Read the Commodore's 2026 Regatta Report

Published 14:50 on 28 May 2026

In the Club's 59^th year I believe we have delivered an Open Regatta to match the historic events of the past, and one our founding members would have been proud to witness.

When the Management Committee first started their planning over 9 months ago, we questioned our own ambitions and were concerned that those ambitions outweighed our ability to deliver them.

We set-up the Regatta planning committee at that point and tasked ourselves with answering those questions. The Team consisted of myself, Judy Leese, Grant Spooner, Cy Oldham, Mark Coyle, Dan Sargeant, Tim Entwistle and John Sharpe.

Over many nights we discussed racing formats, fleets, race officers, beer supply, catering, hog roasts, medical cover, music, communications, social media, sponsorship, toilets, safety boats, car parking, the jetty, bunting, club participation, farmer's fields, pigs (not for the hog roast), T-shirts, banners, competitor registrations and of course the weather. An event of this size takes an enormous amount of planning and an incredible amount of commitment from Committee Members and club volunteers to deliver it!

Our Club volunteers covered car park duties, safety boat cover, committee boat scoring, race officers and support, catering, bar duties, club house preparation, race registration, T-shirt sales. The list of jobs is genuinely endless, and I hope you'll forgive me for not naming every member individually who stepped-up and without whom we couldn't run such an event; you know who you are and please accept my genuine thanks for all your efforts.

As we started to close in on the first day of the Regatta the entries started to climb, in thanks much to the efforts of our communications specialist Cy Oldham. Judy had agreed to be the event leader (it was a good job she'd passed her RYA Race Officer training with flying colours). Judy's race team included many club stalwarts who brought with them years of experience Phil Haworth, Valerie Beacock, Grant Spooner, Janet Jones, Olwyn Jones and Ian Baxter to name a few.

Finally, the first day of the Regatta arrived and we were blessed with champagne conditions; warm weather, sunny skies and a steady Southerly wind. We also had over 80 competing boats (5 different fleets) who joined us from sailing clubs around the Country. It was also amazing to see 46 of Coniston's own sailors lining up to join the racing!

The Club hosted a Regatta party on the Saturday evening which consisted of an amazing Hog Roast and Live music. The party went on until the early hours and at times I wondered whether the bar floor would stand up to the energetic dancing and general merriment.

The racing over the next 2 days was incredible and we witnessed good sportsmanship, enormous determination and very, very competitive racing! The overall fleet winners were Rob Shaw (Kielder SC) in his Osprey, James Neild (Royal Windermere YC) in a Blaze, Stuart Murdoch (Royal Tay YC) in a Kestrel, George Swyer (Coniston SC) in his ILCA 7 and Mary-Anne Beacock (Coniston SC) in her ILCA 6.

An event of this size could not happen without the support of our event sponsors, and I would like to thank the following businesses for their generous donations Toplex and PHG Contracting (our main event sponsors), Major Loss Ltd., Lakes Loos, The Coppermines Lakes Cottages, Juicy Media and Maiden Marine. Please check them out and use their services when you have a need.

Our next challenge will be to deliver our Annual Junior Regatta later in the year and of course start the planning process all over again to deliver the 2027 Coniston Open Regatta in what will be the Club's 60th anniversary year! If there's one thing I can guarantee you all is that the next one will be even bigger and better than this one!

Thank you once again for your support!

Martin

Last updated 15:40 on 28 May 2026