B14 TT at the 2026 Skiff Open at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy © WPNSA

Following an excellent turn out at the first TT of the year at Stokes, we followed this up with our second TT of year at WPNSA on Portland. A breezy weekend on flat water was planned. With a reduced fleet due to injury, holidays and 18ft skiff commitments it was the closest racing we've seen in a long time. Saturday was 8 to 12 knts with Sunday promising to be slightly more fruity!

Admiral Trailers (Tony Blackmore/Jamie Dawson) got off to a shaky start in the 5th row and a right hand corner. The rest of the B14s however also didn't get off the line in a great condition and it was Nightshift (Amir Shamsuddin/Claire Allen) who made the running to the first windward mark closely followed by Admiral Trailers. At the leeward mark Admiral Trailers snuck inside Nightshift on the spinnaker drop and went on to claim the victory.

However it was Ceto (Ben Cutler-Sharp/Oli Scrimshaw) who came home in second narrowly overtaking Nightshift on the run down to the finish. Shirley (Steve MacDonald/Brady Tassiker) were in fourth. A mere 30 secs covered all four boats!

Many years ago we had a B14 forum post highlighting the missing kit that you needed when taking part in a successful B14 event! This weekend it was Steve who had forgotten his sailing kit! Its not like we'll be reminding him of this at any point!!

Brady was standing in for Steve's usual crew Hannah who is on study leave. Brady is one of our Australian cousins from Tassie who's taking a sabbatical for a couple of months including the Pathfinder Homes B14 Global Championships in Torbados in June.

The wind built a little in the second race and this time it was Ceto taking a solid win from Admiral Trailers, Nightshift and Shirley.

The breeze dropped again for the third race and with plenty of place changing over the 2 lap course it was again Ceto sneaking into a narrow lead on the last leeward mark to the finish from Admiral Trailers, NightShift and Shirley. Again a very close finish for all 4 boats. Steve persuaded the race committee to call it a day there as his borrowed wetsuit was chaffing badly. Oh and the wind dropped away significantly!

Fish and Chips on the beach watching a setting sun summed up our evening after the racing. With 5 races still to complete and a building breeze forecast for the next day it was a slightly nervous fleet that went on our merry way.

Sunday dawned to +30knt gusts and for those under canvas, little sleep due to the wind! Racing was delayed significantly until they released us at 12.30. Arky the PRO was on the ball and with a slight drop in the breeze anticipated we all launched with some trepidation. Steve was now in his own kit having made a frenzied (within speed limits!) trip back to Exeter the previous evening.

Ben in Ceto had also made a slight change to his crew and it was his Pathfinder Homes B14 Global Championships crew Tesni King in the hot seat for Sunday. At only 50kg (approx!) this change would make a big difference during the very breezy day.

Tony's fat lump status in Admiral Trailers was also to play a key roll in the day. Shooting off the line in the first race it was Admiral Trailers all the way with Nightshift (Amir/Claire) pushing hard in second and Shirley (Steve in his own kit/Brady) in third. Ben and Tesni in Ceto did a bit of capsize drill and came home 4th. The breeze picked up a little in the second race with fast planing upwind and epic spinnaker runs down.

Again it was Tony and Jamie in Admiral Trailers this time followed by Steve, feeling really comfy, and Brady in second. Nightshift, Amir and Claire in third with Ceto, Ben and Tesni coming in a close fourth.

With various small rope issues on some of the fleet it was decided to call it a day there. With Steve and Brady, a scratch partnership at the beginning of the weekend starting to gel (and Steve in his own clothes!) as well as lightweights Ben and Tesni getting to grips with the strong breeze it was a shame we couldn't do the last race of the day.

It was one of those epic big breeze days and everyone landed with big smiles and big stories.

The next event is the Pathfinder Homes B14 European and Global Championships in Torbaydos (17th to 26th June 2026). With the class celebrating its 40th Birthday it's going to be an epic ten days of sailing culminating in a cracking party!

Overall Results: