Wild and Windy Grafham Water Catamaran Open
by Kevin Cummerson 20 Oct 04:07 PDT
17-18 October 2026
Grafham Water Catamaran Open 2026 © Paul Sanwell / OPP
Take nearly 80 cats, 22 knot+ gusts and the large sailing area of Grafham Water and you have the makings of a high-octane event.
Incorporating the Tornado National Championship, Dart 15 Inland Championship and Dart 18 singlehanded national championship the Grafham Cat Open saw one of the biggest collection of cats seen together this year. There was some impressive turnouts including 19 Dart15s, 10 Dart 18s and 5 Shearwaters in the medium fleet. The fast fleet featured 11 F18s, 9 F20s and 5 Tornados. There were also some A Class classics, Nacra 15s, Spitfires and Hurricanes.
The Conditions
It was survival-and-send-it weather. When it gets that breezy and wild at Grafham, especially with a Northly wind rolling across the water the lake can have separate powerful wind tunnels. Handling high-performance cats in those kinds of conditions demanded focus, perfect coordination on the wire, and plenty of care at the gybes. The safety boats were kept busy and a study of the results discloses an elevated number of retirements and did not competes.
The Racing
The fast fleet sailed a windward leeward course, and the Doublehanded event was dominated by the F18s who took 4 of the top 5 places. Home club sailors Will Smith and Patrick Hill demonstrated superb boat handling and speed, winning 4 of the races which with a second place gave them the win overall. The young team of Marcus King and Maddie Jinks brought their Nacra 15 into a well-deserved 3rd place. The first Tornado came 6th, giving Paul and Robert Palmer the national championship.
The singlehanded fleet was won by Grafham's Mark Rushton sailing his A class, with another home club boat Gordy Baines second in his Spitfire.
The Medium fleet sailed a rectangular course. Honours here were split between the Shearwaters and the Dart 18s. Nigel Stuart and Sarah took the series win, with the Dart 18 of Darren Wood in 2nd.
The Dart 15s had a very competitive weekend with much place changing. In the end David Ball proved to be too fast, winning 4 races, and fellow Marconi sailor Jenny Ball was 2nd.
The Entertainment
The Saturday evening meal and get together was a big social hit, with the Shearwater sailors conjuring up the party games. Thank you to our commodore for Hillary manning the bar until late into the evening and from all of the cat sailors to the race officers Nigel and Eric and a team of over 20 volunteers of committee boat helpers and safety crew who supported the meeting.
Grafham Water SC is extending an invitation to join them for the winter season running from 31st October 2026 to 31st March 2027. More information at www.grafham.org. The 2027 Grafham Water Cat Open will take place on 16th & 17th October.
The full results can be seen here and more photographs can be viewed here.