2026 ILCA UK Ovington Boats National Open Event 3 at WPNSA - ILCA 6 fleet report
by Jon Emmett & ILCA UK 3 Apr 21:52 AEDT
28-29 March 2026
2026 ILCA UK Ovington Boats National Open Event 3 at WPNSA © Lotte Johnson /
www.lottejohnson.com
The third ILCA UK National Open event was held at WPNSA over the weekend of 28-29 March 2026. 79 ILCA 6 sailors took part. It was a very breezy weekend and huge thanks go to the race and safety teams as well as all volunteers that made this event safe and fun.
Be careful what you wish for! After a fantastic but very light National Open 2 there was much expression of it is never normally like this and the desire for the normal March Howler. After all, around the vernal equinox we often have strong winds.
In the words of PRO Summers Kempe events are made possible by sponsors and they are made to happen by volunteers. Once again all concerned, and it really is all, delivered a top notch weekend at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy and there really are too many people to thank, so I won't try other than to say it is appreciated by one and all.
Now of course I am biased: the ILCA class is wonderful with in the past Olympic Gold medallists and people in their first sailing event turning up to race against each other. What other sport, or even class can do this? The Race team had 24 completely new sailors in the ILCA 4s, so they sensibly raced only on the Sunday. For the ILCA 6s it was a different story...
5 races were sailed over 2 days and probably more than a few felt robbed by the loss of one hour's sleep as the clocks sprung forward. Rumours are that even the Scottish farmers no longer enjoy the clock change and I am pretty sure we aren't saving much candle wax, but there we go.
Overnight leader was Lewis Bacon who showed consistency paid off, with a 2, 3 and a strange feeling of déjà vu because this was the situation the previous weekend in very different conditions. Much like Toby Waggett after day 1 of the first event at Warsash there must have been a small part of him that at that stage wished for no more racing. Indeed at one point the fleet launched on Saturday and then came back in, before ultimately going out to complete 2 races.
To get the cliché in early Saturday really was a game of snakes and ladders with the North Westerly sending us wind all the way from Swansea. To say there were big shifts would have been the understatement of the year so far with so often the rich getting richer and those the wrong side of just one large shift struggling to make it into the top 10, however fast they sailed! Race wins for Toby Waggett and Tom Hakes showed when they got it right, they really got it right.
Sunday, and with a building forecast it was day 2 in Portland Harbour and it was Waggett who laid down the gauntlet with a race 1 win, after making the most of a large right shift on the second beat which had seen the previous race leaders struggle to get across from Portland.
The penultimate race, Freddie Maclaverty our 2025 Youth Worlds representative showed great speed to take a bullet, but ultimately a poor first day (by his standards) kept him out of the final reckoning for the chocolates!
It was tight at the top going into the final race, but a 5th was enough for Waggett to secure the win. There was a fierce battle for 2nd place with Ben Anderson giving it the big send to take the race win and 2nd spot on the podium from Hakes on tie breaker. Hakes took 2nd in the race and 3rd overall, and Bacon 3rd in the race and 4th overall. Somehow this seemed a very fitting end to the event.
Finally, a huge shout out to top woman Flo Tovey who spent 4 races inside (well 1 just outside!) the top ten, certainly no mean feat in such a difficult weekend with Jess Powell in second and Megan Thomson in third. As always there are so many prize winners across the categories so please do take the time to check them all out. Worthy winners one and all.
Overall: Winner, winner, chicken dinner for Toby Waggett. So Mr Waggett now makes it 3, out of 3 National Opens, and perhaps as an Ovington rider it was fitting to take the third and final weekend. We now wish him and everyone else fair, fun and safe racing at Hayling Island and a worthy winner of the Youth Nationals and potential Champion at the Youth Worlds later this year.
It was a great weekend with tough decisions made by an experienced race committee to keep us safe but also to squeeze in as much racing as possible. Thank you to Ovington and all the other sponsors for supporting the event and allowing it to happen and well done to all competitors and thank you to all volunteers which allow the racing to happen in challenging conditions. Big thank you also to TracTracUK, their technology is such a useful learning tool, allowing us to analyse the racing.
Event Title Sponsor: Ovington Boats
Supported by: Noble Marine, Rooster, Sailingfast & TracTracUK