The battle ended in an English victory; many ships were captured and a vast haul of booty was acquired, including 8,000–9,000 tons of wine.

[6][5] In October 1386, Richard II's so-called Wonderful Parliament approved a commission that began gathering men and ships for a descent (amphibious assault) on Flanders.

Intending to invade England, the French and Castilians had gathered an army of 30,000 men and a fleet of 1,200 vessels at Sluis (Sluys) in the previous autumn.

[6] Philip the Bold, who was the driving force in Charles VI's minority government, suddenly fell ill and so the expedition was cancelled and the fleet dispersed.

[2] Although significantly larger than Arundel's flotilla, De Bucq's fleet was inferior in both manpower and armament, having an inadequate complement of soldiers to defend it from the English attack.

[5] However, instead of holding the port, which was virtually undefended, the earl put landing parties ashore to burn and plunder coastal villages and seize rich prisoners for ransom.