Flying Fifteen Spain

28/09/2022

European Championships - Video

28/09/2022

Final day

Andy Mckee and Richard Jones are worthy new 2022 European Champions The 75th Anniversary Flying Fifteen European Championship came to a fitting close on another semi-overcast but warm, humid (for the Solent!) day. There was a short delay of an hour to wait for the wind to fill, which it did, to star...

28/09/2022

Day 3 report

On the penultimate day of racing at the 2022 International Flying Fifteen European Championship the sun came back out but the wind dyed for a few hours then did a 180 degree flip about lunchtime. A two race day was delayed for a couple of hours waiting for the wind to settle and the tide to go slack...

28/09/2022

75th Anniversary Race

The Flying Fifteen International 75th Anniversary Race took place as a separate event during the class European Championship hosted by Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club around the cans of the Solent. 40 Flying Fifteens from 6 countries sailed out to the start line on another warm and humid semi-overcast d...

28/09/2022

Day 1&2 report

The 75th Anniversary year of the international Flying Fifteen class is proving to be a bumper year. As the curtain falls on a very successful Uffa Fox 50 extravaganza, attention turns to the 2022 European Championships where 71 boats representing the length and breadth of the UK, Australia, Belgium,...

16/09/2019

Graham Vials and Chris Turner are the 2019 Flying Fifteen World Champions

Graham Vials and Chris Turner of Derwent Reservoir SC sealed world title number four in a fitting way by doing a horizon job on the fleet on the final day of the Sub-aru Flying Fifteen World Championship at Dun Laoghaire. The breeze was so light they literally had to drift across the finish line in a shortened 2 lap wind-ward/leeward course.

The 72 boat fleet headed out for one final race in hazy sunshine and a light breeze that was always predicted to drop by lunchtime. Despite a few nervous last minute shifts racing got underway shortly after 1100 hrs in a very light 5 - 7 knot North Westerly.

The breeze ebbed and flowed in patches providing a real test of nerves for sailors trying to decide which side of the course to choose. As is now customary, Graham Vials and Chris Turner just coasted up the middle of the course playing the shifts to perfection.

They rounded the weather mark in fourth just behind some new faces amongst the leaders. David Heron and Chris Ducker (Royal Windermere YC) led the fleet from South African’s Campbell Alexander and Dave Herridge and Australia’s Chris Vila and Mark Holmes. The run was particularly slow and painful but Vials and Turner just floated off into the distance pulling away from the mixed crew of Justin Waples and Jackie McKellar who were proving that their 3rd yesterday was no fluke.

As the lead bunch crossed gybes trying to sniff out the breeze the world champi-ons elect were rounding the gate for a shortened beat for the second and last time. Whilst the British crew sailed off into the hazy sunshine places 2 to 5 were still very much up for grabs. The second run was reduced to an absolute crawl in barely 2 - 3 knots of fickle breeze.

As Vials and Turner turned for home at the gate the majority of the fleet were crawling down the run with limp spinnakers. They had to tack several times to drift across the finish line to claim their 4th world title sailing as a team in their newly named boat ‘Floaty McFloat Face’.

At one point it looked like the extended time limit of 30 minutes might cancel out a vast majority of the fleet but in the scramble to get across the finish line Justin Waples / Jackie McKellar drifted across to finish second. Third place was decided on the line when John Hassen and Kevin Griffiths of South of Perth YC had to give way to fellow Australians Chris Vila and Mark Holmes on the line. Fifth boat to cross was another Australian crew Mike Hart and Dean McAullay (RFBYC).

A number of the overall regatta leaders trailed in quite deep, Andy Mckee and Richard Jones (Dovestone SC) finished in 18th to claim second place overall and Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado (Hayling Is SC) 12th to settle for third overall.

Australia’s Mike Hart and Dean McAullay finished 4th overall splitting up the domi-nance of the British fleet. South Africans Campbell Alexander and Dave Herridge finished the last race in 9th to claim 15th overall, a good effort in this highly com-petitive fleet. Andy and Rory Martin became top Irish boat in 17th just ahead of the New Zealand crew, Hayden Percy and Scott Pedersen.

