Falmouth Sailing week in 2026 held in the middle of the fifth heat wave of the Summer with on the water temperatures reaching the low thirties, this gave testing wind variations for the race committees. Each day hosted by the local Clubs using their personnel overseen by the Port Of Falmouth Sailing Association (POFSA).
Day One
Sunday 9th August hosted by Helford River Sailing Club. Traditionally B Class has an opportunity to sail out on the sea in Falmouth Bay, whilst C Class sail in Carrick Roads as normal in the Harbour.
This year the breeze was a light NNW and a sea breeze was forecast, the Bay Race Officer made an early decision to keep B Class in the harbour where the wind was likely to hold longer and didn’t risk the likelihood of boats with no engines getting stranded outside of the harbour.
B Class started at 14.00 hrs in a steady breeze with Moon taking the pin end of the line with Grace right on her hip. Midline was Meloris, followed by Florence and Mildred at the committee boat. Following in behind Mildred were Abigail, Lola, and Winnie. The backpack then tacked over onto port and the fleet split searching for clear air.
Sam Harding, the owner of Abigail Rose found himself too busy at work to enter but graciously lent his boat to Robin Edwards who owns Rita. Robin was part way through a major refit on Rita so borrowed Abigail Rose for the Three-Day series but used his sails off Rita, confusing when topsail spotting!!
C Class started five minutes later, benefitting from watching B Class start tactics. Lottie took the pin end followed a few boat lengths behind by Deliverance and Iris Elizabeth , Dolly, Leila, and Truth at the committee boat, it was Iris who broke first on to port.
Sailing in the harbour is always confined and the C fleet found themselves beating and weaving up through the B fleet with their jibs poled out on port tack running back towards them, running downwind.
Grace and Moon battled it out at the front of B fleet with Meloris and Florence in close pursuit.
The lighter airs shouldn’t suit Florence as she is a heavy wooden boat . She was built by ‘Foreman Ferris’ at Restronguet in 1895 and spent most of her life commercially oyster dredging. Now owned by a St Mawes Syndicate and superbly helmed by Steve Miles. She is one of the most consistent competitors in the fleet, turning up for nearly all the events, with a regular dedicated crew. Today was her day, Florence held onto her position and won the race on corrected time.
In C Fleet Lottie with the skilful sailor Dr. Phil Slater helming, held his lead most of the race match racing with Deliverance. Dolly and Iris E. battling for positions with Lella off her normal pace and Truth gamely chasing. Truth will always struggle in the light conditions, the same hull as Deliverance but having a much smaller sail area and concrete rather than steel/lead ballast.
Results for day one on corrected times:
(6 Day series) B. Class 1st Florence 2nd Grace 3rd Moon
(3 Day series) 1st Florence 2nd Grace 3rd Meloris
(6 Day series) C. Class 1st Lottie 2nd Deliverance 3rd Dolly
(3 Day series) 1st Lottie 2nd Deliverance 3rd Dolly
Day Two
Monday 10th August hosted by Mylor Yacht Club.
The day started with a healthy NNW breeze blowing down the Carrick Roads and the temperature forecast to rise under clear blue skies.
B and C got off to good starts with the course set to take the fleets around the Roads and out towards the Bay to Pendennis mark.
As the fleets approached the seaward Pendennis mark, the interface of the land wind met the sea breeze and progress slowed as the wind cancelled itself to zero.
The first boats to slow to a crawl leading the B Fleet pack was Meloris, then, Lola and Rebecca, followed by Grace,then with a good gap behind, were Winnie, Florence, Abigail and Moon. Jammed between them was the smaller C class boat Lottie. Another big gap to Mildred alongside Dolly with Deliverance and Lelia chasing and Iris E. and Truth coming in with them on port tack.
On approaching the sea breeze everyone struggled for speed and had to get round and back up the river where the northerly breeze was retreating. Out of the nine B Class starters only four made it to the finish line by the time limit.
C Class were sensibly shortened on the course by the committee, but unfortunately the shortened course rib got to the buoy just after Lottie had passed it and the times for the rest of the fleet were not taken, but it was mutually agreed that Phil and Jilly Slater in Lottie were the deserved winners.
Good results for the Ladies in B fleet with Verity Slater helming Rebecca, Amy Creedon helming Lola. ( Ladies Day)
1st. Rebecca. 2nd. Lola. 3rd. Grace. 4th. Moon.
Day Three
Tuesday 11th August. Hosted by Restronguet Sailing Club.
The heatwave continued but it was accompanied by a fresh easterly wind,one of the few so far this summer.
In Carrick Roads the ‘old salts’ saying is ‘’Wind in the east,go to the east’’. This is true as the wind blows down the English Channel, crossing Gerrans Bay, as it hits the Roseland shore it is forced to rise up and over St.Mawes, and then shear down accelerating into the Fal Estuary. This gives increased wind pressure under what is a windward shoreline known as a ‘Headland Effect’.
The Race Officer set the startline off Trefusis point with a dead beat to a windward mark laid near the Roseland shore, from there the course zig zagged through the harbour mostly reaching angles but with a good windward leg from Trefusis mark to Carricknath near the St. Anthony Lighthouse.The nine B and five C boats using the same set course.
