Results / Noble Marine National Championships Mounts Bay SC - 25/09/2025

Congratulations to our 2025 National Champions Tim and Heather Wilkins from Gurnard Sailing Club!

In a standout Championships at the iconic Mounts Bay Sailing Club, Tim and Heather showed remarkable skill and consistency, with 7 bullets in a massive range of conditions to secure a convincing win.

Congratulations to Tim, Heather and to all of our prize winners and RS500 competitors. With 30% of the fleet made up of youth and junior sailors aged from 16-22 the fleet is in fantastic shape for the future and with the standards of sailing demonstrated, the 'more established' members of the fleet won't be able to rest on their laurels!

Thanks to our PRO Marcus Wilkinson and all of the wonderful Mounts Bay volunteers from the tally team to the trolley team, the race and safety crews, the bar and galley teams and those working behind the scenes on results and organisation, to our title sponsor Noble Marine and to our Official Chandlery partner the RS Sailing Store for helping make this happen - everyone had a great time!

Full results and prize winners list below.

Photo gallery from Lee Whitehead, Photolounge here.  Come back in a week or so and you'll be able to search all the photos by sail number, making it easy for you to find your boat and order prints/files. 

Videos here, also by Photolounge, more, plus edited versions to follow.

Daily and overall reports below.

RS500s Day 4 and Overall, by James Curtis

Day four dawned with aching bodies from day three and a glassy bay. The boat park was still full of stories from the races the day before, with more ups and downs than UTMB. (read the report below) But there was racing to be had. Tim and Heather Wilkins had a good lead out in front, but from 2nd down it was all to play for. 

The breeze filled in as forecasted from the North West with flat water and 8-12 knots. Marginal planning conditions and enough shifts to get the inland sailors excited. 

After watching the 600s fight for the pin we were up for race eight. As a reminder, Tim and Heather only needed to be consistent to retain their title, so of course they went for a port flyer. The rest of the fleet mindful of the U flag nearly let them get away with it, but they couldn't quite cross and had to tack and truck out to the left with the rest of us. 

It was nip and tuck up the first beat, with at first the right-hand boats looking good then the top left working and everyone rounding the first mark within 25 seconds. It was planing conditions to start with, but as Luke and Will gybed first and led the charge to the left, it dropped into a soak mode. Paul and Fresh, having rounded in fourth or fifth, pushed into the right corner and managed to lead into the bottom marks, followed by the chasing pack. 

Up the next beat it was all about staying in pressure and finding the shifts, with the breeze slowly dropping the modes downwind became more marginal. Heavier teams had to drop into a soak down the middle while the lightweights who they'd left in their dust yesterday planned into the distance. 

The third beat was more of the same with the opportunity to make significant gains by getting the right side of the shifts, heavyweights Mike and Ollie had managed to stay in touch on the run despite Mike falling out the boat again (another broken toe strap?) and managed to find some winners on the right to round in fourth. 

Paul and Fresh kept the pressure on Tim and Heather, who managed to hold on for the win and the title, with Emma and Luke coming in Third and bringing the battle for the rest of the podium down to the wire. 

RACE THREE

With the pressure off on the racecourse but on the competitors, it was a tense start line. The bias had switched to the boat end and it was important to get out of the traps quickly. Edd and Ian who were by this point either second or third started below the bunch and got off the line well with Paul and Fresh and Emma and Luke above them. More snakes and ladders up the first beat with the left always looking like it had a bit more pressure angles that made you want to go right. At the top Paul and Fresh had managed to get out ahead with Robin and Orla rounding just behind. 

The wind had flicked right so after an early gybe we were laying the left end of a very large gate. It was a drag race from this point onwards. Peter and James had taken the first gybe out so they were at the top of the port takers trying to soak down onto the fleet, but an island-sized bit of weed stopped them in their tracks. After a bit of jostling, we all rounded now in the tail end of the 600 fleet who had started before us. 

