2026 UK IOM National Championship - Datchet Delivers a True Test Ahead of the Worlds

by Nigel Barrow 7 Apr 19:19 BST 3-6 April 2026

The 2026 UK IOM National Championships at Datchet Water Sailing Club proved to be far more than a domestic title fight.

With the venue set to host the IOM World Championships in May, this event became a full scale operational rehearsal—testing race management, logistics, and the unique challenges of running major radio sailing competition on one of the UK's largest inland waters.

A Venue That Demands More

Unlike many model yachting venues where racing can be run from a single shoreline base, Datchet requires a multi site approach. Three separate course areas were prepared: one in front of the clubhouse, one to the east, and one on the north bank. Volunteers and competitors logged more than 16,000 steps per day, moving equipment, laying marks, and repositioning RIBs and of course walking the course.

The scale of the ground tackle alone was remarkable. With depths ranging from 10 to 25 metres, nearly one kilometre of rope was prepared, along with new marks and heavy tackle for three full courses. Much of this work fell to Hugh McAdoo and Event Organiser Phil Holliday, who also oversaw campsite preparation, power distribution, Portaloos, site clearance, and MYA branding.

The race team—led by Race Officer Peter Baldwin, with support from Wayne Stobbs and MYA President Derek Priestley—faced the constant challenge of selecting the right course area as the wind shifted. The diligent finishing team was Sharon Plested, Jen Hand and Min Edwards. Judith Baldwin and Jim La Roche managed the Fleetboard along with the additional tricky job of herding observers for each race. Allocating observers to each race on the Fleetboard was one thing, getting observers to the start area proved to be an entirely different issue. Richard Jones, kept the results flowing smoothly along with David Adam, Howard Shawyer and Mike Beckett.

On the water the boats for course setting(mark laying) and rescue were manned by Paul Kimmens and Hugh McAdoo and crewed by John Arundal and Rob Vice.

In the clubhouse, food and drinks including an excellent dinner on Sunday night was managed by Keith Burwood with assistants Keira, Jessica and Jo on Sat/Sun/Mon respectively. Separate special meals were prepared for a range of special dietary requirements (On of the competitors mentioned it was the best attention to her dietary needs that she had ever come across).

Friday: Inspection and Practice

Competitors arrived throughout Friday for equipment inspection. Hugh McAdoo built a special jig for the worlds to sit on his recently calibrated scales, quickly weighing hulls, bulbs, fins, and rigs with the heaviest battery installed. Once passed, sailors took advantage of a lively 15-20 mph breeze—ideal B rig weather—to tune up ahead of racing.

Saturday: Storm Dave Arrives

Saturday began quietly with A rigs dominant, but as Storm Dave built, the fleet cycled through B and eventually C rigs. Datchet's trademark chop made for exhilarating downwind surfing and challenging starts, but the fleet handled the conditions well.

Six races were completed, with seeding race wins going to Craig Richards, Rob McIntosh, and Pete Walters. Visiting Americans Peter Feldman and Mark Gollison immediately showed their pace.

After Day 1, the leaderboard stood:

1. Peter Stollery
2. Graham Elliott
3. Craig Richards
4. Mark Gollison
5. Rob Walsh
6. Rob Dyer

Competitors and volunteers retired exhausted to the clubhouse after a demanding opening day.

Sunday: Delays and Difficult Decisions

A night of heavy wind gave way to a morning of A rigs, but the fleet soon returned to B and the smallest C rigs as the breeze strengthened. Frequent wind shifts, protests, and the need to accommodate returning club boats to the jetty caused significant delays. A lunch break further compressed the schedule, and the final A heat of Race 10 could not be started before the time limit expired.

The day ended with an excellent meal in the clubhouse, giving sailors a welcome chance to regroup and sample local beverages.

Monday: A Final Push

Monday dawned calm, but by mid morning a steady breeze allowed racing to resume on a single course area—an enormous relief for the race team. Five races were completed using A rigs, though the shifting breeze produced wildly inconsistent results across the fleet.

Even overall leader Peter Stollery posted an uncharacteristic run of 10, 9, 15, 4 in the final four races but still won by 27 points over second place. Peter also won the David Perkins trophy which is the award for outstanding sportsmanship. As well as winning overall, Peter sat on protest committees, regularly helped other competitors as well as being a sage to the race team and organisers.

Andrea Roberts collected the prize for the first lady and Jonathan Neale won the Vulturesoft Novice Trophy for the highest placed competitor in their first Nationals.

The standout performance of the last day came from the author, who climbed from 21st on Saturday to 11th overall with final four results of 15, 6, 4, 2, securing the Veterans Trophy as the top helm over 70.

