Fresh off a Worlds win in France, Rob Richardson heads north to take on reigning UK and European champion Eddie Bridle at Scotland's 2026 Musto Skiff Nationals.
The 2026 Noble Marine UK Musto Skiff National Championship is just a few days away, and the results line-up has set up a genuine title question. Rob Richardson was only fifth at last year's UK Nationals. Eight months later he's the reigning World Champion. Eddie Bridle, who beat him to that Nationals title in 2025 and has since added the European crown, returns to North Berwick defending both.
The regatta runs 10 to 13 September at East Lothian Yacht Club (ELYC) in North Berwick, Scotland, with entry capped at 100 boats.
World champion, defending champion
Richardson went into the final day at Carnac in June as overall leader, then had to fight back to fifth in the first race of the day to seal the title. He finished the week the way he'd started it, leading start to finish to win the last race of the regatta. Bridle took second overall, edging clubmate Ben Clegg into third.
Speaking ahead of North Berwick, Bridle rated Richardson's Worlds form as "serious speed," and named Clegg, Andy Tarboton, Jono Shelley, Jamie Hilton and Danny Boatman among the sailors he expects at the sharp end. Bridle's own 2025 record backs up the target on his back: five wins and four seconds from nine races at the Europeans, then a clean UK Nationals win at Hayling Island.
The Musto Skiff itself sits at the fast end of the singlehanded dinghy fleet. At 4.55m, with a bare hull weight of 44kg and an all-up sailing weight of 82.5kg, it can top 20 knots, a legacy of a 1999 design brief that won every race in the singlehanded dinghy competition at the 2000 Olympic Class trials.
Twelve races, four days
Racing runs to a maximum of four races a day, with up to 12 races scheduled across the four days to decide the Champion Title and category places spanning Youth through to Legend fleets.
North Berwick's stage
ELYC's home patch on Scotland's east coast pairs two genuine race areas: open water east toward the Bass Rock, known for steady breeze and great waves, or a course to the west threading between the landmarks of The Lamb and Craigleith.
| Sailor | 2026 Worlds (Carnac) | 2025 UK Nationals | 2025 Europeans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Richardson | 1st | 5th | Did not compete |
| Eddie Bridle | 2nd | 1st | 1st |
The notice of race is available through the East Lothian Yacht Club website.
