UKOPRA heads to Hamble on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 July 2026 for Round 4 of the 2026 Offshore Championship, the MDL Marinas Mercury Offshore Grand Prix. The fleet moves to Mercury Yacht Harbour for a weekend of scrutineering, racing around the Isle of Wight and a dockside after-dark party to close out the round.
Classes 1, 1L, 2 and 3 will compete across two starts on Saturday afternoon, with the course running out into the eastern Solent, around the bottom of the Isle of Wight via the Needles, and back up the western Solent to the finish off Hamstead Ledge. Round 4 is the penultimate round of the five-round 2026 UKOPRA Championship.
Race day update, Saturday 25 July: UKOPRA has curtailed Round 4 at the Needles Fairway buoy, mark 8, on safety grounds. Boats round the Needles on the outbound leg and go no further west, removing the second Needles rounding and, for Classes 1, 1L and 2, the whole of Lap B.
UKOPRA said in a statement:
Due to safety reasons the race will be curtailed at Needles Fairway Buoy (turn 8). This is due to high volumes of traffic in the Western Solent.
The course had been clear on schedule; race control understood the yacht fleet had started around two hours later than planned, putting it across the western Solent as the powerboats came through.
Lightning Strikes was first to the mark and quickest overall on the curtailed course, while Sixty9 sealed the Class 1L title. Full report and provisional results below.
Race Report and Results
Read the full report from Hamble, with provisional results by class.
Round 4 Report and Provisional ResultsLive Race Tracking
UKOPRA is running live GPS tracking for Round 4 through YB Tracking. The tracker below updates in real time during racing, so the fleet can be followed east through the Solent, around the Isle of Wight and back up to the finish off Hamstead Ledge.
Open the UKOPRA 2026 tracker in a new window if it does not load above.
What Spectators Will See
Race boats leave Mercury Yacht Harbour at 11:15 on Saturday, mustering four cables east of the East Bramble buoy before the first start. Classes 1, 1L and 2 get away at 12:30 off the South East Ryde Middle buoy in the eastern Solent, with Class 3 starting ten minutes later at the same line.
Classes 1, 1L and 2 run the full course, a Start Run plus Lap A and Lap B totalling 90.3 nautical miles. Class 3 covers the Start Run and Lap A only, 58.2 nautical miles. Lap A takes the fleet east past No Man’s Land Fort and Bembridge Ledge, south around St Catherine’s Point, and round the bottom of the island to the Needles before running up the western Solent to the lap and finish line off Hamstead Ledge, near Yarmouth. Lap B, for the bigger classes only, is a shorter loop confined to the western Solent between the Needles and Hamstead Ledge.
Racing is scheduled to finish by 15:00, with podium presentations at Race Control from 16:30.
Event Timetable
| Friday 24 July 2026 | ||
| Teams arrive | 12:00 onwards (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Race admin and scrutineering | 12:00-17:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Welcome Aboard, Dockside Drinks | 17:00-22:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Safety Briefing | 20:00-21:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Saturday 25 July 2026 | ||
| Drivers’ Briefing | 09:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Safety Briefing | 10:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Race boats depart marina | 11:15 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Muster | 12:15 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Start 1, Classes 1, 1L, 2 | 12:30 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Start 2, Class 3 | 12:40 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Racing complete | 15:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Podium presentations | 16:30-17:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
| Parc Ferme After Dark Party | 19:30-00:00 (BST, UTC+1) | |
All times shown are local UK time (BST, UTC+1). Your local time is calculated automatically where supported by your browser.
Entry List
Official entry list as of July 19, 2026. Seven classes, 20 boats confirmed, with one Class 3 entry to be confirmed near race day.