First of the Classic boat division is the oldest boat in the fleet GBR250 ‘Fighting Fit’ sailed by Nick Heath and Pip Chapman from Cam Sailing Club.

quotes:

Graham Vials & Chris Turner - winners:

“We had our ups and downs during the week but we have come away with the win which is fantastic. This has been the hardest title to win, Andy and Richard and Richy and Matt have been so consistent and we used up our discard with two days to go, so it has been pretty hard. It is really hard to be consistent in a fleet as competitive as this. It is good for the fleet as a whole.”

Chris on the name of the boat:

“All of our previous boats names have been a little bit risky shall we say and the urban dictionary didn’t have much left in the ‘F’s) so my kids actually came up with the name ‘Floaty McFloat Face’.

Andy McKee & Richard Jones - second overall:

“Our performance this week has been incredibly consistent which has been the sto-ry of our season, Chris and Graham put together a really good series and we just didn’t have the cutting edge to challenge them in the end but we are really pleased to come second overall. It has been really challenging conditions out there you can see from the high scores.”

Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado - third overall:

“It has been a fantastic week here sailing in Dublin Bay, we are delighted to come away with third position overall. We are very pleased, this is our Olympics, this is the second World Champs we have done and we only get to do it every 4 years. For the most part the racing has been just awesome. We have had plenty of breeze, lots of ups and downs, shifts and the race officer has done a brilliant job. We are super happy and we will have a few beers tonight.”

Top 6 Overall of 72 boats:

1 GBR4071 Floaty McFloat Face - Graham Vials / Chris Turner - 20.8 pts
2 GBR4005 Fiery Chariot - Andy McKee / Richard Jones - 38 pts
3 GBR4002 Hyderated - Richard Lovering / Matt Alvarado - 47 pts
4 AUS4063 Firefly - Mike Hart / Dean McAullay - 52 pts
5 GBR4070 Ovington Boats - Nathan Batchelor / Ricky Rigg - 59 pts
6 GBR3760 no name - Jeremy Davy / Martin Huett - 77 pts
7 GBR4030 Aatha - Greg Wells / Andrew Jameson - 77 pts
8 GBR3957 Fourwinds - Charles Apthorp / Alan Green - 80 pts
9 GBR4059 Puffa Fish - Hamish Mackay / Andrew Lawson - 92 pts
10 GR4065 Pondskater - David McKee / Mal Hartland - 95 pts

Links:

For results and more info visit the regatta website:

www.flying15worlds2019.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/Flying15Worlds19

by Jonny Fullerton of Regatta Services

13/09/2019

Graham Vials and Chris Turner on the verge of another world title

After the disappointment of sitting out two races yesterday due to boat damage in a collision for which they were awarded redress, Britain’s Graham Vials and Chris Turner (Derwent Reservoir SC) are on the verge of winning their 4th world title after a flawless race today. There was only one race scheduled for day 6 of the Subaru Flying Fifteen World Championship at Dun Laoghaire on the penultimate day of the regatta.

The 72 boat fleet were kept ashore for two hours whilst the offshore breeze settled down enough to send the fleet out. It took several recalls and one abandoned race after the wind shifted all round the compass. Under dark black rain clouds and some light rain, finally the Dublin Bay breeze decided to go back to the NW/W sec-tor for long enough for the PRO Jack Roy to set a longer length windward / leeward racecourse.

Under black flag the fleet started around 1545 hrs in 16 - 19 knots sailing in the now familiar short chop. The first upwind was well spread from one side of the course to the other and it was difficult to predict a top mark leader. Early in the race Graham Vials and Chris Turner appeared to be ducking sterns but as all true champions do, they seem to carve a lane for themselves to appear at the windward mark in the lead, ahead of Irish boat Andy and Rory Martin of Strangford Lough YC and Charles Apthorp and his crew, local National Yacht Club member Alan Green.

The leaders split down the run with Vials / Turner going offshore and another British boat sailed by Justin Waples and Jackie McKellar (RCYC/WSC), going inshore. Vials and Turner had already carved out a handsome lead at the turn at the gate ahead of GBR’s Andy Mckee and Richard Jones (Dovestone SC) who had also turned on the afterburners down the run. Waples / McKellar made significant gains down the run.

