Lakes Mortgages RS2000 National Championship 2026 at Brightlingsea Sailing Club - Bronze Fleet
by Julie Boswell, Cameron & Emily 28 Aug 06:21 PDT
16-21 August 2026
1st All Youth team - Cameron Gee and Emily Borner - Lakes Mortgages RS2000 Nationals at Brightlingsea © Ocelot Photography
Does the Dragon know her place? - Bronze Fleet Report by Julie Boswell
Having been to most RS2000 Nationals since Rutland in 2003, we enter each year with the hope of improving on the previous year. It is usually the highlight of our Summer. A week away with friends we don't get to see much, good times on the water, fun in a friendly club house, plenty of fresh air and time to unwind from a busy year in the office.
This year, we were hopeful that we would finally beat The President (aka Trevor Bradley) and give our nemesis Martin Roots a run for his money. Hmm, the first 3 days didn't quite go to plan. After light winds, despite reading the tides and not getting into too much trouble on the start line we found ourselves floundering in the 40s. We noticed that this year there were no stragglers - plenty of racing going on throughout the fleet - and places to be lost and gained on each lap.
By the lay day we were well and truly in the Bronze fleet. Ho hum. What could we do?
After a late-night jiving to an amazing band, we hung around the boat park for a while during the lay day, watching Spanner (Paul Cullen) and Grant pimp boats and check those pesky settings. How about adjusting those spreaders? There's a thought. Not touched them in years!
Well, what do you know. Race 9 and we were 22nd and in front of Trevor and Martin. Too little too late to affect the overall results much, but hey, we are set up for our next event. Watch out - DragonFly is coming for you.
Royal Naval Sailing Association report by Cameron and Emily (Age 17, first All Youth Team)
The RNSA offer charter boats to compete at championships such as the RS2000s. Cameron and Emily were two lucky sailors to have this opportunity. Here are a few words from them....
Having access to a quality charter boat has allowed us to race competitively in what is a very high-standard fleet. The highlight of our season was undoubtedly the 2000 National Championships at Brightlingsea.
The Nationals consisted of ten races over five days, the racing was close throughout the fleet. Our week got progressively better, the highlight being day four. The Wind picked up and the chop came in. This meant full planning down wind, surfing the waves.
Off the water there was always a helping hand from other members of the class, from boat set up to boat handling. Ending the week in 26th and the 1st youth team in silver fleet gave us a bench march to aim for improvement for next year's nationals at Exe sailing club.
Thank you to all our sponsors, West Country Boat repairs, Noble Marine, Orange Ocelot, RS Sailing and Lakes Mortgages.
Bronze Fleet Top 5:
1st - Trevor Bradley and Merrin Froggett
2nd - Martin Roots and Grant Wilton
3rd - Jamie Wright and Asa Wright
4th - Tony Herlihy and Jo Norrington
5th - Guy Boswell and Julie Boswell
Fancy joining the RS2000s at the next event for some fast family fun?
5th - 6th September 2026 Lakes Mortgages Latitude Series at Sunderland Yacht Club
19th - 20th September 2026 West Country Boat Repairs Millennium Series at Exe Sailing Club