Seldén Hamble IRC Autumn Championship 2026
by Trevor Pountain 13 Oct 16:41 BST
10-11 October 2026
The Hamble IRC Autumn Championship, sponsored by Seldén UK, took place over the weekend of 10th & 11th of October. As always, the wind dictated events. The Saturday turned out to be quite "fruity" on the Solent, but by Sunday there wasn't a single piece of fruit to be found anywhere.
The committee vessel Pufferfish headed out to the vicinity of 4Q, John Fisher, on Saturday morning. It was joined by some thirty competitors eager to win the final IRC Championship of the season. PRO, Peter Bateson, determined to give the fleet some windward/leeward races first and then finish off with a round the cans challenge. For the W/L races the windward marks were set at 1.25 nm and 1.0 nm, with IRC 1 doing two laps of the longer leg, IRC 2 doing one longer and one shorter leg and IRC 3 completing two short legs. It's complicated stuff this race management! The course axis varied from 270 to 280 degrees.
IRC 1 were so excited on the first start that they all charged over the line for a General Recall. They got away cleanly on the second attempt. Olivier De Graaf's Baraka GP shot round the course finishing some seven and a half minutes ahead on the water from Frequent Flyer, the J111 of Ella Wollman, though the difference was down to about 40 seconds on corrected time. The First 50 of Nigel Biggs, Checkmate XX, was just 39 seconds back on corrected time in third.
In race two, Baraka GP whizzed round again, saving their time by a minute and a half from another J111, Paul Griffiths, Jaegerbomb. Ian and Imogen Watkins FAREAST 28R, Mako came third.
With the wind increasing to 22 knots and a big Spring ebb running in the Solent, Olivier De Graaf decided to take Baraka GP off the racecourse for Race 3. This allowed Checkmate XX to win from Pegasus, Malcolm Wooton's GP 42. Pegasus had experienced one or two interesting moments in the conditions, with one observer suggesting they will still be drying their kite! Once again, a J111 ended up on the podium. This time Louise Makin and Chris Jones's, Journeymaker 11.
IRC 2, had a clean start in Race 1, though the increasing wind speed, at the warning, had Hot Rats, First 35, Robbie and Lis Robinson, doing a rapid change to the J3. Elaine Again, the JPK 1010 of Ed Mockridge who is the current IRC National Champion, took 1st place from John Smart's J109, Jukebox. Mzungu!, Tony White's JPK 1080, kept Hot Rats off the podium. Elaine Again did it again in Race 2, though this time IRC 2 had a General Recall. Further West, the J99 of Alain Waha, came second with Jukebox filling the third spot. By Race 3, five of the teams in IRC 2 had decided the conditions were not for them. This left Further West to take the win from Juke Box and Elaine Again.
IRC 3, started as a bit of a Quarter ton-fest, with Protis, Team Hamble; Pacifist, Duncan Peace and Cartoon, Gavin Doyle, all out to play. All three boats appeared on the podium in the first two races, but by Race 3 only Protis was left. The disruption in IRC 3 began when Quokka 9, James Crew, broke its goose neck before the first start. Protis, won all three races. In Race 1, Pacifist was second and Dark Horse, Mustang 31, Rob Macgregor, was third. Cartoon came second in Race 2 with Pacifist third. In the final race of the day, Protis completed the clean sweep with Dark Horse second and the Corby 25, Liquidity Risk 11 of Georgie Bruce Jones third.
It was good to see Red Fox out again in the Hamble Winter Series. This RF 290 had first campaigned in the series in 1990, sailed by Hedley Bewes its builder. Now back under the control of Olly Bewes, son of Hedley, this very smart looking red machine managed two races in IRC 3.
On Sunday morning the Race Team reluctantly cancelled at 0800. All the forecasts showed no sign of wind until 1600. Vernon Bradley took his J99, Blackjack, out anyway and sent back a video of Blackjack under spinnaker at 09.54. At 10.27 however he posted "But U right. 10.30 and the wind evaporates." They continued to Cowes for a beer.
At the prize-giving, Seldén UK provided some very good vouchers for the podium finishers as well as a good discount for all competitors. The final results were IRC 1, Checkmate XX, Baraka GP and Frequent Flyer. IRC 2, Further West, Elaine Again and Jukebox and in IRC 3, Protis, Dark Horse and Liquidity Risk 11.
Protis, Team Hamble, won the overall prize and were presented with the Hamble Star Challenge Cup. This was given to HRSC by the Household Brigade Yacht Club in 1934 and his now presented in memory of Jane Windsor.
Finally, Fiona Nee, of Elaine Again, won the One Sails GBR Next Generation award for young sailors.
Full results: www.hamblewinterseries.com