Kestrel National Championship at Filey Sailing Club
by Stewart Murdoch 31 Aug 22:03 PDT
28-30 August 2026
Three days of very close racing, excellent race management, challenging P courses, good socials and the final outcome determined on the second last leg of the eight race series. It does not get better!
Teams from the south east, the midlands, the south coast and Scotland were welcomed to Filey SC. For a small voluntary club hosting a championship is a big effort and Filey did the Kestrel class proud. The friendly welcome and the help provided to competitors and families through the event was exceptional.
Day one provided the freshest conditions with three races in wind building from 11kn to 15kn. Race one was won by Sam McKay and James Vyse Chase SC in their first appearance at the nationals. Howie Enkel and Danni Tebbutt were second and went one better to take the second race. When Sam and James won the last race of the day, with Howie and Danni dropping to fourth, it looked as if they were on their way.
Saturday dawned with a very light south easterly which took some time to settle.
The tricky conditions suited the Maylandsea Bay team, Howie and Danni and they posted first places in races four and five.
Tay duo Malcolm and Dannielle Worsley, last years winners, had been consistently in third place in every race until this point but they went better with a second in race four and then a first in race six.
Going into the last day the event was still very open. The Chase SC team and the Maylandsea Bay SC teams were tied on equal points. The Tay duo were a few points behind and would need two wins, with the others down the pack to retain the title.
Their was a further tie for fourth place between Richard LeMare and Stewart Murdoch.
And so it was, the Worsley's pulled out all the stops. They did what they had to do and won race seven. Howie and Danni were still ahead overall posting a second, but Sam and James had a painful one finishing seventh.
In the final race, the Worsley's were on fire extending their lead at every mark. Stuck in traffic Howie and Danni rounded the first mark in seventh place. They clawed back places on each round, but it was only on the last off wind leg that they were able to get to third position. Their third place finishing position gave them the championships by one point. Theirs was a popular win. They have nearly been there in several occasions, they sailed a consistent series, and showed great capacity to recover when not at the front.
Their crews race was won by Martin Walbank from Starcross.
The trophy for greatest improvement since the last championship went to Richard LeMare and Tom Moore.
The best placed all women team was Karen and Lauren Grice.
The Masters Trophy was awarded to Malcolm Worsley.
Overall Results:
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| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 1574 | HOWIE ENKEL | DANNI TEBBUTT | MBSC | 2 | 1 | ‑4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| 2nd | 1638 | MALCOLM WORSLEY | DANNIELLE WORSLEY | ROYAL TAY YACHT CLUB | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 3rd | 1628 | SAM McKAY | JAMES VYSE | THE CHASE SAILING CLUB | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ‑7 | 6 | 17 |
| 4th | 1650 | RICHARD LE MARE | TOM MOORE | EMSWORTH | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | ‑7 | 29 |
| 5th | 1648 | STEWART MURDOCH | MHAIRI MURDOCH | ROYAL TAY YACHT CLUB | 5 | 6 | ‑7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 31 |
| 6th | 1472 | CHRIS GRICE | KENNY HOBBS | MAYLANDSEA | ‑7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 35 |
| 7th | 408 | KAREN GRICE | LAUREN GRICE | MAYLANDSEA SC | 8 | 7 | ‑9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 50 |
| 8th | 1636 | STEVEN WORF | DAVID HEARSUM | CALSHOT SC | 6 | ‑10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 53 |
| 9th | 1652 | MARK POLLARD | MARTIN WALBANK | STARCROSS SC | ‑9 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 55 |
| 10th | 1605 | PAUL WILKINSON | JANE O'BRIEN | MAYLANDSEA BAY SAILING CLUB | ‑10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 69 |