Emma and Luke managed to hook into a nice right-hander and made gains going out to the left-hand side while it remained very tight amongst those ducking and crossing on the right. They were second at the top behind Tim and Heather who had done a nice job of working the middle right. 

The next run was more of the same with a long port gybe, but this time some extra pressure tempted some of the lighter teams into trying to heat it up, luckily for this heavy boy, it wasn't quite on. The breeze from behind had compressed the fleet, though and it was very close for the top six or seven at the bottom.

We were now into the back of the 100 fleet who had started a lap after us. Paul and Fresh did well picking their way through and along with Edd and Ian were now challenging the leaders with the overall points looking super close. 

The final run of the championship was a cagey one, with the last push to the finish after the bottom gate seeing some luffing and double gybes to get down to the line. 

Emma and Luke crossed first, only to not get a hoot, their start had been a bit too good. This left Tim and Heather to take the bullet and seal the title in style. Paul and Fresh claimed second, which might have been enough to claw themselves onto the podium. 

Once the scoring was done though, it was Emma and Luke who claimed second overall, then two points back Edd and Ian pipped Paul and Fresh for third on count back. 

A close end to a brilliant four days of sailing in Mounts Bay which will be remembered for a long time both for the sailing and for the momentum it feels like there is in the class. 

There is a new UK committee who have some big plans for the coming years. Almost 25% of the fleet were under 18 with the age profile of the class now looking more and more like the big European fleets. 

We've got a Worlds next year in Travemünde where a big UK fleet will travel for the parties and the international sailing and then we're going to bring it all back home with a UK Worlds in 2027. It's a good time to be a 500 sailor! 

RS500s Day 3 (day 2 of racing), the RS500s Take On Towering Seas at Mounts Bay by Heather Wilkins

Mounts Bay delivered a dramatic and unforgettable day of RS500 racing, as competitors were met with some of the most testing conditions of the season. With a solid 20-25 knot breeze, sailors set out from the relative shelter behind St Michaels Mount to be greeted by heaving seas that resembled rolling mountain ranges more than coastal chop. The combination of strong winds and large waves demanded full concentration and skill, making it a day where simply staying upright, and not getting washed off the side of the boat was an achievement in itself.

The race committee managed to run a full schedule, and the sailors were all grateful for the efforts of race and safety teams, as they had a. long, rolling lurching day on the water. 

The first race got underway with ah clean start, all teams looking to maximise straight line speed over the huge waves and avoid hitting a breaking wave face-on. Peter and James set down a marker for the day, enjoying the robust conditions to arrive first at the top mark, followed closely behind by Edd and Ian who had also been looking forward to a breezy day. Heather and Tim were close behind in third. Downwind is where it got really interesting. Surfing down steep faces, boats tore downwind at blistering speeds — challenge was to pick a safe place to gybe and still be on layline for the leeward gate, and this was executed well by the leading pair. By the end of the race a super close finish saw Edd and Ian pipping Peter and James on the last gybe before the finish. Heather and Tim finished third. A close pack followed with leading female helm Emma and Luke just getting the better of Paul and Fresh, with Luke and Will coming in sixth.

Next race, race 6 of the series, saw very similar conditions. This time Edd and Ian were fastest up the first beat, with Tim and Heather close behind. This time a slightly late gybe from Edd/Ian saw them having to heat it up to make the leeward gate, just as a HUGE set of waves came rolling through, resulting in a swim for them and catapulting Tim and Heather into pole position, which they held the finish despite being pressed hard all the way by the charging team of Peter and James. 

