Squib East Coast Championship 2026 at Royal Burnham Yacht Club
by Dan Wastnage 9 Jun 14:05 BST
30-31 May 2026
The 2026 Squib East Coast Championships was held at the Royal Burnham YC during their annual Whitsun Regatta. It was blessed with champagne sailing conditions and temperatures reaching an impressive 27°C.
The event attracted an entry of 22 boats, including visiting competitors from Norfolk and Suffolk. It was particularly encouraging to see five boats helmed by Royal Burnham members.
Racing consisted of seven windward-leeward races, organised by Race Officer Edwin Buckley and his team aboard 'Phoebe'.
Saturday's racing was delayed by light airs, and the fleet did not get under way until 3:00pm. As a result, only two races were completed.
Sunday provided much better conditions, and Edwin was quick off the mark in setting windward-leeward courses off Pile House.
With only two races completed on Saturday, five races needed to be sailed on Sunday for the event to qualify as a championship regatta.
Race 3 saw visiting sailors Dave Pinner and Jono Brown aboard 'Discord' take the win. Races 5 and 6 were won by Mick Wright and Alex Porteous, giving them a consistent series and placing them at the top of the leaderboard with one race remaining.
The final race was won by Nick Tolhurst and Ross Corbet, closely followed by Chip Cole and Commodore David Smith.
The 2026 East Coast Championship was won by Mick Wright and Alex Porteous, whose consistency throughout the series saw them finish four points ahead of Nick Tolhurst and Ross Corbet.
Top-placed Royal Burnham YC boat was Chip Cole and David Smith, and another prize went to Jo Tribe and Sue Hardy for being top-placed all-girl boat.
Our thanks go to all the Squib sailors who entered. It was wonderful to see competitors enjoying both the racing and a fantastic social atmosphere at the Royal Burnham.
Special thanks go to The Mighty Oak Brewery for being our main sponsor. Thanks also go to Hyde Sails, for donating their wonderful Hyde Bags as main prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed Squibs overall.
National Squib up and coming events: squibs.co.uk/events