The long beat back up to windward saw Vials / Turner extending again and McKee / Jones also establishing themselves in control of second. However the remaining top 5 - 6 spots were still up for grabs. British boats David Tabb / Chewey Sherrell (Parkstone YC), Richard Lovering / Matt Alvarado (Hayling Is SC) and Hamish Mackay / Andrew Lawson (Royal Thames YC) all had their chances but by the final gate rounding Waples / Mckellar looked to have third place under wraps.

The final winning margin for Vials / Turner, the champions elect, was a healthy 1 min 30 secs over second place overall McKee / Jones. Waples / McKellar scored their best result of the regatta so far with a very good 3rd, the highest position for a mixed crew in the championship so far. NB: Jackie McKellar is sailing her first major regatta in the Flying Fifteen class!. Lovering / Alvarado just squeezed over the finish line for 4th just ahead of Tabb / Sherrell in 5th.

Justin Waples and Jackie McKellar on their excellent podium finish:

Justin: “We saw the first aborted start and how it paid to go right and actually looking at the smoke from the chimney we decided it worked first time and it worked again so it was really as straight forward as that really.”

Jackie: “I think we made about 4 or 5 places by going down the right (inshore) on the first run. We were very pleased with that. It is a mixed boat and our first world championship sailing together.”

The final race of the championship is scheduled for Friday with Graham Vials and Chris Turner firmly in control on 19.8 points some 11 points ahead of Andy McKee and Richard Jones on 31 points. They do however hold discards of 19 and 23 as opposed to Mckee’s 21 and 7, so technically they do still have to keep their pow-der dry in the final race of the championship. Richard Lovering / Matt Alvarado re-main in 3rd overall with 35 points, Australia’s Mike Hart / Dean McAullay 4th on 47 points and Nathan Batchelor / Ricky Rigg 5th on 49 points.

Andy and Rory Martin were top Irish boat with their best result of the champion-ship 9th. Despite some fairly rough sailing conditions some of the visitors form France, Spain, Canada and Hong Kong have completed almost all races of the se-ries never giving up showing the true essence of the corinthian competitor in the Flying Fifteen class. Indeed one of the boats sailing under the flag of Hong Kong is aptly named ‘Hakuna Katoa Katika’ which is Swahili for ‘Never Give Up’. She is sailed by Barry Hayes and crew Helen Selden. Worthy of mention to is the all fe-male crew of Louise McKenna and Hermine O’Keefe who sail under the burgee of the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire. The ladies have sailed very persistently all week and only failed to finish one race by being one of 60 odd boats outside the time limit.

Andy Martin IRL3974 9th today:
“We were so jammy that the first race was abandoned!, and jammy in the start be-cause under black flag we were being so careful because we have already got one DNF. We sailed the middle and got it our own way today and it is the first time in the regatta we were able to sail the shifts. My brother Rory who sails with me, his work rate is massive, he managed to pull us around the weather mark second, then I took a bit of a kamikazi gybe off and sailed right down the middle where we thought there was pressure but we must have done at least six gybes. We went round the bottom mark 3rd and then its just a fight to hang on to places.”

Graham Vials on his horizon job today:
“We had a good win today, yesterday was slightly traumatic with the hole in the boat so to just go out and sail was nice. We were going well today, you have a game plan and our game plan is usually up the middle and take the shifts but be conservative,not to be too extreme. At one point we took some sterns because we thought the wind was going to go right which it did. We got into that and towards the top we got a really nice lift and what you can use out there was the chimney with the smoke. You see the breeze in the future and what it might shift.
Having rounded in the lead it was pretty easy from there on. We cannot rest on our laurels we still need a good day tomorrow.”

Links:

For results and more info visit the regatta website:

www.flying15worlds2019.com

facebook: www.facebook.com/Flying15Worlds19

by Jonny Fullerton of Regatta Services

12/09/2019

After the layday three more races were held in typical puffy and choppy conditions in Dublin Bay on day 5 of the Subaru Flying Fifteen World Championship at Dun Laoghaire. A day of contrasting fortunes begun at midday under semi-overcast skies with a blustery 15 - 19 knot Westerly accompanied by a sharp chop influ-enced by a changing tidal flow across the race course.

