Cadet Open 2026 at Welsh Harp Sailing Club
by James Thomas 14 Sep 11:00 BST
6 September 2026
After a busy (some might say "relentless") summer of Cadet sailing, including the Worlds on Lake Garda, Nationals at Pwllheli, and a packed Waldringfield Cadet Week, you'd forgive sailors and parents for wanting a quiet weekend at home. Instead, thirty Cadet teams signed up for an inaugural Open at a venue that had never hosted the class before: the Welsh Harp in North London.
Such levels of support for a new event were amazing and surprising at once. Fleet changes for the new season were also in abundance, with new helms in the different fleets testing out their new pairings and new roles and new fleets before the Inlands.
For those who haven't visited, the Welsh Harp is approximately 170 acres of water in northwest London, stretching 1.4km in a SW-NE direction and between 2 and 3 hundred metres wide. The prevailing south-westerly wind is best for racing, providing good upwind legs and fast reaches.
On the Saturday, Michael MacNamara and Will Shepherd worked with 48 sailors in a really structured way. Information had been shared prior to the training day, and the morning brief ran through:
- Changing gears in a Cadet
- How to get the best out of your sails
- What is the trick to pointing better, and
- The importance of the jib and mainsail position
The on-water session started with a windward-leeward sausage course. A couple of starts and races got things going, then the coaches separated into two groups which were rotated throughout the day looking at methods to navigate busy mark rounding and how to sail from behind after a "bad start" in a crowd.
This was followed on the Sunday by the Open, itself part of the Brent Youth Regatta at which more than 30 other Ilcas, Toppers, Aeros, Terras and Quests competed in handicap races at the top of the lake.
The Cadet course was at the opposite end of the Harp. The light southerly wind that had been forecast fortunately materialized to be more of a south westerly, but race officers Rob O'Neill and Maurice Cleal were forced into a tight course, with the upwind mark tucked beneath the trees. The result was a day of 90° oscillations, pressure lanes, and moments where burgees spun like weather vanes. Those sailors comfortable with weaving their way up a constantly shifting breeze thrived; but those wanting to set a course and sit back will have been disappointed by the outcome.
Local sailors Zoe Thomas and Lisa Gass were clearly in the first group, comfortably taking the first race by several minutes over Lewis Walker and Issy Stock in second, and Rosie Hancock and Olly Starr in third. In regatta fleet Minnie Palmer and Sam Flood took the bullet, followed by Max Holroyd and Harry Flood, and Sam Holroyd Sam Ratcliffe in third.
A slight course change followed, with the downwind mark moved further away from the committee boat. This made use of the better wind further down the course and also gave the sailors a tricky gybe to plan on the way. The wind also filled in a little, though still oscillating between a southerly and south-westerly, making the reach between marks 1 and 2 a good test of spinnaker skills.
Races 2 and 3 followed a similar pattern to one another, and saw Bruce Ward and Alex Harker pick up the strong vein of form that won them the South Cerney Open earlier in the summer and so nearly the world title in Garda. Some close racing between them, Zoe and Lisa, and Emily and Evie had the leading boats changing position regularly. It came down to one moment of tactical race nous where Bruce and Alex squeezed out Zoe and Lisa at a mark, took the race and, once the discard had been applied, the overall Open by a single point. Zoe and Lisa were left wondering what might have been, and Emily and Evie took third overall, showing that you don't need to be a pondie to know where the wind is.
The Regatta fleet found themselves racing alongside main fleet for much of the time which would have been great experience, as well as making the race officers earn their keep. On the subject of which, following a general recall for Regatta fleet in Race 3, they found themselves in the tricky situation of managing a delayed start at the same time as main fleet was coming back up through the line. Queue uncertainty all round, but another opportunity for sailors (and ROs) to practise dealing with the unexpected!
