Sandhopper National Championships 2026
Published 10:02 on 19 Jun 2026
The Sandhopper Nationals were held at Maylandsea Bay Sailing Club on 12th and 13th September 2026.
12 crews from 3 sailing clubs assembled at Maylandsea Bay Sailing Club on the River
Blackwater for the 2026 Sandhopper Nationals, with the prospect of close racing in this lively
and increasingly popular keelboat.
The forecast promised decent winds on both days, with slightly stronger and more consistent
breeze on Saturday but the prospect of squalls rolling in on Sunday.
2 races were scheduled for each day with one discard if all 4 races were held.
Visiting boats from Thorpe Bay YC trailered round and joined 8 from Maylandsea SC and
neighbouring Harlow (Blackwater) SC to make a fleet of twelve keen crews looking forward
to the challenges of the Blackwaters tides, mud banks, saltings and wind shifts, and that
was just to get out to the start line.
Midday starts on both days allowed participants the opportunity to enjoy the sustenance from
the galleys menu before getting out to the moorings as soon as the tide allowed. Efficient
race management would be key to ensuring good length courses could be completed each
day. The Association was therefore fortunate to have secured the services of Phil Aspinall,
Race Officer, assisted by Barbara Wright, to run the races.
Saturdays south westerly breeze arrived as forecast and enabled the RO to set a decent
first beat in Lawling Creek before sending the fleet on a long run out to the main estuary
where a close reach with the tide was followed by a couple of short Windward/Leeward legs.
Close positioning at the favoured committee boat end saw Wild Gull and Wight Sand OCS,
the latter turning back immediately, the former not so, and at the windward mark Sandspirit
led with a swiftly recovering Wight Sand in second as the fleet ran out down river to
Steeple, hugging the south shore. Whisper was well up with the leaders, Wild Gull taking
up the rear. Wight Sand closed in on Sandspirit as they approached Steeple, Wight Sand
gybing early before hardening up for the close reach to Doctor, thereby sailing over
Sandspirit, both trying to hold the kites on a very close reach. The following fleet had the
benefit of watching all this, dropping spinnakers, with Whisper rounding in front of Wild
Gull and Aeolus, going well in the hands of mother and daughter team of Clara and Pippa
Mintern from Thorpe Bay. Blue Jacket was also making up ground through the fleet. Wight
Sand pulled away to take the first race, with Sandspirit second and Wild Gull third.
Race 2 featured Windward/Leeward legs in the creek, starting at the top of the tide and
setting challenging choices for which way to go, trying to maintain clear air and stay out of
the ebbing tide on the beats. This time, Wild Gull got away cleanly, subsequently staying on
the north shore on the beats, and in front. Behind, an intense battle developed between
Wight Sand, Blue Jacket and Sandspirit, with Blue Jacket holding them off which forced
Wight Sand to choose the south shore in an attempt to break through. Meanwhile local
boats Undine and Jimpy were making good progress as was Aeolus. In the end, Wight
Sand came back across to meet Blue Jacket just in the last few hundred metres before the lineand took second place behind Wild Gull, with Sand Spirit very much in contact in fourth.
Saturday evenings dinner, games, banter and more games was punctuated by the formal
business of pairing the teams for the overall teams prizes,
A lighter westerly breeze welcomed the fleet on Sunday, with more wind forecast. Race 3
start, well down Lawling Creek towards Steeple, was a messy affair, with Blue Jacket OCS
and Wild Gull doing turns after an infringement with Wight Sand. Whisper led up the beat
with Sand Spirit, Cracker showing good speed and Wight Sand giving chase. Blue
Jacket was recovering well, but it was Wight Sand, sailing very fast downwind, that took the
win from Sandspirit, with Blue Jacket an excellent third, given the two attempts to clear the
start line!
Wight Sand had therefore secured the title with one race to go, but the runners-up spot was
a three way battle. Race 4 featured Windward/Leeward legs before another beat up to a
short sausage before the committee boat finish by the clubhouse. Sandspirit and Wild
Gull led the fleet away, before Wild Gull pulled ahead of the pursuing pack with Blue
Jacket and Wight Sand to the fore. The tide was now ebbing, and once more Wild Gull
chose the north shore for the rest of the beat but the pursuing bunch stayed south, and that
paid off for them, with Wight Sand leading Blue Jacket up towards the club house. The
breeze died away for the final short sausage and in the strengthening tide the fleet spread
out. Jimpy was having its best race of the weekend, closing in on third placed Wild Gull at
the finish, and Aeolus had another strong showing. Unfortunately, the extremely high tide
lured a couple of visitors onto the saltings as they tried to avoid the ebb flow on the beats,
resulting in retirements.
So with three wins, our new Sandhopper National Champions 2026 are Paul Gray and Julia
Batchelor sailing S28 Wight Sand. Many congratulations to them - we believe they are the
first Sandhopper National Champions from MBSC in the history of the class.
Despite Wight Sands dominance, it was an incredibly close fleet; just one point separated
2nd to 4th, and 5th,6th,7th were on equal points.
Emerging as the top team in the pairings were Sandspirit and Cracker
It was great to see sailors of all ages taking part, and more than half the fleet had mixed
crews, with a special mention to Pippa and Clara sailing in a borrowed boat and on
unfamiliar waters yet featuring strongly in the top half of the fleet.
Commodore Paula Hobbs presented trophies and prizes and thank you gifts at a very
sociable gathering in the club house bar as the participants chatted enthusiastically about
the challenges of the Blackwater and the lessons learnt, looking forward to coming back in a
couple of years time.
Additional photos can be found in the Gallery.
Last updated 14:21 on 18 September 2026