Race 8 of the championship started at 1200 noon with a single recall. A number of local boats headed right (offshore) however these included a couple of Australian crews including Mike Hart / Dean McAullay (Royal Freshwater Bay YC). Whilst the bulk of the fleet came off the pin and worked the inshore side of the beat, Hart / McAullay popped round the windward mark in great shape with a comfortable lead, accompanied by some new faces, Ireland’s Ben Mulligan and Cormac Bradley (Dun Laoghaire MYC) and Britain’s Richard Hope and Mike Stenson (Draycote Wa-ter SC).

On the first gusty run some of the top British crews did not take long to chase down the lead pack but Hart / McAullay had already established a nice lead which they continued upwind on the second leg. This time the vast majority of the fleet chose the offshore option. Despite a late effort by Andy Mckee and Richard Jones (Dovestone SC) closing down on the second run, Hart / McAullay were able to close out the race for their first championship bullet. Mckee / Jones were 2nd and Britons Nathan Batchelor / Ricky Rigg (Tynemouth SC) 3rd. Richard Lovering / Matt Alvardo (Hayling Is SC) worked through the fleet to take a handy 4th and Hamish Mackay / Andrew Lawson (Royal Thames YC) 5th.

The aptly named ‘As Good as it Gets’ sailed by Ben Mulligan and Cormac Bradley of Ireland scored a great result with an 8th and fellow Irishmen Hammy Baker and Peter Chamberlain (Strangford Lough YC) finished a worthy 10th.

There was however drama on the finish line as regatta leaders Graham Vials and Chris Turner (Derwent Reservoir SC) were involved in a collision which holed their boat. Although their finish position was recored as 23rd, the former world champi-ons were forced to come ashore to make urgent repairs. At the resulting protest hearing they were awarded redress for the two races missed ashore.

The conditions were unchanged for R9, the second of the day but PRO Jack Roy set a slightly longer course of windward/leeward, triangle, windward/leeward. There was a more even spread upwind and this time it was back to the top British boats to dispute the lead. Jeremy Davy / Martine Huett (Draycote Water SC) led lap 1 from Andy Mckee / Richard Jones (Dovestone SC) and Richard Lovering / Matt Al-varado (HISC). Ireland’s Andy and Rory Martin (Strangford Lough YC) and club ma-tes Hammy Baker and Peter Chamberlain were top Irish boats to shine.

The top three British teams fought down the run and back up the second beat. Lovering / Alvarado chose their moment to attack on the blazing reaches of the tri-angle. By the leeward mark they had established a lead of 3 - 4 boat lengths over Mckee / Jones. Lovering then extended but Australia’s Mike Hart / Dean McAullay made a late challenge for a podium spot.

Hyde Sails representatives Lovering / Alvarado closed out the win, their first of the championship. Mckee / Jones added another 2nd to their series. The battle for third went down to the wire, narrowly claimed by Hart / McAullay. Jeremy Davy / Martin Huett 4th and Greg Wells / Andrew Jameson (Hayling Is SC) 5th. Top Irish boat in this one was Andy and Rory Martin in 13th.

The final race of the day (R10) was started around 1445 hrs local time in the same conditions using the w/l course with two laps. A clean start and an even split in-shore and offshore. A crowded first rounding saw another new leader (briefly), in Chris Villa and Mark Holmes from Lake Macquarie YC in Australia and South Afri-ca’s Campbell Alexander and Dave Herridge in the mix.

David McKee and Mal Hartland (Dovestone SC) quickly pounced down the run to lead at the gate from Jeremy Davy / Martin Huett (Draycote Water SC) and Hamish Mackay / Andrew Lawson. On the second upwind leg, Davy / Huett tacked inshore splitting tacks with McKee and Hartland. Davy came out on top at the final wind-ward mark by 30 seconds from Richard Lovering / Matt Alvarado and Mackay / Lawson. The British pair from Draycote Water SC held on to score their first win-ning gun of the championship. Lovering / Alvarado crossed 2nd and McKee / Hart-land 3rd. Andy McKee / Richard Jones finished 4th to close in on the overall lead. Ending the day with a 1/3/5 was Mike Hart / Dean McAullay of Australia to break up the lead British boats overall.

