Butterfield Jersey Regatta 2026
by Bill Harris 15 Sep 13:44 BST
3-6 September 2026
Class 1 - Jai Ho and Jax - during Butterfield Jersey Regatta 2026 © Simon Ropert
The 28th edition of the combined clubs' Jersey Regatta, the first to be run under the Butterfield banner, was held from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th September with sixty-five boats racing in this stunning flagship event.
Unlike last year, when strong winds forced the first ever rescheduling of the Regatta, conditions were varied with west-south-west force four to five winds and moderate seas providing exciting racing on Friday giving way to north-westerly light on Saturday with a one eighty degree shift to south-easterly light on Sunday with blazing sunshine and slight to calm seas.
Proceedings opened under an overcast sky on Friday morning with the cruiser classes setting off on a race from St Aubin's Bay for a distance race to the Canger Rock buoy lying to the southeast of the Island. This proved to be a reaching race for the faster boats with the back markers having to put in a tack to get past the Demie de Pas lighthouse on their way to the finish line off St Aubin's Fort. Just a little over two minutes separated the IRC Class 1 winner, David Jones' and Geoff Blackstone's X332, JAX, from Neil Maclachlan's and Alex Ohlsson's J109, Jai Ho, and third placed Rhys Perkins' and Bob De la Haye's A35, Abracadabra. Ben Rogers' Contessa 32, Solan Goose, took the honours in YTC Class 3 just pipping Peter Crabb and Peter Williams' Dufour 34, Indigo, across the line. Steve Pearl's Sadler 34BK, Almecha, was third.
Friday afternoon featured sunshine and racing in the sport catamaran, dayboat and dinghy classes with two back-to-back races each. This is a stand-alone day with its own prizes and trophies. The dayboat fleet was first away in breezy conditions followed by the Hobie 16 sport catamaran and dinghy classes. Will Carnegie, sailing his Drascombe Lugger, Soda, took both races with Malcolm Annan's Oysterman, Jamesina, second and Ben Jones' Cornish Coble, Baloo, third overall. Both races in the Hobie 16 fleet went to Luke Paxton-Garnier and Steph Egan's Time2 Spare with Tom Newman and Russell Walton's Tom Cat second and Ollie Voak and Amy Lutz third. With one bullet each, the first fast dinghy result saw Morgan Surcouf take the honours jus pipping Charlie Hewgill on countback, both sailing Laser Standards, ILCA 7s. Similarly in the slow dinghy class, sailing Optimists and with one win each, Izzy Ohlsson beat Jack Hewgill on countback. George Edwards was third.
The overall Regatta and IRC Championship results were based on three races on Saturday and two on Sunday for the cruiser classes and three races each day for each of the dayboat, sport catamaran and dinghy classes with a single discard allowed when all races were completed. Saturday's conditions proved to be calmer and sunnier with a constant light north-westerly breeze that lasted throughout the day to enable all races to be completed in spectacular fashion. Whilst conditions started well on Sunday, despite an early dousing by a passing shower, the reversed light winds proved to be somewhat fickle, backing occasionally and going through one eighty degrees before dropping away as the day wore on. Whilst the cruisers completed their programme in light airs the same could not be said for the final races for the dayboat and dinghy classes that suffered abandonment and shortened courses to close the programme in the early afternoon.
For the overall results, with three wins in Class 1, JAX took a hard fought 'best boat in class' title and the GBR IRC Channel Islands Class 1 Championship with five points. Jai Ho, always in contention, was second with seven and Abracadabra third on eleven. The lone sportsboat, The Dog's........!, Allen Brown & partners' Melges 24, raced with Class 1 to achieve an overall result that put her one point short of JAX.
The Quarter Ton programme got under way on Saturday with four Farr 727's coming to the line. Winning four out of five races it was Genie, helmed by Louise Morton, that won the Class 2Q GBR IRC Channel Islands Championship and the Island Ark Trophy with four points ahead of Fahrenheit, skippered by Justin Horton, just three points off. Super Q, helmed by Jason Manning, was third with eleven.
Solan Goose, too, continued Friday's winning streak by taking three of the five races in Class 3 with five points while Don Thompson's Foxhound 30, Foxhound, secured a win on Saturday as did Almecha. This put Foxhound second overall with twelve points and Almecha third, just one point behind.
Jamesina clinched the 'best in class title' in the dayboat class ahead of Baloo, with three wins on Saturday giving her seven points to Baloo's two wins on Sunday to finish with nine points. Soda was third, overall. Sadly, although the final race on Sunday had started, calm conditions set in and all three boats retired.
Due to the light conditions the F18 sport catamarans opted not to race on Saturday with one race being carried over to Sunday. Adrian Jesson and Paul Martin's Wildcat, Hobie 618, carried the day with six points against Andy Hart and Michael Kinross' Wildcat, Hobie 517, with ten. Graeme Monks and Julian Adamson's Hobie Tiger 1268 was third with fifteen points.
The Hobie 16 fleet competed in two races on Saturday with one carried over to Sunday. Whilst i-CAT, (Kai Surcouf and Liv Forbes), Ships &Giggles (Ollie Voak and Megan Roworth) and Da Cat (Luke Paxton-Garnier and Steph Egan) shared line honours throughout the six race series, Kai Surcouf and Liv Forbes with 9 points sailed consistently well to take the 'best-in-class' title well ahead of Tom Newman and Lucca Gentilli sailing Tom Cat on seventeen. Aaron Le Cornu and Rachael Smith were third with Top Kat with twenty-one.
Also with one race carried over to Sunday, Lottie Ohlsson and Capucine Bacquet sailed brilliantly to win all but one of their six races to repeat their 2025 victory in the Hobie Dragoon class with five points. Ava Martin and Ava Capstick were second on ten with Cameron Castle and Rafael Le Marquand third with fourteen.
With one of the fast dinghy class races abandoned on Sunday, it was Martin Speller and his ILCA 7 that won overall with four wins out of the remaining five races to finish on six points. Also sailing ILCA 7s, Morgan Surcouf, with one win and thirteen points and Charlie Hewgill with twenty-one were second and third, overall.
Following her victory on Friday, Izzy Ohlsson went on to win all five races in the slow dinghy class, her outstanding overall performance winning her the Carey Olsen Youth Trophy for the second year running. Jack Hewgill with three second places was second on thirteen points and George Edwards third with sixteen.
This was, as ever, a great social event for the racing community too with a lively social programme hosted by the clubs running throughout the four days. The packed noisy presence of sailors and volunteers in St Helier Yacht Club on Sunday evening reflected the event's overall success. Commodore Bruce Harrison opened proceedings by thanking Butterfield for their sponsorship, North Sails for supporting the IRC Channel Islands Championship and all who had contributed, afloat and ashore, to making the Regatta such a success. Mike Crute, representing Butterfield, congratulated the competitors and the organisers before presenting the multitude of trophies and prizes. He confirmed, to great applause, that Butterfield will be sponsoring the twenty-ninth edition next September. Regatta Chairman Bill Harris closed proceedings by thanking Mike Crute for officiating and adding his congratulations to the many worthy winners.
Full results can be found at www.jerseyregatta.com