Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour have finished third at the 49erFX UK National Championships at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, winning three races along the way.
Twelve races were sailed across four days, 24-27 September. Erin (Newcastle YC) and Ellen (County Antrim YC) finished on 37 points.
The pair had a slow start, with a 6, 6 and 8 in the first three races. They came back strongly from race four onwards and finished in the top three in seven of the next nine races. They won races five, ten and twelve, closing the championship with a race win.
They also beat British Olympic pairing Freya Black and Saskia Tidey in five of the twelve races. Freya and Saskia finished second overall on 30 points. Ellie Keers and Jess Jobson won the title on 28 points.
49erFX UK National Championships 2026: top five
- Ellie Keers / Jess Jobson, 28 points
- Freya Black / Saskia Tidey, 30 points
- Erin McIlwaine / Ellen Barbour, 37 points
- Maddie Hawkins / Lilly Myers, 41 points
- Florence Brellisford / Sophie Raven, 48 points
Help Erin and Ellen get to LA2028
Erin and Ellen are working towards the LA2028 Olympic Games, and results like this show what they can do against the best 49erFX sailors in the UK.
Thank you to everyone who has backed their journey to LA so far. With your support, 4,100+ miles of the 10360 mile journey have been secured, and every mile brings them closer to the start line in Los Angeles.
Results like this take training time, travel and time on the water, and that all costs money. If you’d like to help Erin and Ellen cover the next part of the journey, you can sponsor a mile here
