2025-26 Flying 11 Nationals at Belmont 16ft Sailing Club - Overall

The 2025/26 Flying Eleven National Championships have come to an end in Belmont Bay, Lake Macquarie. 42 competitors were dished up a variety of conditions from light to moderate Easterly winds with sunshine, through to blustery 18-25 knot Southerlies with passing showers.

The variety of conditions played out in the results with 5 different race winners over the 10 race series. Race Officer, Steve Iles, did a fantastic job in setting great courses, which were all just a short sail from the host club, Belmont 16ft SC. The Belmont 16s put on a great show, with an army of dedicated volunteers who made the regatta run like clock work.

1412 Aura, Tayla Lees and Chloe Jansen during the 2025-26 Flying 11 Nationals - photo © Beau Outteridge

It was tight at the top of the leaderboard going into the last day of racing, with Manly 16s pairing of Lachlan Jansen and Baden Thomas on Cookie Monster 1413, holding top position from Manly team mates Harrison Thomas and Tommy Wilson on Don't Worry 1384. Tayla Lees and Chloe Jansen on Aura 1412 were in striking distance, sitting in 3rd place, and also holding top honours for the All-Female category.

Race 9 kicked off in a 8-10kt SE'ly and the fleet was eager to get going with a couple of boats over early and subject to individual recalls. Don't Worry 1384 continued their great form, getting an early jump on the fleet and taking a commanding win. The team on Aura 1412 held 2nd until close to the finish, where are significant wind shift caused a capsize. The team on Mojo 1389, Nic Drummond and Spencer Beeby, capitalized on Aura's bad luck and claimed 2nd, relegating Aura to 3rd place. Regatta leaders, 1413 Cookie Monster, found themselves back in 7th place with coaches and parents checking the regatta results to see if the championship was in jeopardy.

1384 Don't Worry, Harrison Thomas and Tommy Wilson during the 2025-26 Flying 11 Nationals - photo © Beau Outteridge

The Race Committee wasted no time and rolled quickly into Race 10. Levi and Noah Windust on Esra Tew 1416 cleared out to a commanding lead and were never threatened to win the final race of the series. Belmont pairing of Drummond and Beeby took 2nd place, whilst 3rd was claimed by Ghostrider 1411, sailed by Elliott Fisher and Samuel Yager. The regatta leaders found themselves down in the fleet, but Cookie Monster 1413 had done enough to secure the regatta victory. Skipper Lachlan Jansen and crew Baden Thomas had a fantastic regatta and were always in the hunt, showing that consistency is the key to success. Lachlan and Baden have been sailing together for 6 years, coming through Manly Juniors together, and this was their first National Title.

In the handicap honours, Belmont pairing of Bryce Towndrow and Toby Shute on Firefly 1379 took the regatta win from teammates Rupert Hickey and Will Stone on Nomad 1399. Rounding out the top 3 with a great performance were Hornsby Ku-ring-gai SC pairing of Liubomyr Prudnikov-Krochuk and Aiden Ward on Oscar 1263.

2025-26 Flying 11 Nationals - photo © Beau Outteridge

The all-important Teams Trophy was retained by the Manly 16s, with Manly boats filling the top 4 places and creating more hunger from arch rivals, Belmont, to make up ground before the next Nationals.

Special thanks to RO's Steve and Catherine Iles, protest committee chair, John Allan, and the staff and volunteers of the Belmont 16ft SC for all their work putting the regatta together. The Flying 11 Association would like to thank it sponsors, Allen Brothers, RedPumps, Liros, CST, MC Sails and Sailracing for the great prizes and fantastic support of the class. We couldn't run successful regattas without your help.

Overall Results: (full category results can be found here)