British Keelboat League Finals at the Royal Thames Yacht Club
by Jack Fenwick 25 Sep 06:27 NZST
British Keelboat League Finals at Royal Thames YC © Freddie Cardew-Smith / RTYC
Three days of racing in the Solent saw clubs from around the UK Battle for their Burgee in the British Keelboat League Finals hosted by the Royal Thames Yacht Club.
Friday afternoon saw racing get under way in a light Easterly wind which was the perfect conditions for the sailors to get back up to speed as quickly as possible. Race 1 saw Burnham Sailing Club laying down a marker with a convincing win in race one ahead of Royal Hospital School in Second and Lymington Town Sailing Club in third. Race two saw Royal Hospital School take their first win of the event but this time Solent University B squeezed in to second place ahead of Lymington Town Sailing Club.
As the afternoon continued the racing got tighter and tighter with boats rounding nose to tail, and sometimes closer, at each mark rounding. As predicted by race officer Phil Hagen, the breeze disappeared half way through a race as the forecast Westerly wind made it's way down the Solent. The new breeze was just a bit stronger than the earlier wind and saw boat handling put to the test.
After eight races, the first afternoon of racing drew to a close and the teams headed ashore. Consistency is the name of the game in the BKL and Burnham SC were beginning to show their intent with two firsts and two seconds, RHS had a first and three seconds and a fourth and LTSC a first and two thirds, all other teams had at least one result in the bottom half.
Once ashore, the teams had just enough time to run home and clean up before a club supper at the Royal Thames Shoreside base at the Royal London Yacht Club. The new chef showing his skills with a lasagne that most teams were raving about the next day. The club was buzzing with banter and tales of races that could have been but it wasn't long before (most of) the sailors were headed to bed to prep for a long day on the water the next day.
Saturday was going to be a day of two halves. Light/medium winds in the morning would die and then build rapidly in the afternoon and that is exactly how the day played out. The strong cross tide in Osborne Bay meant getting off the start line cleanly was of paramount importance. After a slow start on Day one, the Royal Thames Academy team had taken on board the lessons to be learned at posted all of their results in the top three.
Burnham SC continued their march to the top with only one result not in the top two and even that was only fourth. West Hoe Sailing Club posted some impressive results in the top three but small mistakes in other races cost them dearly. Lymington Town had a couple of races in the bottom half that saw them slip down to fourth by the end of the day but still well within striking distance of the podium. Royal Hospital School sailed almost as consistently as BSC with just one race out of the top four and an impressive three wins and three second places.
The rapidly building wind saw some very impressive broaching in the final race of the day and as racing concluded on the Saturday, Burnham's lead was growing in first place, RHS in second had the narrowest of leads over the Royal Thames who were just ahead of Lymington Town.
Cold beers on the dock greeted the teams on their arrival at Shepards Marina as once again war stories were traded between sailors and umpires alike.
Sunday would see the wind move round to the North, a generally shifty breeze in the Solent. Light winds, strong tide and big shifts meant there were bug gains and losses to be made on the race track. Even the mighty Burnham SC were not immune to the shifts, now counting a seventh in their Score line but by the end of the day they had won an impressive 11 of 21 races over the weekend. Royal Hospital School made a valiant charge for the top spot with 11 results in the top two but just couldn't quite catch Burnham.
A slightly eager start in Race 29 saw the Royal Thames chances of a podium spot slip away counting an OCS in their score sheet allowed Lymington Town SC to jump in to third place by less than a point. Royal Hospital Schools continued consistency gave them a comfortable second place around five points clear of LTSC.
A packed prize-giving at the Thames Shoreside saw the competitors showing the gratitude for the army of volunteers who made the event happen before cheering on Lymington Town SC in third, Royal Hospital School in second and Burnham Sailing Club in First Place.
Speaking after the prize-giving, winning helm, Flynn Davies said "It's been a super fun event, super close racing. Great to get through such a schedule of races over the three days. Prett fortunate with the conditions with it being pretty breezy by the end of yesterday and really fun shifty snakes and ladders racing that has kept us on our toes.
"We managed to bang in some ones and twos to anchor our score which was useful as we had a more turbulent day today, a few times having to return from OCS. It's been great having the Royal Hospital School pushing us hard, they've improved a lot since last year and it was great to finish the last race beside them on the final run.
"I did my first BKL qualifier in 2021 and it's good to keep coming back and improve each time and come away with the win this year having come so close last year. Great to qualify straight through to the final of the Sailing Champions League, we raced in Kiel this year and the racing is at such a high level."
The British Keelboat League 2026 gets under way on the 25th & 26th October so get signed up now for your chance to take the title next year as the BKL will celebrate it's tenth anniversary.
To find out more about the British Keelboat league and sign up for events in 2026, visit www.britishkeelboatleague.co.uk and you too could #RockUpAndRace