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 top five.

 

 

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. Early settlers of Minnetonka, the Burton family played a pivotal role in establishing Minnetonka Yacht Club and advancing the development of the Scow designs.

 

At the awards ceremony, Burton put the length of that career into perspective. His first E Scow Nationals as a skipper came in 1978, when he borrowed a wooden boat from Lake Geneva’s Judd Hirschberg. “It caught me," said Burton. "And here I am all these years later.”

 

48 years later, Burton stood on the Lake Geneva stage as National Champion alongside Bruce Martinson, Andy Ferguson and Max Sigel. He was quick to credit the people around him, his crew, the Minnetonka fleet that gives M-9 strong competition every weekend, and the depth of the Nationals fleet: “You have to have a lot of breaks in order to win because the competition is just outstanding.”

 

 

 

The championship changed shape almost every time the fleet crossed the finish line. Pewaukee’s Nicholas Clemence opened Nationals with a bullet. After two races, Tim Krech and Burton were tied on six points. Then Sam Rogers won Race 3 and moved into the lead. Burton answered with a bullet of his own in Race 4, taking over the top spot before Vincent Porter snatched it. By the time the fleet reached Sunday morning, nobody was comfortable. Clemence to Krech to Rogers to Burton to Porter, and finally back to Burton. No one held the top spot through two consecutive races. That was the story of this Nationals.

 

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.

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

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 signal of health for this century-old class. 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. Burton earned the Master (60+) title. 

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.

 

 

 

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. Saturday night was the big one - dresses, dinner, and dancing the night away 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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Lake Geneva Yacht Club is grateful to every sailor who made the trip, every volunteer and race committee member who gave their time and expertise, and every friend who helped make the weekend feel bigger than the racing itself.

 

Thank you to Regatta Chairs Julie Navin and Coye Harrett, PRO Mark Deguire, Tech Officer AJ Schweda, and the entire team behind the scenes.

 

And a huge thank you to Baird for supporting the 2026 E Scow National Championship and the community surrounding it.

 

The E Scows came to Lake Geneva looking for a National Champion. They left with a lot more stories than that.

 

 

 

1. Thomas Burton | M-9 | Minnetonka Yacht Club

2. Eddie Cox | W-66 | White Bear Sailing School

3. Vincent Porter | I-2 | Lake Geneva Yacht Club

4. Sam Rogers | M-42 | Minnetonka Yacht Club

5. Allan Terhune Jr. | I-34 | Lake Geneva Yacht Club

 

Top Youth: Finn Rowe | I-59 | Lake Geneva Yacht Club

Top Woman Skipper: Emily Haig | LE-86 | Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club

Top Rookie: Bora Gulari | I-11 | Lake Geneva Yacht Club

Top Master: Thomas Burton | M-9 | Minnetonka Yacht Club

 

Photos by Hannah Lee Noll. 

 

For more information, follow the Lake Geneva Yacht Club on Facebook & Instagram.

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