Shoreham Sailing Club to host the 2026 Hornet UK National Championship
by John Shelton 30 Apr 16:09 UTC
29 August – 1 September 2026
Entries are now rolling in for the Hornet Championship to be held from 29th August to 1st September. This popular south coast club is probably better known for its Merlin infestation, but Shoreham has a long history in Hornet racing, the boat almost being designed for open sea racing and lovely waves.
Indeed, Sussex YC, up the river, was known as Hornet Fleet #15 back in the day, and the roll call on the honours board reads like a who’s who of sailing generally. The last time the championship was held at Shoreham was back in 1984 and was won by local boys Peter Bennett and Giles Weston in “IXth Life” – a boat built from a kit by Kipper Stodel of the dynasty that produced Paralympian Hannah Stodel. Peter can still be found at the club, but now retired to the back of a Wayfarer.
In those days, to be quick you had to have Harken muscle boxes, mainsheet hoops, high crew decks (the bane of trapeze crews everywhere), Kevlar string, 57mm mainsheet ratchets and black & white photos.
These days, you’ll find all the normal laminate sails, carbon stuff, Dyneema everywhere, and nice clean side tank layouts a la Scorpion. In fact, it has been said that the Hornet is a grownup Scorpion, but we prefer to say the Scorpion is a good trainer for the Hornet!
In addition, we now have bigger spinnakers, and looong spinnaker poles, taking the PY into 950 territory. The Hornet was always Jack Holt’s favourite design, with its “slim easily driven hull” which requires respect both upwind and down.
Several boats have come out of the woodwork for the championship, and many have undergone renovation and conversion to the new layout. FRP, epoxy and wooden boats compete on an even keel and many past champions are expected to attend, such as Michael Macnamara, Dick Garry, Terry Curtis, Chris Bines and even Strangler with his aptly named epoxy machine “Dog’s Pollocks” (you have to see the colour scheme to understand!). Current champion Nathan Batchelor is also slated to defend his title.
A full programme of events is planned, including a black tie dinner at Sussex YC – I may have fibbed a bit about the black, and almost certainly about the tie, but a bigly event is planned. After all, Sussex YC was the venue where Terry Wade’s Hornet was put on top of a wooden pile in the harbour and was subsequently found six metres above the mud at low tide.
Sheltered launching is from the new slipway in the harbour at any state of the tide, and on turning right, you’ll find some of the best sea sailing in the country. The tides are nice and simple. The water goes one way, and, er, then goes the other way, and spring tides have been organised for the weekend. This also means that the tide is in for the families to enjoy the lovely beach at the club and enjoy a bit of paddleboarding and general splashing about. You can even partake of a sauna which is now in the club grounds.
Free camping on site is available – subject to availability, so get your entry in sooner rather than later, and we’ll be sharing the venue with the National 12s with their very short and bonkers boats, ensuring a great vibe. Of course, being close to Brighton, a veritable plethora of accommodation, available through the normal online sites along with entertainment options for the yoofs.
Entry is open at members.shorehamsailing.org/event/1349765 so don’t delay. Take advantage of the early entry reduction and bagsie your camping now!
The championships will be generously sponsored by Exe Sails & Covers.
