Lowestoft Sea Week 2026 at the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club
by Jenny and Bryan Riley 24 Aug 08:27 UTC
16-20 August 2026
A glorious Sea Week, hosted by the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club, was enjoyed from Sunday to Thursday by at least 60 sailors in Squibs and Broads One Designs.
Visitors from USA, Sweden and Finland joined the mostly Broadland sailors who came from clubs at Barton, Oulton and Wroxham Broads as well as Waldringfield.
Courses were set inside the sandbank for four of the races and the other six were set outside the bank when the wind turned Westerly. The tide was most helpful in taking the fleets to the starting area and after two races back-to-back, brought them quickly back home. With the tradition of Sea Week going back 100 years, there were some splendid silver trophies to be won.
As usual for Sea Week, the courses were varied and the winds were of every strength and direction, making course setting a challenge for the Race Officers, Bryan and Jenny Riley, and providing a true test of skill for the competitors. Competition was very close in both the 15 strong BOD Fleet as well as the smaller Squib Fleet. Final results were only decided on the last day.
The organisers were encouraged by the increasing number of young helms and crews, reflecting the youth programmes and keen young members at all the Broadland Clubs. The Club has an enthusiastic Race Support Team which contributed greatly to the success of the week. RNSYC members are making headway in promoting keel boat sailing as a way forward to keeping the tradition of racing at sea alive on our part of the East Coast.
Overall Results: