Firefly Itchenor Burgee 2026
by Alex Baxter 30 Jun 12:26 UTC
27-28 June 2026
Eighty years on the same lawn
Eighty years ago, on the very lawn where this year we gathered with our glasses of rosé, the Firefly was born. A group of International 14 sailors had set themselves a simple ambition: to create a dinghy that younger sailors would love, one that was uncomplicated and easy to build. From that idea Charles Currey went to Uffa Fox, and between them the Firefly took shape. The first boats cost just £65 apiece, and the very first four were bought by Sir Geoffrey Loules, Commodore of Itchenor Sailing Club, who christened them Fe, Fi, Fo and Fum.
That is the history of our class, and the Itchenor Burgee honours it. The silver burgee itself is modelled on the burgee and the spiral staircase of Itchenor Sailing Club, a reminder that our story and this club's are inseparably intertwined in our 80th anniversary year. It is precisely why coming back here means so much to us.
That sense of continuity was made wonderfully real on Saturday evening, when Mime Currey (1968), the class's first female national champion, and daughter of one of its founders, told how her father and others had pioneered the boat on this very water. The moment she caught sight of Nigel Wakefield, she went straight to him with a single question: "How is my boat?" meaning, of course, Tip Top Too.
Following the week's record heatwave, the Firefly fleet descended on the wonderful Itchenor Sailing Club for round 7 of the Craftinsure Vines Series, competing for the Itchenor Burgee. Chichester Harbour duly served up two days that could hardly have been less alike. Around thirty Firefly's made the trip, and across eight races the one true constant was the tide.
Saturday: light, sunny, and more tide than you could shake a big stick at!
Day one was warm and gentle, the sort of soft sunshine that flatters everyone until the gun goes. With little breeze to hold the fleet back, the flooding tide carried boat after boat over the line early, and the start sequence became a recurring feature of the day rather than a formality. Race two was the worst of it, pushing a cluster of teams to the wrong side of the line, before everyone learned to manage their timed runs a bit better.
With short beats and long downwind legs, the racing became a long game of downwind cat & mouse. Trying to keep clear air, and gauging how much extra distance was worth taking on the run to get to a bank, to dodge the tide, before timing the breakaway back into the flow to get round the leeward mark and back on the escalator. Turns out it's much harder to catch the buoy on your rudder when it's a round up that a bear away with all of the fleet managing to avoid the dreaded "hook of shame" this year!
Jono & Freddie Pank, sailing Pogie set the tone with a win in race one from Mark & Bea Tait in Dido and Will Pank & Ekin Aksehirli in 2025.
Alex & Stella Davey in Mustard took race two while Pogie, Jenny Smallwood & Phil Aldous in Squabbling Phoenix, Dido and Nigel Wakefield & Naomi Richards in Tip Top Too all crossed the line to silence, promoting Guy Davison & Sally Wakefield in Dillion to 2nd and Will & Ekin in "2025" picking up another 3rd.
Tom & Rosie Davey in Pooh claimed race three from Tip Top Too with Alex Smallwood & Issy Bretherton in Cynthia claiming the final podium spot.
Cynthia grabbed the lead again in race 4 till the final downwind when the inshore line paid out to the chasing group, catapulting Pogie into the lead at the right moment to take the win from Will & Ekin in "2025", Mustard in 3rd and Cynthia 4th.
The fleet retired to a fabulous evening at the Itchenor clubhouse for an early evening curry, an apre-sail DJ banging out tunes in the garden & quite a lot of re-hydrating.
We were also overjoyed to be accompanied by some other Firefly legends. With former national champions Dave and Nicky Debby (1992, 1991, 1988, 1987, 1980) and Steve and Lynne MacQueen (1986), who raced on Saturday, joining us to reminisce on the class's 80th birthday. There were a mere 21 race wins between the four of them. We had the great joy of taking a photo of all former national champions in attendance over the weekend.
