ILCA Northern Championship 2026 at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club

by Gordon Riddell 31 Aug 22:09 PDT 29 August 2026

The Northern ILCA circuit's Grand Prix series returned to Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club for the Northern Championship, sailed as part of the club's regatta weekend on Pennington Flash. Light winds and the constant threat of rain made for tricky, tactical racing rather than survival conditions, with six races completed across the two days.

Race Officer Martin Tubb set courses down the length of the lake for both days, and with only one discard available across the six-race series there was little room for anyone to have a bad race. A fleet of 32 entries turned out, with the regulars boosted by younger sailors back from summer European campaigns, including Ava Harris-Scott and Billy Morris, both of Delph SC. A number of clubs were represented, including the strong youth fleet and circuit regulars from Delph SC.

Richard Marsh (Hollingworth SC) set the early pace on Saturday, winning the first two races outright, but a non-competing Sunday left the door open at the top. Ian Jones (Dovestone SC) was the model of consistency all weekend, finishing no worse than second in five of his six races and adding two bullets, including the final race, to take the overall win.

Behind him it was tight. Tim Keighley (West Riding SC) held on to second overall, but needed to be home on Saturday evening for his birthday celebrations. Home sailor Tom Keegan (LLSC) picked up a race win of his own in race three and closed the weekend in third, just half a point off Keighley. Billy Morris (Delph SC) rounded out the top four, with Paul Heath and Howard Green, both LLSC, completing a strong showing for the home club in fifth and sixth. The top group were in a class of their own, but it only took a slight mistake to tumble down the standings in the tricky conditions.

In the ILCA6 fleet, Benjamin Smallwood (Budworth SC) was the class of the field to take the ILCA6 prize, finishing seventh overall, while Molly Wilson (Filey SC) took the ILCA4 honours in a top-twenty finish.

Away from the racing, the regatta weekend's other prizes went a long way from home. Jacob Blakeway travelled up from Trimpley SC to take the furthest-travelled boat award, though the prize itself was collected by Carl Avery (Burton SC), who sailed both days of the event. The oldest boat on the water belonged to Thomas Walker of Nantwich & Borders SC. Tally prizes from circuit sponsor Performance Sailcraft Europe went to Richard Marsh, who took home a new vang, and Wendy Jones (Dovestone SC), who won a new buoyancy aid.

The Northern Grand Prix series continues at Scammonden Water Sailing Club on 6 September, before moving on to Winsford Flash on 19 September and Elton Sailing Club on 26 September, with the series finale at Dovestone Sailing Club on 11 October, where Performance Sailcraft Europe will once again provide the prize-giving kit.

Overall Results:

Pos	Helm	Class	Sail No	Club	PY	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1st	Ian Jones	ILCA7	227315	Dovestone SC	1103	2	2	2	1	‑3	1	8
2nd	Tim Keighley	ILCA7	228757	West Riding SC	1103	5	5	(DNC)	2	1	2	15
3rd	Tom Keegan	ILCA7	193497	LLSC	1103	4	3	1	3	4.5	‑6	15.5
4th	Billy Morris	ILCA7	227491	Delph SC	1103	‑8	4	5	4.5	2	4	19.5
5th	Paul Heath	ILCA7	221314	LLSC	1103	6	‑10	4	7	6	3	26
6th	Howard Green	ILCA7	221325	LLSC	1103	13	‑14	6	4.5	7	5	35.5
7th	Benjamin Smallwood	ILCA6	52	Budworth SC	1156	3	11	8	‑12	10	7	39
8th	Stuart Belfield	ILCA7	223673	LLSC	1103	9	8	7	6	‑11	9	39
9th	Gordon Riddell	ILCA7	220826	Delph SC	1103	10	6	10	8	9	‑12	43
10th	Andy Fox	ILCA7	226632	LLSC	1103	11	7	11.5	13	‑21	15.5	58
11th	Hugh Attfield	ILCA7	223682	Budworth SC	1103	12	‑16	14	10	14	11	61
12th	Lilly Brown	ILCA6	217775	Delph SC	1156	18	‑19	9	14	12	14	67
13th	Thomas Walker	ILCA6	132365	Nantwich & Borders SC	1156	‑19	12	11.5	15	15	15.5	69
14th	Richard Marsh	ILCA7	182223	Hollingworth SC	1103	1	1	3	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	71
15th	Carl Avery	ILCA7	197774	Burton SC	1103	7	15	13	20	18	‑23	73
16th	Molly Wilson	ILCA4	227946	Filey SC	1218	‑24	18	22	18	13	18	89
17th	Ava Harris‑Scott	ILCA6	226644	Delph SC	1156	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	11	4.5	8	89.5
18th	Andy Price	ILCA7	194679	LLSC	1103	17	23	20	19	22	(DNC)	101
19th	Bill Busby	ILCA7	180672	LLSC	1103	15	9	15	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	105
20th	Wendy Jones	ILCA7	213574	Dovestone SC	1103	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	16	16	10	108
21st	Finley Smith	ILCA7	212055	Delph SC	1103	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	9	17	17	109
22nd	Lochlyn Grant	ILCA4	189464	Delph SC	1218	‑23	22	23	23	20	21	109
23rd	Gethin William Kelly	ILCA6	219830	Llyn Brenig	1156	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	17	8	19	110
24th	Jacob Blakeway	ILCA6	212904	Trimpley SC	1156	14	20	18	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	118
25th	Malcolm Marsden	ILCA7	221320	Blackpool & Fleetwood YC	1103	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	21	19	13	119
26th	John Devlin	ILCA7	217504	LLSC	1103	25	13	16	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	120
27th	Simon Thomson	ILCA7	200511	Rudyard Lake SC	1103	16	21	17	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	120
28th	Malcolm Marsden	ILCA6	221320	Blackpool & Fleetwood YC	1156	20.5	17	19	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	122.5
29th	Leuen Kelly	ILCA4	219830	Llyn Brenig	1218	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	22	24	20	132
30th	Felcity Gardiner	ILCA6	173550	Rudyard Lake SC	1156	22	25	21	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	134
31st	Oscar Thomson	ILCA6	177601	Rudyard Lake SC	1156	20.5	24	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	143.5
32nd	Reuben Lawrence	ILCA7	215908	LLSC	1103	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNF	23	22	144