International 6-Metre Class British Championships at Lymington Town Sailing Club
by Chris Arnell 9 Sep 15:14 BST
4-6 September 2026
To be honest, Lymington Town Sailing Club wasn't expecting a call from the British International 6-Metre Class Association (BISMA), but when asked to host the 2026 British Championships we were excited and delighted to have the opportunity to host these amazing boats and their teams.
Fast forward to September 4th 2026 and a fleet of 6 beautiful classic racing yachts were afloat in Lymington ready to go racing.
At this point we should give credit to the incredible volunteers from BISMA and LTSC for the work they put in to get this event off the ground. It takes a LOT of planning to encourage a 6-Metre to leave its shed and Andy Postle and Tom Owen from BISMA worked tirelessly to persuade owners and skippers to make the trip to Lymington. Tim Hancock from the Royal Thames YC stepped in to act as Race Officer, very capably supported by Rob & Jan Martin from LTSC and a team of volunteers afloat and ashore who worked tirelessly over the 3 days to deliver a successful and memorable event.
The weather didn't co-operate on Friday with regular squalls pushing the wind above the upper limit for racing, so the fleet sensibly decided to stay ashore, attend to some maintenance and enjoy the hospitality of the LTSC bar for the afternoon.
Saturday gave us warm, sunny conditions and a light North-Westerly breeze that promised to turn to the west later in the day. Sure enough, half way up the first beat of race 1 the wind decided to turn left so we all came back to the start and had another go.
The Solent provided sparkling conditions for the rest of Saturday and 4 races were completed, with Lyonesse leading the way in the Open Division with 3 firsts and a second place. In the classic division, Nirvana, skippered by Andy Postle, was mixing things up with the modern boats. Nirvana is a 1930's Sparkman and Stephens design, immaculately maintained and stunning to look at. We had a lot of spectators on the water and visitors to the pontoon where the fleet was berthed.
Sunday morning started with a moderate 8-10 knot breeze from the South. In the Solent this can be a tricky wind direction but beating across the tide gave more tactical options for the fleet and opened up the racing. Two races were completed before the wind decided to take the afternoon off and the fleet gratefully accepted a tow home shortly as the time limit approached.
Kirlo, helmed by Matt Lingley, dominated Sunday's racing with two first places and finished the series on equal points with Lyonesse Both boats were tied on countback so Kirlo, winner of the last race, won the Championship by the narrowest of margins. Georgia (Tom Richardson) finished 3rd in the Open division.
In the classics, Nirvana finished first and 3rd overall with Valdai (Tom Owen) and Melita (Duncan Barr) in 2nd & 3rd respectively.
LTSC Commodore, Heather Chipperfield, presented the prizes and thanked the sailors, volunteers and staff for making this prestigious event such a success. We thoroughly enjoyed having the 6-Metres and look forward to seeing them again.
Photos courtesy of Tristan Jones of Nautipics. Can you find his full event gallery here.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Helm | Crew | Sail No | Club | Division | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | Kirlo | Matthew Lingley | Tilo Bobel / Richard Odell / Owen Thomas / Victoria Theaker | GBR 81 | Aldeburgh Sailing Club | Open | ‑2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2nd | Lyoness | Paul Smith | Robert Smith / Simon Rogers / TBC | 90 | Royal Torbay Yacht Club | Open | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑4 | 2 | 7 |
| 3rd | Nirvana | Andy Postle | Keith Davies / Rob Larke / Dave Freemantle / Chris Webber | GBR 33 | Royal Western Yacht Club | Classic | 3 | ‑4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| 4th | Georgia | Tom Richardson | Matthew Richardson / Dick Long / Dan Primrose / Lenny Cann | GBR 99 | Royal Southern Yacht Club | Open | 4 | 3 | ‑5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 17 |
| 5th | Valdai | Tom Owen | Henry Chapman | GBR 40 | FGSC | Classic | ‑5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 24 |
| 6th | Melita | Duncan Barr | Andy Trickett / Ben Rogers / Nick Sandison / Jeremy Troughton | 42 | Netley Sailing Cllub | Classic | ‑6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 30 |