National Series at Ripon SC

3rd October 2026

The 2026 Ripon Open welcomed 10 boats to the start line with far more gentle winds than last year, almost perfect for the mix of N12s from foiling to vintage. We shared the water with the Northern Enterprise fleet and a small mixed fleet of double handers. We opted to let the Enterprises have the first start, giving the faster N12s a fleet to fight through and clear waters for the vintage N12s.

Philip David joined the ranks of gentlemen sailors by providing boats for others to sail; Em Hampshire had guest helm Chris Hampshire in "Out of the Blue" and Terry & Barbara Spence reliving their N12 past in "Little Meg". Ian & Alex Gore returned this year and we had new visitors, David Harris & Hope Halstead plus Alistair & Rowan Farman. The Wherry's returned, with Philip & Sarah sailing together and son Daniel crewing for Tim Hampshire.

Race one had Tim and Daniel out in the lead until Chris & Em sneaked past followed shortly by Ian & Alex. These two had a chase on until Ian & Alex broke away for their first win of the day. David & Hope built up speed through the race to get 3rd place but could not quite catch Chris and Em. Philip and Sarah, having got their capsize over and done with before the start, had their best result of the day but could not quite catch Tim and their son Daniel. Further back in the fleet Alan Mason & Pete Goodwin were making good progress in their vintage with Terry & Barbara not far behind.

After lunch the Gore's found their stride and had two clear wins to complete a straight 3 win open in the foiling DCB. Chris & Em were never far behind, enjoying the Feeling Foolish's quick tacking to cope with the usual Ripon shifts. Tim & Daniel had worked out how to get the Big Issue going but couldn't make use of its speed to pass and finished the day with two 3rd places. The rest of the fleet saw changes in position for all but Terry & Barbara who finished the day with three 7th places, including being lead vintage in the last race. Neil McInnes & Martin Parrish had a cracking final race coming in close behind Tim & Daniel for 4th, however David & Hope had better results overall to keep ahead of them on points. Alistair and Rowan found their first experience of the Ripon shifts challenging in the Numinous but had some good bursts of speed and gave frequent visitor Angus Beyts a challenge as he gave local new sailor Helen Kilner her first outing in a N12.

After the prize giving, with thanks to Blood Red for the sponsorship, David and Hope plus the Wherry's joined the Hampshire's and a select few double hander crews for an evening meal and social.

Following on from the success of last year, Ripon kept the Double Hander weekend format, allowing people to have two days of sailing and make use of the free camping and club house facilities. From the N12 fleet David & Hope joined in with the Sunday races and were doing well, with a 5th in the pursuit and winning the first handicap race of the afternoon however a disastrous last race saw them pushed back to 4th overall behind one of the visiting Miracles. Chris & Em sailed consistently to win overall, Tim with local junior Felix Fletcher came 2nd overall finishing the day with a commanding win in the last race.