BUCS British University Fleet Racing Championships 2025 at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club

BUCS British University Fleet Racing Championships 2025 - The Firefly Fleet make their way to the race course © Erinn Forster

The BUCS Fleets Championships were hosted for the first time by Durham University Sailing Club, at Derwent this year. The race team completed five races in sunny conditions with tricky shifts across the course.

Earlier this month, 78 boats and 148 sailors made the trek up North to compete in 4 fleets: Firefly, ILCA, Fast Handicap, and Slow Handicap. Sunshine and light breeze on the Saturday were a blessing, but the race committee could have done without the 40-degree shifts and 10 knot gusts on the Sunday!

Saturday racing

Saturday saw a slow start, with an AP going up to wait for the wind. Come mid-morning, a healthy breeze had filled in and the sailors were on the water. Success in the Firefly fleet was heavily dependent on the start. Rachel Harper (Southampton) noted that "the starts were heavily contested, with plenty opportunity for port flyers, if you survived the black flags and general recalls". Three races were completed on Saturday, which left plenty of time to return to Durham for the evening. By the end of Day 1, the Firefly Fleet saw Jamie Tylecote and Millie Deacon (Exeter) in front, followed closely by Ben Tylecote and Lucy Cox (Loughborough), with Thommie Grit and Rosie Madin (UEA) in third.

BUCS British University Fleet Racing Championships 2025 - The sun came out for Saturday's racing - photo © Erinn Forster

Saturday social

Saturday Evening saw a classic bar crawl through Durham's castles, colleges and clubs. Thanks go to Leonie MacDougall and Sam Collins for shepherding 150 sailors through Durham's tiny streets and even tinier college bars. Not an easy feat.

Sunday racing

In the ILCA fleet, the podium was tightly contested by Charlotte Webster (Exeter), Chris Marsh (UEA), and Millie Lewis (Exeter), with the latter coming out on top. Millie said of the racing: "the key strategy was staying clear and finding clean air, maximising boat speed while remaining on the lifted tack and waiting for the next inevitable shift. Congratulations to all ILCA sailors for sailing exceptionally well."

The Fast Handicap saw some shake-ups on the Sunday also. With tight racing across the weekend keeping the mostly RS200 fleet on their toes, but it was Strathclyde who took the top two spots. "We came into the weekend looking to have some fun racing and are chuffed to bits to come home with a couple of medals" said Laura Young from the winning boat.

BUCS British University Fleet Racing Championships 2025 - Ben Tylecote and Lucy Cox (Loughborough), winners of the Firefly Fleet, come ashore after racing - photo © Nigel Vick

Final Results:

Slow Handicap Fleet: Elinor O'Leary came top of the two-boat fleet to claim the guaranteed BUCS points for Newcastle.

Fast Handicap Fleet: Rory Ferrier, crewed by Laura Young (Strathclyde), crept out in front in the last few races to take the win in a majority RS200 fleet.

ILCA Fleet: Millie Lewis (Exeter) fought off the tight competition to take the win in her ILCA 6.

Firefly: Ben Tylecote and Lucy Cox sailed their way to the top of the hotly contested Firefly fleet, getting only top-three results and discarding their rogue third.

Open Team Winners: Strathclyde (Rory Ferrier, Laura Young, James Gifford, William O'Keefe, Toby Bush, Macy Law)

Women's Team Winners: UEA (Erin Pank, Amber Gowers, Chloe Harding, Louise Woodley, Rosie Heydorn, Alice Bradford)

Additionally, two golden tickets for entry to the 2026 Firefly Nationals, were kindly donated by the National Firefly Association, in celebration of their 80th Nationals next year. The winners were Rachel Harper and Jack Woolterton, both from Southampton.

Strathclyde won the Open Team category, with their strong performance in RS200s in the Fast Handicap Fleet. Photo @ Erinn Forster

BUCS British University Fleet Racing Championships 2025 - Strathclyde won the Open Team category, with their strong performance in RS 200s in the Fast Handicap Fleet - photo © Erinn Forster

Acknowledgements

A thank you also goes to Derwent volunteers for supporting the event from its early planning stages and for being on hand during the weekend to help with safety cover and the essential bits and bobs that were needed to keep things running. Thank you also to the Race Committee, notably RO Andy Young, who kept racing going, in spite of the shifts. Finally, a huge thank you goes to Durham University Sailing Club for putting together this event. In particular, big thanks go to Jacob Stanislaus (Commodore) and Emily Davis (Vice Commodore) for all their effort in the planning and organising of this event.

Overall Results:

Slow Handicap Fleet

Fast Handicap Fleet

ILCA Fleet

Firefly Fleet