Hot racing on the hottest day of the year (so far) at the International Paint Poole Regatta 2026
by Mark Jardine 25 May 09:18 UTC
22-25 May 2026
After a two hour postponement ashore to allow the sea breeze to assert itself, and maybe help some of the late night revellers to recover, the sailors made their way out to their respective course areas on the hottest day of the year.
Bournemouth beach was packed tighter than a tin of sardines, reinforcing that the best place to be was on the water, not beside it.
Racing in the IRC European Championships starts just before 1pm with IRC 0 leading the way, followed by IRC 1, 2 and 3 at five minute intervals.
The wind filled in from around 150 degrees, with Principal Race Officer Peter Saxton setting a windward-leeward course at a bearing of 160 degrees to allow for the tide.
All four classes achieved two more races, with the wind dying off towards the end of race 8 (race 7 for IRC 2).
Malcolm Offord's TP52 'Braveheart' continues to lead the way in IRC 0, eeking out another point on Fam de Graaf's 'Baraka GP', while the team from the South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club on 'Impetuous' now have a four point lead over Rutger Krijger & Caroline van Beelan's 'Jack Rabbit' in IRC 1 after the team from The Netherlands scored a 6th in the final race of the day which they have to count as their 7th in race 4 is now their discard.
Olly and Sam Love's 'Frank 4' is running away with things in IRC 2 after a shaky start to the event. They now hold a 12 point lead over Alain Waha's 'Further West', with Dirk van Rompuy's 'High Five' two points further back.
IRC 3 is being dominated by Sam Laidlaw's Quarter Tonner 'Aguila'. Already holding a decent lead going into Sunday, they backed it up with two more race wins, to sit on 7 points, a massive 23 points ahead of Peter Rutter's 'Quokka 9'.
The Cape 31 class has Guy Gillon's team 'Khumbu 2' leading, but only by a point from Robin Jacobs and his team on 'Earlybird', who have a better discard.
David Pipe's 'White Magic' is four points clear in the Sonata Southern Championship.
The J80 National Championship is set for a thrilling conclusion with Simon Cameron and his team from Lymington on 'Intergalactic' tied on points with Austin Kenny's Irish team on 'Ram Jam' tied on points. Intergalactic is ahead in the table as they have three first places compared to Ram Jam's two, but even their total scores without a discard are identical, so this is going to be a battle to watch unfold.
The Flying Fifteens chose to sail in the Bay on Sunday after not completing a race on Saturday with Richard Whitworth's GBR 4114 winning both races.
In the VPRS classes, which provides a great low-cost solution for handicap racing, VPRS 1 had a single race with Trevor Annels' 'Red Fox' closing the gap slightly on 'Elevation' raced by Mark Titterington & Hannah Lewis thanks to a win. VPRS 2 is being controlled by Owain Peters and the team on 'Rum Juggernaut' with a 1,2 scoreline in their two races.
The battle for the IRC Southern Championship is shaping up nicely with Sue Browne's 'Astronomix' a point ahead of Toby Gorman's 'Stan the Boat'.
The smaller One Designs on the harbour course arguably enjoyed the best of the conditions, with two races to the west of Brownsea Island before the tide started to rush out.
Megan Pascoe is discarding her third place in the first race of the 2.4mR National Tidal Championship and has put together five wins in a row on her new boat 'Little Miss Esme'.
The R19 class always enjoy tight racing, and Andy Macgregor's 'Ricochet' is currently 3 points ahead of Steve Thompson's 'Roulette' with Nikki Curwen's 'Rastamouse' in third.
The Redwing class is exceptionally close, with the top 3 separated by two points. Victoria Barlow's 'Fortuna' leads with Andy Pearce's 'Rosetta' second and Malcolm Bentley's 'Prawn 2'.
The Shrimpers have a single race each day, alternating direction of a lap around Brownsee Island, with Pauk Cantwell's 'Black Magic' winning both circumnavigations of the island.
The International Paint Poole Regatta is a combined effort of many of the Poole Harbour clubs with social events spread out between them. What this has led to is a kind of friendly one-upmanship, with each club determined to lay on the best evening entertainment.
The winners from this are the competitors! The social side of the event can be enjoyed just as much as the racing in the idyllic surroundings.
It was Poole Yacht Club's turn to host on Sunday, and they pulled out all the stops with plenty of liquid refreshment, dinner, and live entertainment. With the balmy evening temperatures, it was a night to remember.
It's set to be the hottest May day ever recorded in the UK on Monday, so let's hope for a good breeze to come in to provide a great conclusion and decide some of the great contests we're seeing unfold.
Find out more, including the full results, on the official event website, pooleregatta.co.uk.