2026 Switch UK National Championship at the Portland Foil Fest
by Simon Hiscocks 16 Jun 21:03 NZST
11-14 June 2026
The 2026 Switch National Championship was held as part of Portland Foil Fest, a multi class event aimed at the performance end of the foiling classes with invitations to Moths, Wing foils, iQFOiLs and the Switch Class.
With the serious wing foil racers away at a world cup event and the Moths at their European Championship it was left to the Switch class and a handful of Moths who joined in on the Saturday. With a decent number of iQFOiL sailors out training on the race course the event title was most determinately apt.
With similar foiling events already held at Rutland there are discussions well under way to continue the theme and start a series of multi class foiling events into the future.
Classic British summer weather saw a full mixture of conditions, Day one was never in question with wind well into the mid thirties and no complaints when a very sensible decision was made to cancel by the well known and popular race officer with 57 varieties.
Day two had been forecast to be somewhat calmer however the wind gods had another agenda in mind and kept the fleet waiting for a suitable wind window. In reality it never really came but the fleet tried anyway. It didn't take long before this was whittled down to just three boats who all had a wild time getting round the course for two testing races. A line was drawn after two races to preserve the discards for those who arguably had made sensible decisions to return to shore. Notable performance from Helena Mills Bowers who stayed the duration and came tantalisingly close to getting one scoring lap in.
The same can hardly be said of James Percival Cook's performance, however he didn't give up and did finally, on coming ashore realise that his ride height calibration was a significant way off and he had been trying to sail in top end conditions on maximum lift. He won't make that mistake again.
Of those that did get some laps in, Ross Banham made the best job with two wins followed by Simon Hiscocks and Sam Jones with a brace of 2nds and 3rds. No one got away bruise free it has to be said but all the boats made it back with only forced errors accounting for minor gear issues.
If the first two days threw some supposedly unseasonal weather at the fleet day 3 was an absolute perfect ten on the sailing conditions score card. Not that it was easy with six races on the trot and a quick turnaround there wasn't much time to rest, recover or recompose.
At the front of the fleet Ross Banham continued with good form, only one 4th spoiling a run of top 2 finishes with last minute weekend entrant Sam Whalley, who's level of FOMO exceeded his intentions to focus on his ilca campaign just getting the better of Ross to top the day. Matt Reid wasn't hanging around with a race win and a number of 3rds whilst James Percival Cooke was fast but played the error card a few too many times.
Helena had been joined by Amelie Hiscocks in the female 7.5 fleet and they both enjoyed some tight racing both mixing it up with the bigger rigs and well in amongst the Moth fleet.
Tensions were high on Sunday morning, more races would trigger another discard opening up the challenge to Ross from Sam and also bringing Matt in to the game as well. Plus there was always, lurking away, the possibility that James could make a run of error free races.
However despite the best of attempts the wind gods had another say this time with not quiet enough wind. Heinzy made several attempts to start races, the best of which saw boats nearly making a complete lap. However it wasn't to be and the final low ride sail back to the dock marked the end of a successful four days of racing.
Ross took the overall title from Sam and Simon Hiscocks who had done enough in completing the two big wind races to hold off Matt Reid's run of form. Amelie took top spot in the Female's with top youth going to Helena.
Alongside the overalls are the 'weekenders' results for the 'National Switch Weekend Championships' which only count the weekend races and this was won by Sam, Ross second with Matt third.
The Switch fleet now look forward to foiling week and some international competition with a fresh domestic calendar in the Autumn to look forward to.
This event would not have been possible without the dedicated volunteer race team and a flexible approach taken by WPNSA in hosting it. Many thanks to all of these individuals.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Nat | Sail No | Helm | Club | Gender | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | GBR | 1075 | Ross Banham | | M | 1 | 1 | ‑4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | GBR | 1129 | Sam Whaley | | M | (DNC [13]) | DNC [13] | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| 3 | GBR | 1126 | Simon Hiscocks | | M | 2 | 2 | (DNC [13]) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 28 |
| 4 | GBR | 1080 | Matt Reid | | M | (DNS [13]) | DNC [13] | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 35 |
| 5 | GBR | 1084 | James Percival‑Cooke | | M | (DNS [13]) | RET [13] | 2 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 35 |
| 6 | GBR | 4 | Sam Jones | | M | 3 | 3 | 6 | ‑7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 36 |
| 7 | GBR | 1042 | Michael Beckett | | M | (DNC [13]) | DNC [13] | 5 | 3 | 5 | RET [13] | DNC [13] | DNC [13] | 65 |
| 8 | GBR | 10 | Amelie Hiscocks | | F | (DNC [13]) | DNC [13] | DNC [13] | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 65 |
| 9 | GBR | 11 | Helena Mills Bowers | | F | (DNC [13]) | DNS [13] | 8 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 69 |
| 10 | SWE | 1136 | Ture Sunnegårdh | KSSS | M | (DNC [13]) | DNC [13] | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | RET [13] | DNC [13] | 70 |
| 11 | GBR | 20 | Peter Barton | | M | (DNS [13]) | DNC [13] | DNC [13] | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 74 |
| 12 | GBR | 1081 | Alastair Luxford | Bembridge SC | M | (DNS [13]) | DNC [13] | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 76 |
Weekend Fleet Results:
| Pos | Nat | Sail No | Helm | Club | Gender | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | GBR | 1129 | Sam Whaley | | M | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | GBR | 1075 | Ross Banham | | M | ‑4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | GBR | 1080 | Matt Reid | | M | 1 | 5 | ‑6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| 4 | GBR | 1084 | James Percival‑Cooke | | M | 2 | ‑6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
| 5 | GBR | 1126 | Simon Hiscocks | | M | (DNC [13]) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 24 |
| 6 | GBR | 4 | Sam Jones | | M | 6 | ‑7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 30 |
| 7 | GBR | 1042 | Michael Beckett | | M | 5 | 3 | 5 | (RET [13]) | DNC [13] | DNC [13] | 39 |
| 8 | GBR | 10 | Amelie Hiscocks | | F | (DNC [13]) | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 39 |
| 9 | SWE | 1136 | Ture Sunnegårdh | KSSS | M | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | (RET [13]) | DNC [13] | 44 |
| 10 | GBR | 11 | Helena Mills Bowers | | F | 8 | ‑11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 45 |
| 11 | GBR | 20 | Peter Barton | | M | (DNC [13]) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 48 |
| 12 | GBR | 1081 | Alastair Luxford | Bembridge SC | M | 9 | ‑12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 51 |