The largest event in British Keelboat League history will take place on the waters of Queen Mary Reservoir this weekend, 7th & 8th February. Twenty-two teams representing thirteen Schools will compete in the Royal Thames Yacht Club's Sonars for the Schools British Keelboat League Championship.
Following the now traditional format of single lap races on day 1 and then the more usual two lap BKL races on day two, teams new to keelboat racing get a good warm up to the sprint format with slightly less pressure to start, a great opportunity for those teams new to Keelboat Racing.
While the majority of Schools are returning from last year, this year will see three teams making their BKL debut. Sherborne Girls School, Seaford College and a team from Peter Symonds, Cowes Enterprise College and Godalming College who recently took second place at the rescheduled RYA Schools Match Racing Championship and will certainly be one to watch this weekend.
The on form teams coming in to this weekend will be the teams from Royal Hospital School, having won the Keelboat Team Racing last November and the Schools Match Racing and then an open one day match racing event, their team is on a roll. RGS Guildford will again be fielding two teams looking to build on their fourth place at last year's Schools BKL. Cokethorpe and Radley schools have been getting their keelboat practice in at Farmer this winter so they could well come out of the gates with pace.
All eyes though will be on the teams from Ryde School who swept the board last year taking all the podium places. With around half of their sailors from last year having graduated though the pressure is on to follow that stellar performance.
To follow what is certain to be a gripping event, keep an eye on Royal Thames Yacht Club's Instagram and Facebook with live results at events.ksail.co.uk/RTYC/2026/BKLSchools
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