Noble Marine Solo Nation's Cup 2026 at Quiberon, France after Day 3
by Will Loy 6 Jun 13:56 BST
4-7 June 2026
Noble Marine Solo Nation's Cup 2026 at Quiberon, France © Will Loy
Day 1
Thirty-nine UK Solos and their helms and nine elite Dutch sailors have assembled on the small picturesque town of Quiberon to contest the 26th running of the Green and Gates Nation's Cup.
ENVSN are hosting the event and look a pretty slick operation having recently held regattas for the 49ers, 49erFX and Nacra with some spectacular racing footage really showcasing the venue and its varied conditions. The majority of the fleet have arrived a day earlier, some of whom must have some German DNA coursing through their veins having claimed the best pitches by the beach. The sailing club, set on the peninsula looks out over a gently sloping white sandy beach, the generously wide concrete slipway should negate any chance of inter-fleet scuffles post sailing which would have made for great drama but would also contravene the Fair Sailing Charter on many levels. The venue is also hosting a Contender and Finn regatta, they will arrive Friday and Saturday and the PRO has already confirmed they will have their very own finish line, optimising our race window.
Many of the fleet are based in the local static home site, calling them caravans would be a slur to the proprietors who must have sunk quite a few euros into the majority of the two and three bedroom properties. The cooking facilities are more than adequate and with a large Lidl just a 5 minute drive away and a bar on site, the venue is fast ticking the required essential boxes on the Championship locations list.
Unfortunately the conditions were just a little too fruity and the PRO has cancelled racing so we will engage in battle tomorrow (Friday) with the hope of completing 3, 4 or even 5 races given Saturday's forecast which is marginal due to further strong winds.
The 48 competitors have evaporated from the boat park leaving only a handful of sad buggers who have nothing better to do than discuss personal medical conditions and stand in a huddled group assessing mast tapers, absolutely nothing interesting for me to video.
Fortunately, and like a beam of sunlight piercing through a sky of boring grey, Tom Gillard decides to hoist a prototype North 3di Polyester/Aramid sail up his tweaked Selden D+, providing me with the one interview opportunity of the day which I then deleted from my files in a blonde moment.
Tom is defending the title he won last year on Lake Como and normally I would suggest he is favourite but with the weather systems unpredictability in play, a reduced number of completed races could jeopardise his assault to a third title having won it in Carnac in 2022.
The class did visit Quiberon back in 2010, Paul Ellis winning from Geoff Henstridge with Mark Lee, who is the only sailor here who competed in that event (8th). He kept that a secret but can he improve in 2026?
The Nation's Cup was presented for the first time to Jim Hunt in 2000 (Brassemermeer) who was utilising the new FRP Winder hull (4287) before defending the title the following year in a breezy Felpham event (4336). Winder hulls have in fact won 18 of the 25 Championships, a dominant force with only the Lock hull, Boon Boats and Sailboats 5.5 blotting their copy book.
The club will have a jury on the water and they have also provided the NSCA with a media rib which I understand will be driven by their Commodore Jerome so I do hope tomorrow will be packed with action, winners and gracious losers.
You can join the Solo reporting WhatsApp group and follow the event almost live.
Day 2
The day had opened as Windguru had predicted, the winds that had battered this part of France abating, leaving a light breeze in its wake. The sky was more befitting any one of a dozen industrialised cities in the UK in the height of summer, overcast with just a sprinkle of sunbeams to keep the hope in the hearts of those who are blessed with skin that will not burn easily. I applied two layers of the finest olive oil to my blotted torso and slid in to my wet gear, my respect for the unpredictability of the elements had made me wise but withered.
The boat park was a hive of activity with some athletes already locked and loaded, Paul Davis stuffing the remainder of his picnic into the sweet spot which would least affect the C of G of his race boat. We all know how pivotal any extra gram makes to the performance of these race machines.
I tracked down my media rib driver who also happens to be the club Commodore but he looked slightly bemused, possibly forgetting the previous evenings discussion with NSCA President Guy Mayger. I gave him a slightly bemused expression and seeing me laden with equipment and offshore gear, organised a ride out on the Jury boat with Alan and a chap who really resembled Jacques Coustou.