| No. | Nation | Boat / Team | Crew | Hull | Colour | Engine | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-88 |   | Double Trouble | Anton Modin Gary Aldington | Fountain | White | Express | 1720 |
| No. | Nation | Boat / Team | Crew | Hull | Colour | Engine | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1L-7 | | Oceanus Racing VT | Richard Truscott Rob Bingham | Buzzi | Black | Eastwood | 1000 |
| 1L-8 | | Black Ball Racing | Rod Hawkins Martin McLaughlin Barry Culver | Formula | White/Orange | Chevrolet | 1400 |
| 1L-69 | | Sixty9 Offshore Racing | Alex Welham Neil Raven | Dragon | Blue/White | Ilmor | 1450 |
| No. | Nation | Boat / Team | Crew | Hull | Colour | Engine | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-69 | | Lightning Strikes | Dean Stoneman Harry Thomas | Donzi | Green/Yellow | Mercury | 998 |
| 2-800 | | Great White | Ian McCulloch Ben Metcalfe Chris Doran | Sunseeker | White | Yanmar | 880 |
| M-31 |  | Unipart | Robin Ward Jeff Hall | Cougar | White/Blue | Chevrolet | 700 |
| No. | Nation | Boat / Team | Crew | Hull | Colour | Engine | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B-26 | | Team JB-R | John Bunyan Luke Cloudsdale | AYD | Blue | Evinrude | 115 |
| No. | Nation | Boat / Team | Crew | Hull | Colour | Engine | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-35 | | Charlie Thirty Five | Elliott Holman Jon Gray | Mannerfelt | Orange | Mercury | 200 |
| C-38 | | Joker | Richard Dean Michael Barnes | Backdraft | White/Grey | Mercury | 200 |
| No. | Nation | Boat / Team | Crew | Hull | Colour | Engine | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-33 | | Just Add Water | Murray MacGregor James Dodds | Phantom | Green/White | Mercury | 300 |
| No. | Nation | Boat / Team | Crew | Hull | Colour | Engine | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-11 | | 66 Racing | Ben Brown Perry Murphy | Misscat | Yellow/Black | Mercury | 250 |
| E-12 | | Mermaid / Wight Offshore Racing | Richard Jackson Baylan Blanks | Mannerfelt | Black/Blue | Volvo | 350 |
| E-16 | | Rush Racing UK | Gary Godden Abigail Godden | Mannerfelt | Purple/White | Volvo | 350 |
| E-17 | | Blast from the Past | Steve Tennant Lesley Horner | Enfield | Silver | Mercruiser | 600 |
| E-28 | | Top Banana | Joseph Vidler Stuart Vidler | Unknown | Yellow | Mercury | 600 |
| E-32 | | Licence to Thrill | Lee Ornsby Ross Macgregor | Spectre | White | Yamaha | 600 |
| E-77 | | White Knuckle | Jason Field Tom Trotman | Revenger | Grey/Blue/White | Yamaha | 600 |
| H-400 | | Thunderstreak | Peter Hall Brian Pelham Trevor Squibb | Bertram | Blue/White | Mercruiser | 850 |
Venue and Practical Information
Mercury Yacht Harbour and Holiday Park hosts the round, with The Gaff Rigger restaurant, bar and terrace on site running all of the weekend’s hospitality. Hamble Village, a three minute drive or 10-15 minute walk away, has a range of cafes, pubs and restaurants, along with a convenience store. Coronation Parade on Hamble Lane has further amenities close by.
Welcome Aboard Dockside Drinks take place at The Gaff Rigger from 17:00 on Friday. Saturday morning starts with breakfast and drinks from 08:30 ahead of the briefings, with wristband holders able to claim event deals. The weekend closes with the Parc Ferme After Dark Party at The Gaff Rigger from 19:30, with live music on the waterfront terrace.
Parking on site is free.
UKOPRA Race Instructions, Round 4
The Mercury Offshore Grand Prix will count as Round 4 of 5 of the UKOPRA 2026 Championship.
2026 UKOPRA Standings
See how the championship stands heading into Round 4.
2026 UKOPRA Offshore Championship StandingsFollow UKOPRA
Powerboat News covers every round of the UKOPRA Offshore Championship through the 2026 season.
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John Moore is the editor of Powerboat News, an independent investigative journalism platform recognised by Google News and documented on Grokipedia for comprehensive powerboat racing coverage.
His involvement in powerboat racing began in 1981 when he competed in his first offshore powerboat race. After a career as a Financial Futures broker in the City of London, specialising in UK interest rate markets, he became actively involved in event organisation and powerboat racing journalism.
He served as Event Director for the Cowes–Torquay–Cowes races between 2010 and 2013. In 2016, he launched Powerboat Racing World, a digital platform providing global powerboat racing news and insights. The following year, he co-founded UKOPRA, helping to rejuvenate offshore racing in the United Kingdom. He sold Powerboat Racing World in late 2021 and remained actively involved with UKOPRA until 2025.
In September 2025, he established Powerboat News, returning to independent journalism with a focus on neutral and comprehensive coverage of the sport.
