Charlie Matthews wins the Blaze Nationals, at Lee-on-the-Solent Sailing Club, over the weekend of 12 – 14 of June 2026.

Six Corinthians (and friends) boats made the trip down to Lee-on-the-Solent, for the 2026 edition of the Blaze Nationals and the 30th celebration of the class. All six boats placed in the top half of the final results table, with Charlie Matthews getting the very top.

The Friday weather made the safety crews work on full throttle and after a few breakages, luckily not for Burnham boats, the race officer cancelled the racing for the day. Rumour goes that Malcolm Hutchings was one of the few that didn’t capsize on the day.

The Saturday brought sunshine and calmer winds, allowing the Race Officer to run the already scheduled 3 races and an extra one.

Charlie had an incredible day, with a win in the opening race, followed by a 4th, a 2nd and a 5th in the extra race, however, Alan Harris-Guerrero – Porthpean SC and Christian Smart – Pembrokeshire Yacht Club kept the pressure on, finishing the day draw on points and one point behind, respectively.

Sunday brought almost dead calm and after a class vote, it was decided to try a race at midday, when the wind was forecasted to fill in. A few competitors left early, a few others decided to wait on the water, yet still left before the race, but after an excruciating wait, the race was on.

Charlie was first at the windward mark, battling with the young Mark Ripley – Paignton SC, and had to eventually contend with the second spot, more than enough for the championship win and a celebratory dip in the water.

Malcolm Hutchings, in what could be the last appearance at a Blaze National Championship, had a very decent regatta, with two sixes in the first day and top half positions in the rest of the races, narrowly missing the top ten overall.

Alex Porteous not only took the smart decision of not even trying to brave the Friday weather, but finished comfortably in 20th place overall and brought back, yet again, the trophy for the first lady, beating, between others, the Mean Green Machine – multi championship winning boat.

Stone SC based, yet regular face at the Corinthian, Trevor Bawden, seemed to enjoy the racing on Saturday, not so much the calm on Sunday and finished 22nd overall, with the strategic early departure allowing him to skip the rush hour.

The nimble stature and, maybe an unfamiliar boat, made the regatta a bit tricky for Keith Gilmore, yet, the Sunday’s light conditions played to his strengths and he scored a well deserved 5th place in the last race, finishing 24th overall.

Driving a multi championship winning boat, Nick Tolhurst was destined for greatness and the stars seemed to align with a top five result in the first race on the water, apart from that tiny detail of being UDF. This along with a DNC in the last race, after still waiting afloat for what seemed like an eternity, meant Nick finished 26th overall, still top half.

Full results: https://www.lossc.org.uk/results/untitled-89