2023 Gul Fireball Inland Championship at Draycote Water Sailing Club

Gul Fireball Inlands at Draycote Water © Paul Roe

Draycote Water SC welcomed 31 boats to the 2023 Gul Fireball Inland Championship event on the weekend of 7th & 8th October. This was set to be a classic battle of skill and tactics for the prestigious title, and Severn Trent did their bit by closing the main road to the club and posting a hopeless diversion so that only the very worthiest of competitors could even find the place.

The weather on Saturday was perfect, with a shifty, gusty 12 knot breeze and full sunshine. Suspecting that Sunday might not be so excellent, the race team opted for 4 races back to back. So once we'd guided Vince in from Outer Birdingbury, we got on with it.

Race 1: The start line was long and only lightly biased, which may have been the reason that there were no recalls at all for the entire event. So the fleet got away cleanly at the first attempt and negotiated the tricky beat with varying degrees of success. Finding the gusts was key to a decent result, and Dave Hall & Paul Constable appeared to be doing a fine job of it. Anyway, some very nice 3-sail reaches and tactical runs ensued, but Dave & Paul came out ahead with DJ Edwards & Vyv Townend worthy bridesmaids, and Paul 'Spanner' Cullen & Dave Wade not too far behind at the end either.

At this point I should confess that I never saw Dave & Paul on the water at any time. Either they were on the other side of the beat every time, or Dave is fitting an invisibility cloak to his boats now.

Gul Fireball Inlands at Draycote Water - photo © Paul Roe

Race 2: The breeze was rising, and some boats dropped the rake back a bit for this one. It was becoming apparent that you could be at the pin end of the line with the hotshots and go left, or take the scenic route out to the right and pick up a fabulous lift after tacking. Those of us who spotted this option turned up at the windward mark marginally ahead of those who didn't, but were then assaulted by quite a lot of boats charging in on port. Some shouting and parking up ensued, followed by quite a lot of grumbling in my boat. Georgia Booth & Olly Davenport managed to avoid the melee and made it round in first place, with Dave & Paul not far behind. A few laps and some more fabulous reaches later, the latter pair had taken the lead, with Georgia & Olly second and DJ & Vyv third.

Gul Fireball Inlands at Draycote Water - photo © Paul Roe

Race 3: Breeze still up, sun still shining. Local boys Peter Wood & Richard Bailey nailed the start and the first beat and arrived at the top mark in first place. Sadly a big gust arrived while they were hoisting their kite and, oh woe, the bear-away zone was packed with port tack boats all charging in to the mark. Faced with the option of capsizing or bearing off and wiping out half the fleet, they very decently went with the capsize. This allowed Dave & Paul to switch on the cloaking device and win another race before anyone noticed them doing it. DJ & Vyv were second in that one and Kev Hope & Matt Potter played a blinder and came in third.

Race 4: The wind was dropping by this time, which made the race less exciting but rather trickier, particularly if you had a 14st crew lounging around up front. DJ & Vyv won themselves a decent lead and eventually the race, followed home by Dave & Paul and Kev & Matt.

Windless Sunday during the Gul Fireball Inlands at Draycote Water - photo © Derian Scott

The next day dawned bright and sunny on the Costa del Draycote, but there wasn't any wind at all. After due process was observed (chatting & eating cake) Dave & Paul were duly crowned Inland National Champions for 2023.

Dave Hall and Paul Constable win the Gul Fireball Inlands at Draycote Water - photo © Derian Scott

We also handed out prizes in the following categories:

1st Lady: Georgia Booth
1st Youth: Katy Byne (Helm), Ollie Davenport (Crew)
1st Silver Fleet: Adam Whitehouse and Caroline Whitehouse
1st Bronze Fleet: Graham Clow and Anthony Wright

A great event, once again perfectly executed by Draycote SC and their race team. Many thanks to them and to Gul for their generous sponsorship, and congratulations to Dave Hall & Paul Constable and our other worthy winners.

Overall Results: