The highlight of the youth and junior team racing calendar is back!

The RYA Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing Championships will be returning to Oxford Sailing Club this autumn and applications for teams wanting to take part are now open.

Organised by the RYA in conjunction with the Eric Twiname Trust, this ever-popular annual fixture will take place over the weekend of 10-11 October 2026, offering an action-packed schedule across three age categories:

• Youth (Under 19s): 3v3 boat team racing in Fireflies for teams of six sailors
• Junior (Under 17s): 2v2 boat team racing in RS Fevas for teams of four sailors
• Super-Junior (Under 15s): 2v2 boat team racing in RS Fevas for teams of four sailors

Would-be teams from schools, clubs and sailing organisations are invited to check out the Notice of Race and complete Application for Entry as soon as possible for the opportunity to #rockupandrace for the championship titles.

Event director Niall McLeod, Head of Competition & Technical Services, said: “It’s an opportunity to compete as part of a team and the nature of the event means you go out and do a couple of races, then come ashore for a bit to spectate and chat with other sailors before going back out, so it makes it a social occasion as well.

“It’s also a level playing field as the equipment is provided and it’s not so much about the technical aspect of making the boat go fast, although that’s obviously important, its more about your boat handling, tactical awareness, rules knowledge and the overall strategy of playing the game to get your team through into a winning combination.”

Tactical and sociable

As ever the regatta is kindly supported by the Eric Twiname Trust, which was established in memory of the renowned sailor, author and journalist in 1980.

Each race typically lasts around 10 minutes and although the wind didn’t play ball for the finals series in 2025, there were still nearly 160 races across the weekend, with a total of 62 teams taking part across the three age categories.

Niall added: “The whole weekend always has a great vibe and of all the events we run, the team racing is my favourite because everyone is having fun and it’s something a bit different. A big thank you to the Eric Twiname Trust again for their support, together with Oxford Sailing Club, and in advance to RS Sailing, all the schools and clubs which allow us to use their boats, and all the volunteers who make it possible for us to run these events.”

Grace Cullen, aged 16, was part of the winning Rutland Rascals youth team in 2025 with Harry Burge, Euan Burge, Annabelle Hacker, Daniel Cowley and Oliver Mckee from Rutland Sailing Club, and is hoping to take part in the 2026 edition. She said: “You meet lots of people and the team racing makes it really enjoyable. It’s good to be competitive on the water and then see your friends on land, we all have a chat and support each other.

“Everybody knows everybody and because you have different ages categories there are lots of younger sailors in RS Fevas who are able to give team racing a go for the first time - it’s always a great learning experience for them while having lots of fun. It’s also one of the first events in the academic calendar which is ideal before the start of the new season for school and university team racing events.”

As well as the Rutland Rascals, last year’s winners included Super Junior category champions RHS Green from Royal Hospital School (Jacob Richardson, Phoebe Phillpot, Joshua Booth, Jenny Simpson), while the Junior title was taken by the Ryde Rugrats of Ryde School with Upper Chine (Bear Baker, Cassius Day, Fallon Day, Elsie Jenkinson).

In addition to being an exciting form of sailing in its own right, team racing helps to sharpen up many of the skills that are useful for fleet and match racing, especially for close up boat-on-boat tactics and manoeuvres.

For the 2026 Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing Championships there will be a maximum of 30 teams in each of the Youth and Junior categories and 16 in the Super Junior events (sailors aged under 19, 17 and 15 respectively on 1 September 2026).

Find out more about RYA Team Racing and complete an Application for Entry to the Eric Twiname Youth and Junior Team Racing Championships by 23:59 on Sunday 6 September 2026.