Max Holroyd and Harry Flood, and Alvy Jones and Harriet Walker shared first and second places in races 2 and 3. Jemima Cox-Olliff and Isla McCormick won what must be their first podium position in an open, whilst Joe Flood and Tom Noren-Topham took third in the final race. The final placing in Regatta saw new helms on the podium in their inaugural outings, setting the tone for an exciting new season filled with emerging talent and thrilling competition.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Boat | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| Main Fleet |
|---|
| 1 | 8352 | Bruce Ward | Alex Harker | Mistofolees | SCSC | ‑5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 9020 | Zoe Thomas | Lisa Gass | Whats It Called | RSC | 1 | 2 | ‑3 | 3 |
| 3 | 10129 | Emily Krailing | Evie Winchester | Matador | WSC | ‑4 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | 10121 | Lewis Walker | Issy Stock | Hurricane | WSC | 2 | 5 | DNF (16) | 7 |
| 5 | 10131 | Rosie Hancock | Olly Starr | Albatross | SCSC | 3 | ‑10 | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | 9977 | Holly Jones | Edward Gregory | Blue Magic | FPSC | ‑6 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 7 | 10133 | Oliver Walker | Elsa Stock | Cyclone | WSC | 9 | 3 | DNF (16) | 12 |
| 8 | 7335 | Charlie Jones | Raif Javed | Hypnosis | FPSC | SCP (11.2) | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| 9 | 8513 | Oscar Ward | Alex Starr | Master mariner | SCSC | ‑8 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| 10 | 9877 | Roline Pillemer | Thomas Lucas | No Regrets | WHSC | 10 | 9 | ‑11 | 19 |
| 11 | 9028 | Isabelle Davies | Charlotte Allen | She Who Dares | FPSC | DNC (16) | 11 | 9 | 20 |
| 12 | 8552 | Sophie Baer | Hannah Muir Wood | Impulse | FPSC | 11 | ‑13 | 10 | 21 |
| 13 | 8529 | Maxwell Stanislaus | Jake Davis | Utopia | FPSC | DSQ (16) | 14 | 8 | 22 |
| 14 | 9000 | Jude Baldock | Henry Withers | White Stuff | WSC | 12 | 12 | DNS (16) | 24 |
| 15 | 9005 | Thomas Emile | Hugo MacArthur‑West | Moris Minor | WHSC | DNC (16) | DNC (16) | DNS (16) | 32 |
| Regatta fleet |
|---|
| 1 | 8561 | Max Holroyd | Harry Flood | Bad Influence | FPSC | ‑2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 10094 | Alvey Jones | Harriet Walker | Thunderstruck | FGSC | ‑4 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 9964 | Joe Flood | Tom Noren‑Topham | Major Flood | FPSC | ‑5 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 9631 | Sam Holroyd | Sam Ratcliffe | Hammerhead | FPSC | 3 | ‑5 | 5 | 8 |
| 5 | 8845 | Minnie Palmer | Sam Flood | Hot Rocks | FPSC | 1 | ‑9 | 8 | 9 |
| 6 | 9155 | Patrick Pearce | Victor Lucas | White Lightning | WHSC | 6 | 6 | ‑10 | 12 |
| 7 | 10128 | Jemima Cox-Olliff | Isla McCormick | Hypersonic | WSC | 10 | 3 | ‑11 | 13 |
| 8 | 7669 | Max Jekyll | Sai Patel | Crisis | WHSC | 8 | ‑11 | 6 | 14 |
| 9 | 10006 | Bea Long | Ruby Welch | Zephr | SSC | ‑15 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| 10 | 9294 | Amelie Harris | Pierre Harris | Breezer | WHSC | 7 | ‑12 | 9 | 16 |
| 11 | 8396 | Abigail Davis | Thomas Emile | Amadeus | FPSC | ‑13 | 13 | 4 | 17 |
| 12 | 9357 | Luca Chichester‑Clark | Otto Chichester‑Clark | Troll | WHSC | 9 | 8 | ‑12 | 17 |
| 13 | 7630 | Hansel Holland | Ollie Gass | Pulling Power | WHSC | 11 | 10 | DNC(16) | 21 |
| 14 | 1 | Ethan Vincent | — | FishnShips | WHSC | 12 | ‑14 | 13 | 25 |
| 15 | 8910 | Sebastian Baer | Hugh Muir Wood | Small Fry | FPSC | 14 | DNC(16) | DNC(16) | 30 |
Highest Welsh Harp boat in either fleet: Patrick Pearce and Victor Lucas.
All round it was a wonderful inaugural Open weekend for the Welsh Harp Squadron. Some great training followed by a sleepover at the club, and a sunny day for the races. Amazing and committed support from sailors from five other clubs made it a great success.
A special thank you goes to:
- The Race Team, judges and safety crews for keeping everything running safely and fairly.
- The catering, galley and bar teams who kept everyone fed and watered throughout the weekend.
- Our Saturday coaches, Michael McNamara and Will Shepherd, for giving their time, energy and expertise to help the sailors build confidence and skills ahead of racing.
- All the volunteers who launched boats, helped with registration, managed trolleys, ran the protests, cleared up afterwards and quietly got countless jobs done behind the scenes. It was all the small jobs that people did that made the difference. So, thank you to you.
- The parents who travelled, helped out and created such a welcoming atmosphere across the weekend.
- And the prize givers.
We're also hugely grateful to all the Welsh Harp Sailing Association, particularly Welsh Harp Sailing Club and Wembley Sailing Club for supporting the Cadets and allowing us to bring so many friends to join the Brent Youth Regatta, not to mention donating the wonderful trophies for us to repurpose and award to our young sailors.
We were overwhelmed by the support from visiting Cadets promoting the event and taking part. Your support helped us recognise not just the racing results, but also the effort, sportsmanship and contribution that make the Cadet community so special.