Wayfarer National Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Andrew Wilson 30 Jun 00:43 PDT
26-28 June 2026
McNamara & Townsend lead Nick & Matty Evans to the gybe mark during the Wayfarer Nationals at Grafham Water © Paul Sanwell / OPP
The Wayfarer National Championship were held from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th June at Grafham Water Sailing Club. Twenty-six entries came from over 20 different clubs, from as far as Lochaber in North Scotland and South Cork in Ireland. Half the entrants were competing at their first ever Wayfarer Nationals, which bodes well for the future of the class.
The competitors faced the challenge of sailing three races a day, out in blazing sun as British temperature records were being broken on Friday and Saturday. Fortunately sponsors Craftinsure had supplied plentiful water bottles so the sailors could stay hydrated in the heat. Fortunately too, there was plenty of wind over the three days. Gusts of over 20 knots were recorded on both Friday and Sunday, which caused several teams to go swimming - good for keeping cool, but not so good for their results.
The racing was of a really high standard, with many of the new faces bringing their experience of success in other classes to match the more established Wayfarer teams. The wind, as well as being gusty, was very shifty on all three days. If you picked the wrong way up the first beat, you found yourself at the back of the fleet. Get it right and you could round the first mark with the leaders, but you could easily lose it all again if you got it wrong on the next lap. The results reflected this, with five different race winners and most of the top teams carrying high scores.
On Friday a short practice race was won by Sam Mettam and Tim Saunders who were alert to the inclusion of a spacer mark on the reaching leg. Race 1 saw Guy Marks and Sam Boniface pull clear on the second lap with some impressive downwind speed, with Mike McNamara and Simon Townsend leading the following pack. In Race 2, a large right shift part way up the first beat shuffled the pack with some leading contenders caught the wrong side. In a race kept to two laps in the easing wind - and record temperatures - there was limited scope for recovery for them. Nick and Matty Evans took the win with Judith and Graham Williamson in second.
Saturday brought fewer strong gusts and several periods where the wind went very soft, but still with a lot of directional instability. Mike and Simon put their experience to good use, easing into the comfortable leads in each of Races 3 and 4. However they picked the wrong options on the first beat in Race 5 with Ian Escritt and Clive Harries getting it right to win from Andrew Wilson and Sam Pygall.
The temperature thankfully moderated for Sunday, but the wind returned in strength with regular periods where the south-westerly wind hit the 20 knot mark. This made for some very challenging reaches for the leading boats, with two sails on occasion the faster option. Race 6 saw Mike and Simon again gradually extend into a comfortable lead while the group behind was really closely packed. John Clementson and Mel Titmus went far right up the last beat, and it proved the way to go bring them the second spot. Race 7 brought a bit more wind but with a little more directional stability, which kept the leading group close together. Sam Mettam and Tim Saunders took this one with John and Mel again second. Mike and Simon, with the championship beckoning, lost third place with a swim at the final gybe mark and had to retire. Bodies were now aching, and several crews opted out of the final race. Here, it was the turn again of Ian Escritt and Clive Harries to pull clear of the pack to win, with Mike and Simon, showing remakable resilience and stamina after their lengthy swim, to follow them home in second.
Overall it was therefore Michael McNamara and Simon Townsend who triumphed, discarding their 13th and DNF to win comfortably with three firsts, two seconds and a fifth to count. They showed an edge in boat speed, and that knack of being in the right place at the right time more often than anyone else. Congratulations to both of them for another fantastic victory. This was their 25th Wayfarer National Championship win across some 40 years of competing, a quite remakable record of consistency and achievement.
The minor placings were very close, with only four points separating second from fifth. Taking second overall - and picking up trophies for best Newcomer and First Woman - were the brother and sister pairing of Nick and Matty Evans from Blackwater, who had borrowed their parents' boat for the event, and whose results included a race win, second and two third places. Third was 2023 Nationals winner Andrew Wilson crewed this year by Sam Pygall. They recovered from a bad first day to score consistently within the top places over the following two days. In fourth were newcomers to the Wayfarer, but certainly not to championship racing, Sam Mettam and Tim Saunders.
Judith Williamson, crewed by husband Graham, matched her performance last year at the Internationals in Denmark, with a fifth place overall here, in what is probably the best ever result in Wayfarer history for a woman helm at the British Nationals. In sixth place were Chris Bunn and Ian Curtis with a very consistent series counting two fourths, three fifths and a sixth. They, along with Chris Foster and Chris Codling in 12th place and overall winners Mike and Simon ensured Rollesby Broad secured the trophy for best club performance.
