looking forward having tracking from TracTrac on the ILCA 6 fleet!

Event Title Sponsor: Rooster

Supported by: Noble Marine, Sailingfast, Ovington Boats & TracTrac UK

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Overall Results: