Picture it: The Mill, Patrington. CQ Worldwide SSB 2026. M6C. Radios, laughs, and possibly too many biscuits. What could possibly go wrong?

Storm Boelo: the uninvited operator

Then Storm Boelo turned up uninvited. Wind howling, antennas doing the cha-cha, and on Sunday morning a guy rope on the 160-metre aerial let go. Out we went into 40–50 mph gusts to wrestle the 160- and 80-metre aerials back up. We staggered indoors wondering who had booked the outdoor team-building exercise.

Where have all the sunspots gone?

Inside, the bands were stubborn. Openings were shy, the solar conditions weren’t playing ball, and yet we still worked the world: over 4,500 QSOs. In 2025 M6C scored 7,583,034 points. This year’s provisional score is around 3.3 million.

Apparently somebody forgot to renew our subscription to the ionosphere! Despite that, we worked all six populated continents and approximately 143 DXCC entities, subject to final log checking. Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, Tonga, French Polynesia and the Galápagos Islands all made an appearance.

Twenty metres did most of the heavy lifting with around 1,751 QSOs, followed by forty metres with 1,169. Ten and fifteen metres appeared to be operating reduced opening hours — without telling anyone.

Three million points — ring that bell!

Somewhere between fighting the weather and chasing reluctant signals, M6C passed the three-million-point mark. John marked the occasion the proper way: by ringing the bell! A little celebration was thoroughly deserved. The ionosphere, naturally, remained unimpressed.

Operators, old friends and new faces

There were moments of triumph, moments of “was that Japan or the kettle?”, and moments of heroism. Jordan, M6YJG, quietly racked up 514 QSOs on his first go, while the rest of us pretended not to be competitive. We were, obviously.

It was lovely to welcome Tanya, 2E0TSS, see Patryk M7IWY back again — now sixteen and growing in confidence — and thank everyone who travelled through the rain and wind, including Rob M0KPD from Surrey. Kevin, M0KVK, drove back from France, which deserves a medal, and Marcin, M0GLV, absolutely smashed it on the air.

The catering team kept us going

A huge, heartfelt thank you to Sue, M6URG, who headed up the catering and kept us all fed, plus Charlie, 2E0CIK, Andy, G8REM, and every pair of hands that chopped, stirred, served and washed up. There may have been a shortage of sunspots, but certainly no shortage of appreciation!

A special thank-you to Mike Wood

Mike, owner of the Millhouse site, kindly closes the site each year so we can do this. From all of us, thank you for your hospitality, friendship and generosity. We hope you enjoyed that bottle of whisky. Thoroughly deserved!

Same time next year?

From wind-whipped aerials to warm mugs of tea, M6C 2026 had everything except decent propagation. The score took a hammering, but the friendship, laughter and team spirit certainly didn’t. And if everything went perfectly, we’d have nothing to moan about for the next twelve months!

Thank you to everyone who made it happen. Same time next year? Absolutely! Although next time, could somebody arrange a few more sunspots and a little less wind?

73 to everyone, and here’s to M6C 2027!
Humber Fortress DX Amateur Radio Club

Contest figures are provisional and subject to final log checks.