Macnamara's Bowl shines again with a star-studded international line-up at the Royal Lymington YC
by Royal Lymington Yacht Club 28 Apr 22:04 PDT
24-26 April 2026
Macnamara's Bowl shines again with a star-studded international line-up in women's sailing - Dubai Offshore Sailing Club's Charlotte Borghesi wins the revived Dubarry 'Mac's Bowl'
A good first day performance followed by a dominant second day performance by the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club 2 team led by Charlotte Borghesi, saw her team win the 2026 Dubarry Macnamara's Bowl at Royal Lymington Yacht Club after two excellent days of women's international keelboat racing in RS21s in Christchurch Bay.
First raced in Contessa 32s in 1978, when Club member Brian Macnamara threw down the challenge for women sailors to compete and donated a magnificent silver bowl. Royal Lymington YC's current commodore, Sally Kalis, was in the winning team in skippered by Rosemary Johnson (then Taylor) in 1978 and was delighted to welcome the invited teams. The Macnamara family were also out in force, both on the water and ashore at the evening dinner, in support of the revived event, with Jo Wells, Brian Macnamara's granddaughter, competing in one of the Royal Lymington teams.
The newly resurrected series, which is taking place for the first time since 1995, attracted ten teams from the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Ireland and UK in this inaugural 21st century edition. Each of the teams had sailors with impressive sailing CV's from Olympians to World and national champions and offshore racing. RS Sailing provided the RS21s for charter, supported by training and technical support throughout the event.
Following the training day and practice races in the western Solent on Friday 24 April, Roger Wilson, Race Officer, confirmed that racing was to be held in Christchurch Bay. On Saturday morning the ten boats were towed out and the first race was held in flat water, with a light patchy easterly wind. The team of Charlotte Boghesi (DOSC 2) showed excellent boat speed to win the first race with Olivia Dowling's team (RLymYC 1) second, closely followed by the team of Vita Heathcote, with her young RLymYC u25 sailors. As the breeze trended right and built for the second race, the DOSC 1 team helmed by Rebekka Britton, worked themselves into a winning position, with RLymYC 1 and RLymYC U25 coming in 2nd and 3rd.
The breeze picked up for Races 3 and 4 which provided much closer racing. In Race 3 it was 'nip and tuck' (as described by Vita Heathcote) for a photo finish between race winners RLymYC 1, the RLymYC U25 team in second and DOSC 2 in third, all finishing in three seconds. The fourth and final race of the day saw DOSC2 seal the win, with RLymYC 1 second and DOSC 1 third.
At the end of Day 1 this put RLymYC 1 in the overall lead, with DOSC2 second and RLymYC U25 in third. Overnight leader Olivia Dowling and her crew loved the fun sailing and glamour conditions and were very relieved to have held their nerve. "Fun - really enjoyed the tight racing". These comments were reflected throughout the fleet, with lots of smiles, laughter and everyone really enjoying the racing, the conditions and a chance to build their teamwork, followed by meeting their fellow sailors ashore.
At the evening dinner, Event Director, Peter Saxton awarded the day prize for both overall lead and first Corinthian team to Olivia Dowling and her RLymYC 1 crew, with the U25 day prize going to Vita Heathcote's RLymYC U25 team.
The second day saw the RS21 fleet sail out to Christchurch Bay again and sail the three races in a north easterly breeze of 12-14 knots. The racing on this day was much closer through the fleet. Emerging at the front of the fleet by the first downwind gate in Race 5, Charlotte Borghesi's DOSC 2 team extended their lead to the finish, commenting that it was a good race, having executed their plan well.
The discard came in with the completion of Race 5, placing DOSC 2 one point ahead of RLymYC 2. The team of Lucy Davis from the Royal Southern YC had an excellent race finishing second, bringing them into contention with Rebekkah Britton's DOSC 1 team for fourth place overall. DOSC 2 sailed two further dominant races to win races 6 & 7, though it was tricky shifty sailing for the whole fleet.
Charlotte Borgesi and her crew were very relieved to seal the regatta win, though commenting it was too cold to jump into the water to celebrate! Olivia Dowling and her RLymYC Corinthian crew came in a strong second overall, with Vita Heathcote and her RLymYC U25 team an excellent third. All the teams enjoyed their first experiences of racing in Christchurch bay, and many were sailing with their team for the first time.
At the prize-giving, Peter Saxton thanked the sponsors, Dubarry of Ireland for their generosity and recognised the support from RS Sailing, Square Mile Gin and all the Club volunteers who contributed to an excellent event. Sally Kalis, Commodore presented the trophies and prizes from the sponsor, supported by a group of the original Macnamara's Bowl competitors from 1978 to 1995.
Charlotte Borghesi (who is the first woman to win the SB20 World Championship and was sailing with a crew of Olympic sailors) thanked the Club for an impressive event, summarising the sentiment of the competitors by commenting how inspiring and fun it had been to race in an all-women fleet for the first time and at a Club with a woman Commodore. They promised to return for next year's event!
The final award of the event, the prestigious Dubarry Boot, awarded to the team who best exemplified the spirit of the event, went to the Irish team from Royal Cork Yacht Club.
Peter also confirmed that Macnamara's Bowl would be back next year with proposed dates of 30th April to 2nd May. Entry will be limited to 20 teams from around the world, so if your club would like to be considered for an invitation, let us know soon!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 324 | Charlotte Boghesi | Pippa Kenton‑Page / Vasileia Karachaliou / Frederica Salva / Chiara Degli Angioli | Dubai Offshore Sailng Club Team 2 | 1 | ‑5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2nd | 315 | Olivia Dowling | Emma McEwen / Fanny Rogers / Hilde Geerling | Royal Lymington Yacht Club Team1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑3 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 3rd | 252 | Vita Heathcote | Alex Paton / Emma Breese / Annabel Vines | RLymYC Under 25 Team | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 19 |
| 4th | 235 | Rebekka Britton | Isabelle Fellows
Joanna Elliot / Lily Britton | Dubai Offshore Sailing Club Team 1 | 4 | 1 | ‑9 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 23 |
| 5th | 333 | Lucy Davis | Millie Davis / Annabel Banin / Aisha Biggs / Josie Gibson | Royal Southern Yacht Club | ‑7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 26 |
| 6th | 133 | Shelly McCafferty | Joanna Wells / Helen MacAlister / Becky Hutchinson | Royal Lymington Yacht Club Team 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | ‑8 | 7 | 5 | 33 |
| 7th | 141 | Mia Murphy | Alana Twoney
Emma Geary / Julie Neville / Kelly Williams | Royal Cork Yacht Club | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ‑9 | 37 |
| 8th | 154 | Alice Lucy | Gilly Ansell / Alice Bradford / Freya Pembury
Ella Ashworth | Rutland Sailing Club | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | (DNF) | 43 |
| 9th | 305 | Pheobe Chalmers | Samantha Mastell‑Marr / Anna Powick / Caleigh Styles | Kingston Yacht Club Under 25 Team | 9 | ‑10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 50 |
| 10th | 236 | Cressida Robson | Ciara Charlwood / Millie Irish / Jennifer Toettecher / Christine Shrimpton | Royal Thames Yacht Club | ‑10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 57 |