The fleet filtered out to the race area in plenty of time but with the wind disappearing like a nice bottle of room temperature Bordeaux, a delay was inevitable.
After what seemed like one hour, cumuli started blooming to the north of our position and sure as grapes are grapes a breeze of 6-8 knots arrived with a welcome increase in heat as the clouds parted. Davis beckoned us to him to store his water resistant top but I would suggest he was making room for the carefully sealed pizza he had purchased in Lidl.
Race 1
Martin Honnor pulls the trigger a fraction early and is UFD mid line but for now he would be oblivious to this infraction and I was unaware of who the individual culprit was. Tom Gillard struggled to get up to the line with the wind swinging left and would find it hard from that position with such a short course ahead. Lennon, Thomas, Lewis and Butler all worked the right of the course while the left was in favour with Mayger, Armstrong and Woodward choosing that end. Menno Huisman would take a more conservative approach with the wind oscillating and punched out mid line in a nice lane with options on his side.
Top mark and with the wind dropping to 4 knots, no nonsense Yorkshireman Armstrong leads in from NSCA President Guy Mayger on his tail, the north, south divide has never been smaller. Willett is next from Huisman who is sitting well forward, his transom clear of the water, minimising drag. Salcombe's trust in Guess is vindicated as he rounds fifth with Honnor (UFD) Butler and Micheal de Boar completing the top seven. Brown rounds twelfth with Gillard in fifteenth and work to do.
The trapezoid course provides little in the way of enjoyment as the breeze whispers words of love to some and obscenities to others and by the bottom gate 'Honnor the Damned' leads around the left gate with Armstrong, Huisman and Bunn following in his wake. Michiel de Boer opts for the gate which will take him up the right hand side of the beat with a minority following including Mayger who had lost places and was throwing the dice.
We stayed positioned at the finish line, my crew as interested in the racing as I am in learning to cook french food, my terse expression not helping to smooth Anglo-French relations anytime soon.
Honnor crossed the line to a gun so I went and interviewed him as Armstrong, Brown, Guess, Lambert and Huisman filtered through the line so apologies to our whatsapp followers who believed it to be a Northern one-two, Armstrong had rounded the top mark first so congratulations on your race win. Mayger was the big loser, second at mark 1 and down to 29th at the gun, you bet against the house you lose.
Race 2
The sky was a few shades greyer and with the breeze threatening to increase to over 10 knots the fleet lined up for race 2 with the majority mid line and a little too keen, recall. The second attempt was sort of successful under a black flag if its purpose was to ruin lives, claiming some notable scalps including Vice President Davis who would now have time to finish his lunch, Lambert and Honnor who chose to pop back to shore for a glass of the hard stuff before returning for race 3.
The third attempt was successful, Deacon's distinctive black Quantum sail standing out at the pin end, Lewis bow forward with Huisman just behind in the middle and Thomas blasting out at the Committee end. Woodward had found himself in a tight spot between Committee and Bunn, the booming voice of the Norfolk based sailor suggesting the NSCA Chief Measurer was misguided in his interpretation of the rules. We headed up the beat, positioning ourselves at the top mark and I flicked open my DJI gimbal and initiated the camera app on my Samsung A14 as the fleet approached. The leaders bore off in varying degrees of control suggesting a significant increase in the wind speed, a sea of white horses behind us confirming it was about to get fruity.
Top mark and Haswell, Lewis (BFD) and Huisman power around the red inflatable from Gillard and Mayger as the wave height and heart beats increase, Jan Pieter Braam in good shape but another BFD. The strongest breeze is saved for the back markers who struggle to bare away down the run which ten minutes earlier would have been boring, now it was adrenaline pumping.
The second beat came and went quickly, 0.4 of a mile no match for the 70 kg hulls with raked rigs contorted to maximise VMG.
We were now towards the finish area with the fleet blasting upwind but I quelled my personal photographical frustrations, kicking off with the club Commodore on board would have been folly.
Huisman and Haswell made the best of a one sided beat to finish in that order after a series of pointless downwind legs with Gillard, Mayger and Moolenaar completing the top five.
I pulled out a Lucozade, pressing the plastic opening to my parched but perfectly formed lips and took a big swig of the orange nectar, one eye locked onto a delicate looking savoury snack the Commodore was playing with like a cat with it's prey, of course the end was bad for the mouse.
