Osprey National Championship 2026 at Mount's Bay Sailing Club - Overall

Coming home past St Michael's Mount on Day 4 - Osprey Nationals at Mount's Bay © Kevin Francis

Day 4 and overall summary

Super Sunday was supposed to be the Champagne sailing conditions that every team craves at Mount's Bay however after a promising start the sunny weather once again had a different agenda and decided to switch off the wind towards the end of the first race and refused to start it back up meaning any remaining racing for the day was abandoned, drawing a close to the 2026 event with a gentle and good humoured reach back to the shore for all competitors.

Leading up to the day the top end was now firmly established with Matt Rainback and Phil Angrave in control but DJ Edwards and Mikey Greig and Terry Curtis and Peter Greig still able to influence the final result. The starting order was changed to allow the Contender fleet to be first away for a triangle sausage course but not wanting to be left out that fleet was just too keen and a general recall was required. This did however give the Ospreys a chance to study where on the line the top sailors were and if they would repeat at the restart. Left looked good and so when the Ospreys lined up it was no surprise to see the fleet widely spread along the line with most intending to go left if they could find a lane.

The wind at this point was a nice trapezing strength for all with some choppy seaway to deal with and pressure that was indecisive giving the crews aching knees a hard time. By the windward mark the usual convergence from both sides ensued and those that stuck to the middle were feeling the pain. The remainder of the race was fairly unremarkable with those that could master the sail and rig settings to keep the boat driving and pointing winning out. The wind began to switch off halfway through and by the last legs into the finish things got a little desperate as the wind swung forward and died. With another victory 1352 sailed superbly by Matt Rainback and Phil Angrave had wrapped up this hard-fought event.

Winners Matt Rainback and Phil Angrave - Osprey Nationals at Mount's Bay - photo © Rachel Osprey

So what did we learn on day 4?

1116 Helmed by Dave Carroll and crewed by Steven Carroll decided on the preceding night at the club bar that a bottomless round of Guinness for them and 5 chums would be a good idea with a 15-minute refill time limit set. Mounts Bay bar staff duly accepted this challenge, and it wasn't long before the sailors fell behind and more and more of the black stuff started to pile up on the bar. Needless to say, Dave is not quite as 'pub fit' as he once was and so was witnessed leaving the bar quite early that night for reasons we can only guess. He also seemed a little worse for wear in the morning, but this did not overly dent his performance much the same as some other Osprey sailors who shall remain nameless.

1291 and Nick Willis in particular would appear to now be the oldest crew to ever win a Nationals race in an Osprey. Likewise, daughter Alex is only the 3rd lady helm to do the same with the previous being in 1961 and 2007.

Alex and Nick Willis, race 6 winners - Osprey Nationals at Mount's Bay - photo © Ros Downs

Following my previous report I can confirm that 1345 was struck down by the unlucky number 13 place with some kind of hardware failure having just arrived on the course and was seen sailing home under Genoa alone soon afterwards. Very bad luck guys but once sorted you will be right up there for sure.

At the prize-giving the class presented a gift to the host club partly made from slate, Welsh slate to be precise, and this did lead to some healthy banter about whether this should have been Cornish slate, this moved onto Tin vs Steel and finished with the host club supplying a cream tea where the cream or jam first debate raged depending on which side of the border you hailed from.

With the prize-giving wrapped up efficiently both the Ospreys and Contenders were soon on the long journey home. For the Osprey class this has been a memorable championship and the 11th time at this venue. During Matt Rainbacks winners speech he made reference to the community feel of Mounts Bay and of Marazion with many local folk willing on the Greig brothers to do well in their home regatta, the town certainly did feel special, and the host club once again looked after the Osprey fleet well to ensure we were well fed and watered, the class fully appreciates the shear number of willing volunteers that are needed to run such an event.

Day 4 - Osprey Nationals at Mount's Bay - photo © Kevin Francis

And so, to close, we now look to 2027 and the next National Championships which will be held from Weymouth Town SC in Dorset in September. Final dates TBC. If you are reading this maybe you would like to come along? Weymouth after all is a fantastic sailing area with plenty of accommodation nearby and a lively social scene. The class has a wonderful association boat to the latest design for potential teams to try out, use the official website or Facebook pages to get in touch with us.

The final event of 2026 is the Inland Championships at Blithfield SC on October 10th & 11th, and we hope to see many of you up there for some tight racing and great social.

Good luck to Matt and Phil in the Endeavour Trophy.

Our continuing thanks to all our Sponsors for this event and support to the class throughout the year, Nationals headline sponsor Craftinsure, our builder Hartley Boats, Robline, Seasure, Clamcleat, Allen and Fernhurst books.

Day 4 - Osprey Nationals at Mount's Bay - photo © Kevin Francis

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Osprey nationals then enter your Gear Guide information

Coming home past St Michael's Mount on Day 4 - Osprey Nationals at Mount's Bay - photo © Kevin Francis