Lakeland & Borders ILCA Open at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club

Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club Lakeland & Borders ILCA Open © Hender Blewett

Toby Waggett wins the Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club Lakeland & Borders ILCA Open © Stephen Wright

Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club welcomed 21 entrants to their annual ILCA open on Saturday 6th September, forming part of the 2025 ILCA Lakeland & Borders series.

Despite the record dry summer, DRSC benefits from circa 1,000 acres of water when full, so despite a longer than usual walk down to launch, there was still more than plentiful sailing area once the fleet were afloat.

The day started cool and overcast but with the promise of a building breeze and improving temperatures. A packed schedule of 5 races back to back was planned and once under way at midday, the fleet enjoyed pleasantly warm conditions with a perfect breeze of between 14-18 knots.

A mix of triangle, sausage, and triangle/sausage courses were sailed and the pecking order at the front of the fleet was soon established amongst the ILCA6s of Toby Waggett, Spirit Alderson, Tom Bates and Fred Buckley, punctuated by the ILCA7s of Alastair Conn, Greg Liggins, Stuart Belfield and David Shilling. Racing was close and compacted throughout the fleet with short turnaround times between racing, a credit to the skills of all the sailors and the efficiency of PRO Hender Blewett and team.

In the end, it was a day for the ILCA6s, with Toby winning several of the races on the water as well as taking a clean sweep of race bullets on handicap. Spirit's scoresheet of second places was only punctuated by a 3rd in Race 1, which gave Tom a 2nd amongst an otherwise string of 3rd places.

Just behind the front of the fleet, Alanna Starkie in the ILCA4 put in a very consistent series to come out with 6th overall and first female.

First place overall for Toby caps another outstanding season for the DRSC sailor, in which he has transitioned from the ILCA4 to ILCA6 with seeming ease. ILCA youth sailing in the northern region would appear to be in rude health, with youths taking 6 of the top 10 places and dominating the podium.

DRSC once again proved its ability to run quality racing in beautiful surroundings and the club looks forward to seeing the fleet return again in 2026.

Overall Results: