2026 OK Dinghy Autumn Trophy at Bandol, France - Overall
by Robert Deaves 19 Sep 09:52 PDT
15-19 September 2026
Matt Howard has won the 2026 OK Dinghy Autumn Trophy in Bandol after a spectacular week on the Côte d'Azur with wind, waves, sunshine and rosé. Charlie Cumbley took second with Tim Petetin third.
Only one race was sailed on the final day in a very light and patchy sea breeze that never built to more than 6-7 knots. James Downer led all the way only to find himself UFD at the shortened finish line, so Charlie Cumbley took the win from Mark Jackson and Dennis Dixon.
If Howard had read the Sailing Instructions, he would have realised he had won the event the day before as after nine races there were two discards. As it happened he only need one discard an opted not the start the final race given the conditions.
Howard and Cumbley have clearly put a marker in the sand ahead of the 2028 World Championship which will be here in Bandol. Third placed Petetin is the best of the French and the local fleet and continues to improve.
The Autumn Trophy is the half model that was presented by the International Sailing Federation to commemorate the 80th Birthday of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was himself an OK Dinghy sailor. It was acquired by OKDIA when World Sailing disposed of its collection of half models when it moved to London. OKDIA repurposed it as the Autumn Trophy which has run since 2021.
Check the OKDIA Facebook and Instagram for reels.
Overall Results: (top ten)
1. GBR 2298 Matthew Howard 9pts
2. GBR 6 Charlie Cumbley 17pts
3. FRA 8 Timothe Petetin 28pts
4. GBR 49 James Downer 33pts
5. NZL 15 Greg Wilcox 41pts
6. AUS 8 Mark Jackson 42pts
7. AUS 81 David Meehan 55pts
8. SWE 14 Hakan Soderberg 63pts
9. SWE 2884 Lars Bergfeldt 70pts
10. GBR 17 David Bourne 72pts
Full results here