Louise Mckeand, crewed by Nigel Hall took the Silver Fleet trophy while Sean and Tom Cochrane from Ireland were the winners of the Bronze Fleet. Also performing really commendably were two thirteen-year-old cousins, Seren and Austyn Bowen-Perkins, crewed by their respective fathers, who managed to keep up with the adult teams in some pretty testing conditions, both teams finishing all races. Alex Spurgeon and Tim Basford won the Nipegigi trophy for the first pre-Hartley boat, and it was so good to see a wooden boat, built in 1960 and now lovingly restored and beautifully finished, being raced very competively.
Many thanks to Grafham Water Sailing Club for hosting us and especially to Eric Joyce and his team for providing some excellent courses and efficient race management. Also huge thanks to our sponsors, the afore-mentioned Craftinsure plus Hartley Boats and Fernhurst Books.
Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Wayfarer nationals then enter your Gear Guide information
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 11321 | Michael McNamara | Simon Townsend | Rollesby Broad SC | 2 | ‑13 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | (DNC) | 2 | 12 |
| 2nd | 11183 | Nick Evans | Matty Evans | Blackwater SC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ‑7 | 7 | 3 | ‑8 | 21 |
| 3rd | 11093 | Andrew Wilson | Sam Pygall | Datchet Water SC | ‑8 | ‑16 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| 4th | 11504 | Sam Mettam | Tim Saunders | Lochaber YC | 5 | ‑8 | 3 | 6 | 6 | ‑9 | 1 | 3 | 24 |
| 5th | 11001 | Judith Williamson | Graham Williamson | Hayling Island SC | 6 | 2 | ‑9 | 2 | ‑10 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 25 |
| 6th | 11453 | Chris Bunn | Ian Curtis | Rollesby Broad SC | ‑11 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | ‑8 | 6 | 5 | 29 |
| 7th | 11120 | Guy Marks | Sam Boniface | Bough Beech SC | 1 | 3 | ‑10 | 8 | 3 | 6 | ‑11 | 9 | 30 |
| 8th | 11422 | Ian Escritt | Clive Harries | Yorkshire Dales SC | 9 | ‑17 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 5 | ‑18 | 1 | 35 |
| 9th | 10747 | Louise Mckeand | Nigel Hall | Leigh & Lowton SC | 4 | 4 | ‑14 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 9 | ‑13 | 44 |
| 10th | 11101 | John Clementson | Mel Titmus | Chipstead SC | 7 | 12 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 2 | 2 | 6 | 56 |
| 11th | 10994 | Neil Fletcher | Chas Edwards | Waldringfield SC | 10 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 9 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 71 |
| 12th | 11111 | Chris Foster | Chris Codling | Rollesby Broad SC | ‑17 | 11 | 13 | ‑14 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 73 |
| 13th | 183 | Alex Spurgeon | Tim Basford | Seafarers SC | ‑20 | 14 | 17 | ‑20 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 75 |
| 14th | 10601 | James Wheatley | Stephen Wheatley | Aldeburgh YC | 12 | 7 | 16 | 10 | ‑20 | 16 | 15 | (DNC) | 76 |
| 15th | 11059 | Peter Bennett | Toby Lyward | Shoreham SC | ‑18 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | (DNC) | 77 |
| 16th | 11012 | Tim Townsend | Jacqueline Townsend | Medway YC | 14 | 6 | 8 | 17 | 17 | (DNC) | 16 | (DNC) | 78 |
| 17th | 10875 | Brian Lamb | Paul Berry | Dabchicks SC | 15 | ‑20 | ‑19 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 78 |
| 18th | 11459 | Sean Cochrane | Tom Cochrane | South Cork SC | ‑19 | ‑19 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 79 |
| 19th | 11223 | Nicholas Harris | James Harris | Datchet Water SC | ‑21 | ‑18 | 7 | 16 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 88 |
| 20th | 11323 | Jeremy Evans | Sarah Evans | Priory SC | 16 | 10 | ‑20 | ‑19 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 90 |
| 21st | 11458 | Nigel O'Donnell | Belinda O'Donnell | Swarkestone SC | 13 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 19 | 20 | (DNC) | (DNC) | 112 |
| 22nd | 10828 | Derek Lambert | Simon Etter | Datchet Water SC | 24 | (RET) | 23 | (DNC) | 23 | 21 | 19 | 14 | 124 |
| 23rd | 11328 | Seren Bowen‑Perkins | Gareth Bowen‑Perkins | Thorney Island SC | ‑26 | ‑23 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 125 |
| 24th | 11129 | Paul Hughes | Georgina Hughes | Arun YC | 25 | 22 | 22 | 18 | (DNC) | 19 | (DNC) | DNC | 133 |
| 25th | 11186 | Austyn Bowen‑Perkins | Tomas Bowen‑Perkins | Thorney Island SC | 22 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 24 | 23 | (DNC) | (DNC) | 142 |
| 26th | 10794 | Shaun Burland | Andrew Knappett | Slaughden SC | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 21 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 143 |
