Class 5 and Mini Land Yacht European Championships 2026 at Terschelling, Netherlands - Day 1
by Nick Heather 6 Nov 13:34 GMT
4-7 November 2026
Early start on day 1 - Class 5 and Mini Land Yacht Europeans © Gareth Rowlands
Wind, speed and plenty of sand
Pilots began arriving on Terschelling over the weekend, keen to make the most of a few days of practice ahead of the 2026 Class 5 and Mini Yacht European Championships, which run from 4-7 November.
Situated off the northern coast of the Netherlands, Terschelling offers an excellent venue for land sailing, with its expansive beaches and firm sand providing plenty of room for high-speed racing.
The event is being organised by Terschelling Sailing Club, with support from the St Peter-Ording club in Germany, bringing together competitors from across Europe for four days of championship racing.
Practice gets under way
The early arrivals were greeted by a brisk easterly wind of 20-25 mph on Monday. Recent storms had reshaped the beach, leaving a wide expanse of hard, compacted sand and excellent conditions for practice.
The sailing offered a fairly one-sided beat heading east, followed by a fast board reach back towards Paal 8. It was an ideal opportunity for pilots to try both the 5.5 and 4.5 rigs and assess their set-ups ahead of the championship.
By Tuesday, more competitors had arrived and were keen to get onto the beach. The easterly continued, with winds of 17-22 mph providing another good day's practice. The later tide allowed pilots to explore a developing sandbank as the water receded, although the limited space and changing conditions soon saw most return to the more dependable hard sand of the main beach.
The morning practice was followed by registration and scrutineering, with the scale of the entry becoming clear. The Mini Yacht fleet attracted an impressive 40 pilots representing eight countries, while Class 5 saw 18 entries from three countries.
Championship racing - Day One
Race day one started early, with pilots gathering in the yacht park to prepare their machines for a full day on the beach. The temperature had dropped noticeably, and with winds forecast between 22 and 29 mph, it was going to be a chilly day out on the sand.
Competitors assembled on the beach at 08:30, ready to make the most of the available racing window around the tide.
The race committee established two separate courses to accommodate the fleets. Class 5 headed approximately 6 km west of Paal 8, where they raced a 2 km sausage course, with a beat and run. The Mini Yacht fleet raced to the east of Paal 8, using a 1 km beat along the dune side of the beach before a downwind run back towards the lower waterline on the seaward side.
The strong winds and drifting sand made for some challenging racing. With visibility and space occasionally restricted by the blowing sand, the courses demanded close attention and some tight tacking, particularly when the fleets were working upwind.
Race got away clean with Dave Green getting a good start behind Amaury Martin and holding on to second place
The Mini Yacht fleet covered an impressive 49 km over the course of the day, completing four 15-minute races and a final 10-minute race. Downwind speeds exceeded 65 km/h, with average speeds around the course of approximately 25 km/h - an indication of just how quickly the racing was developing.
With even stronger winds forecast for tomorrow, the opening day has set the scene for what promises to be an exciting European Championship on Terschelling.
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