Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team from Dun Laoghaire Harbour has won the Corinthian title at the 2026 Edinburgh Cup and UK Dragon Grand Prix in Cowes after a dramatic final-race battle decided on countback.
Byrne, sailing IRL201 Jaguar with his brother Rory Byrne and Adam Winkleman, produced a seventh and 21st in Friday’s two light-air races to overhaul the Corinthian leaders and finish level on 92 points with Belgium’s Dries Van den Abbeele aboard Corso. Jaguar took the title on countback.
The victory gave the Irish crew another Edinburgh Cup Corinthian title, although Byrne told Afloat that the result came at the end of a demanding week in which Jaguar struggled to match the pace of the leading professional teams in the strongest conditions.
“It was nice to win the Corinthian trophy again. But we were disappointed in our overall result,” Byrne told Afloat.
“It was very physical in 26-knot and 30-knot race days and, while our boat handling was good, we had to battle some serious speed issues against two very fast professional teams.”
Final-Day Changes Pay Off
The championship had featured markedly different conditions, with the final two races sailed in light and highly variable northerly winds.
Those conditions played more to Jaguar’s strengths, while changes to the boat also contributed to the Irish crew’s final-day comeback.
“We were very competitive in the lighter breezes and a slight adjustment to our forestay measurement and a brand new genoa made a big difference on the last day,” Byrne said.
Going into the deciding race, Jaguar was locked in a battle with fellow Irish Dragon Sir Ossis of the River and the Belgian Corinthian challengers.
“We had a tense battle with Sir Ossis and a Belgian team going into the final race where we were chasing first overall in the Corinthian division.
“We had to put several boats between us and the Belgians and we just managed to get the numbers right on the finish line.”
The official results underline how close the contest became: Jaguar and Corso both finished on 92 points, with the Irish boat winning the tie-break. Guy Celis’s Belgian White Pearl was third on 98 points.
Four Irish Corinthian Crews
All four Irish entries at Cowes were Corinthian crews, with Byrne highlighting the performance of Denis and Joey Bergin’s Sir Ossis of the River in the heavier conditions.
“All four Irish boats were Corinthian teams and Denis and Joey Bergin’s Sir Ossis team were very competitive in the heavier breezes. They sail with four crew and were max weight,” Byrne said.
Sir Ossis had led the Corinthian standings overnight but scores of 33rd and 34th in Friday’s lighter conditions dropped the Irish boat to fifth Corinthian overall on 106 points.
Byrne, a previous overall Edinburgh Cup winner, said the increasingly professional nature of the Dragon fleet represented a significant challenge for amateur campaigns.
“Former Irish Dragon teams have won the Edinburgh Cup, including ourselves. But in the professional era we have a tough challenge against the stronger teams.”
Bluebottle Wins With Race to Spare
2026 Dragon Edinburgh Cup and UK Grand Prix Champion GBR192 Bluebottle - L-R Killian Boag, Will Bedford, Julia and Graham Bailey Photo: Rick Tomlinson
The overall Edinburgh Cup went to Graham and Julia Bailey, Killian Boag and Will Bedford aboard GBR192 Bluebottle, who secured the championship by winning race six and did not need to sail the final race.
They finished on 27 points, six clear of Germany’s Christoph Toepfer aboard Aurora, with Andy Beadsworth’s Turkish Provezza Dragon third on 36.
It was Graham Bailey’s fourth Edinburgh Cup victory and Julia Bailey’s fifth, but a historic first win in the event for Bluebottle. The 1948 Camper & Nicholson Dragon was presented to the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip as a wedding gift and had previously made the Edinburgh Cup podium without winning the trophy.
Jaguar Heads for Cannes and Hong Kong
There will be little pause for Byrne and the Jaguar campaign after Cowes.
“We move directly to Cannes for Régates Royales in September and then to Hong Kong in November for the World Championships,” Byrne told Afloat.
“From January to May we will be based in Cannes, where we will do several events ahead of the European Championships there.”
The 2027 Edinburgh Cup is scheduled to be hosted in Edinburgh from 13–16 July.
Results are here
