National 18 Championships at Brightlingsea SC 22-25th August 2025
Published 12:19 on 30 Aug 2025
Over the bank holiday weekend, the Optimus Prime crew of Matt PJ, Kaan Yargici and Matt Valentine headed over to Essex to race in the National 18 UK & Ireland Championships at Brightlingsea SC.
It was the best attended Championships in recent years. We had 15 of the newest Ultra National 18s in attendance including visiting boats from as far afield as Cork, the Isle of Man and Findhorn competing with some seriously hot shot crews. The winning boat, Shotgunn skippered by Michael Wilson of the Isle of Man had the gold-medal winning 49er crew from the Tokyo Olympics and SailGP sailor Stuart Bithell onboard as mainsheet and spinnaker trimmer! A bit further back in the fleet, Optimus Prime felt very pleased that we'd managed at least one open water training session since last year's Champs in Findhorn. And the Ace crew of Ollie Houseman, Steve Watton (subbed by Tammy all-time legend Jeremy Vines on the windy Monday!) and Ed Eeles were similarly challenged a bit further up the fleet.
What made the weekend all the more special was that Brightlingsea SC had teamed the National 18s up with the National 12s to host 2x class championships over the same weekend. So we had some 40+ boats on the water and the Race Officer team did a really excellent job coordinating the racing to make sure that neither fleet interfered with other too much out on the race course.
On the Friday, the sailors had a tough time as the light breeze shifted 180 degrees from South to North and back again; with in the first race, the lead boat getting a finishing gun at the top mark before the second boat had even rounded the leeward mark - that's a huge distance on an N18 Championship course. The second race proved equally challenging and then as we waited for the wind to settle again we were treated to a fantastic display by the Red Arrows. They were flying loop-the-loops off the beach round the corner at the Clacton Air Show - no doubt welcoming the Reform Party leader back to his local constituency for a rare visit! Then by the third race, we had the wind building to 20 knots and the sun shining brightly for some classic champagne sailing that's a regular feature in this part of Essex. Evening entertainment was sea shanties by local group the Motley Crew, beer and double quantities of lasagne and garlic bread. The volunteers at Brightlingsea SC really know how to look after hungry sailors extremely well.
That set the template for the rest of the long weekend. Great sailing, sunshine and cracking good entertainment. On the Saturday, we had three more races and a Caribbean theme party with lashings of White Formula family punch and an amazing steel band. On the Sunday, two races, Class Dinner at the Colne YC, guitars and singing, including the inevitable "Paddy McGinty's Goat"; those of you who've attended National 18 Champs in the past will know what that's all about! And then on the Monday, more champagne sailing all day with a further three races in 20-25 knots of wind and Prize Giving and Fish and Chips on the beach while watching the sun go down and chatting with new-found and long-time friends.
Exhausted, smiling and with boats and bodies just about still in one piece we made the short journey home!
More photos https://www.davewhite.photography/History/2025/Whiteformula
Event report: Matt PJ
Last updated 12:31 on 30 August 2025