Brian Hilton - Ineos Grenadier Etchells NSW Championship at Gosford Sailing Club - Day 1
by Di Pearson / Gosford Sailing Club media 6 Feb 20:02 AEDT
6-8 February 2026
Matilda and Racer CC going head to head © Hippodrone
The Brian Hilton - Ineos Grenadier 2026 International Etchells NSW Championship opened at Gosford Sailing Club (GSC) on windward/leeward courses today and, as expected, some of the biggest names in the class and sailing, are in attendance, with Mark Thornburrow's (HKG) Racer CC team at the top of the leaderboard after two races were sailed and the third postponed due to a thunderstorm and the breeze dying out.
Racer CC placed second in the opening race and then claimed Race 2,with 2008 and 2012 Olympic 470 gold medallist and now CEO of Australian Sailing, Malcolm Page, on his crew with Julian Plante and Mike Huang. The Hong Kong skipper's crew remains unchanged from that which placed second at the 2024-25 Australian Championship.
"We had two good starts," a happy Thornburrow said. "Off the line in the first race we went left and had Magpie and Flying High with us. Magpie tacked off and gave us breathing room," meaning they rounded the top mark in fifth place, then were third at the next top. "Then we rolled Polly (Peter McNeill, Lucy) to finish second.
In the second race, Page chipped in, "We got an even better start, David Dunn (Great White Hunter) gave us a hard time for a while and we had the Geelong boat (Matilda, helmed by Thomas Kelly) above us and we had to wiggle our up and went round the top mark abreast of the Geelong boat. Then we veered left at the gate and led the rest of the race.
Thornburrow said of their early lead, "To be honest, we're very surprised to be in front. We haven't sailed together since 2025 Worlds except for an outing in the 16ft skiff last weekend," and has nominated Magpie as the boat to beat.
Second on the leaderboard after scoring 5-4 results is Magpie, with two of the three reigning Australian and world champions, Ben Lamb and James Mayo aboard. Their coach, Richard Clarke from Canada, is helming - and for good reason.
Clarke explained tongue in cheek to much laughter from the crew: "We met on a dating app trying to find coaches."
The reality is, Clarke was Magpie's coach at the Worlds in Melbourne "The team decided to make a run at a third Worlds title in San Diego in May this year, but GT (Graeme Taylor, Magpie's usual skipper) can't make the Worlds because his wife is having a baby."
So the team decided to bring Clarke in as skipper, "And the plan is I will also skipper at the Worlds in May."
Clarke has never sailed at Gosford before, and it is a tricky body of water to sail on even for the initiated.
Lamb conceded: "It was really tricky day, really shifty, classic Gosford. We had a couple of not so good starts, but had good catch ups in both races."
The opener produced an 8-11 knot east/south-east trying to fight a nor-east, but with plenty of holes to throw competitors off.
"It was hard trying to find right way to go - it was like sailing on a small American lake surrounded by hills," admitted Clarke, who is still coming to grips with the term 'skipper'. "I just drive the boat; there is no hierarchy on our boat - we're sailing it as a team.
Race 2, Lamb said, was just as tricky "and then a southerly came in and a thunderstorm came through. Lucky they canned the third race, as we didn't have our wet weather gear!"
On their competition, team Magpie agreed both Mark Thornburrow and JC (Jeanne-Claude Strong) are going to be very hard to beat.
Despite missing GT, Team Magpie, awarded Team of the Year at the Australian Sailing Awards, is being eyed by all competitors. Crew member, James Mayo had enjoyed a bumper year, named Male Sailor of the Year at the same Awards and went on to co-skipper Master Lock Comanche to line honours in the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart. His Etchells skipper, GT, was in the afterguard.
Flying High (Jeanne-Claude Strong/Sam Newton/Seve Jarvin) won the opening race from Racer CC and Lucy (Peter McNeill/Andrew Smith/Simon Reffold).
Strong remains a resilient force in the class, placing third at the 2025 Etchells Worlds. She also won the 2015 Etchells Australasian Championship, the 2016 Queensland Championship and the 2017 Victorian Championship. Her crew, Jarvin and Newton, respectively won a record 10 and eight 18 foot skiff JJ Giltinan Skiff Championship.
Racer CC won Race 2 from Tango (Chris Hampton/Charlie Cumbley/Sam Haines, Vic) and Matilda (Thomas Kelly/Blake Robertson/Jake Newman, Vic).
The Oyster Cup, a team's race sponsored by Marsh Advantage Insurance and incorporated into the event has the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron team of Magpie, Itchy (Michael Stovin-Bradford/Andrew Gordon/Stephen Ingate and Surprise (Matthew Fisk/Brett Sims/Ryan Fisk in the lead.
Competitors have come to Gosford on the NSW Central Coast from as far afield as Hong Kong, Queensland and Victoria and host, GSC is well represented in the 27-boat fleet. From its eight teams, the best today was past world champion, Peter McNeill and his Lucy crew.
Lots of eyes on the handsome Ineos Grenadiers at the Club, courtesy of naming rights partner, Brian Hilton. The off-road utility vehicles don't just look good - they are pulling their weight - towing and launching an Etchells at GSC yesterday.
Vakaros RaceSense system, World Sailing's 2025 Technology Winner of The Year, is being utilised at the Championship. RaceSense is a cloud-enabled, automated race management system that uses GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) technology to track boats, manage starts, and automate finish scoring.
The Brian Hilton - Ineos Grenadier 2026 International Etchells NSW Championship is conducted by Gosford Sailing Club on behalf of the Gosford International Etchells Fleet Inc. Racing continues tomorrow with three or possibly four races planned, depending on the weather.
For full results and all information, please visit app.sailsys.com.au/club/59/profile?tab=entry