Final Results: Britpop Still Reigns

Despite pressure from both domestic and international challengers, Peter Stollery secured his third UK IOM National Championship, sailing one of the original 2011 Britpops—a design that continues to dominate elite IOM competition. All three of the original Britpops have won the UK National Championships.

Overall Results: (top ten)

1. Peter Stollery - Britpop
2. Graham Elliott - Britpop
3. Mark Gollison (USA) - Venti
4. Peter Feldman (USA) - VISS
5. Rob Walsh - Venti
6. Craig Richards - Proteus
7. Rob McIntosh - Venti
8. Pete Walters - Venti
9. Darin Ballington - Britpop
10. Josh King - Pop

Designer Brad Gibson will no doubt take great satisfaction in seeing his 16 year old Britpop design still at the forefront of UK championship racing.

A Successful Dress Rehearsal for the Worlds

The 2026 UK Nationals demonstrated that Datchet Water is ready for the challenge of hosting the IOM World Championships. The event tested every aspect of race management—from multi course logistics to rapid course changes—and the volunteer team delivered at every stage.

With international sailors already showing strong form and the Britpop lineage still proving formidable, the stage is set for a compelling World Championship in May. If you are near Datchet from the 17th to the 23rd, come and visit to see the best radio sailors in the world in action. If you can't, then a video of every heat will be uploaded to YouTube as each race completes. The next best thing to live streaming.

Our thanks go to Thames Water for the use of their reservoir and support in enabling this event.

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the One Metre nationals then enter your Gear Guide information

