Shaking off the salt: SB20 UK charge into 2026 season
- May 8
- 4 min read
The 2026 sailing season for our Class started at the Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship in sunny, skilful, sometimes soggy style.
After a long winter wait, the SB20 UK fleet officially burst back onto the Solent this April for the reimagined Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship. The 2026 season brought a fresh energy to the traditional series, moving away from the old six-week slog in favour of a condensed, high-intensity format that proved a hit with local and traveling teams alike including new teams from Northampton and Marconi SC.
A new era for the Warsash Spring Series
The move to late April was a calculated gamble for better weather and it paid off
handsomely. By shortening the series to 14 races over back-to-back weekends (April 18–19th and 25–26th), the Warsash Sailing Club made it easier than ever for visiting boats to join the fray.
"One of the things we've offered for visitors is space available in our dinghy park," - noted Warsash SC’s Commodore Roger Cerrato. - "If it was still a six-week series, there’s no way we could facilitate that. Some sailors come down from North Wales, and now they’ve got somewhere they can leave the boat rigged between weekends.”
While other classes struggled with entry numbers, the SB20 fleet remained a cornerstone of the "White Group," delivering tactical and tightly contested racing of the championship.
Warsash Spring Championship - Weekend 1: The tactical tussle
The first weekend saw a modest, but fiercely competitive fleet grappling with shifting breezes blowing from Southampton Water. Precision was the name of the game, as early report showed - just one point separating the heavyweights at the top.
Mark Gillett’s PBII Twenty and Charlie Whelan’s Reservoir Bod picked up right where they left off last season, engaging in a high-stakes game of chess across the racecourse. Behind them, Andy Williams’s Great White Lies showed impressive pace to snatch an early second place, sparking a series-long duel with the Nee-family’s Boomerang.
Warsash Spring Championship - Weekend 2: Sunshine, speed and a chilly swim
The second weekend delivered the "champagne sailing" everyone had been waiting for: 9–13 knots of wind and glorious sunshine and strong tides. However, it wasn't without a drama. In a moment of true presidential dedication, Charlie Whelan took an "unexpected chilly swim” to untangle the leeward mark’s anchor line from Resevoir Bod’s keel while leading Race 8. Thanks to the expert work from the Warsash SC’s rib crews, a replacement mark was laid mid-race and the action didn't skip a beat.
Mark Gillett and his team on PBII Twenty found an extra gear, utilising the return of
Richard Anderton to find an extra click of boat speed as they and Reservoir Bod sought to find a precious boat length here and there.
"Starts were less important; staying close upwind and working the modes downwind was the secret," - Mark reflected. - “We managed five first places over the second weekend to round out the trophy collection”.
Charlie Whelan added: “It was great to see new Class entrant Issac Marsh win his first Class race and Mark was deservedly awarded the perennial Founder's Salver for best non-ITC (independent owner-driver) performance.”
The UK Class President went on to say
“Despite my boxer-short-only April Solent swim it was a brilliant warm up event”, - full of praise for the event, Charlie commented about the reshaped Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship.
"The competition through the fleet was much sharper than the results show. Racing against Mark is always a battle of inches and, while I might have provided the weekend’s entertainment, the real highlight was the incredible event organisation from the Warsash SC! 14 brilliant races in tricky conditions for the PRO and her team with quick turnarounds – what more could we ask for?"
To have the boats rigged and ready in an easy environment is exactly what our Class are looking for. This was the perfect warm-up for the summer! And if this is the level we are seeing in April, the Rovika 2026 UK Nationals in July (with more than 30 boats already entered) it is going to be spectacular with more than 40 of us on the Vakaros startline, including entries from Australia, Singapore, France and Belgium.
"I urge everyone to get their entries in now," - warned Charlie, - "you don’t want to miss the Nationals and Cowes Week double header this summer!”
The Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship championship served as a vital qualifier for the Solent and UK National series. With the Southern Area Championships this coming weekend at Royal Southern YC and the Rovika UK Nationals at the Royal London YC in Cowes looming in July, the road to the World Championships in Hyères is officially.
“We will be back with the Henri-Lloyd Warsash Spring Championship next year and expect a sizeable fleet as we scale up for a 100+ boat 2027 World Championships that will be hosted by the amazing Royal Torquay Yacht Club,” - Charlie concluded.
Full Event Results: Click here for the SB20 Results Summary
Photo credits: © Kathryn Clark / Warsash Sailing Club
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