ILCA 7 UK Open and National Championships 2026 at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

Day 1

5-8 knot Southerly in the bay with some lovely leftover swell created some challenging conditions for the sailors in the bay. In Race 1, Ali B led to the windward mark after winning the pin and sailed away from the fleet from there, while Sam Whaley managed to work his way back through the fleet to 2nd and Sam Grayton ended up in 3rd.

In Race 2, Nathan Russel made another excellent start before being pipped to the top mark by Sam Whaley and Ali B, who proceeded to battle it out in the distance (a common theme), with Sam taking the win and Joe Rowe coming back from 13th to the first windward to 3rd over the line.

Day 2

6-10 knots SW in the harbour provided some extremely tactical racing where linking shifts and pressure up and downwind was the name of the game. In the first race of the day, Ali B managed to do this best, leading from start to finish, closely followed by Ed Baker to the windward mark, who ended up 4th over the line, with Sam W and Sam G finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

ILCA UK Open and National Championships ay WPNSA - photo © MegaCaptures / Megan Farrer

Race 4 saw Sam Grayton take his first win of the regatta as he managed to hold of the chasing Sam Whaley from the first windward to the finish. Ralph Musto managed to convert his 3rd place to the top mark on the scorecard.

The third race of the day completed an excellent day for Sam Grayton as he won again, leading from start to finish by some distance; however, a left shift on the second beat with some pressure allowed some changes in position on the second lap, best done by Archie Munro-Price and Joe Rowe, who completed the podium.

Day 3

10-15 building to 14-17 by the start of the second race, westerly in the bay. It was a long day for the 7s as the only fleet to make the commute to the bay, where boat speed and the start were probably the most important things for the day. Race 6 was a bit of a drag race back to the right after a left shift a few minutes in. Luke Anstely successfully linked the two shifts and led to the windward mark, closely followed by Sam Whaley, who then sailed into the distance once given the space, but Luke managed to hold on to second with Robin Phipps in 3rd.

In race 7 we had a straightforward drag race left where Sam Whaley led Ali B to the windward, where they battled the whole rest of the race with Sam just about coming out on top at the end of the last downwind, and Robin Phipps managed to convert his 3rd into the windward into a third over the line.

Race 8 followed a similar pattern apart from Michael Atkinson managing to connect to a right shift to lead to the first windward; however, after this Sam W managed to 100% Day 3, followed by Robin and Ali in the last race before the long sail in.

ILCA UK Open and National Championships ay WPNSA - photo © MegaCaptures / Megan Farrer

Day 4

20-25 knots Westerly classic Weymouth harbour conditions; however, as it shifted more north, it became a more tactical day than initially thought. Race 9: Sam Whaley converted the right-hand side into a start-to-finish win, where Nathan Russel managed to make the left work to be 2nd to the windward; however, a big gust on the left on the first downwind mixed up the positions, with Fin Cochrane getting into second and generally having a great day with a 4,5. Alfie Noel and Ali B showed off their speed on the second lap, managing to recover positions into 3rd and 2nd respectively.

Race 10 saw the breeze pick up and Alfie Noel hit another gear as he led convincingly to the windward mark, only bested by Sam W over the line. Hugh Andrews also sailed impressively, managing to sail fast and in the right direction, something not easy in those conditions, as he picked up a 3rd.

ILCA UK Open and National Championships ay WPNSA - photo © MegaCaptures / Megan Farrer

Day 5

Similar conditions to day 3, however with the forecast including a persistent left shift. Race 11 saw Olly Mayo lead to the windward mark and held off Sam W for a while, but not long enough, as he took his 7th win so far, and Olly finished 2nd, and Sam G put in some impressive downwinds to finish 3rd.

Race 2 saw the left shift kick in, meaning Robin, who won the pin, managed to lead to the windward mark; however, Sam W yet again sailed through to take the win, and Robin stayed in 2nd place, and Luke, who was 3rd to the windward mark, completed the top 3.

The last race of the day saw a left shift a few minutes after go, rewarding those who started at the pin, including Robin and Hugh, who were first and 2nd to the first mark; however, they weren't far enough ahead to stop Sam and Ali working their way back to 1st and 2nd over the line with Robin holding onto 3rd.

ILCA UK Open and National Championships ay WPNSA - photo © MegaCaptures / Megan Farrer

Day 6

A not so hopeful forecast meant we did some waiting onshore until the seabreeze started to kick in giving us a 5-7knts SW in the harbour we had some familiar suspects lead us round in these conditions with Ali B and Sam G 1 and 2 to the windward and over the line however a special congratulations to Leo Yates who claimed his 1st podium of the week to top an extremely consistent week only counting top tens.

And winning him (Leo) the U19 National Championship. Sam Grayton Won the U21 Championship, and Sam Whaley won the overall title for the third time, winning 9/14 races, and Ali B finished 2nd with a worst result of a 4th.

Thanks to our sponsors Ovington, Sailingfast, Rooster, Noble Marine and Fernhurst Books and we used Trac Trac technology for the racing.

Prizes:

Open Championship 1st GBR - ILCA 7 227491 Sam Whaley
Open Championship 2nd GBR - ILCA 7 223070 Alastair Brown
Open Championship 3rd GBR - ILCA 7 227539 Sam Grayton
National Championship Master 1st GBR - ILCA 7 221507 Tony Woods
National Championship U17 1st GBR - ILCA 7 222765 Wilf Tovey
National Championship U19 1st GBR - ILCA 7 226479 Leo Yates
National Championship U19 2nd GBR - ILCA 7 228326 Olly Mayo
National Championship U21 1st GBR - ILCA 7 227539 Sam Grayton
National Championship U21 2nd GBR - ILCA 7 226483 Alfie Noel
National Championship U21 3rd GBR - ILCA 7 226480 Robin Phipps
National Champions 1st GBR - ILCA 7 227491 Sam Whaley
National Champions 2nd GBR - ILCA 7 223070 Alastair Brown
National Champions 3rd GBR - ILCA 7 227539 Sam Grayton

Overall Results: