Draycote Water SC has been home to a keen fleet of Flying Fifteens for many years, several of whom are very regular travellers on the open meeting and championship circuit - but prior to last weekend the club hadn't hosted a Flying Fifteen event of it's own for some time, largely because of varying water levels and launching facilities which struggled to handle larger number of boats.

This problem has been solved now with the construction of an entirely new launching facility and car park for visiting boats at the west end of the Draycote site, and despite an on-shore wind competitors at the 2025 P&B Flying Fifteen Inland Championships were able to launch and recover their boats rapidly and efficiently

Flying Fifteen championships are always fiercely competitive affairs, and the 25 entrants at this event included amongst them the principles of three UK sailmakers as well as various other previous and current champions, all of whom no-doubt laser-focussed on the forthcoming Flying Fifteen World Championship being held in the UK later this year

The glorious weather of the previous week continued across the weekend, with wall-to-wall blue skies and plenty of breeze and white horses – in other words proper British sunglasses-and-woolly-hats sailing conditions

The stiff wind on the Saturday allowed the Race Officer to set a windward-leeward-triangle course, with the reaches wide enough to allow the Flying Fifteens to indulge in the exhilarating three-sail power surfing at which they excel – followed occasionally by ignominious broaches at the gybe mark.

Ben McGrane & Scott Dawson from Netley SC navigated the shifty and gusty wind to best effect in the first race, taking the win followed by the father-and-son team of Dave & Harry Lucas from Grafham SC in second, with local boat – and defending Inland Champions – Jeremy Davy & Martin Huett in third

Race Two saw another team in the frame with the two Ians – Pinnell & Cadwallader – taking the victory, followed by Davy & Huett in second and the Lucas's in third

By this time the conditions had got the better of some competitors with fatigued boats – or fatigued bodies – leading to several retirements. The remaining teams lined up for battle for the final race of the day, with Davy & Huett taking the win, followed home by Pinnell & Cadwallader and McGrane & Dawson

Back on the beach everyone came together to swap stories of near-misses, pulled-muscles and gear failures, whilst refreshing themselves with free beer – generously provided by Pinnell & Bax – and a fine selection of free cakes, generously provided by QHotels.

Sunday morning saw the wind much moderated but still blowing from the same direction and more than sufficient to allow some great sailing and hard hiking at times. Although less gusty than the previous day there were still plenty of shifts and variations across the course, with navigating the beats successfully often being a question of whether to go left into the middle of the lake, or to go right towards the beach in the hope of picking-up a lift into the windward mark

Overnight leaders Davy & Huett chose the wrong route the first race of the day, finding themselves thoroughly buried in the pack at the first mark and only being able to recover to 11^th by the end of the race. McGrane & Dawson took the victory, followed by long-time 'Fifteen campaigners David McKee & Mal Hartland in second, with the Lucas's again taking third

Race five saw Davy & Huett back on form, taking the win with the ever-consistent McGrane & Dawson in second and Pinnell & Cadwallader in third

It was clear by now that the overall event victory would go to one of these three teams, but to illustrate that blind luck was also a factor the author feels obliged to mention that the first boat around the windward mark in the final race was that of Jeremy Arnold & Richard Hope who, whilst quickly being overtaken by those  leading three teams, nonetheless remained perfectly placed to witness what transpired next.

Pinnell & Cadwallader led around the next mark, chased hard by Davy & Huett and McGrane & Dawson. Davy & Huett, perhaps with the advantage of local knowledge, took the inshore route up the second beat and came out ahead of the Ians at the next mark, with McGrane & Dawson still in third. The positions remained the same for the next lap, with the gaps between the boats being such that the overall event victory for Davy & Huett looked fairly secure.

But fate still had a hand to play, and at the end of the third lap Davy & Huett rounded the leeward mark with spinnaker still flying and headed to the finish line – where they were greeted by silence, it being a four lap race.

A lap later Pinnell & Cadwallader did receive a finishing hoot, followed by McGrane & Dawson in second and the chastened-but-still-cheerful team of Davy & Huett in third.

At the final reckoning only two points separated the first three places, with the overall victory going to Ben McGrane & Scott Dawson. Prizes, again courtesy of Pinnell & Bax and QHotels, were awarded down to sixth place, and with a fantastic event being enjoyed by the whole fleet we hope that Draycote Water SC will again become a regular venue on the UK Flying Fifteen racing circuit.

Report by Jeremy Arnold

Photography provided by Malcolm Lewin

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