The wind held becoming augmented by the sea breeze giving fresher sailing conditions, this gave all boats testing conditions for the first time in the week.
After two hours of competitive hard racing it was Sam Heard in Meloris who won line honours followed by Grace,Moon and Abigail Rose. But it was Mildred sailed by Jeremy Stonehouse and Dave Cockwell who crossed the line 5th , six minutes behind the leader Meloris. Mildred pipped the race on corrected time by 29 seconds over Meloris in 2nd.place.
Mildred is one of the classic wooden working boats,built in 1913 by R.D. Pill of Gorran Haven for William Johns of Flushing used for Oyster dredging as well as trawling and line fishing In 1934 she was sold to an author Howard Spring as a yacht, hence the distinctive portholes fitted in the forecabin. She changed hands several times, until David Stonehouse acquired her in 1975 and for many years successful racing.Then she lay in a mud berth at Mylor until recent years when the Stonehouse family joined forces with Dave Cockwell and completely refitted her. And today was her day!
In C Class the racing was very tight, but Phil and Jilly Slater in Lottie always in control.Using all the experience they gained when they both sailed to be champions in Firefly dinghies and campaigned Rebecca now being sailed by their daughter Verity.
Leila found her old form, gaining second place. Leila is a classic wood Oyster boat built by Mike Parsons of Mylor in 1962/3 now lovingly owned by Adam Bird who has refitted her to super yacht standards.
Final results on corrected times.
B Class 1st. Mildred. 2nd. Meloris. 3rd. Abigail Rose.
C Class 1st. Lottie. 2nd. Leila. 3rd. Iris Elizabeth
Three Days Series Final
This race is the last of the Three Day short series run for the first time within Falmouth Week.
Meloris and Abigail Rose are the only two boats who now opt out of the week leaving all others to compete for the Week.
Overall the winners of the Three Day Series, well done to…
B Class
1st. Grace GRP Dicken Rogers helming 9 points
2nd. Florence WOOD Simon Whisker and Steve Miles 11 points
3rd. Mildred WOOD Jeremy Stonehouse and Dave Cockwell 12 points
C Class
1st. Lottie GRP Phil and Jilly Slater 3 points
2nd. Deliverance GRP Viscount Falmouth. Gary Denning and Rob McPherson 8 points
3rd Leila WOOD Adam Bird 10 points
Day Four
Day 4 Wednesday 12th August. Sponsored by Loveday Rum.
This race is a ‘stand alone’ race.The intention being to have a long offshore race for the Bay fleets and a longer than normal race in the Carrick Roads. The winners were presented with bottles of rum as prizes. The heat wave and lack of wind had other ideas, plus it was the air display scheduled for early evening over the Bay which coincided with a once in a generation partial solar eclipse.
C Class got a start away eventually at 14.15 with Deliverance, Dolly and Leila all challenging for the pin end and ended up over the line. Leila and Dolly got called OCS and turned back but Deliverance sailed on.
B Class started at 14.30 after postponements from 12.55 waiting for the wind to settle. Mildred, Rebecca and Lola hard on starboard tack making a wonderful colourful spectacle, with Moon and Winnie breaking off on port, in the glorious sunshine. Ten boats came to the startline but due to the light and variable winds only five boats stayed the course to the finish.
It was a frustrating race for all as the wind direction kept shifting and fading away, full marks for the stalwarts who stuck it out and managed to get a finish.
B Class
1st.Rebecca.Verity Slater. 2nd.Mildred Dave Cockwell and Jeremy Stonehouse.3rd. Lola. Amy Creedon
C Class
1st. Dolly. Adam Davies. 2nd. Iris Elizabeth. Peter Cauldwell. 3rd. Lottie. Phil and Jilly Slater.
Because of the Air Display and Eclipse in the evening the presentation of the Loveday Rum was postponed until the following evening at The Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.
Day Five
Thursday 13th August. Hosted by Royal Cornwall Yacht Club.
The wind swung back to the NNW and the sun blazed down. This day turned out to be the hottest day in National records at 38.1 degrees. Luckily the wind was strong enough to push the sea breeze out into the Bay giving perfect sailing conditions in Carrick Roads.
The B Fleet was slightly diminished as the Three Day Event was now over and several boats intending to sail the following week at Fowey Week had been giving the crews a rest and getting the boats rigged for spinnakers. Six stalwarts came to the line and revelled in the glorious conditions.Once again it was Mildred who tousled with Lola for line honours crossing just over two minutes ahead, On corrected times Mildred who had been consistently over performing on her set handicap, won by just over five minutes. The results of the computer programme gave them a 6% delta over Lola.
In C Class a very similar outcome where five boats competed and Phil Slater in Lottie out performed the fleet crossing the line eight minutes in front of Deliverance and Leila. Lotties Delta computed to a 6% over the next two boats.
These results show how well the leading boats have performed and all credit to them, well deserved results.
After racing the crews gathered on the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club lawn for the prize givings of the Wednesday Rum races and the RCYC races of the day,
Results on corrected times.
