Tideway Firefly Inland Championship 2026 at Rutland Sailing Club

A casualty of the Tideway Firefly Inland Championship at Rutland © NFA

The Firefly Inlands 2026 was a qualifying round of the 2026 Craftinsure Vines Series, sailed at Rutland Sailing Club, sponsored by Craftinsure, with prizes generously provided by Marlow Ropes, including jibsheets and mainsheets, to splicing kits and caps up for grabs.

On 18 September, Team Norfolk set off for the Inland National Championships at Rutland Water, with a brief overnight stop in Kettering to collect Baxter's boat, before rolling into Rutland promptly the next morning. With all five Norfolk boats unloaded and a breezy forecast, Stog and Ella had us out on the water on time to experience some thrills and spills.

The Firefly fleet made the gracious and gallant choice to give the Cadets, given their relative youth and inexperience (we would hate to put them off sailing for life, like most squad boats manage), our race area and safety boats. That is, despite them sailing with cut-down sails and handkerchief-sized spinnakers anyway. So we sailed far away, down Rutland Water towards the dam, where I can only describe conditions as 'f*ing honking', 'spicy', or at times borderline terrifying. Ella later told me we were experiencing gusts of 35 knots and a steady 22+.

After hanging around for a while, watching father-daughter duos falter left, right and centre, we promptly returned to shore to assess the damage and make some repairs. One notable casualty was an entire Firefly transom, which fell clean off in the process (see photo) and sadly did not make it back out later on.

We eagerly waited for the Cadets to finish racing and the Firefly sailors to eat lunch before returning to the water. As the wind stabilised at a more manageable 22-knot average, we ran three sprint races in front of the club. Given how remarkably mild the conditions were by this area's standards, it was astonishing how many Cadets came ashore. A select group of Firefly sailors were even heard discussing asking one boat, as they came in, whether they could jump aboard and have a go single-handed. Sadly, overly eager helicopter-parenting put a stop to that.

Race 1 saw Will and Chloe in Silly Goose (Team Goose) coming off the pin, next to Alex Baxter and Ella in Scruffy (Team Scruffy), with Ben and Annabel in The Winter of Discontent (Team Discontent) off the starboard end. Team Goose rounded slightly ahead of Team Discontent, which set the tone for the weekend. This race was largely uneventful apart from Baxter's 'I never capsize with Ella' (true until this exact moment) as he tipped it in backwards, also taking out Tom Davey and Rosie Pank (Team Pooh), in what the protagonist described as an extraordinary gust, and the rest of the fleet shrugged off without a second thought.

For Team Scruffy, a sinking boat and the conspicuous absence of the aptly named 'Baxter line' ensured that was race over; Team Pooh, in a much-loved Mark IV, managed to limp to the finish. Top three: Team Goose 1st, Terry Hacker and Poppy Armstrong stealing 2nd with a late charge up the second beat, and Team Discontent 3rd.

Race 2 was similar, with Team Goose coming off the pin to take 1st, Team Discontent 2nd, and the chasing pack beaten by the red boat of Steve Tylecote and Tasha Armstrong in Grasshopper (Team Grasshopper).

Race 3 was again similar, except this time Team Goose and Team Discontent came off the starboard end, with Angus Cook and Lucy Hopkins, aka Officer Dibble (Team Dibble), firing out of the middle of the line, and Team Scruffy starting at the pin. They rounded accordingly, a sure sign of a square line if ever there was one. Team Scruffy were looking quite speedy on the run until their rudder fell off, capping off a calamitous, rather sad day. The front places never changed thereafter. Overnight, Team Goose led by 5 points, Team Discontent was 2nd on 6 points, and Team Dibble was 3rd on 13 points.

Team Grasshopper found Saturday at the Inlands challenging. Master of Psychology Tasha and Steve set about addressing this. Steve started the day well by stealing a bowl of malted Wheaties from the youngest son. Soon after, Tasha released a spider from Grasshopper into the wilds of the Rutland boat park. It had survived a major, not-quite-death roll the day before. Happy Halloween, eight-legged friend.

Sunday brought a crew change for Team Discontent: Annabel stepped ashore and a second Ben, Ben W (not sure what his actual surname is?), stepped aboard, so from here on it was Ben and Ben. Race 4 required some adjustment from the previous day's sprint format. The beat was so long you could barely see the black marks (one critique from the weekend editor is that black buoys don't necessarily 'assist' the racing). Round the windward mark, Team Discontent led, followed by Team Scruffy and Team Grasshopper. The latter two debated where the next mark was while Team Discontent went the wrong way entirely but had such a decent lead at this point that it didn't matter.