Race 3
The wind had abated, the rain storm exiting left and leaving a trail of bedraggled competitors still stunned by the speed and ferocity of the squall, only Davis looked unperturbed, the BFD casualty had watched the turmoil unfold, moored to a fellow Solo sailor's Contessa 32 with free coffee on tap, the remainder of his pizza still dry and on it's way down his gullet.
The wind strength was down to 8 knots and my media rib had relocated to the pin end of the line, obviously prompted by the Contender start which saw almost all of the competitors at that end.
With the Solo fleet well into their final run to the start line I enabled my gimbal and commentated on the unfolding drama, the Commodore clearly impressed with my knowledge of the fleet, topographical observations and Solo related technical information. It was therefore a little vexing to realise I had failed to press the record button, fortunately, my poker face kept the truth from my team in the rib, no need to further taint their opinion of the British idiots.
Guy Mayger and Race 1 winner Armstrong pop out at the pin and immediately tack onto port, clearing the fleet, it's lovely when a plan comes together. The breeze is fickle and maximising every little puff is critical to join all the micro shifts to the top mark. Gillard threaded his way through to lead at mark 1 with Woodward, Mayger, Bird and Frary contesting second. The jury is circling like a Vulture with an empty stomach but he would only flag one competitor over the four races and it would be unfrary of me to shame them on such a public platform.
Gillard has extended on the downwind and opts to take the gate out towards the right of the course, the fleets collective wind shadow avoided. Woodward spots some pressure on the left iso takes the opposing gate mark and would make big gains by the top, rounding just behind the North jockey with the nearest challengers, Mayger, Butler and Huisman who is putting in some solid performances, fifth.
The tight fetches, non planing reaches and run provided limited opportunities for attack and there was no way the brummie (Woodward) was going to jeopardise a podium spot with his nearest challengers ready to pounce.
So Tom Gillard took the win with the top five places already mentioned above. It was surprising to see the Contenders sharing much of the course and it later emerged that they should have been on the outer, not inner loop, let's hope this does not happen with three classes on the water over the weekend.
Race 4
Massive pin bias and with some competitors struggling to cross on starboard it was no surprise to see the leaders pop out of the line and tack straight onto port, Haswell taking a gamble and tacking right in front of Brown who fortunately had room to do likewise.
This was a fetch for those at the pin end, anyone further up the line faced the tortuous task of sailing up an ever increasing lift, the tack back onto starboard a sobering experience.
One sailor had opted to hitch further left and for a moment I thought it must be Iain Magregor as he employed the same tactic at a previous Championship, disappearing into obscurity but he has been stood down from Salcombe trophy hunting following that debacle. I squinted towards the dot on the horizon, the sail number just decipherable and confirming it was Nigel Bird, a sailor who used to race Enterprises quite well, the decline in performance is a painful experience. In his defence he later explained that he was heading for the outer loop windward mark, they are the same colour.
Haswell, Brown, Huisman and Mayger fetched into the top, the pack reaching in behind them as the breeze clicked up to 14 knots. There were a few capsize casualties but they were soon righted.
Haswell would take a start to finish race win with Huisman, Mayger, Brown and Horey completing the top five. Unfortunately I missed most of the race as we had to transfer the club photographer to port.
So Menno Huisman (5)-1-5-2 has made a strong start to his assault on the Noble Marine Nation's Cup scoring nothing outside the top five on a day when the course and conditions were filled with land mines. Tom Gillard sits in second 3-1-6 (9), just two points behind after discard but with some slightly problematic scores and questions over if we will get enough races completed to initiate a second discard. Guy Mayger (29) 4-3-3 could have been leading had that second beat in race 1 not tripped him up but Paul Haswell has no wiggle room with an erratic 11-2-(31)-1 with Chris Brown 2-10-(19)-4 in a similar fix.
I thought that the ladies title would be close and Maria E Franco and Justine Davenport sit on equal points, confirming my incredible understanding of the fleet and their individual skills, Nigel Bird has finally tacked and is making his way to the top mark.
Day 3
Day 3 has been canned due to another band of strong winds, even keeping the Finns on shore.
Huge thanks to Noble Marine for their sponsorship and support of the class.
Full results so far can be found here.