Illuminis RS Vareo Inland Championship 2026 at Milton Keynes Sailing Club

Illuminis RS Vareo Inland Championship 2026 at Milton Keynes © Mark Tuffnell

The RS Vareo Inland Championships for 2026 saw a return to Milton Keynes Sailing Club with sponsorship again from Illuminis Insight Software. This was also the final event of the Rooster National Tour for the class.

The three locals were joined by 14 travellers from North, South, East and West, looking forward to a training day on the Friday, then 7 races over the weekend. With very light winds forecast on Saturday and something rather stronger on Sunday, it looked like a typical weekend at MK with a little of something for everyone. The top of the Rooster National Tour was finely balanced, and mathematically there were 4 sailors potentially fighting for the top spot.

Friday's training saw 7 boats enjoy the coaching from Colin Dengate, with a steadily increasing wind, giving lots of chances to practice starting and mark rounding.

As predicted, Saturday brought beautiful weather but very challenging winds. Race Office Mark Warren set a course around 10.30 and watched as the wind veered about 90 degrees back and forth from NW to SW, not the best of directions for a Windward Leeward on our fairly narrow lake.

But this was the "Inlands", so sailing in shifty conditions is what it's all about! So with no tides to worry about, we took to the water prepared to deal with what came along (or not).

As the countdown to the start of race 1 disappeared, so did the wind at one end of the line, leaving half the fleet stranded as the rest made a sedate pace towards the windward mark. Local sailor Andy Curtis found a great channel and led for 4 laps with Chris Abbott and Howard Astley-Jones close behind, but it was Luke Fisher who gradually hauled them in to take the bullet from Howard, then Andy. Most of us really struggled to keep the boat moving, especially around the windward mark, and 10 of us were lapped at least once by the top 7!

In race 2 it was the other local, John Carron, who got away well, leading after lap 1, but Howard was finding his light wind form, coming through to take the win from Andy, with Owen Bolding clawing his way through from the middle of the fleet to take 3rd.

We returned to the shore for a well-needed stretch of the legs, and everything else. The Illuminis shore team of Moira, Lu and Marian served up a great lunch, and we turned to the waste for 2 more races.

Race 3 saw a great start from Chris, but the duelling Luke and Howard soon got past in a race where the 3 of them were in a class of their own, lapping the rest of the fleet (including me on only the second lap; I thought that was just rude!). Luke first, then Howard and Chris.

In the final race, Stuart Bailey showed us how it was done for a couple of laps before, inevitably, Howard got past, closely followed by Chris taking second.

After putting the boats to bed, the fleet enjoyed a very sociable evening in the clubhouse with a fish and chip supper. With a strong forecast for Sunday, we retired pretty early, looking forward to a very different kind of day.

Illuminis RS Vareo Inland Championship 2026 at Milton Keynes - photo © Mark Tuffnell

And so it was! Sunday brought the best conditions for asymmetric sailing at MKSC. A southerly wind, straight down the full length of the lake, blowing well, but with some really wicked gusts. Race Officer Bob Roberts set the biggest course possible, and we lined up for the first race, Race 5.

Luke showed how it was done; he excels in these conditions, leading from start to finish, with John, Howard, Stuart and Chris having a great battle behind, swapping 2nd to 5th. At the line after 6 thrilling laps, John took 2nd from Stuart in 3rd. Further down the fleet, there were capsizes aplenty as some of the gusts were very strong and caught the sailors completely unawares.

In Race 6, it was Owen who had the flyer, leading at the end of lap 1, but once Luke passed in lap 2, it was Luke, Owen, Chris for the rest of the race. After a fabulous, thrilling ride down the lake with my kite up, at the final Leeward mark the rivet holding my mainsheet block to the end of the boom let go! I just about managed to fight upwind using the gybing strop to finish, but my day was done.

In the final race, with only 12 of the fleet still on the water, it was Chris in front of Luke for the first lap. Once past, Luke never looked like being caught, although Howard gave it a good go, fighting up from 7th to take 2nd, followed by Chris in 3rd

After packing the boats and another great lunch, we were delighted to welcome Lucy Davies, Head of Development at the MK Camphill Community, to tell us about the great work they do. To date, the donations received from this event have reached a little over £500, so a massive thank you to everyone for their generosity. The Mayor of Milton Keynes, Councillor Paul Trendle, arrived in time to watch the last race and presented prizes to all of the competitors.

Huge thanks to Illuminis and Rooster for their continued support and sponsorship.

Luke Fisher, overall winer - Illuminis RS Vareo Inland Championship 2026 at Milton Keynes - photo © Mark Tuffnell

Inland Championship Winners:

1st Luke Fisher - Emberton Park SC
2nd Howard Astley-Jones - Rollesby Broad SC
3rd Chris Abbott - The Nottingham SC
1st Silver Fleet - David Hill - Swarkstone SC
2nd Silver Fleet - Paul North - Milton Keynes SC
1st Lady - Serena Stewardson - Emberton Park SC
Junior - Tim Garrett - Haversham SC
Rooster Endeavour Prize - Andy Nicoll - Oxford SC

Rooster National Tour winners at the series finale - Illuminis RS Vareo Inland Championship 2026 at Milton Keynes - photo © Mark Tuffnell

Rooster National Tour Results: