2026 E National Championship - Raw Drone Footage 4k

Tom Burton Wins Fourth E Scow National Championship Lake Geneva Yacht Club rolled out the red carpet for 77 E Scow teams LAKE GENEVA, Wis. (Sept. 16, 2026) — Nothing about this E Scow Nationals stayed predictable for long. Across three days on Lake Geneva, the breeze shifted, the leaderboard shuffled, and five different teams found themselves at the top of the standings at one point or another. In the end, it was Tom Burton, Bruce Martinson, Andy Ferguson and Max Sigel on M-9 who put together a rock-solid regatta and came out on top of the E Scow National Championship Sponsored by Baird. Representing Minnetonka Yacht Club, Burton finished the six-race championship with 23 net points to claim his fourth E Scow National Championship. Eddie Cox's W-66 finished second on 29 points, with Lake Geneva Yacht Club’s Vincent Porter third on 33. Sam Rogers and Allan Terhune Jr. rounded out the podium. Six Races. Five Leaders. The championship changed shape almost every time the fleet crossed the finish line. By the time the fleet reached Sunday morning, nobody was comfortable. The regatta leaderboard went Clemence to Krech to Rogers to Burton to Porter, and finally back to Burton. No one held the top spot through two consecutive races. Friday brought shifty, variable breeze from 5 to 15 knots and a full day of snakes and ladders. Saturday turned up the volume with consequential heavy-air moments. Sunday asked for patience and mental toughness. The fleet had to do a little bit of everything. It All Came Down to the Final Day. Sunday began exactly on schedule. The first warning came at 10:00, and the fleet completed Race 6 before Lake Geneva turned the final chapter into an exercise in patience. A front was approaching. Rainstorms moved around the lake. The breeze went light and unstable, with shifts approaching 50 degrees. Race Committee kept trying. Three attempts at another race got underway before conditions forced each one to be abandoned. For the teams fighting at the top of the leaderboard, the challenge became as mental as it was tactical. Stay ready. Stay neutral. Reset after every general recall, postponement, and abandoned attempt. Be prepared to race the championship one more time, without knowing whether that opportunity would actually come. Eventually, the weather made the decision. Six races would stand. Burton clinched it. His scoreline of 3-3-10-1-[19]-6 left Cygnet on 23 net points, six clear of Cox in second. Yet Another One for the Legend The Burton name is already deeply woven into scow sailing history. The 2026 victory adds a fourth E Scow National Championship to a career that includes 10 ILYA Championship titles dating back to 1970, three Blue Chip titles, and more than 20 Minnetonka Yacht Club E Scow championship series titles. Additionally, Burton has earned top honors including the Sears Cup, Pillsbury Trophy, Felker Cup, and the family-named Burton Cup. The Burton family, early settlers of Minnetonka, played a pivotal role in establishing Minnetonka Yacht Club and advancing the development of the Scow designs. More Than the Podium Behind the overall championship battle, several other stories played out across the 77-boat fleet. Finn Rowe’s I-59 Willy T finished as the top Youth team in a strong lineup of 15 young skippers, a major sign of health for this century-old class. Burton earned the Master (60+) title. With defending champion Kyle Navin in Italy for the America’s Cup, Bora Gulari took the helm of the I-11 with the defending champion crews, and finished as the top Rookie (first-time skipper). Emily Haig and LE-86 earned top Woman Skipper honors. Those divisions are a reminder of what makes this fleet work. There are championship veterans and first-time Nationals skippers on the same starting line. Youth teams racing against sailors whose E Scow careers span decades. Families, siblings, and longtime friends all hike next to each other. The results matter. But so does who keeps coming back. First We Race, Then We Dance The racing was only half of the weekend. Friday brought the fleet together at Lake Geneva Yacht Club for Tito’s Handmade Vodka on the lawn, appetizers, live music, fun awards derived from Vakaros data, and the Harken Blockheads Youth Boat of the Day award. Saturday night was the big one - dresses, dinner, and dancing with the fleet-favorite Big Al Wetzel Band. Ain’t no party like an E Scow party. The combination of high-level competition and genuine community is part of what has kept this class strong for generations. Sail hard all day, and share a story together afterward. Hit the dance floor with the people you were trying to beat a few hours earlier. A Weekend to Remember 77 teams. More than 300 sailors. 27 yacht clubs. Six races. Five different regatta leaders. And three days that looked exactly like E Scow sailing should.