British pair Justin Waples and Jackie McKellar (RCYC/WSC) sailed a great day 9/12/11 and lie 16th overall just ahead of the Irish pack. Best performance on the day by the local boats was Hammy Baker and Peter Chamberlain (SLYC) with 10/14/31 which places them in 19th overall.

Now that 10 races have been sailed sailors are allowed two discards. Having been awarded redress for the two races they were unable to compete in, Graham Vials and Chris Turner (GBR) now lead the regatta on 19.6 points net but have discarded a 19 and 23 so cannot afford any mishaps on the final two days of racing. Andy Mckee / Richard Jones has 29 points, Lovering / Alvarado move up to 3rd overall on 31 points, Batchelor / Rigg and Hart / McAullay share 39 points each for 4th and 5th.
Thursday is the penultimate day of racing with racing due to commence at 1300 hrs local time.

quotes:

Dean McAullay sums up his day 1/3/5:
“We started at the top end of the line and the bulk of the fleet went down the bot-tom end so we able to have a very clean start and just sail fast and got into high numbers. We sailed across the bunch on the left which we did easily and lead them back to the top mark so we had a comfortable lead but you cannot rest, they were catching us by the last run, they had halved the distance.
We are just making gains, we have not sailed together before so by the end of the week we are happy to be in the top 5 with two days to go.”

Andy Mckee on his 2/2/4:
“We thought we were going quick both upwind and downwind, good height and good speed, a big decision in the first race we gybed out early at the windward mark and that gave us a good lane to overtake a few boats down the run and then we could just consolidate for the rest of the race.
The second race we had a pretty decent start and felt there was a pretty big line sag. On the second lap it would have been nice if we had checked the course board and not set off down the run instead of the reach when we were in the lead!
The last race we were just trying to grind it out, we were running out of energy at the end of the day so we were just trying to keep the speed on”.

Richard Lovering with 4/1/2 finishes:
“Its about being patient out there today, we were looking pretty deep off a couple of starts, some good boats were out to the right so we just had to be patient and wait for the wind to go left. We kind of got lucky a bit.
We seemed to have good boat speed today we were lucky with a few of our lanes when we thought a couple of boats might tack on us but they didn’t but there is a lot of luck involved when you are positioned in the teens.”

Links:

For results and more info visit the regatta website:

www.flying15worlds2019.com

facebook: www.facebook.com/Flying15Worlds19

by Jonny Fullerton of Regatta Services

10/09/2019

2021 Worlds in Fremantle, Australia
Last night at a function in Dun Laoghaire in Ireland where the 2019 Flying Fifteen International World Championship are currently being conducted a social evening was hosted by the Australians participating at the event to officially launch and promote attendance at the 2021 Flying Fifteen International World Championship.

Over a few drinks, the event website www.flying15worlds2021.com was launched together with a couple of short videos highlighting Fremantle and the sailing venue for the next worlds. A copy of the event flyer which includes various contact details can be accessed herehttps://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/dfb637_e166b7e0262b43668c1e1116010f07ab.pdf

10/09/2019

As the Subaru Flying Fifteen World Championship reaches the half way stage Dun Laoghaire delivered another blustery day to complete two more races. Early in the morning the wind was howling but by race 6 start time of 1300 hrs it had moderated to a puffy 14 - 18 knots with a pronounced chop caused by wind against tide.

Race 6 started on the first attempt with a new course configuration of w/l triangle w/l and a short beat to the finish which offered the chance for the fleet to stretch their legs with some fast reaching.

First to show on lap 1 of race 6 was current European champions Hamish Mackay and Andrew Lawson (Royal Thames YC), clearly enjoying the heavier conditions. They led from Richard Lovering / Matt Alvarado (Hayling Is SC) and Andy McKee / Richard Jones (Dovestone SC) rounding in tandem. The usual suspects with GBR sail numbers chased down the run.

McKee / Jones snatched the lead by a whisker at the gate with the Brit pack in close attendance broken up by the rather unusual but pleasant site of Campbell Al-exander and crew Dave Herridge (Royal Natal YC) in South Africa.

