International Dragon Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix 2026 – Overall
by British Dragon Association 22 Aug 20:11 BST
16-21 August 2026
Hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron from 18-21 August, the 2026 Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix concluded with two final races in light airs: races six and seven of the series. Both were tricky affairs, with super-shifty northerlies that taxed the tacticians and kept the mark layers busy.
Having won race six and with a race to spare, Graham and Julia Bailey, Killian Boag and Will Bedford, sailing GBR192 Bluebottle, owned by The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, claimed the victor’s laurels.
This is the fourth time that Graham’s name will be engraved on the famous Edinburgh Cup, but the first time that the legendary Bluebottle, built by Camper & Nicholson in 1948 and presented by the Island Sailing Club to the then Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth as a wedding gift, has won the trophy, although she made the podium three times in the 1950s and 60s.
For Julia, it is her fifth win, as she sailed with Graham for all four of his victories and also won it as helm in 2015.
Speaking after racing Graham Bailey was clearly moved by this particular victory.”It hasn’t sunk in yet, that’s for sure. This morning, it was close on points. I mean, we had a lead, but it was with a northerly here in the Solent when anything can happen. There are big swings and you can be a hero one minute and you can be questioning your life choices the next. I knew the dangers, but I’m just so pleased that we managed to not fall into the potholes and we just kept our nose in front. So, very, very pleased with the race under a certain amount of pressure and I’m just pleased for the team, pleased for Britannia, pleased for everyone.
“I think it’s actually quite huge, particularly for Britannia herself. I haven’t done the full research, but I think that she has been second twice in the 1950s and she was third, I think, in 1960. So, she’s never won it and, of course, it’s the Duke of Edinburgh’s own cup, and so his own boat has finally won it. I think this is a bit of a moment and this news will spread and I think that certain people will be very happy.”
While Bluebottle sailed home, the fight for the remaining podium places went down to the wire, with Christoph Toepfer (GER11), Jan Secher (SWE800) and Andy Beadsworth (TUR12) all still firmly in contention going into race seven. Beadsworth shot off the line and did a masterful job of the tricky first beat to lead at mark one. Secher rounded in eleventh, putting himself out of contention, but Toepfer was in seventh, which he needed to hold or better to beat Beadsworth. Beadsworth sailed superbly to win the race by a big margin, but behind him Toepfer gradually pulled up into fifth place to secure the second step on the podium, leaving Beadsworth in third overall.
In the Corinthian Division, the result was a final race cliff hanger. Overnight leader Denis Bergin (IRL161) did not find the light airs to his liking, and a thirty-third followed by a thirty-fourth took him down into fifth overall. It was a different story for fellow Irishman Martin Byrne, sailing IRL201 Jaguar Sailing Team with brother Rory Byrne and Adam Winkleman, who went into the day in third with a seventeen-point delta, but put in a seventh and a twenty-first to snatch the Corinthian title on countback. Dries Van den Abbeele (BEL79) crossed the line in thirtieth, his worst result of the regatta, and has to be content with second place overall. The Corinthian performance of the day went to Guy Celis (BEL88), who finished ninth and then seventh to vault onto the third step of the Corinthian podium.
Martin Byrne said of his eleventh-hour win: “I’m delighted and a little bit surprised. We’d overhauled the Corinthian leader after the first race, but we still had work to do to overhaul the Belgian, so we absolutely had to have the second race. It was very important, and we only just managed it at the very end of the last run. I would have preferred if it had been a little bit lighter over the whole regatta. I think we’re a little bit too old for sailing in 30 knots; for three over-60s it’s quite a challenge. But we kept at it and didn’t get too despondent when we had bad results. It all worked out well in the end, which is great.”
The Seagull Trophy competition for female helms had an Edinburgh Cup and Dragon Grand Prix record entry of seven boats, including two helms under 30, and went to Laura Schewe GER1238, whose thirteenth and twelfth places ensured she retained the overnight lead. Christiane Hügelmann (GER335) had the best day of all the lady helms, with a fifth followed by a sixteenth, moving her into second ahead of Gavia Wilkinson-Cox (GBR831), who had a disappointing last race and had to settle for third.
Special mention for the day goes to Dutchman Richard Blickman in NED393 Cobweb. Cobweb was built in 1964 and has recently undergone a complete restoration. She was only relaunched for the first time this week and Richard joked that for the first day or two they were spending as much time bailing as they were sailing as her wooden planking took up again. But today this beautiful classic finally shone as she claimed second in the last race of the series.
