The weekend just passed was my fourth anniversary on the island, and – as well as the superb day’s sailing reported below – a good time to reflect on the magnificent lady that is the flying fifteen.

My first encounter was literally two days after I hit ground in Palma – I’d called Johnnie Walker before leaving Barcelona, and been told “come along and see”. I duly arrived, and met John and his then crew Dean after the race. Those of you who know Dean won’t be surprised to hear he was off on one of his trips the following weekend, and so a crewing spot was offered. I had naïvely assumed that I could turn up, buy a boat and start racing – I was soon to learn the error of this! The following weekend came, and I joined John ready to sail. Immediately I was amazed at how much string there is in a flying fifteen – after forty years in dinghies, keelboats and big boats, this was totally new! However, everything has its place, and there’s no mess, just lots of well thought out controls.

I soon learned that you can adjust almost everything in these boats – change rig tension – no problem! move the mast at deck level – but of course sir! Second shock was how counterintuitive they are, wind getting stronger – ease the rig tension, and don’t touch the kicker! Cunningham, well of course we have one, but don’t really use it. It was soon obvious that this needed more than a quick spying trip to learn how to sail them.

John and I sailed a couple of races, and somehow, despite my mucking up everything it was possible to do, we got some good places – even some wins. Then came an SMS just before Christmas – “suddenly, Tormenta is sold” – John had sold the boat, what was I to sail? (Tormenta is now Dragonfly, owned and sailed successfully by Michael Beecken.) Then, a few days before New Year, another SMS – “want to go halves on a boat?” I drove up to Pollensa to meet John on a cold, wet and windy day; unfortunately, Pollensa was closed that day and I almost missed RCNPP. Luckily, I didn’t, and after an hour checking things out, we ended up buying ESP3577 – now fuego fatuo. (A literal translation might be “wild fire” but a better one is “will o’ the wisp”.)

So, seven weeks after landing in Palma, I’m a flying fifteen owner. Since then we’ve had four great seasons sailing, including a Europeans and two Conde de Barcelona. One of the great things about this sixty-eight year old lady is that she’s still graceful, and sought after by classic regattas. But still fast, we’ve clocked over 14 knots downhill under spinnaker – and yes, we still stayed the right way up. Time after time we sail against larger boats, in steep seas and strong breezes, and stay up with them – or often ahead! The racing is very close, as the boats are one design, so all the hulls are effectively identical, and the skill is in set up and the actual sailing. We often have major events decided in the final race by the length of a foredeck – or even a spinnaker chute!

So, looking back, I’ve learned a lot, and been seduced by an old lady. Made some new friends, and had great times. All I can say is; get in a flying fifteen as soon as you can!

14 November – Liga de Invierno, Pollensa

We were privileged to be invited again to participate in the monthly cruiser regatta, sailing against boats more than three times as long as a fifteen! Four flying fifteens joined around ten cruisers on a beautiful Saturday morning for a 12:30 start. As the wind was still filling in, we actually started nearer to 13:00, with a course taking us out to Punta de l’Avançada, then Pinar, across towards Es Bacares, up to Punta de l’Avançada, back to Es Bacares, finishing back at the Punta.

A bias on the startline saw the whole fleet bunching at the committee boat, with Carat – as beautiful 50 foot 1980’s Admirals Cupper – using her sheer mass to find a passage through between fuego fatuo and esp, with Stormtrooper III and Dragonfly somewhat behind.

At the mark in Pinar Bay, Carat was still ahead, but inexplicably continued south, instead of heading west for the next mark. After a nearly two mile leg, Carat rounded up at the mark ahead, followed by the two flying fifteens. Positions at the lighthouse were the same, and didn’t change down the run. Rounding up for the final beat, the First 45 was still behind, with the Swan chasing hard. Halfway up the leg, the Swan finally managed to pass the tiny fifteens, to finish shortly behind Carat.

Fuego fatuo led the flying fifteens home, followed by Stromtrooper. And the First 45? – ten seconds behind fuego fatuo.

Results:
ESP 3577         fuego fatuo                   John Walker /Stephen Babbage
ESP 3610         Stormtrooper III            David Miles / Mark Hart
ESP 3432         esp                                Michael Clough/Milan

Coming up

We’re racing at every month from now until the end of the year, if you’d like to join us, visit http://flyingfifteen.mallorcaservice.de, we have a club boat available (and some for sale!), and are always keen to bring new crews into the fleet. Or just turn up at the next event:

12 Dec              practice day                       RCNPP, Pollensa
13 Dec              Extra regatta          RCNPP, Pollensa
19 Dec              Liga de Invierno   RCNPP, Pollensa