The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham on Crouch proved to be a perfect venue for the 2026 Allen Snipe Class National Championship; great sailing, camping and amazing hospitality.

Guy Marks and Sam Boniface made Friday their own! The conditions were very tricky with the light to medium winds flicking between the gradient and sea breeze directions with the added complication of the tidal stream – some difficult strategic decisions needed to be made. Guy and Sam were the only sailors who managed a consistent set of three decent results. After winning race one and adding a fourth and second they were very popular leaders after day one.

Matthew Wolstenholme and Elichi Higuchi showed their potential with a win in race two but also scored two tenth places.

A delighted Mike Warwicker and Kate Fitzsimmons won race three which was sailed ahead of schedule to take advantage of the wind as the forecast looked quite dodgy for day three.

Snipes are heavy boats and the fleet showed great team spirit helping each other up the steep ramp cheerfully assisted by club members. After a tricky day, a superb Curry night overlooking the sunset on the river Crouch followed by some flamboyant gambling in the horse racing social. Serious sailing, serious fun!!

A slow start to Saturday with a light and unstable wind meant the first race was quickly abandoned by Edwin, the Race officer, who decided a much better option would be to wait for the wind to fill in. Sure enough a moderate Easterly wind built up to allow 3 races in Champagne sailing conditions with wind gusting over 20 knots and brilliant sunshine.

The major decision for the sailors was whether to head for the choppy North shore of the River Crouch or the flatter water on the South shore. Mathew and Elichi had a high work rate in the breeze and secure two race wind while Joe Warwicker and Andy service took the other first place of the day. With the tide pushing boats over the start line several boats fell foul to the U flag on the various starts one of which was Guy and Sam the leaders from day on.

At the end of day two with six excellent races completed Matthew and Joe were on equal points with one race remaining.

The Snipe class is known for its huge diversity with young, old, male and female crews all competing. Together they enjoyed a delicious three course meal with class chairman Brian Gregory thanking the RCYC who stood in at short notice to host the championship. This was followed by some random Karaoke singing, one notable exception was Jame Prestwich who as it happens has a great voice!

Day three – absolutely flat calm – an onshore postponement with everyone hoping for a final race so that a decisive champion could be crowned.

Patience paid off and Edwin finally noticed the sea breeze slowly building and sent the fleet out onto the water. Peter Wolstenholme and Lloyd Roberts who were improving rapidly after an unusually bad day one, won the four-lap race. But a little further down the fleet was where the battle for the Championship was taking place. Matthew crossed the finish line in forth with Joe in hot pursuit in fifth meaning Matthew and Elichi had won the regatta by a single point.

A special mention and winners of the John Love friendship trophy were our furthest travelled sailors Ewan and Lee from the Orkney fleet. I believe it was the most sunshine they had ever seen and Ewan’s legs ended up a lovely shade of pink to prove it!

It was also great to see the three Royer Siblings from Belgium join the sailing with Ellen Royer crewed by Eric Paalman winning the Sue Roberts lady helm trophy.

Tim Tavinor won the Oldies trophy in 3rd place overall and proved that local knowledge is not always helpful by regularly sailing to the “wrong shore”

Also thanks to the event sponsors Allen for providing lots of goodies and prizes and Highland Park whisky.

Click the link to see all results https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/298950/Allen-Snipe-UK-Nationals-at-Burnham-on-Crouch

Overall, a great time was had by all.

Thanks to Kay Tavinor for the Report and Roger Mant for the photos