For Richard restoring Cobweb has been a remarkable project. “Our boat hadn’t been racing for 46 years; she’d been stored somewhere and nobody knew about her. Some people told me, ‘You’re taking a big risk. You’re buying a boat, which you’re doing up, which is of course a huge investment.’ But a guy called Jeroen de Groot of Jachtbouw de Groot in the Netherlands did the refit work, and Katie [Cole] did the whole rig, and both of them are absolute geniuses in their work. So we have only to be thankful and grateful that we have these people in the class. She feels very special, but then we had to find out if she goes, and she does, which is of course brilliant. My daughter asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And I said, ‘Well, for two reasons. One is because I always love to have a project. And the second reason is for the next generation. So having this beautiful boat in perfect condition will allow the next generation to enjoy her. And Dragon sailing is about tradition, friendship, and all that we should cherish.'”
The regatta concluded with a spectacular Edinburgh Cup Gala Prizegiving Dinner in the Royal Yacht Squadron Pavilion, which commenced with a pre-dinner reception courtesy of Champagne Laurent-Perrier and was generously supported by The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust.
After dinner, a special presentation was also made to Ron James of GBR633, who was celebrating his 86th birthday and announced that, after more than thirty years of Dragon sailing, this will be his final Edinburgh Cup. Ron and his wife Julia started sailing Dragons in 1996 on the Fourth. They had been sailing Albacores, but there was limited local racing and, having been invited to try a Dragon for the first time, they were hooked and purchased a second-hand fibreglass boat from the Medway. They raced in their first Edinburgh Cup in 1997, and in every race something broke. They decided that if they were serious about racing Dragons, a new boat was needed, and an order for a cold-moulded boat was placed with Ole Børresen. In 1998 they launched the beautiful, varnished Fei-Lin’s Flirtation, which Ron has raced ever since. Ron has served as British Dragon Association Chairman and on the International Dragon Association Technical Committee. In a heartfelt thank-you speech, he paid tribute to the incredible camaraderie of the Dragon family and thanked everyone for their friendship and support over the decades. As he concluded, the fleet honoured him with a standing ovation.
The formalities concluded with the official prize-giving at which the trophies were presented, and the new Edinburgh Cup champions were honoured with a rousing three cheers from their fellow sailors. A surprise performance by The Singing Opera Waiters rounded off the evening perfectly.
The British Dragon Association would like to thank the Royal Yacht Squadron members and staff, Race Officer Rob Brown and the race committee, and the Edinburgh Cup organising committee for their outstanding support in creating the regatta. Thank you also to event sponsors and supporters The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, Hendricks Gin, Champagne Laurent-Perrier, Toio, Katie Cole, North Sails, Red Funnel, James Mansell of Clear Solutions, Christoph Toepfer and Glynn Williams. And finally thank you to all the competitors who travelled from around the globe to compete.
The next Edinburgh Cup will be hosted by the Royal Fourth Yacht Club in Edinburgh from 13 to 16 July 2027. But before that, there’s plenty more Dragon sailing to come, as Grant Gordon of GBR833 explained: “The Dragon fleet is really on a roll right now. After this event, we have the Marblehead Trophy [Interclub competition] here in Cowes starting tomorrow, then there’s the final 2026 Grand Prix coming up in two weeks in Medemblik, after which we’re off to the Worlds in Hong Kong in November, with over 90+ boats entered. But here in Cowes this week we had wonderful racing, a great job by the race committee in challenging conditions with wind up and down, lots of tide and all that. So, it’s been fantastic to be here with such great competitors.”
British Dragon Association Website – www.britishdragons.org/edinburgh-cup-2026
2026 Edinburgh Cup & UK Dragon Grand Prix Results: (top five)
Overall
1. GBR192 Bluebottle – Graham Bailey – 6, 2, 1, 6, 11, 1, (50) = 27pts
2. GER11 Aurora – Christoph Toepfer – 3, (22), 9, 7, 3, 6, 5 = 33pts
3. TUR12 Provezza Dragon – Andy Beadsworth – 13, (18), 5, 1, 2, 14, 1 = 36pts
4. POR49 Jupiter – Andrew Lawson – 9, 11, 2, 10, 6, (34), 4 = 42pts
5. SUI355 Ginkgo Racing – Jan Eckert – (20), 9, 15, 4, 1, 10, 6 = 45pts
Corinthian
1. IRL201 Jaguar Sailing Team – Martin Byrne – (25), 6, 22, 14, 22, 7, 21 = 92pts
2. BEL79 Corso – Dries Van den Abbeele – 8, 24, 7, 24, 14, 15, (30) = 92pts
3. BEL 88 White Pearl – Guy Celis – 31, 8, 25 (50), 18, 9, 7 = 98pts
4. GER1151 Lilibeth – Magdalena Gründt – 26, (34), 3, 17, 26, 23, 10 = 105pts
5. IRL161 Sir Ossis Of The River – Denis Bergin – 19, 26, 10, 5, 13, 33, (34) = 106pts
