Dragon boat swept away by storms found one year on

A dragon boat swept away during Storm Henk has finally been found washed up about 27 miles (43km) from its home.

The Soaring Dragons Dragon Boat Club, based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, managed to recover two of three boats that became untethered after flooding in January 2024, but the largest - The Major - was not.

A year on, Phil Clarke drove through Hoveringham in Nottinghamshire on Monday and spotted the wreckage of a boat by the River Trent, which he recognised from a previous BBC story.

The club said it finally had some "closure" after the disappearance of The Major, but added the boat was beyond repair.

When the 40ft (12m) boat first disappeared, the Soaring Dragons made public appeals in a bid to find it, but as the months drew on, members thought they would "never see it again".

That was until Mr Clarke was taking his wife - who was recovering from an illness - for a drive down Hoveringham Road on Monday when he spotted the boat on a lay-by.

The 73-year-old said: "We set off from there and we passed what looked like one of those long rowing boats.

"As I drove along it suddenly rung a bell.

"I could remember a story about a boat going missing - a big dragon boat going missing - so I thought I'd turn around and take some photographs and go back and check through the web pages."

Mr Clarke found details for the boat club online and sent an email to tell members about his discovery.

"I just thought for my own peace of mind really I ought to just try and see whether it was that boat and see if anything could be salvaged from it," he added.

Paul Freemantle, the club's head coach, said he and the team were in "disbelief" when they learned the boat had been found.

"It does bring that closure and that peace that we know where she is, but it's devastating because that boat meant so much us," he added.

The Soaring Dragons managed to replace The Major with a new boat in time to compete and retain their position as national champions in March 2024.

Mr Freemantle said the club decided to name the new boat, which was imported from Germany, Henke - after Storm Henk.

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