As the evening progressed, a very brief but quite exciting thunderstorm saw the crowd scatter, the DJ take up residence inside & the clubhouse transformed into more of a nightclub vibe. England's vital World Cup game kicked off at 10pm for the diehards in the corner, then the fleet then moved onto the fabulous hospitality of "Camp Patterson" for the second half. Older folk retiring, whilst the more adventurous took on the tepid tub & a rogue bottle of rum!
Some of the fleet had noted the very generous offering of 3 discards from the 8 scheduled races, leading to a very open regatta that favoured the gamblers vs the more consistent approach.
Sunday: proper wind!
If Saturday rewarded patience, Sunday demanded commitment. The breeze arrived with real intent, bright sunshine over a building wind that continued to build through the day, with the tide. The beats were short, sharp and choppy, whilst the downwind legs became more and more exciting with every lap!
The ebbing tide once again made the stars a challenge, and with the fleet pushing hard, the race officer worked through a run of recalls & flag combinations before the black flag finally came out to bring everyone back into line.
The Davyes struck first in Mustard, taking race five from Will & Ekin in "2025" and Sunday's new and very rapid team, Rob & Mel Sherrington in Iris.
Pogie grabbed another win in race six from Squabbling Phoenix, with Alice, Lucy & Ben Tylecote in Normandy in 3rd.
Will & Ekin in "2025" snagged their first win of the weekend in race 7, just edging Pogie on the finish line with early race leader Alex Baxter & Georgia Evans in Atlanta taking third.
The final race saw 15-year-old current "Marlow" champions Arthur & Doug Pattison in Frolic take and hold the lead for the first two laps despite mounting pressure from the chasing pack. The Panks eventually overhauled them on the final downwind before Iris "hiked them" on the final beat. Frolic held on for an impressive 4th in some pretty testing conditions.
Overall: Panks at the top, Daveys close behind
Pogie's regatta was a study in grabbing the lead at the right moment, four race wins and a second to count once the (many) discards were applied. Leaving Jono and Freddie Pank (very flatteringly) clear on six points. William Pank and Ekin Aksehirli took second (discarding a 3rd), with a consistent scorecard that would have won most regattas. Alex and Stella Davey were third with two race wins to their name, and Tom and Rosie Davey completed a Davey three and four. Jenny Smallwood and Philip Aldhous sailed a solid series for fifth in Squabbling Phoenix.
Special mention to Rob and Mel Sherrington, who sailed only the Sunday and posted a tidy 3, 5, 6, 3 in the heavy stuff, and to newcomers Ben Whaley and Isobel Stewart, sailing the Ovington Demo boat for the weekend who missed Saturday entirely yet came out swinging on day two, crossing the fleet off the start TWICE, scoring a 4,5,8 as well as discovering that fireflies don't just skip over waves downhill therefore the boom needs a little more persuasion in a windy gybe.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Pogie | 1954 | Jono Pank | Freddie Pank | 1 | (OCS) | ‑11 | 1 | ‑8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | F 2025 | 2025 | William Pank | Ekin Aksehirli | ‑3 | 3 | ‑10 | 2 | 2 | ‑4 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | Mustard | 2649 | Alex Davey | Stella Davey | ‑7 | 1 | ‑7 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | ‑9 | 18 |
| 4 | Pooh | 1384 | Tom Davey | Rosie Davey | 5 | ‑10 | 1 | ‑8 | 4 | 7 | ‑9 | 5 | 22 |