Despite a number of shifts and a short chop the places remained similar upwind for the second time but then came the long fetch/reach to the wing mark. With a num-ber of competitors choosing between hoisting or two sail reaching then hoisting, places got a bit mixed up. By the time the lead bunch got to the wing mark, the rounding and the following run was a big tussle between Andy Mckee, Hamish Mackay and Richard Lovering. Meanwhile loitering with intent on his own course was three time world champions Graham Vials and Chris Turner (DRSC).

As the breeze appeared to drop going upwind for the final weather mark rounding Vials / Turner made their move sprinting into a two boat length lead over McKee / Jones with Jeremy Davy and Martin Huett (DWSC) moving into third. Places re-mained the same on the short hitch to the finish line confirming Vials / Turner’s third race win from 6 races. Mackay / Lawson settled for 4th and Lovering / Al-varado 5th. South Africans Campbell Alexander / Dave Herridge finished an im-pressive 8th. Local Irishmen Andy and Rory Martin from Strangford Lough YC had a superb race finishing 14th and best of the Irish Flying Fifteen team.

Campbell Alexander from South Africa on his 8th in Race 6:

“We were up to 4th but we are still learning how to reach! We got a good start and pushed to the right but generally watched the good guys and took the shifts and watched our compass most of the time. We are good upwind but slow down wind generally but we can improve there. We were in with the guys and it was just great fun.”

The second race of the day (R8) was sailed under the same semi-overcast skies and slightly less breeze 14 - 17 knots with a swing to the North causing a quick re-jig of the course marks. On the third attempt under black flag the fleet of 72 Flying Fifteens got underway cleanly.

A new leader appeared at the top mark yet another British boat Ian Pinnell of P&B crewed by Jez White (Hayling Is SC) and more new faces in David McKee and Mal Hartland (Dovestone SC) and Chris Waples and Peter Bannister, also from HISC.

The fleet split on both sides of the course downwind with Graham Vials / Chris Turner and Greg Wells / Andrew Jameson both choosing the inshore route. At the gate Vials and Wells chose well enjoying the better pressure squeezing round the gate in front of the other three British boats.

At the top of the course second time around the leading boats nearly made a big mistake by missing out the spreader mark on their way to the wing mark of the tri-angle. The long reach turned out to be more of a fetch and again there was indeci-sion about kites or no kites.

By the gate second lap it was turning into a race between Wells and Vials for the turn home. Rather predictably Vials / Turner found a way to get past Wells / Jame-son on the final beat to take his fourth win of the championship in 7 races. Mackay / Lawson claimed 3rd, Lovering / Alvarado 4th and Pinnell / White 5th.

Australians John Wilson and Matthew Summers from South of Perth YC finished with their best score in the regatta (11th) and fellow Aussies Greg ‘Levo’ Leaver-such sailing with crew Peter ‘Bad Boy’ Barblett sailing their best race for 15th.

Irish sailors Hammy Baker and Peter Chamberlain sailed two great races to finish 16 / 16 clearly enjoying the gutsy conditions and fellow Irishmen Roger Chamber-lain and Charlie Horder from Strangford Lough YC finished a solid 17th in R7.

So at the halfway stage of the regatta Graham Vials / Chris Turner have started to show their class by opening up a 17 point lead with a total of 11 points net. Andy Mckee / Richard Jones are second with 28 points and Nathan Batchelor / Ricky Rigg on 31points.

Hamish Mackay scores a 4 / 3 on the day to move up to 14th overall:

“We are good when the breeze is up because we are quite big so that helps us but in all honesty we had two good starts today. We were first round in the first race, Graham passed us on the first reach on the second round but it was a good day for us. Pressure was key but in the second race there was a lot of shifts as well and they counted and different patches all over the course so it made it an interesting day.”

Weary sailors came home to beer and snags and a presentation on the 2021 Flying Fifteen World Championship to be hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perth and sailed on the waters of Fremantle on the ocean.

Tuesday is a layday and racing resumes with 3 races planned with an earlier start time of 1100 hrs on Wednesday.

Links:

For results and more info visit the regatta website:

www.flying15worlds2019.com

facebook: www.facebook.com/Flying15Worlds19

For video coverage visit: www.vrsport.tv

by Jonny Fullerton of Regatta Services