Miracle Southern Area Championship at Whitefriars Sailing Club

by David Dyson 15 Jun 15:56 BST 13-14 June 2026

11 Miracles visited Whitefriars Sailing Club on the 13th & 14th June for a weekend of racing and the opportunity to take home the Southern Area Championship cup. As has become the fashion at Whitefriars in recent years, the weekend brought varied conditions and some excellent close racing, making day one in particular an excellent watch from the shore.

In almost ideal wind conditions and bright sunshine, race 1 saw an outstanding move off the line by Brian Jones & his grandson, Jago Whitman-Smith. They rounded the 1st mark in the lead but only narrowly so over David Turtle & Zara Frankton; a lead that was short-lived as David & Zara overhauled them on the first downwind leg. An excellent first half of the race by Simon & Julie Dolman saw them move from middle of the field to 2nd place, leaving them with a near race-long scrap with Wayne Atherton & Angela Sweeney for the runners-up slot. The best racing of the day though was provided by the middle of the fleet with Andrew Robinson & Hannah Mumford, Nick & Carolynn Smith, Graham Watts & Helen Jacks, and Paul Robinson & Suzanne Enna, all within a few boat-lengths of each other. Ultimately though, there was no catching David & Zara who crossed the line first, with Wayne & Angela and Simon & Julie securing 2nd & 3rd respectively.

Race 2 saw Nick & Carolynn Smith off to a flying start, going slightly higher off the line and rounding the first mark in the lead, closely followed by Wayne & Angela. This was one of the few periods across the 2 days where David & Zara found themselves with anyone to follow, and it was lap 3 before they eventually overhauled the front two to take what became their usual slot at the head of the field. More excellent racing for 4th saw Graham & Helen and Simon & Julie neck and neck round several marks; something that was superb to watch. David & Zara crossed the line in front as was the case all weekend, with Nick & Carolynn and Wayne & Angela taking the runners-up positions.

Conditions held up late in the afternoon, and with low wind conditions forecast for Sunday, a 3rd race was agreed upon. This time Wayne & Angela were first round the upwind mark, with an excellent start also by Paul Robinson & Suzanne Enna. In what were testing conditions at times, a brilliant helming performance was put in by 9-year old Leora Munro, guiding her dad (crew) around the course in Miracle 3849. She was by far the weekend's youngest competitor and will be for sure, a future winner of the Championship cup! Despite more excellent racing and the best efforts of the rest of the field, David & Zara made it a day 1 clean sweep, with Wayne & Angela in 2nd and Graham & Helen with their best result of the weekend in 3rd.

The fleet enjoyed a fish and chip dinner and a sunny evening in the club bar.

Sunday saw much lighter winds and some changes in the field. Brian & Jago unfortunately could only sail on the Saturday, but the fleet was joined by Hannah & Tom Metcalfe-Smith, and Paul Robinson found himself with a new crew in Dave Dyson. The lighter winds didn't affect much at the top of the field, and the excellent close racing continued throughout, but the lighter conditions meant relying on the intermittent gusts of wind allowing boats to gain or lose several places in the space of a single leg. The lighter winds also seemed to suit some of the midfield boats, with Julius & Clare Mach involved in some excellent competition throughout races 4 and 5, resulting in a 6th place in race 4, with Paul & Dave also seeing their best position of the weekend in that race; a 4th.

Race 5 took place in very challenging conditions, with at times little air flow to trouble the surface of the course. It nonetheless followed the pattern of race 4 with positions changing all the time subject to where the wind picked up, allowing 3 or 4 place to be gained or lost in a near-instant. David & Zara were still out front though, followed across the line in 2nd by Andrew & Hannah, giving them their best finish of the weekend, with Wayne & Angela in 3rd.

So after a hugely entertaining weekend of fantastically close sailing, congratulations go to David Turtle & Zara Frankton for winning the Miracle Southern Area Championship. Wayne & Angela narrowly pipped Nick & Carolynn to 2nd place by just the single point.

A massive thank you to Whitefriars SC for being great hosts of the Miracle Southern Area Championships. A huge thank you too, to the race team led by Liz MacDonald, and all the other duty team volunteers who made this event a great success.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1	3794	David Turtle	Zara Frankton	Shustoke	1	1	1	1	1	3
2	4121	Wayne Atherton	Angela Sweeney	Delph	2	3	2	3	3	7
3	4115	Nick Smith	Carolynn Smith	Thornbury	4	2	RTD	5	2	8
4	4123	Andrew Robinson	Hannah Mumford		5	RTD	4	2	5	11
5	4011	Simon Dolman	Julie Dolman	Shotwick	3	4	5	7	4	11
6	4130	Graham Watts	Helen Jacks	Staunton Harold	6	5	3	9	9	14
7	4110	Paul Robinson	Suzanne Enna / Dave Dyson	Whitefriars	7	7	6	4	6	16
8	3834	Julius Mach	Clare Mach	Tudor	8	8	7	6	7	20
9	3805	Hannah Metcalfe Smith	Tom Metcalfe Smith	Thornbury	DNS	DNS	DNS	8	8	24
10	4021	Brian Jones	Jago Whitman‑Smith	Maidenhead	RTD	6	8	DNS	DNS	26
11	3849	Leora Munro	Simon Munro	Silver Wing	9	DNS	9	10	DNS	28