Pos	Skipper	Sail No	Club/City	Hull	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	Pts
1	Peter Stollery	39	Guildford & Littleton RS	BritPOP!	2	3	1	6	2	4	4	3	2	2	4	10	9	15	4	46
2	Graham Elliott	09	Birkenhead RS&PC	BritPOP!	3	4	2	1	4	5	2	15	17	24	8	3	17	2	7	73
3	Mark Golison	155	AMYA	Venti	7	10	3	2	5	8	11	10	11	7	1	4	10	7	1	75
4	Peter Feldman	41	AMYA	Viss	2	9	18	10.3	3	11	6	13	8	1	3	8	7	3	9	80.3
5	Rob Walsh	25	Fleetwood MY&PBC	Venti	1	2	19	28	1	3	9	19	3	11	5	11	2	10	5	82
6	Craig Richards	112	Datchet RS	Proteus	1	5	11	4	6	1	22	25	7	4	2	2	18	33	27	108
7	Robert McIntosh	64	Birkenhead RS&PC	Venti	1	14	4	3	13	15	3	2	10	16	7	16	20	19	6	110
8	Pete Walters	65	Lincoln RSC	Venti	5	19	24	11	12	10	7	9	1	19	25	1	5	6	17	122
9	Darin Ballington	98	Lincoln RSC	BritPOP!	5	11	14	15	14	2	12	12	15	10	16	7	14	5	3	124
10	Josh King	126	Windrush RYC	Pop	2	1	12	23	21	23	38	8	12	8	6	18	19	1	8	139
11	Nigel Barrow	54	Datchet RS	Viss	10	28	26	26	11	9	14	11	6	18	10	15	6	4	2	142
12	Tony Edwards	75	Yeovil DMBC	R2V2	3	16	8	10	19	7	5	17	4	15	9	22	29	11	20	144
13	Rob Dyer	93	Eastleigh&District MBC	Venti	3	8	5	7	15	6	15	7	16	14	19	32	44	17	14	146
14	David Lindsay	23	Datchet RS	V12	11	25	9	14	7	16	20	6	5	6	20	21	26	18	29	178
15	Martin Roberts	22	Birkenhead RS&PC	BritPOP!	15	40	53	45	8	14	8	1	13	12	18	5	15	8	23	180
16	Graham Bantock	95	Chelmsford RYC	FORKILO	8	15	23	38	30	28	22	23	23	9	17	25	1	9	12	215
17	Duncan Ellis	37	Norwich MYC	BritPOP!	11	7	16	8	9	20	38	40	38	17	23	28	13	14	11	215
18	Buzz Coleman	12	Coalhouse Fort RYC	Vision	4	25	23	13	17	17	27	33	28	25	26	14	3	12	10	216
19	David Donin	16	Gosport MYBC	Venti	9	12	10	23	26	22	17	26	14	3	22	17	33	24	24	223
20	Tony Guerrier	50	Three Rivers RYC	Venti	5	25	7	9	20	12	16	18	27	5	21	33	31	32	30	226
21	Austin Guerrier	68	Datchet RS	Venti	9	26	6	18	23	19	13	20	25	23	14	12	21	29	35	229
22	Tim Hand	134	Lincoln RSC	BritPOP!	4	6	53	38	40	31	38	14	9	13	12	19	30	23	26	263
23	Jonathan Kneale	05	West Cornwall RSC	V11	6	20	38	44	16	21	33	24	29	31	15	9	16	20	25	265
24	Brian Summers	07	Tayside RSC	Proteus	8	35	15	5	10	13	10	53	38	28	27	30	32	41	33	284
25	James Edwards	88	Yeovil DMBC	BritPOP!	9	25	20	30	27	32	19	4	18	30	28	29	27	28	28	292
26	Andrea Roberts	63	Birkenhead RS&PC	BritPOP!	7	32	17	29	36	46	39	16	19	20	35	13	11	22	36	293
27	Mick Chamberlain	46	Lincoln RSC	Venti	11	40	27	12	18	24	24.2	53	24	21	13	20	36	31	38	299.2
28	Steve Cockerill	27	Emsworth Radio Sailing	BritPOP!	6	18	31	31	33	30	26	21	26	33	34	41	4	21	23	303
29	Simon Fairman	71	Manor Park RSC	Alioth	6	13	13	16	22	35	23	29	32	26	32	34	39	44	34	315
30	Nigel Brown	55	Gosport MYBC	Venti	13	29	34	38	25	29	25	28	35	22	37	43	12	13	15	317
31	Ben Harker	122	Huntingdon RYC	H60	14	40	30	20	29	18	32	30	23	29	33	23	35	39	19	335
32	Paul Middleton	52	Fleetwood MY&PBC	V12	12	27	38	25	35	34	31	27	21	27	30	31	38	26	16	342
33	Julia Hancock	24	Hampton Court MYC	BritPOP!	7	30	28	24	31	25	28	31	34	39	39	47	22	30	18	347
34	John Howell	78	Three Rivers RYC	BritPOP!	19	53	32	32	39	27	1	5	20	35	47	48	42	40	53	387
36	John Taylor	128	Fleetwood MY&PBC	Gillette	10	17	25	27	32	26	29	35	30	36	53	38	40	51	53	396
35	Paul Plested	15	Birkenhead RS&PC	BritPOP!	12	37	53	17	28	38	38	43	38	32	24	24	34	48	31	396
37	Martyn Aspinall	91	Rotherham MYC	BritPOP!	13	31	33	23	24	36	44	45	48	44	29	26	23	34	39	399
38	Colin McGinnis	45	Tayside RSC	Buzz3	4	21	29	38	46	38	53	34	40	34	38	27	24	35	38	400
39	James Hadden	119	Gosport MYBC	BritPOP!	19	53	53	53	53	53	53	53	53	53	11	6	8	16	13	444
40	Vernon Appleton	73	Datchet RS	BritPOP!	13	50	44	41	38	53	24	38	41	41	48	38	25	27	32	450
41	Roy Stevens	154	Scarborough MYC	BritPOP!	8	36	43	42	44	33	18	38	33	42	41	45	38	47	43	459
42	Bob Conner	14	Woodspring MSC	BritPOP!	12	47	53	40	53	45	43	41	46	45	40	44	28	25	21	477
43	David Lapes	03	Three Rivers RYC	Proteus	15	46	53	19	38	40	30	32	47	38	45	49	41	46	48	485
44	Claes Nordin	99	SWE	Proteus	10	33	42	43	41	39	53	39	43	43	31	38	50	50	41	493
45	Tracey Ballington	49	Lincoln RSC	BritPOP!	15	41	35	38	43	43	41	47	39	40	44	35	43	42	44	499
46	Clive Harries	116	Keighley & District	Vision	17	42	39	39	34	41	53	38	42	49	51	40	45	36	46	508
47	Malcolm Stewart	129	Emsworth Radio Sailing	BritPOP!	14	34	41	48	45	44	47	48	44	47	36	50	48	45	40	533
48	John Crix	28	Eastbourne&District MYC	Venti	16	49	38	47	47	53	40	44	31	37	50	51	51	52	50	551
49	Richard Jutsum	89	Lincoln RSC	Viss	16	45	46	49	42	42	42	42	45	46	46	53	47	43	49	551
50	Harry Neill	51	Hawley Lake RSC	Proteus	16	48	45	53	53	53	48	46	49	48	42	39	49	38	42	563
51	Anthony Marshall	33	Eastbourne&District MYC	Venti	17	43	40	53	53	53	46	53	53	53	43	46	46	37	45	575
52	Lee Mutlow	60	Woodspring MSC	Vision	14	44	47	46	53	53	45	53	53	53	49	42	52	49	47	594