Tasar European Championship 2026 at Hythe and Saltwood Sailing Club - Days 1 & 2

The Tasar Europeans have been enjoying a real mix of conditions at the very hospitable Hythe & Saltwood. With visitors from Holland and Germany, there is an international flavour to the fleet, plus all the top UK boats who are building up to the 2028 Worlds being hosted in the UK for the first time since 2019 in Torquay.

We arrived on Friday to big wind and seas with the briefing more focused on the local attractions, such as the light railway, rather than the day's sailing! However, to everyone's surprise the wind abated and we had a window for 1 race. Straight after launching, the wind and waves pumped back in to make for survival conditions with just 10 hardy finishers.

Tasar Europeans 2026 at Hythe and Saltwood Day 1 - photo © Steve Hickey / www.stevehickeyphotography.com

Nick Craig/Rach Gray had a tight tussle with Jeremy/Suzanne Hawkins until they cartwheeled on the run. Rach unsurprisingly impressed in her first time in a Tasar! Barnsie and young Joe Barton (15) sailed a solid race to score a useful 2nd ahead of the ever fast Steve/Sarah Cockerill.

Saturday dawned with a very different day, or so the fleet thought! We launched into a very shifty 4-9 knots, flat water and bright sunshine. With a dropping wind and strengthening tide, the first race was long which the evergreen Dave/Fiona Sayce won with some good shift work on the last beat. Barnsie/Barton found a lane of pressure through on the last run ahead of Craig/Gray with the Hawkins just pipping the Cockerills in 4th.

Tasar Europeans 2026 at Hythe and Saltwood Day 2 - photo © Steve Hickey / www.stevehickeyphotography.com

Race 3 was brutal for the Hakwins who had a good lead at the windward mark with Barnsie/Barton in tow only for the wind to evaporate and then the tide push the leaders above the wing mark forcing them to gybe back in. Craig/Rhodes found a line of pressure to get down tide of the fleet and jumped from 7th to 1st and with the wind disappearing benefited from an early shorten course. Barnsie/Barton once again found their way into 2nd followed by the Cockerills and Hawkins with Aero7 star Mark Ripley/Fiona Nee scoring a 5th, her sailing is a lot better than her tambourine action!

Tasar Europeans 2026 at Hythe and Saltwood Day 2 - photo © Steve Hickey / www.stevehickeyphotography.com

The wind then clocked left as forecast and built, which overlaid with a thermal wind, gave us a fantastic 20+ knots and big waves. This time the Hawkins led for most of the race with Craig/Rhodes on their tail and just caught them with some big surfs on the last waves of the last reech. The Cockerills were solid in 3rd with Barnsie/Barton coming back through to 4th after the Barnsie's error dropping his tiller at the start and having to duck a lot of the fleet on port. Dan Holland/Sebastain Rob sailed a cracking 1st lap to run in 2nd place for a while, eventually finishing a creditable 5th.

With the wind and waves building further, racing was abandoned with the fleet blasting home on a perfect reach with massive rollers. With the power of the waves, 8 people at a time were needed to catch the boats and prevent any damage, a great job by the popular shore team of volunteers!

Tasar Europeans 2026 at Hythe and Saltwood Day 2 - photo © Steve Hickey / www.stevehickeyphotography.com

Hythe & Saltwood have put on fantastic hospitality with plentiful, tasty chilli con carne on offer last night followed by some ales at the well-stocked bar. Tonight we were treated to fish and chips with great music and singalongs with local band Snooze you Lose.

Going into the final day there is still all to play for as the front end of the fleet play nip and tuck. This one is far from over.

The forecast looks light to moderate for Sunday with the never-ending British summer continuing!

Results after Day 2: