Report 2 – C31 UK Series Round 1-4, 44Cup Marstrand
‘Costa del Solent’
Four rounds of the Cape 31 UK Series in eight weeks now lie behind the Black Star Sailing Team, with the 44Cup Marstrand in between. What the Solent and the Kattegat off the Swedish coast had in store for us in such a short space of time would have been enough for an entire season: Mediterranean heat in five knots of wind, squalls of 38 knots, and in between that sea breeze which was the main reason we had been looking forward to the south of England. But let us take things in order.
Cape 31 UK Series – Round 1: Royal Yacht Squadron
8 – 10 May 2026, Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
When the Black Star Sailing Cape 31 Team agreed over the winter to spend the 2026 season on England’s south coast, the primary aim was not simply to go racing on the Solent. Although we know the waters well from previous events, the prospect of the ‘Costa del Solent’ was therefore not our main motivation for entering the Cape 31 UK Series 2026. Two rather sober considerations were: the UK Series demands considerably less logistical effort than the Med Circuit, because the venues lie closer together. And the Solent promises precisely those conditions in which a newly formed crew grows quickly — plenty of breeze, and everything else that is asked of a crew on the water.
The journey with the IVECO truck and the trailer passed without any problems, and even loading onto the shuttle train for the crossing beneath the Channel was done in no time. Having arrived safely in Hamble, we were greeted by sunny weather — ideal for rigging our Cape 31. That, too, went smoothly.
The marina in Hamble also offers an excellent service: our yacht is launched for us ahead of each regatta, which means we can fly in at fairly short notice for the training day and find everything ready. After the regatta the yacht is hauled out together with our shore team, cleaned and prepared for the next event.
In fine weather and moderate winds we were able to begin our first training session ahead of the opening regatta. During the regatta itself the weather was initially pleasant and not at all ‘England like’, which we naturally appreciated. Alongside the occasionally stormy winds, the challenges of sailing on the Solent are the tidal stream, which runs strongly, and the many shallows. We started well and quickly established ourselves in the leading third of the fleet. Although fewer teams take part than in the Med Circuit, the racing is no less intense and the margins are just as tight. Sunday then greeted us with typically English weather. Stormy winds, cold and rain confronted us with fresh challenges. We lost ground compared with the English teams, but still managed to hold on to a place on the podium. Third place made for a successful start to the 2026 UK season.
Cape 31 UK Series – Round 2: IRC Europeans / Poole Regatta
22 – 24 May 2026, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
The second event took us to Poole, a little further west. Poole lies in a beautiful bay, and sailing is celebrated there. For the yacht this meant a journey of roughly four hours; by van it was around two hours’ drive.
The forecasts looked more like the Mediterranean than England, but in the end the conditions are the same for every team, every time. From the marina we had an hour under engine to reach the race area each day. That gave us time to prepare the yacht: even though the wind out on the course was invariably different, we could set the basic mast settings, choose the sails for the first practice run and have something to eat.
The Whitsun weekend was dominated by southerly weather. Temperatures higher than we had ever known let us sail in shorts and T-shirts for the first time. For May in England, that was certainly not what we had expected. Unfortunately the same weather pattern also brought light winds with it. Some races were sailed right on the five-knot limit, which was demanding for every team. Even so, we managed to secure our first race win in the Cape 31 class. Sadly our results were too inconsistent, and alongside the top finishes we also had to digest some frustrating moments. The time we spent together at an in-house rowing competition on the Saturday evening welded us together as a unit still more. On the Sunday, conditions unfortunately made it impossible to run a race. The race committee did its very best and, in the circumstances, produced an outstanding performance that weekend in getting as many races away as possible.
Cape 31 UK Series – Round 3: Royal Southern Summer Series
12 – 14 June 2026, Hamble-le-Rice, Southampton, United Kingdom
The forecasts for the third event promised entirely different conditions. Storm and rain were predicted for the Southampton area. On arrival at the marina we headed straight out onto the water, hoping the wind would not yet be too strong. Several teams were already coming back in and laughed at the sight of us going out. The wind speed on the display kept climbing, and before long we could no longer tell whether the water in the air was rain or spray flying over the yacht. As a rule we set ourselves a limit of 25 knots, provided the gusts are not too high. Before long the baseline wind speed was above 28 knots — and when a gust sent the figure on the display shooting up to 38 knots, we turned back.
The first day of racing greeted us with slightly less wind and rather less rain. Even so, the instruments at times showed wind speeds of up to 28 knots. We tuned the mast accordingly and opted for the J4, which is designed as a storm jib. A premature start got us off to the worst possible beginning, yet we still managed to keep the gap small up to the windward mark. The plan was to attack under spinnaker. Too much enthusiasm meant that the yacht broached, the spinnaker halyard was not released under control, and the sail went into the water and under the boat. The spinnaker halyard is the line used to hoist and recover the spinnaker — release it too quickly and the sail comes down uncontrolled. That race was over … We were able to recover the kite, as the sail is known on board, without damage, and used the time until the next race to train. The start of the second race went better. About halfway to the first mark the headsail attachment failed and the sail tore out of the forestay. We managed to recover it and were relieved to find that the forestay groove, in which the sail is hoisted, was undamaged. We accordingly tried to focus on the last race of the day. Our aim had become a modest one: to get at least one race of the opening day to the finish. That we achieved, with a sixth place. At the debrief that followed we used the onboard cameras to work out exactly why the start had gone so badly wrong. Fundamentally, we had not kept to our daily routine — timing when leaving the dock, sailing in, pre-start preparation and so on — because a fault in the wind instruments had been discovered shortly before casting off.