B Class
1st. Mildred. Jeremy Stonehouse. 2nd. Lola. Amy Creedon. 3rd. Florence
C Class
1st. Lottie, Phil and Jilly Slater. 2nd. Leila. Adam Bird. 3rd. Deliverance. Viscount Falmouth.
Day Six
Friday 14th August. Hosted by St. Mawes Sailing Club.
The day started overcast but with a good northerly wind which held up to the mid to late afternoon when it started to fade. Another glorious day for racing in Falmouth Harbour.
This day was important as it was the fifth race in the week series and the overall scores will have each boat’s worst result to date discarded.
B Class got off to a competitive start with Moon and Rebecca on course side of the startline at the start (OCS) and had to go back and restart. At this level of competition this then takes a lot of hard sailing to recover. Lola followed by Mildred powered across the line to dominate the front end of the fleet. The first home out of the seven starters in 1.25 hours was, holding onto her lead, Lola sailed superbly by Amy Creedon. Mildred, sailing perfectly, was only 2 minutes behind Lola and saved her time on handicap.
C Class tussled on the line with Deliverance getting away with Leila and Iris leaving the top boat to date, Lottie with a lot of work to do to climb back to the front.The competition was fierce with places changing through the race, at the finish there was only 50 seconds separating the first four boats. Deliverance just squeezing pole position and Leila winning on handicap.
Results on corrected times for Friday
B Class
1st. Mildred. Dave Cockwell. 2nd. Lola. Amy Creedon. 3rd. Florence. Simon Whisker.
C Class
1st. Leila. Adam Bird. 2nd. Deliverance. Viscount Falmouth. 3rd. Lottie. Phil & Jilly Slater.
Overall as of the penultimate day with one discard applied
B Class
1st. Mildred 8. 2nd Florence 10. 3rd Lola 10.
C Class
1st. Lottie 4. 2nd. Leila 8. 3rd. Deliverance 9.
So still all to play for………….
Final Day
Saturday 15th August 2026. Hosted by Flushing Sailing Club
Another dry day but the wind from the North blowing at 16 gusting to 23 knots. Lively sailing conditions in Carrick Roads,The race officer setting a fairly long port hand set of marks with as normal B and C on the same course.The finish at the Flushing Sailing Club Quay line giving the waterfronts of Falmouth and Flushing a spectacular view of these beautiful craft under full sail.
This being the last day finally decides the winners for the week overall using the one discard of their worst result.
The fleet is slowly evolving with second generations of families taking over the boats. In B class Grace is often sailed by Dan and Polly’s daughter, Lola now sailed by Sandy Creedon’s daughter Amy, Mildred sailed by Jeremy Stonehouse, David Stonehouses’s son, and Winnie sailed by Arthur Williams’s son Arty. Brilliant to see and encouraging to see females on the helm, who said you need brute force to sail these boats.
However the last race day did need an element of strength, the wind didn’t reduce giving lively conditions for all.
The B Class fleet was somewhat depleted as Grace and Winnie did not compete and Rebecca retired . Mildred and Florence being strong heavy wood boats revelled in the wind out performing their handicaps. It was the big powerful grp boats of Moon and Lola who took line honours, followed by the wooden hulled Mildred, Florence and Evelyn.
C Class were more depleted, Dolly, Deliverance and Truth not coming to the startline. The windy conditions suited Iris Elizabeth being the largest boat in the fleet, Lottie was on her way to her fifth first place out of six races when disaster struck, and her mast snapped off at the hounds, her main, topsail and jib instantly falling down. But Phil, being a seasoned experienced sailor sorted out the mess, rigged a jury rig and sailed back to his mooring, disappointed but not hurt. He was due to sail to Fowey on Monday giving only one day to effect repairs and that was a Sunday.
Peter Cauldwell sailing Iris Elizabeth who had been sailing all week in light conditions that didn’t suit his boat had the accolade of winning the last day’s race. Leila came in second and Truth got her name on the podium in third. Truth with her smaller rig struggled in the early part of the week in the light airs, but they stuck it out and got their reward.
After racing the crews assembled on a very packed Flushing Sailing Club Quay for the Saturdays prize giving followed by the Overall Week Prizes.
The working Boats also have Overall prizes which are presented at their Annual Dinner and Dance in November.
Results on corrected times for Saturday.
B Class
1st. Mildred. Dave Cockwell. 2nd. Florence. Simon Wisker. 3rd. Lola. Amy Creedon
C Class.
1st. Iris Elizabeth. Peter Cauldwell. 2nd. Leila. Adam Bird. 3rd. Truth. Toby Ashworth.
OVERALL RESULTS FOR FALMOUTH WEEK 2026
Falmouth Working Boats B Class
!st. MILDRED Jeremy Stonehouse and Dave Cockwell
2nd. FLORENCE Simon Wisker and Steve Miles
3rd. LOLA Amy Creedon and Olly Graffey
Falmouth Working Boats C Class
1st. LOTTIE Phil and Jilly Slater
2nd. LEILA Adam Bird
3rd. DELIVERANCE Viscount Falmouth
