RS200 Inland Championship 2026 at Draycote Water Sailing Club

RS200 Inland Championship at Draycote Water Sailing Club © Jonathan Louis

The RS200 inland championships took place at Draycote Water Sailing Club as the final event of the 2026 Rooster Championship Tour. Fourteen boats gathered for the busy weekend schedule with 8 races planned.

As the fleet arrived it became clear that the wind would be significantly better than anticipated with a consistent 4-7 kts throughout the day with plenty of shifts to follow and gusts to hunt down.

The first win of the weekend went the way of Helen and Dougal Scott. This was followed by a race 2 victory from home heroes Alistair Hodgson and Ella Spain.

RS200 Inland Championship at Draycote Water Sailing Club - photo © Jonathan Louis

Race 3 saw the entire fleet schooled by Ella Langfeldt and Torsten Marquardt where a big right shift caught out the rest of the fleet and they stormed into the lead in boat 204. An unlucky downwind for boat 204 saw the win go the way of Adam Catlow and Jamie Robinson which would become a bit of a theme for the remainder of the weekend. Notably race 3 also saw a second-place finish from Tom Knight and Sophie Wood in their first event with the RS200s.

Ella and Torsten continued their remarkable form on the right of the course in race 4 with an early tack off the line paying big time as they lead the fleet for the enIre race. They took the win following another big shift coming in from the right which somehow the rest of the fleet didn't predict happening twice!

The fish and chip supper in the clubhouse was a welcome reward following a day of tricky and tense sailing conditions where small decisions could lead to big gains or losses in a very tightly packed fleet.

RS200 Inland Championship at Draycote Water Sailing Club - photo © Jonathan Louis

Day 2 looked benign whilst the fleet rigged however as promised by the forecast and well trusted by the race committee, the southerly breeze filled in with a consistent 12-15 kts with gusts pushing 20 kts. Race 5 saw Joe Tubb and Amelie CurIs leading until uncertainty about the course between the sailors saw Adam Catlow and Jamie Robinson head back up the beat whilst the others mistakenly headed for the finish line a lap early. Adam and Jamie won the race and would continue this form for the remainder of the day taking all four wins.

The racing on the second day put a big emphasis on looking for the pressure downwind where there were big gains to be found. Despite this the results became significantly more consistent with the podium places in all races going to the top four finishers of the event.

Congratulations to the RS200 Inland champions: Adam Catlow and Jamie Robinson for their outstanding consistency. Also, a big congratulations to Daisy Gifford and Ffion Hawley (easily the young spirits of the fleet) for their 3rd and 4th place results respectively!

Finally, a big thank you goes to all the event organisers, host clubs, sponsors, race committees and finally the sailors for making the effort to make this year's Rooster Championship Tour happen. Hope to see you all again next year along with all the sailing friends you convince to buy RS200s over the winter!

Event Results: