Catapult TT at the Grafham Catamaran Open

2026 Catapult TT Series winner Gareth Ede storms to victory at the Grafham Cat Open © Paul Sanwell / OPP

In a windy finish to the Catapult 2026 season Gareth Ede secured three wins to seal his claim to the Jon Montgomery Travellers Trophy.

Five Catapults entered Grafham Water Sailing Club's Catamaran Open over the weekend of 17-18 October, where they sailed with the Medium Handicap fleet. The races were run over a trapezoid course and began in a stiff and very gusty Force 4 breeze.

Race 1 - This race was effectively a three horse race, as Stuart Ede was late to the starting area and Chris Phillips missed the race entirely. Gareth Ede started behind John Terry and George Evans but in clear air to windward of them. This proved to be a significant advantage that enabled him to round the windward mark first. Over the following laps he increased his lead to two and a half minutes over John who in turn had a minute and a half advantage over George.

Race 2 - Stuart was first off the line only to be overtaken by John, and then Gareth up the first beat. John led for the first lap, but Gareth put his trapezing skills to good effect to take the lead up the second beat. He then increased his lead on the downwind legs and over the next lap to win by nearly three minutes from John. Meanwhile George, who had overtaken Stuart on the third beat, came in another half minute back with a further half minute margin over Stuart.

Race 3 - Chris launched to take part in Race 3, but unfortunately capsized when gybing before the start. The boat blew away from him, so he had to be rescued. When finally reunited with his boat he headed for the shore having become thoroughly chilled and exhausted.

Soon after the start Gareth was leading up the beat, and the race became processional with John in second place and George in third. Stuart, who had lost his wind indicator in the previous race, struggled to find the right line up the beat and subsequently lost ground to the others. By the finish Gareth was just over a minute and a half ahead of John who in turn was another minute and a half ahead of George. Meanwhile Stuart had made up sufficient ground on the leaders to claim a first on personal handcap.

Race 4 - The wind increased significantly going well into Force 5 with even stronger gusts. It was subsequently learnt that the occasional gust peaked at 30 knots. On the fast cat course the decision was taken not to run a fourth race. And on the medium handicap course the fleet was much depleted, as several helms decided to head for the shore. Gareth with the luxury of three wins under his belt also decided the conditions were rather too much and baled out half way up the first beat.

That left John in the lead from George and Stuart. The reaches in the preceding races had been exciting, but now they became potentially very risky. John buried his bows a couple of times and on a third occasion very narrowly avoided a pitchpole when the water came half way up his trampoline. On the second beat George was able to round the windward mark ahead of John who had had to avoid an obstructive short tacking boat. John was hard on George's tail as they headed for the finish. When George tacked for the line, he struggled to do so cleanly in the strong winds, which allowed John to take advantage and snatch the win on the line by just 4 seconds.

This proved to be the last race of the Catapult TT, because the next day most of the helms were suffering from the after effects of their strenuous efforts of the day before, and so they decided that they were not in a fit state to take on the continuing windy conditions. Only Gareth sailed in the last two races along with a much reduced Medium Handicap fleet, finishing a commendable fifth overall.

Jon Montgomery Travellers Trophy (level rating) Results:

This was the sixth and last event in the Catapult Travellers Trophy, in which Gareth Ede won all six, thus consolidating his hold on the Jon Montgomery Trophy. John Terry was second in the series with five race wins and a very consistent string of second places. An almost equally consistent performance by George Evans secured him third place in the series.

Alastair Forrest Personal Handicap Trophy Results:

The Catapult Class Association runs a Personal Handicap Series in parallel with the TT Series, using t he same elapsed times but applying each helm's personal rating that is adjusted every year. The results at Grafham were as follows:

There had been a close fought battle between George Evans and Stuart Ede at the top of the Personal Handicap Series leader board throughout the season. Stuart went into Grafham with a narrow two point lead, so the potential outcome was wide open. However, Stuart performed sufficiently well to clock up three wins that secured him the Alastair Forrest Trophy for 2026. George had to settle for second in the series, while John claimed third overall.

Three wins at the Grafham Cat Open helped Stuart Ede claim the 2026 Catapult Personal Handicap Trophy - photo © John Hunter