RS500 Noble Marine National Championship 2026 at Royal Torbay Yacht Club
Final Report by Simon Horsfield
After being held ashore under AP on the penultimate day of the championship, the wind finally filled in from the southeast, quickly building to around 12 knots for the start of Race 6. Emma and Luke McEwen led the fleet up the first beat, popping out ahead of the chasing pack. Those who headed towards the middle-right struggled to keep in touch, while the leading boats rounded Mark 2 with the fleet beginning to spread out.
As the breeze started to drop, teams quickly switched to soaking mode downwind. The second beat saw the wind decrease further, making it more about keeping the boat in pressure rather than tacking on every shift. This was particularly important for the mid-fleet sailors.
As the fleet approached the windward mark, the breeze began to track right towards the forecast direction, making an early gybe onto port key. The pressure continued to fade, to the point where it was barely possible to fly the kite into the finish and Emma and Luke took the race win, followed by Tim and Heather.
After a long delay to allow the wind to settle and build, the RO eventually got racing underway again. With a minute to go the wind shifted left and all but one boat tacked onto Port. Spanner and Fresh were the leeward most boat but still managed to pop out in front and lead at Mark 1.
As is often the case in Torbay, there was very little wind in the middle of the racetrack. This allowed the chasing boats, who had found more pressure, to sail higher down the right-hand side of the run and close the gap on those sailing a lower, slower angle through the middle. Although there was enough breeze to allow the leading three boats to extend, the pressure further back certainly brought the chasing pack back into contention.
It’s never over in Torbay. The venue is a real test of mental toughness, where what initially looks like a shocking position can quickly turn in your favour. Keeping your head out of the boat and looking for the next pressure is essential and that approach was certainly needed in Race 7, which saw some massive shifts. The battle for fourth through seventh changed almost gust by gust on the final run.
Michael and Hilde were sending it high down the right-hand side, while Iain and Anna were soaking lower than a low thing. Meanwhile, having gybed into some pressure on the left, Team Curtis and Si and Abi battled it out through all the available downwind modes – perhaps at the cost of sailing the most effective downwind angles!
Ultimately, it was the soaking mode that edged it, with Iain and Anna taking fourth. Michael and Hilde rounded the final leeward mark just a length ahead of Si and Abi. It was quite a last run! Well, done to Spanner and Fresh, taking their fifth series win.
The fleet then headed back ashore for the championship dinner and the hugely anticipated Pub Crawl Challenge results. Congratulations to the 500 team for beating the 800 fleet in emphatic style. Surely Fresh deserves an Oscar nomination for his Go Compare advert, which was “absolutely brilliant!” The fleet then headed to downtown Torbaydos for several celebratory cocktails at the Piano Bar.
Sunday, the final day of the Championship, dawned with a light south-easterly breeze that promised to build, although it never quite established itself.
After a delay, Race 8 got underway at the second attempt in around 6–8 knots. The conditions were incredibly tricky, not only because of the light breeze but also because of the swell, which was over a metre. The waves were great for surfing, but the challenge was getting the boat moving fast enough to surf without sailing incredibly high and ultimately sailing a much greater distance. In only 6 knots of breeze, that simply wasn’t conducive.
Emma and Luke sailed a fantastic race from start to finish, particularly downwind where they produced an impressive super-low mode. Spanner and Fresh sailed a solid race to finish second, but more importantly, the result sealed the Championship win with a race to spare. Spanner and Fresh were exceptional across the wind range throughout the championship. Huge congratulations, guys!
Race 9, which turned out to be the final race of the championship, saw Spanner and Fresh switch roles, which certainly didn’t slow them down much! They headed right up the first beat alongside Iain and Anna, with both boats a mile ahead at Mark 1. Behind them, the battle between Michael and Hilde, Emma and Luke, and Simon and Abi went right down to the wire. It was a fantastic three-way battle, with places changing constantly. Simon and Abi eventually sailed above the finish line before gybing twice to get back and cross the line in third.
What a fantastic championship we had in Torbay!
Congratulations to Paul “Spanner” Cullen and Fresh Abendstern, who put together an amazing series and can now add RS500 National Champions to their list of titles in 2026. Well done, guys! Well done also to our runners-up, Emma and Luke McEwen, who were super quick across the entire wind range and pushed the champions all the way.
A huge thank you to Royal Torbay Yacht Club for putting on an excellent event both on and off the water. Thank you also to our championship sponsor Noble Marine as well as for the support of RS Sailing and Rooster.
The fleet now looks forward to the RS500 Inlands at Grafham Water SC on 3rd October.
National Champions – Paul Cullen and Fresh Abendstern
2nd – Emma McEwen and Luke McEwen
3rd – Simon Horsfield and Abi Skeith
4th Tim Wilkins and Heather Wilkins
1st Master Helm – Paul Cullen
1st Master Team – Emma McEwen and Luke McEwen
1st Female Helm – Emma McEwen
1st Female Crew – Abi Skeith
Endeavour – Nigel Davis and Aaron Davis
View Paul Gibbins' photo gallery here.
