Weston Sailing Club Catamaran Open

Weston SC attracted 28 catamarans for its annual Catamaran Open Meeting, held this year in June, instead of its September date of previous years. The 52 sailors were treated to stunning conditions, with 30°C temperatures, wall-to-wall sunshine and Solent sea breezes throughout the weekend - a great demonstration of the fun, friendly UK catamaran racing scene!

High tide times in the afternoon allowed for a leisurely morning of rigging, pitching tents and catching up with friends - with a steady 15 knots blowing by the time the fleet headed afloat at 12:30. With wind blowing directly onshore, PRO Tim Johnson positioned the windward leeward course directly in front of the club, giving onshore supporters fantastic spectator viewing of the leeward mark just 100m from the shore!

2025 Weston Sailing Club Catamaran Open - photo © James Willmott

The Slow Handicap fleet, comprising Shearwaters and two local Dart 18s, started first, followed five minutes later by the Fast Handicap fleet. The latter featured a diverse range of asymmetric catamarans, from the fully foiling Nacra F20 FCS to the youth Nacra 15 class. The tight course made for some exciting racing - Nigel & Sarah Stuart leading Race 1 by over a minute from local Shearwater duo of Pete & Joshua Jary in the Slow fleet. In the Fast fleet, the two leading F18s of Will & Megan Smith and Adam Piggott & Reece Webb were separated at the front by just 22 seconds - both in modern Windrush 'Edge' designs with decksweeper mainsails.

The race committee quickly turned around races to ensure the full four race schedule was achieved, with Slow fleet race wins spread across three different boats across the day. Just one point separated the Top 3 Shearwaters overnight, with Nigel & Sarah leading from Pete & Josh, followed closely by Mark Norman & Catherine Tulley. Special mention also to sibling team Reuben & William Stuart, scoring 3rd in Race 2 - only Reuben's second race helming a Shearwater!

2025 Weston Sailing Club Catamaran Open - photo © James Willmott

In the fast fleet, several general recalls and U-Flag starts interfered with the scorelines of some of the top competitors - William & Megan Smith denied a day of straight bullets by a UFD score in Race 2. Only the Nacra F20 Carbon semi-foilers could top the speed of the lead F18s - locals Grant Piggott & Jon Cotgreave consistently leading on the water. Ben Harris & Tom Parkhurst sailing a Hurricane 5.9SX had a consistent day counting three 4th places, whilst the young Nacra 15 teams of Marcus King & Maddy Jinks and Patrick Hill & Jess Patterson enjoyed the building breeze to each take impressive podium results on corrected time in Races 2 and 3 respectively.

By the time of the final start for both fleets the wind was gusting in excess of 20 knots, making for some challenging windward mark roundings, but all sailors returned ashore smiling after four action packed races! Morven and the Bespoke Dining catering team, supported by several volunteers (persuaded by free beer!), laid on a fantastic event BBQ - sailors and families enjoying the evening sunshine on the Weston SC patio, before moving into the clubhouse where music (and something resembling dancing...) continued into the evening.

2025 Weston Sailing Club Catamaran Open - photo © Nathan Ezra-Steffenoni

Despite another great forecast, Sunday morning saw much more cloud than anticipated - with doubts over whether the sun could break through the cloud and humidity to generate a seabreeze. At start time, the race area was still glassy, although with sun now breaking though. Eager to get the scheduled two races in, Tim Johnson and the Race Committee made the call to drop the AP flag ashore - a decision quickly justified by the 8-12 knots which had filled the course by the time the first race got under way!

In the slow fleet, Mark Norman and Catherine Tulley showed that experience counts in the lighter breeze to take both of the day's race wins, again followed closely by Pete & Joshua Jary who added another pair of 2nd place results to their super consistent scoreline. Local Dart 18 sailor Mark Baker took advantage of the gradual left hand shift to win the pin on both starts, capitalising on the accelerating breeze along the Netley shore and certainly making life harder for the Shearwaters!

2025 Weston Sailing Club Catamaran Open - photo © James Willmott

This trend continued in the Fast fleet, with local boats often leading off the pin and into the beach. The efficient decksweeper rigs of the F18's kept them in the mix in the drag race to the shore, however it was again the Nacra F20 of Piggott & Cotgreave - fully powered up in 10-12 knots - who were able to extend a healthy lead in both races. The light-weight single-handed Shadow X of Thomas Leather took full advantage of the lighter conditions to mix amongst the faster Hurricane 5.9SX and Spitfires, scoring an impressive 4th on handicap in Race 5. A shorter course of approx. 0.5 NM allowed for plenty of close racing, and ensured there was time for the final race to get under way before the 16:00 time limit.

The more localised SE seabreeze now in full effect, the fleet enjoyed a building breeze throughout the final race to finish with some high-pace, twin-wiring action in a steady 15 knots and glistening water directly in front of the club. After two great races, all sailors returned ashore to 30 degreesC for a warm packup!

2025 Weston Sailing Club Catamaran Open - photo © Anne Willmott

Overall results in both fleets were exceptionally close, with Grant Piggott & Jon Cotgreave just one point behind the two lead F18s - Will & Megan Smith taking the Fast Handicap fleet win on countback from Adam Piggott & Reece Webb. In the Slow Handicap fleet, a strong final day saw Mark Norman & Catherine Tulley take the overall win by one point from Pete & Joshua Jary, with Nigel & Sarah Stuart in third.

Weston SC awarded a perpetual trophy - 'The Smoker Compass' - to local youth sailor Marcus King. The trophy was historically awarded to the best youth sailor in the club, but has not been awarded since 2017. As Nacra 15 National Champion last season and finishing first U18 competitor in this event, it seemed fitting to award the trophy to Marcus. The club looks forward to continuing the tradition and recognising the achievements of its youth members in the years ahead.

2025 Weston Sailing Club Catamaran Open - photo © James Willmott

The prize-giving, generously supported by Grant & Lindsay of GP Sails, recognised results from fourth to first in both fleets, as well as thanking the Race Committee (lead by Tim Johnson) and safety boat volunteers for providing two perfect days of racing! Special thanks were also given to event organisers Olly Harris & Chris King, the bar team of Gerry Sewell & Claire Stubbs (supported by several other volunteers), Morven Brown and her Bespoke Dining team for their great catering, and to the Buckley family for use of their yacht 'Gracor' as a committee boat and their race management support throughout the weekend.

The event was a fantastic demonstration of the welcoming, friendly community surrounding the catamaran racing scene in the UK. It is great to see plenty of talented young sailors pushing hard in the RYA Youth Multihull Nacra 15 class, whilst the high-tech F18s and Nacra F20s show what's possible with the latest innovations and development. It's equally great to see a number of older designs offering excellent value for money - the ever present Shearwater fleet always a great example of this, as well as the Spitfires and Hurricane 5.9SX who showed that 25+ year old boats can still provide fast, fun double-handed catamaran sailing at an affordable price point!

Huge thanks to everyone who put time and effort into organising, supporting and attending the event - all contributing to a perfect weekend both on and off the water!

Overall Results: