Ferry Marine Solo End of Season Championship 2025 at Draycote Water Sailing Club
by Guy Mayger, Simon Law, Andy Carter, Olly Davenport 26 Nov 13:17 GMT
The 56 strong Solo fleet congregated at Draycote Water Sailing Club for its annual End of Season championship, although with the rescheduled Midland championships taking place two weeks afterwards, this wasn't quite the final event in the Solo calendar.
The competitors were greeted with a light drizzle and heavy clouded skies, but the temperature was an acceptable 12 degrees C. Driving in, the sailors were keeping an eagle-eye on the trees and on the M40 I can report that there was very very little breeze but on reaching the lake we were greeted by a very pleasant 8 to 10 knots out of the north east which was blowing directly down the length of the lake. Some of the allegedly knowledgeable locals said that this wasn't a great direction, but to my eye, looked pretty well spot on.
With boats rigged and sailors changed, we congregated on the patio outside the club (in the mizzle) to be briefed by our race officer for the day, Draycote Dave. The course, as instructed, would be sausage/triangle with a downwind finish passing in front of the committee boat. Nice and simple, just remember to pass outside the spreader mark on both the downwind legs.
With that the athletes headed to their boats to make last minute preparations before heading out onto the water, all except Andy Carter who had only just arrived as the first boats were going down the slipway. As luck would have it Maria and class president Guy were on hand to help remove covers and lighting board to at least give Andy a fighting chance of making the start line, but it was going to be very close. Surely with the classes' record for general recalls and he would make it to the line on time?
With no less than five former champions in the fleet the competition for this year's End of Season was going to be extremely high. Add to that a host of top three finishers and serial fourth place Super Series finisher, Paul Davies, this was going to be some dust-up on the lake!
Fortunately, for Andy Carter, the race officer had made some last-minute adjustments to the course which gave Andy just enough time to make the start line.
As second finisher in this first race, let's hand it over to Jasper Barnham for his perspective from the sharp end of the fleet.
NE wind F2-3, race officer was determined to use all of the lake.
A long start line in the SW corner with the windward mark in the NE corner.
A bit of committee boat bias encouraged a big group at that end and it was a surprise that the race got away with just an individual recall.
It was no surprise to see Olly Davenport (P&B) leading at the first mark, closely followed by Charlie Cumbley (North Sails) and Mike Sims, who was very quick downwind and closed up to Davenport, who was forced to protect the inside.
The rest of the fleet was very tightly packed with an even split at the gate.
The leaders took a right turn and headed left.
Barnham was the furthest left of this group and was rewarded with substantial left shift getting him up to second at the next mark behind Davenport.
Sims and Cumbley were next followed by Birkin-Walls, Derham, Denison and Mayger
The reaches were processional and the race finished in that order.
Behind the leading pack, the racing was super close, as you would always expect with the Solo fleet. Places chopped and changed with the shifts and the puffs. The general consensus was that the left-hand side of the course was paying with a little more breeze and a better shift although you had to be wary of the right-hand shift when those came in. As always, finding a clear line on the downwind proved critical with so many boats fanned out across the course.
Moving onto race two, let's hear from second place finisher Olly Davenport.
Race 2 was very similar to race one with the top group of sailors starting at the committee boat end and holding on starboard tack to get across to the middle/left hand side of the course.
First round mark 1 was Nigel Bird, who'd actually started towards the pin end, followed by Chris Bunn (Ferry Marine event sponsor and all-round top fella) and Olly Davenport. This group carried on starboard after bearing away downwind holding slightly high to keep their wind clear from the pack on Solos behind. Mike Sims and Charlie Cumbley took an early gybe into some good pressure meaning they were first and second respectively around the left-hand leeward mark.
Nigel led round the right-hand gate followed by Olly. There were plenty of shifts to work up the next beat and places and distances changed throughout the beat. At the top mark it was Mike closely followed by Olly and Andrew Wilde, and these places held down the final two legs to the finish line.
Again, the fleet all crossed the line in short order with many tails of glory and disaster being told. It was so easy to lose 5-10 places by getting a few shifts wrong, especially in the relative shelter of the windward mark.