We opened the second day of racing in style with a race win. We showed that our morale was intact and that we had put the first day behind us. We went into the second race just as focused and finished it in second place. A fifth place closed out the day. On the Sunday it was unfortunately sunny and warmer again, which meant only one race could be held. With the two races we had not completed on the first day, our points total was too high for us to achieve the top-five result we had been aiming for.
You can find more photos from the Black Star Sailing UK Series regattas in our Cape 31 photo gallery.
44Cup Marstrand
24 – 28 June 2026, Marstrand, Sweden
With a good start to the season behind us, we travelled to Sweden. Unlike in previous years, a sunny and warm Marstrand awaited us. Warm is of course relative compared with Switzerland in June, but most of us were glad to escape the heat further south and enjoyed the 22 degrees.
In keeping with the temperatures, the wind conditions were moderate as well. We had a very good training day and a successful practice race day, and were able to go into the competition well prepared.
We opened the Marstrand event with a win and followed it up immediately with another in the second race. Even with a subdued start in the third race and the seventh place that resulted from it, we ended the day sharing the lead with Team Artemis — the best day in the history of the Black Star Sailing Team in the RC44 class.
We finished the second day in the lead as well, albeit with only a single point in hand: a first race in the middle of the fleet, followed by another win and then, unfortunately, a place at the back. Overall the fleet is closing up again, the margins are getting even smaller, and at the turning marks every centimetre is quite literally fought over.
The third day did not go as we had hoped, despite a good start. One wrong decision in a manoeuvre threw us from a place among the top three back to last. Even so, we fought our way back to sixth by the finish. After struggling again with starts and penalties in races seven and eight, we slipped back to fourth overall.
As in previous years, one day’s racing had to be abandoned — this time, though, because there was too little wind rather than too much. That was particularly galling for us, since it denied us the chance to improve our overall result. We therefore finished the regatta in fourth place.
Just how hard-fought the places are is shown, among other things, by the fact that only ten points separated first from sixth. And that sailing consistently is what ultimately pays off is shown by the fact that the winners, Team Charisma, did not win a single race.
With these lessons learned, with our upward trend confirmed and with the observation that the chemistry is right and that we fight as a team to the very end, we look ahead to the next RC44 event: the 44Cup World Championship in Cowes.
You can find the detailed results of the regatta on the official 44Cup website under Results/44Cup Marstrand:
You can follow the regatta via a GPS tracking record on TracTrac using the following direct link:
Find more photos of the regatta in our RC44 photo gallery or on our Instagram channel.
Cape 31 UK Series – Round 4: Cape 31 National Championships
3 – 5 July 2026, Hamble-le-Rice, Southampton, United Kingdom
Shortly after the RC44 event in Marstrand, the journey took us back to Hamble-le-Rice on the Solent. At last the forecasts were exactly what we had expected and what had reinforced our decision to come to England: sea breeze on the Solent. The icing on the cake was that it turned sunny and, by English standards, warm, with hot days ahead of us in every sense of the word.
The team travels out early on the Thursday morning, on the first flights from our respective home towns, since the taxi ride from the airport to the marina takes a further hour and a half. So far we have managed every time to meet our target of ‘dock out at 12.00′. In a moderate 15 to 18 knots we were then able to train all afternoon alongside the other teams. On Friday it began in earnest. After the crew weigh-in — together we may not exceed 595 kg — we headed out. In 18 to 22 knots we sailed four races, finishing each of them in the middle of the fleet. We coped well with the conditions but at times had coordination problems in the manoeuvres. With our bowman having to be replaced, it showed once again how hugely important a well-drilled team is. Our stand-in nevertheless carried out his job with flying colours. On the second day the sea breeze blew hard, up to 26 knots. We were able to stay with the leading group, had good starts and were consistently in the top three at the first mark, but kept losing out in the manoeuvres. On the Sunday, moderate winds again allowed racing, so all nine scheduled races could be completed. We finished the championship in fourth place, three points behind second.
In the debriefs during the racing days and in the discussions after the regatta, we talked openly about where our shortcomings lie.
The answer was uncomfortable, but unanimous. It is not the speed. It is the manoeuvres.
That is what we are working on during the short break we now have. In early August the Cape 31 continues at Cowes Week — at the very same venue where, as it happens, the RC44 World Championship takes place in September.
We wish you a wonderful summer and thank you for following us and cheering us on.
You can find more information about upcoming Black Star Sailing regattas under events.
Photocredits: Cape 31 International Class Association 2026, Mégan Bartholomew; RC44/44Cup Org. Andrew Conan, Nico Martinez, Sailing Energy