Noble Marine Musto Skiff UK Nationals 2025 at Hayling Island Sailing Club - Overall
by Jamie Hilton 22 Sep 00:22 UTC
18-21 September 2025
Eddie Bridle bags the UK Musto Skiff champion title
A lovely start to the day with the sun shining, blue skies, and the promise of three more championship races to decide the UK National Champion. With Eddie Bridle out in front by 6 points, closely followed by Andy 'Turbo' Tarboton, Euan Hurter, Sam Barker, Jamie Hilton, and Rob Richardson, coupled with a shifty northerly blowing off the shore, it really was all up for grabs.
Race 9
The fleet got away on the first time of asking on a flood tide, pushing boats down the line. Then it was a case of knitting together the many shifts up the beat to weave our way to the top mark. Jono Shelley and Euan Hurter showed up first, coming in from the left side, while Eddie came in from the right in 3rd. With the puffs coming down the racetrack in fits and bursts, there were many splits in the fleet, depending on which bit of pressure people were eyeing up.
Jono and Euan both picked up weed on the second beat, allowing Eddie to steal the lead, and Barker picked his way through to take 2nd, leaving Jono in 3rd, Hilton in 4th, and Euan in 5th.
Race 10
Race 10 started with a righty coming out of the start, which put paid to Euan's attempt at a port-end flyer. Barker and Hilton banked early gains on the starboard tack, but then there was always the dilemma of how far left to go, with the left side presumably having less adverse tide but less stable wind.
There were quite a few holes appearing by this stage, and it was the old proverbial snakes and ladders. Barker led round the top mark, with Hilton close behind, followed by the usual suspects, Eddie, Rob, and Ben Clegg. Barker stretched his lead, but Hilton found a snake, while Rob, Eddie, and Ben gybe-set to find a ladder.
Up the second beat, the right-hand side paid off, with Barker, Eddie, and the wily Bruce Keen appearing in the mix. Hilton, trying to recover his losses, worked the left side to no avail and was dragged back into the traffic.
Barker took the bullet, followed by Rob, Eddie, and Bruce. Ben Clegg secured 5th, while Turbo and Hilton were fighting for mark room on the final rounding, with Hilton taking his medicine with a costly 360, in a melee that showed how precious each point was in the quest for the podium.
Race 11
For the final race of the day and championship, the fleet limped over the line in a moment of calm, where, after about 15 seconds, pressure came in with a left-hand shift. Those who quickly flicked on to port fared well, and again it was Barker leading the fleet up the beat, closely followed by (you guessed it) 'steady' Eddie and Hilton.
Barker sailed on brilliantly to land his second bullet of the day, leaving Eddie and Hilton to slug it out around the track. The ever-speedy Rob entered the fray to separate the two, but it was Hilton who peeled off early back onto starboard down the final run to find a ladder, propelling him into 2nd over the line, with Eddie in 3rd and Rob in 4th.
With the championship wrapped up, the fleet made their way home with a lot of fun beating up the tide of the emptying Chichester Harbour.
Back ashore, with the scores totted up, Eddie had apparently already secured the Title with a race to spare. Nevertheless, a 1,3,3 was a pretty stellar day for him, topped only by Sam Barker with a magnificent 2,1,1 to take a march up the leaderboard to take 2nd place overall. Andy Tarboton did enough to secure 3rd place overall, but it all got uncomfortably close with Hilton and Rob snapping at his heels.
Congratulations to Eddie for his win. Brilliant to see him winning another Champion Title in the Musto Skiff on the back of his European Title success just 3 months earlier in Germany. A fantastic result for him, and great to see Eddie up there on the podium in such good company.
Special mentions to Brennan Robinson for stepping in for Bill Maughan to chair the proceedings this week, to Hayling Island Sailing Club for hosting an excellent event, and to PRO Mark Darling and his race team for laying on a fantastic series. A big thanks also to Noble Marine Insurance, our 2025 UK Nationals Event Title sponsor, and to Class Title sponsor Musto for providing all the prizes.
A final thanks to everyone in the fleet who made the event. It is a great class with great people, and everyone always enjoys the social as much as the sailing. See you all next time.
2025 Category Results:
Top 10 - Overall
1st - Eddie Bridle
2nd - Sam Barker
3rd - Andy Tarboton
4th - Jamie Hilton
5th - Robert Richardson
6th - Euan Hurter
7th - Ben Clegg
8th - Bruce Keen
9th - Danny Boatman
10th - Jono Shelley
Youth - Overall
1st - Rob Richardson
2nd - Thomas Goodman
3rd - Jonathan Markby
Master - Overall
1st - Jamie Hilton
2nd - Bruce Keen
3rd - Dan Vincent
Grand Master - Overall
1st - Richard Smith
2nd - Andy Rice
3rd - Adrian Hewitt
Legend - Overall
1st - Serega Photoskiff
2nd - Andrew Gould
3rd - Alastair Gould
Silver Fleet - Overall
1st - David Annan
2nd - Brennan Robinson
3rd - Gareth Davies
Full results can be found here.