| 5 | Squabblig Phoenix | 3625 | Jenny Smallwood | Philip Aldhous | 6 | (OCS) | 5 | 5 | ‑12 | 2 | ‑10 | 6 | 24 |
| 6 | Cynthia | 4400 | Alex Smallwood | Izzy Bretherton | 4 | ‑8 | 3 | 4 | ‑14 | 8 | 8 | ‑10 | 27 |
| 7 | Normady | 2457 | Alice Lucy | Ben Tylecote | ‑12 | 4 | 6 | ‑10 | 9 | 3 | ‑13 | 7 | 29 |
| 8 | Dido | 498 | Mark Tait | Beatrice Tait | 2 | (OCS) | 9 | 6 | ‑15 | 10 | 5 | ‑12 | 32 |
| 9 | Dillon | 3318 | Guy Davison | Sally Wakefield | ‑13 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 9 | ‑14 | (DNC) | 34 |
| 10 | Tip Top Too | 3007 | Nigel Wakefield | Naomi Richards | 8 | (OCS) | 2 | 7 | 6 | ‑11 | 11 | (DNC) | 34 |
| 11 | Atalanta | 2089 | Alex Baxter | Georgia Evans | 10 | 5 | ‑15 | ‑14 | 7 | ‑16 | 3 | 11 | 36 |
| 12 | Frolic | 2550 | Arthur Pattison | Rue De La Haye | ‑14 | 9 | 12 | 11 | ‑17 | ‑13 | 12 | 4 | 48 |
| 13 | Bonkers | 2065 | Jason Aldous | Josephine Mason | 11 | 6 | 8 | ‑12 | 11 | 12 | ‑25 | ‑13 | 48 |
| 14 | ‑ | 3617 | Rob Sherrington | Mel Sherrington | (DNC) | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 49 |
| 15 | Silly Goose | 3820 | Thomas Wildman | Annabel | 9 | 7 | 16 | (OCS) | 13 | 14 | ‑19 | ‑17 | 59 |
| 16 | Firefly | 4049 | Callum Farnded | Robbie Hudson | 15 | 11 | 13 | 15 | (DNC) | ‑23 | ‑18 | 14 | 68 |
| 17 | The Brave | 6 | Max Sydenham | Sam Lacey | ‑16 | 14 | (OCS) | 13 | ‑16 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 71 |
| 18 | Class Demo | 4500 | Ben Whaley | Isobel Stewart | (DNF) | (DNS) | (DNS) | DNS | 5 | 27 | 4 | 8 | 76 |
| 19 | Rock Paper Scissors | 4465 | Jonathon Bickford | Rachel Crebbin | 17 | 13 | 17 | 16 | ‑19 | ‑24 | 17 | ‑21 | 80 |
| 20 | 51 | 51 | Toby Sherrington | Oliver Monger | 18 | (DNF) | 14 | 17 | ‑23 | ‑21 | 21 | 20 | 90 |
Vines Series and Top Stick
The Burgee counts toward the 2026 Craftinsure Vines Series and the Top Stick standings for best crew.
Vines Series, leading positions after Round 7:
1. Jono Pank & various crews
2. Jenny Smallwood & Philip Aldhous
3. Jason Aldous & Josephine Mason
4. Alex Baxter & various crews
5. Guy Davison & Sally Wakefield
6. Nigel Wakefield & Emily Saunderson
Top Stick, leading crews:
1. Philip Aldhous
2. Georgia Evans
3. Josephine Mason
4. Rachel Crebbin
5. Freddie Pank
Thanks
Thanks as ever to the race officer and the volunteer team at Itchenor Sailing Club for managing two such different days with patience and good humour, to the galley for keeping the fleet fed and watered, and to everyone who travelled down to make it a proper turnout.
Next up: Tenby and the 80th Anniversary Nationals
Next on the calendar is the big one. The 80th Anniversary Tideway Firefly National Championships run at Tenby Sailing Club from 8 to 14 August, and with only eight places left the entry list is all but full. If you have been thinking about it, now is the moment to commit before the door closes.
To celebrate its 80th Anniversary, the NFA is raffling F4444. A race-ready Ovington Firefly, with Selden spars, Hyde Sails and covers and a Sailboat Trailers launching trolley.
Tickets are earned & cannot be bought. They are issued to both helm's and crews racing in the 2026 Nationals, Vines Series events or by racing at your home club.
Full terms are on the class website and you must opt in at forms.gle/MSeCVBpEpvcyQp1v7 by 14 November to validate your tickets.
The draw takes place at the 80th Anniversary Dinner at the Royal Thames Yacht Club on Saturday 21 November.
The 2026 Craftinsure Vines Series is proudly supported by Craftinsure. The National Firefly Class Association's named sponsor is Tideway Wealth. All results and entry information: www.fireflyclass.co.uk
#jointheswarm #FireflyAt80 #VinesSeries @Craftinsure