Race The Waves ’26

Sept. 2026 • By Tony Thacker • Photos by Virginie Petorin
Presented by FirstUpApparel.com & MicksPaint.com

Bridlington, for those who don’t know, is a seaside town on the north east coast of England some 200 miles north of London. It faces the bitingly cold North Sea. Every year since 2018 Paul Garbutt of Backfire Productions, and his team of volunteers as well as members of the Visit East Yorkshire Event Team, stage the Race The Waves (RTW) weekend that includes an auto show, cycle karts, food, music, steampunk displays, and of course, beach racing.

Yorkshire can trace its land speed racing history back to 1905 when nearby Filey Beach hosted the first UK Land Speed Trials on a three-mile stretch of hard sand. The following year, record attempts moved slightly further north to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, which offered a longer five-mile stretch of firm tidal sand. The 1906 event apparently attracted around 60K people who saw Warwick Wright hurtle his 100-horsepower Darracq across the sand to set a new Yorkshire speed record of 96.5 mph.

RTW is a little different in that participants pair off for a 200-yard drag race down the one-mile South Beach. The event attracts an eclectic mix of race vehicles not always built to battle the sand which appeared wet and soft this year.

According to RTW commentator Graham Beckwith, “The race course had to be moved this year due to heavy summer tides removing sand and exposing ancient wooden groins down the beach. Nevertheless, around 100 motorcycles and a similar number of wacky race cars came to tear up the sand and jump the tidal stream that crosses near the start. The weather was overcast but that didn’t stop the massive crowds that came out to watch.”

For more info:

FirstUp Apparel: https://firstupapparel.com

Mick’s Paint: https://MicksPaint.com

Race The Waves: https://backfirepromotions.com