International Canoe Europa Cup and British National Championships 2025 at Brixham Yacht Club

The Canoe fleet gathered under the aroma of fresh fish n chips in the dinghy compound under the cliffs at Brixham Yacht Club to sail for the Europa Cup. The cup itself is a fine Dutch glass drinking vessel that was presented to the class in 1986 by brewery Heineken.

Day 1 started in a light Westerly breeze with the boats beating towards the Goodrington shore. Typical Torbay conditions saw those who hit the left hard come out on top and after two races there was nothing between Castle Cove Sailors Mike Fenwick and Sam Barker each with a 1, 2 scoreline to lead Alistair Warren who had a slow start with a fifth in the first race followed up with a third in race 2.

Day 2 and a slightly stronger Westerly wind saw a regular championship race before the long distance race for sailing's second oldest trophy; The Sailing Challenge Cup. With the wind strength significantly increasing it would make for a challenging lap of the bay with the final leg giving that perfect fast reach all the way from Paignton Pier to the finish line of the entrance of Brixham Harbour.

Race 8 start - International Canoe Europa Cup and British National Championships at Brixham - photo © Stuart Fisher

The final leg giving 2.5 miles of high adrenaline fast sailing most sailors' grins were equally long back in the bar. Sam Barker would take the win But was being chased hard by Alistair Warren who had what is reported to be the most epic trip down the mine seen in recent canoe sailing, Well done Alistair its straight tens from the judges here. The last boat home was Alistair's son, Henry Warren just in his second season of Canoe sailing, showing great determination to bring the boat home.

Day 3: forecast says no. With no sign of wind coming the initial postponement was quickly turned into a full day cancellation at 13:00. The class AGM was held in the evening with several sailors seen quickly adding various GPS devices from Sailmon and Vakaros to their baskets showing perhaps how the proposed future rule changes may go. After the AGM a magnificent three course meal was provided by Brixham Yacht Club, a perfect end to a day of lounging around.

Waiting for the wind - International Canoe Europa Cup and British National Championships at Brixham - photo © Chris Hampe

Day 4. With overnight wind scheduled to die away racing was brought forward for a planned 10AM start. Unfortunately the fleet had missed the best of the breeze and the wind would play a game of "Guess where I'm coming from next". Sam Barker would take the first race, But it was a great first beat from James Hofman in the only Asymmetric Canoe that would dominate the second race finishing a clear minute ahead of the rest of the field.

For the rest of the field the results would be a bit mixed. Fredrick Steimann, Dan Skinner, Alisdair Alston, and Philip Robin would all take at least one podium position to improve their scores. Mike Fenwick would be one of the day's victims, His scoreline of 5, 7 would let Sam Barker have one hand on the championship with a day to go.

Day 5 started with a flat calm day, But with the clearest weather and hottest sunshine of the week the forecast promised a building sea breeze. After a short delay race 7 was started at 11:45 with Sam Barker first to get onto port tack heading very quickly towards the Brixham breakwater. As Sam's dominance continued so did the building sea breeze and sunshine resulting in one of the finest days of Canoe sailing.

International Canoe Europa Cup and British National Championships at Brixham - photo © Chris Hampe

The excellent race management from Brixham Yacht Club expanded the course for the second race, proving far more successful than my own attempts at a port tack start for the final race which would see Mike Fenwick OCS. After leading the first rounds Sam Barker's main halyard failed, But he fixed it in the water to recover to eighth place. This would leave Dan Skinner to win the final race ahead of Alastair Warren and Clive Everest.

Many thanks to Brixham Yacht Club for holding a great championship.

Sam Barker wins overall - International Canoe Europa Cup and British National Championships at Brixham - photo © Chris Hampe

Overall Results:
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The winning boat - International Canoe Europa Cup and British National Championships at Brixham - photo © Chris Hampe