Whilst the racers were fully concentrated on their tactics and strategy for the course, it has to be noted that the weather had improved over time to the point where it was quite a pleasant afternoon. Even talk of possible glimpses of the sun coming out whilst the breeze held steady. True to form Draycote Dave and his team continued in their super-efficient mode and got race three swiftly away.
Now over to 2nd place finisher Simon Law for his account of the third race.
Having been distracted when I should have pulled the trigger in race 2, and with the committee end crowded again, I started further down the line in a lovely gap to prioritise clear air and the ability to stay on starboard. While the majority of the fleet started to tack off within the first few minutes, a smaller group pressed on left, notably Jasper Barnham, Guy Mayger and Andy Carter. It felt like we were going all the way left... but the track (see pic) says it wasn't even halfway.
From there tacking the shifts up the left kept this group level with those on the right where most of the habitual leaders had gone, despite the steady right shift that had progressed to this point... stronger wind on the left perhaps? A significant left shift in the final 20% of the beat, which had been there most of the day (at least it seemed so when coming in from the right previously!), gave the final advantage to the left group.
Jasper Barnham led from Andy Carter and Simon Law. (Inner thoughts: Just look around like you belong here, try not to look like you don't know where the next mark is, wishing I'd bothered to check the board for laps!!)
Down the run a few others started to progress well, including Guy Mayger and Jonathan Woodward who moved into 2nd and 3rd. Most followed Fergus around the right mark, but Simon Law and Andy Carter went left. Having tacked quickly, they benefited from a long lift on starboard. At the next windward it was Jasper with a healthy lead, followed by Simon and Andy. With Mike Sims having to retire early and Olly buried deep in the pack, along with many other front runners, Jasper was able to enjoy the remaining two reaches into the finish, although I'm sure his palms were sweaty!
The race win along with his second place from race one would be enough for him to be crowned End of Season champion 2025. Simon and Andy then finished in short order before a gaggle of ten boats fought for the minor places which would have a large impact on the overall scores. Jonathan Woodward had sailed a smart race to finish fourth with Harry Lucas getting his best result of the day in fifth, whilst visiting Salcombe sailor Martin Hodgson finishing six, also his best result of the day.
After an excellent afternoon's racing, and with plenty of light still left in the day, the fleet headed for the shore for the prize-giving for the End of Season championships and the culmination of the North Sails Super Series.
Jasper duly took the winner's trophy from Olly and Mike as the overall End of Season top three. This, I believe, is Jasper's first big win in the Solo fleet and will sit nicely alongside his other multi-class championship wins.
It was also great to see more ladies joining the fleet, particularly through the weekday training camp at Draycote organised by Chris Brown (CB Covers). Maria E Franco winning the ladies prize.
And, dare I say, we seem to have a new band of younger sails joining our ranks with the likes of the brothers Willy and Edward Rice-Birchall working their way up the fleet.
Well done, one and all.
The event sponsors for the combined Inlands and End of Season, Ferry Marine, provided a great prize of a short break onboard one of their lovely craft on the Broads. Chris Bunn did the honours and pulled a name from the hat containing all those who'd attended the events. Much to his surprise and delight, having won the days racing, Jasper Barnham also won this as well! Clearly, he was having a very good weekend. Congratulations Jasper!
For the North Sails Series Series, after membership secretary John Steel had crunched the numbers, 22 sailors had qualified for this draw.
First out of the hat was Harry Lucas, collecting a North Sails voucher for £250, followed by Jonathan Swain £150, and Nigel Bird £100.
As always, the class is hugely appreciative of all our sponsors and supporters throughout 2025.
Looking ahead to 2026, all the Super Series events are in the calendar, notably the Nations Cup at Ecole Nationale de Voile et des Sports Nautiques ENVSN near Quiberon in France, 4 - 7 June 2026, and the Nationals at Royal Torbay YC, 5 - 9 August 2026. See www.solosailing.org.uk/events
These and other events through 2026 will also reflect the 70th anniversary of the class.
If you're looking for one of the toughest fleets, with racing throughout the country, then best get yourself a Solo and come enjoy the fun!