By race three (7th of the series) tired muscles were starting to tell and a few teams opted to head for an early shower, choccy bar, pastie, cup of tea or anything else comforting and warm! Out on the racecourse, it was rapidly becoming survival and endurance conditions. This time Emma/Luke were really fast off the blocks, leading comfortably the whole first lap and looking super assured in the boat, impressive for the relative newcomers to the class. However the end of the second upwind leg and a bad tack saw them hunted down and overtaken by a chasing pack, led by Edd/Ian and Tim/Heather, who rounded the top mark virtually neck and neck. A different approach to the last downwind leg saw Edd/Ian going hot and fast, with Heather/Tim opting to surf low, gybe early and generally minimise risk. It was a photo finish at the end, with Tim/Heather just surfing down over the line before a Charging Edd/Ian at the other end. 

Despite the wild conditions, the fleet showed remarkable resilience, despite being tired and cold, the sailors were unanimous that this was a most epic days' sailing. Mounts Bay served up a proper test, and the RS500 fleet rose to meet it.

The leaderboard now sees Tim and Heather in a comfortable first, but a close battle for silver with one point separating Emma/Luke from the advancing Edd/Ian. A lighter wind day is forecast for tomorrow, and plenty of other close racing battles still to fight out!

RS500s Day 2 (day 1 of racing), by Luke McEwen

Day 2 of the Noble Marine RS500 Nationals was another fabulously sunny day but this time with a perfect 12 knot southeasterly blowing into Mounts Bay.  The competitors were raring to go after yesterday’s disappointingly unstable wind which meant today was the first day of actual racing, with a fourth race added to the schedule. 

Taking advantage of the scenic beach launch for a photo opportunity with the castle behind, all the 500s lined up for a Le Mans start out to the race area, the biggest challenge being to get through the formidable wind shadow of the Mount.

The first race got away on time at midday.  The racing was close to the finish, with not much separation through the fleet in tricky waves upwind and good surfing downwind.  There was a band of slightly more pressure on the left side of the course which generally favoured that side.  Emma and Luke McEwen led for the first half of the race but couldn’t hold off the pace of multiple World Champions Tim and Heather Wilkinson upwind.  Edd Whitehead and Ian Mairs took a well deserved third.

After the hour-long 3-lap first race, the competitors were happy to see 2 laps signalled for the subsequent races.  Tim and Heather were hot out of the blocks at the favoured committee boat end to lead the race from start to finish.  Luke and Will Bradley were even hotter, a bit too hot in fact, so they fell foul of the U Flag.  Paul Cullen and Fresh Abendstern sailed a strong race to defend second from Edd and Ian, successfully navigating around the tail end of the RS100 fleet particularly at the narrow leeward gate and judging well when to switch to a low mode as the wind softened on the last run.

In Race 3, James Curtis could feel proud of his training prodigies from Wednesday, as Emma and Luke and Bob and Isla Preston rounded the first mark in first and second and held those places to the finish.  Tim and Heather were unusually absent from the front, having banged right on the beat and then capsized on the run.  This time Luke and Will capitalised on their great speed to take third.

For the final race of the day the wind kindly piped up again giving great racing and allowing Tim and Heather to flex their speed muscles again with a solid win ahead of Emma and Luke and Luke and Will.  The fastest speeds of the day though were recorded on the reach to the beach, with the Mount in front lit up by glorious evening sun.  Peter and James Curtis were very relieved to break their main halyard on the way in rather than on the first start tomorrow.

The wonderful beach and tally team were waiting patiently for us with our trolleys and delicious chocolate brownies.  With aching muscles after 6 hours on the water we were not 100% disappointed to see that the tide had risen too far for the planned Inaugural RS500 Beach Cricket Championship, postponed to tomorrow; instead Heather conjured up tasty rolls for the whole fleet. 

With a discard now applied, Tim and Heather are looking strong counting 3 bullets but it’s still all to play for with six more races over the weekend.  The forecast is showing a bigger onshore wind tomorrow and lighter offshore winds on Sunday, so plenty of variety.  For the majority of the 500 fleet who have never sailed at the legendary Mounts Bay SC, a day like today will be etched in our memories for a long time.

Noble Marine RS500 National Championship Prize Winners 2025