International Dragon Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix 2026 – Day 3
by British Dragon Association 20 Aug 13:08 PDT
16-21 August 2026
There may have been only one race on day three of the 2026 Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix off Cowes, but what a race it was, with gusts of up to 30 knots from the west-south-west, torrential rain squalls between sunny spells, nasty short seas and plenty of shifts for the sailors to contend with.
For some it was a case of survival, while others revelled in the lively conditions. At the first mark, Richard Leask in GBR731, who had gone hard left on the beat, led the fleet around, with Jan Eckert’s SUI355 second, Andy Beadsworth in TUR12 third, Laura Schewe’s GER1238 fourth and Christoph Toepfer’s GER11 fifth.
Although Leask dropped back on the subsequent legs, Eckert and Beadsworth continued to lead the pack. Beadsworth did everything he could to get through, but Eckert proved impenetrable and gradually stretched out his lead to win by an impressive margin. Beadsworth took second, Toepfer third, Martin Payne in GBR818 was fourth and Schewe fifth. Having survived the epic conditions, the teams were hugely relieved to see the race committee flying N over A to advise that there would be no further racing today.
In the overall standings, today’s fifth race sees the introduction of the single discard. Graham Bailey and the GBR192 team finished in 11th place, their first result outside the top ten so far, but with the discard they retain their lead and now have a five-point delta over second-placed Jan Secher’s SWE800 on 20 points. Beadsworth has moved up from fifth to third on 21 points, with Toepfer fourth on 22, while Andrew Lawson in POR89, who finished sixth in the race, drops down into fifth overall, five points behind Toepfer.
Jan Eckert is clearly enjoying the challenge of racing his first Edinburgh Cup and discovering the joys of the Solent on a big day: “Today was actually tough, but also fun. Tough in terms of it being really choppy, a big chop, and there was water spraying all over. The fun part was downwind surfing on the waves. And, of course, yes, winning a race is always top of everything. It’s also nice to move up the ranking! We had a bit of a difficult start, but now we are starting to get our routine back. It’s nice to race with this tide and the current and the tactics and strategy. It’s really interesting. I like that very much. I think tomorrow we’ll have a bit lighter winds. I just said to the team, I’m in the perfect regatta because we have everything. We have light wind, medium wind, and really strong. I think today we had up to 25 knots or something.”
In the Corinthian division, Denis Bergin’s IRL161 was victorious again, leading home Dries Van den Abbeele’s BEL79, Jono Brown’s GBR753, Ian Woolward’s IRL231 and Guy Celis’s BEL88. In the overall Corinthian standings, Bergin now has a six-point lead over Van den Abbeele. Martin Byrne’s IRL201 is 11 points back in third, Brown is a single point behind him in fourth, with Magdalena Gründt’s GER1151 fifth.
This is not only the largest Edinburgh Cup fleet in 30 years, but it’s also great to see a record number of female and youth sailors participating. Currently, Laura Schewe is leading the competition for the Seagull Trophy, which is awarded to the leading lady helm with World Sailing amateur status. Chasing her hard is Gavia Wilkinson-Cox in GBR831, with Magdalena Gründt’s SUI335 fourth and Cathy Ogden’s GBR821 fifth.
Laura Schewe revelled in today’s tough conditions, saying: “It was really windy, but we did really well, so we enjoyed every second. Well, maybe not every second, but it was good. We managed to increase the distance to the other boats a little bit, so on the last downwind we were quite confident that we’d make it to the finish, even though we lost our vang. So that was a bit scary on the upwind mark.”
The Dragon is attracting a new generation of young sailors who’ve cut their teeth in dinghy classes. Foredeck crew aboard Gavia Wilkinson-Cox’s GBR821 is 22-year-old Millie Irish, who comes from a well-known dinghy racing family and only set foot on a Dragon for the first time at the 2025 Gold Cup in Douarnenez. This is her first Edinburgh Cup and she’s clearly relishing the challenge. “Well, I think in a dinghy you’re taking off a lot more, whereas in a Dragon you’re kind of hitting every wave, so you really feel it all. I guess the team element’s pretty different, being four in a boat. Trying to hear everyone over the wind is quite hard. The teamwork obviously becomes even more important as it gets windier, with everyone knowing where they need to be and what they need to do, and there’s not that much space, especially four up. Trying to get everyone all in the right place is quite a big task.
“It’s been amazing. The tide’s pretty tricky. Luckily, I think we’ve been pretty dialled in on that from day one, looking at all the charts and everything, and looking at the weather conditions, but I think trying to make sure you’re on the right tack at times has definitely been a challenge. It’s been really cool, really tight racing.”
After racing, the crews took full advantage of the early finish to assemble at the Royal Yacht Squadron Pavilion for a delightful afternoon tea party sponsored by Dragon Maintenance Specialist Katie Cole, who is racing this week aboard Eric William’s GBR682.
Prizes for races three to five were presented, with the Kin Trophy for race three overall going to GBR192 Graham and Julia Bailey, Will Bedford and Killian Boag. Race four’s Terry Wade Memorial Trophy went to TUR12 Andy Beadsworth, Simon Fry and Enes Caylac. The Lancôme Trophy for race five was won by SUI355 Jan Eckert, Torvar Mirsky and Frederico Melo.
Bottles of Hendricks Gin were presented to the Corinthian race winners – GER1151 Magdalena Gründt, Ben Löken, Mewes Wieduwild and Stefan Gründt for race three, and IRL161 Denis Bergin, Jacques Murphy, Joey Bergin and Rian Geraghty-McDonnell for races four and five. The Yachtsman Trophy for the Race 1 to 3 Mini Series went to GBR192 Graham and Julia Bailey, Will Bedford and Killian Boag.
Katie Cole also presented two special prizes of custom Dragon sheets to Andy Moss’s GBR760 and Cathy Ogden’s GBR821 for their special commitment to the event.
The regatta concludes tomorrow, Friday 21 August when the forecast is for lighter winds and the race committee aims to run two final races. You can keep up with all the latest coverage from the event via the event website, the British Dragon Association’s Facebook and Instagram pages and the Vakaros live tracking.
2026 Edinburgh Cup & UK Dragon Grand Prix Results after Day 3: (top five, 5 races)
Overall
- GBR192 Bluebottle – Graham Bailey – 6, 2, 1, 6, (11) = 15pts
- SWE800 Miss Behavious – Jan Secher – (15),3, 8, 2, 7 = 20pts
- TUR12 Provezza Dragon – Andy Beadsworth – (13), 8, 5, 1, 2 = 21pts
- GER11 Aurora – Christoph Toepfer – 3, (22), 9, 7, 3 = 22pts
- POR49 Jupiter – Andrew Lawson – 9, (11), 2, 10, 6 = 27pts
Corinthian
- IRL161 Sir Ossis Of The River – Denis Bergin – 19, (26), 10, 5, 13 = 47pts
- BEL79 Corso – Dries Van den Abbeele – 8, (24), 7, 24, 14 = 53pts
- IRL201 Jaguar Sailing Team – Martin Byrne – (25), 6, 22, 14, 22 = 64pts
- GBR753 Fit Chick – Chris Grosscurth/Jono Brown – (28), 14, 14, 21, 16 = 65pts
- GER1151 Lilibeth – Magdalena Gründt – 26, (34), 3, 17, 26 = 72pts