Team Grasshopper sailed straight past Team Scruffy downwind and never looked back.

Lying in a comfortable second, rumour has its Tasha stared hard at Team Discontent. A few seconds later, mid-tack, the wind gods threw in a 40-degree shift with a downdraught, and the Bens took a serious swim. Team Grasshopper won Race 4. Further back, there was a great battle for third, which became the battle for second, between Team Goose and Alex and Stella Davey (Mustard), who I must say, despite their light wind credentials, were going incredibly quickly in these challenging conditions. Team Goose won out, but only just.

Race 5 started in similar fashion. Team (new name post swim) Discombobulation started 1st, Team Grasshopper 2nd and Team Scruffy 3rd. Ben Tylecote and Lucy Cox closely pursued them round the windward mark, then did the unusual thing of immediately capsizing on the reach to windward. Team Discontent won Race 5 despite the dampness.

We dedicate Race 6 to the memory of Sue Stoggall: close friend, extraordinary lady, and not to be messed with, ashore or afloat. Ella, Sue's daughter, coached her dad Adrian throughout the event as they co-ran the race committee. The courses were excellent, because these two know not to chase wild oscillations but to 'use the mean'. The stats for the whole event: 5 UFDs, and a recorded max wind of 35 knots on Saturday and 25 on Sunday. Back to Race 6: the top reach carried a navigational decision, in the form of the moderately sized limnological tower sitting a little too close to the rhumb line.

Team Discombobulation went high; Team Grasshopper went low, and that was that. The race was quiet at the sharp end, the best soundbite being Tasha's 'Splash!', Steve's 'Who?', Tasha's 'Arthur', and Steve's resigned 'Oh', although it was a bit more severe in Team Scruffy, who had to take immediate and drastic action to avoid Arthur Greaves and Zaxk Aziz after they involuntarily and violently smashed it in right on the windward mark.

Tasha whooped a lot near the finish line (we assume Sue wanted this), and Steve apologised, because we're British.

Race 7 was a challenge. Much of the fleet was fatigued, or simply underdressed for the fierce conditions by this point. Steve was complaining of back spasms; Baxter was simply complaining. The race started with an absolutely massive right-hand shift off the start line, which shuffled the order near the front. Exactly who led is up for debate, but Team Grasshopper was in its usual place, perhaps followed by Team Dibble, with Oli Burrows and Lolanthe Creasy in Riza (Team Riza), then Team Goose and Team Scruffy, and the Ovington demo boat with Lee and Maxime Sydenham, who we were delighted to see out in the fleet, and hope to see again.

Unfortunately for Team Riza, they made a mess of the leeward mark, attached themselves to it, spun round it, and were never seen again. Team Scruffy pulled off its usual teleportation upwind to find themselves in 4th, only to be overtaken by Hacker and Armstrong on the penultimate reach, who hung on all the way up. Team Goose finished with the win; Team Discontent never recovered from starting at the pin for the first time all day, right as the biggest righty of the regatta came through. Team Grasshopper, who'd won the day overall, took 2nd, and Team Dibble 3rd.

After seven races and a proper Rutland breeze, Team Goose (Will Pank and Chloe Harding) took the overall win from Team Grasshopper (Steve Tylecote and Tasha Armstrong), with Team Discontent (Ben Whaley, crewed by Annabel on Saturday and Ben W on Sunday) completing the podium. Full results below.

Many thanks to all the volunteers at Rutland, particularly the safety crew who were kept occupied, to say the least.

Next up

The fleet reconvenes at Dell Quay (26 to 27 September) for the next round of the Craftinsure Vines Series.

Raffle update

Every helm and every crew racing at Rutland earns a ticket towards Firefly F4444, the race-ready ex-demo built by Ovington Boats, with spars by Selden, sails and covers by Hyde, and a launch trolley by Sailboat Trailers.

The Inland Championship is the first of the final five open meetings before the deadline, so every event now counts.

Tickets are earned, not bought, and you must opt in at by 14 November 2026 to make the draw, which takes place at the 80th Anniversary Dinner at the Royal Thames Yacht Club on Saturday 21 November.

Tickets for the 80th Anniversary Dinner are available now.

The 2026 Craftinsure Vines Series is proudly supported by Craftinsure. The National Firefly Class Association's named sponsor is Tideway Wealth. All results and entry information: www.fireflyclass.co.uk

Overall Results: