Draycote Water Sailing Club Youth Open Meeting
by Paula Irish 2 Jan 17:50 GMT
More than a hundred junior and youth sailors from across the country competed at Draycote Water between Christmas and New Year - with home-grown youngsters demonstrating winning ways to claim an impressive clutch of the top prizes.
The one-day Draycote Water Sailing Club Youth Open (30 December 2025), sponsored by Fernhurst Books, attracted 116 entries, with competitors battling it out across four singlehanded classes - Optimist, RS Tera, Topper and ILCA.
A good north easterly breeze provided ideal conditions for a cold but action-packed day with four back-to-back races across two courses, which saw some outstanding results for the club's Draycote Academy youth team.
In the ILCA 4s with the biggest entry of 38 boats, 1st overall was Callum Marshall from east coast club Blackwater SC, with Draycote Water SC's Toby Turner in 2nd, and Pippa Knights (Burghfield/Draycote) in 3rd.
The ILCA 6 fleet was won by Amalie Hacker ahead of Merry Lewis (Hayling Island SC), with Draycote Water SC's Felicity Angell in 3rd. The ILCA7 fleet meanwhile saw Draycote Water sailors in 1st and 3rd, with Freddie Sunderland claiming victory just a point ahead of Nathan Russell (Royal Harwich YC), with Joe Rowe hot on their heels in third overall.
In the Topper 5.3s, Draycote Water's Hari Clark - a Topper 4.2 and RS Tera Sport world champion - dominated proceedings with four bullets for the overall win. Fellow Draycote Academy sailors Joseph Hulse and Jake Day claimed 2nd and 3rd to lock out the podium with a comprehensive home victory.
It was also a 1-2-3 on the podium for Draycote sailors in the Topper 4.2 fleet for smaller sailors, with Elizabeth Stainton 1st, Isaac Foulds 2nd and Hattie Steele 3rd.
The RS Tera Pro top prize went to Emily Hooton (Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club) ahead of Stefan Anderson (Exe SC) and Molly Wilson (Filey/Draycote Water) 3rd. RS Tera sport honours went to Amy Heyburn, with Harry Fleming (Ullswater YC) 2nd and Harry Wilson (Filey/Draycote) 3rd.
In the Optimists it was Zoe Green (Netley/RLymYC/Largs); Lumia Greenaway (Royal Southern YC) and Rory Luddington (Corinthian Otters) in 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Find all the results:
ILCA 4, 6 & 7
Optimist, RS Tera & Topper
Club manager Dave Rowe said: "It was fantastic to welcome sailors from across the country to Draycote Water and pleasing to see some great results from our home sailors. A massive thank you to all the volunteers and staff at the club who help us to run these events, and well done to our Draycote Academy team!"
Winter training now continues for Draycote Water SC's youth and junior sailors in preparation for next season, and the club is getting set for a busy 2026 with activities, event and courses for all ages. Find out more at www.draycotewater.co.uk