This August saw a fiesta of flying fifteen sailing in the Solent. A regatta to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the designer Uffa Fox’s death, another for the 75th for the flying fifteen design, and the European Championships.
Three teams from Mallorca made the long and perilous trek north to cooler climes, to sail on water that moves, and not just up and down. A nostalgic trip for the two genuine “caulkheads” in our number (Caulkhead: a generic term for those fortunate enough to have been born on the Isle of Wight ) the remainder bacame honorary caulkheads for the event.
23 August – flying fifteen 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 day in Cowes with a gentle 8–12 knot breeze wafting up the Solent from a S/SW direction.
The Race Committee set a 6.6 nautical mile course with a start under cannon fire from the Royal Yacht Squadron. There was a quick sprint upwind to the Gurnard cardinal and a packed rounding before a long downwind leg to Prince Consort off Cowes Harbour entrance.
The fleet split into two halves, some opting for the offshore route and the others trying to keep out of the tide along the shore. It turned out that the offshore boats found a bit more wind pressure. Another short leg under spinnakers to South Bramble. By now the fleet was quite spread out for a long run to Ancasta off East Cowes. The final leg was a beat back up to a finish line of the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Terry Shutcher and Chris Hewkin (Burton/Shotley/Dubai Offshore SC) took the Royal Yacht Squadron gun winning the race by about 10 boat lengths from John Hansen and Helen Selden (Datchet SC) in second. The final gun went to Charles and Charlie Apthorp (Cowes Corinthian YC).
Racing was followed by a rather splendid Reception at the Commodores House, home of the late, great Uffa Fox, designer of the class 75 years ago.
24 August – Europeans 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.
The RO released the fleet from shore around 13:00 but it was quite a slog to get across the tide to the starting area near Hill Head buoy. When the breeze did settle it allowed two back-to-back races to be sailed in a fairly stable 8–12 knot S/SW.
Fewer black flags today as the fleet got used to mass starts, but a tactical course all the same. Seasoned flying fifteen campaigners Andy Mckee and Richard Jones (Dovestone SC/Shotwick Lake SC) excelled in the light winds scoring bullets in both races. Terry Shutcher and Chris Hewkin (Burton/Shotley/Dubai Offshore SC) proved their win in the 75th Anniversary Race was no fluke, crossing in second in race 6 of the regatta, followed by Hamish Mackay and Andrew Lawson (RTYC/HISC) in 3rd.
Race 7 was sailed in similar light breezes with the now familiar blue kite of Mckee and Jones taking the gun from ex-Finn sailing local hot shots Henry Bagnall and James Downer (Cowes Corinthian YC). Third was Ian Pinnell and Ian Cadwallader (HISC).
The results at the end of 7 races saw Mckee and Jones on 25 points, previous regatta leaders Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado (WYC/HISC) slipped to second overall on 32 points after counting two 8s. Bagnall and Downer’s 12 & 2 moved them into third place on the overall table with 40.
All still to play for with one more race scheduled on the final day, but when 8 races are completed a second discard comes into play, so the European title was still very much in the air!
The final days racing forecast was for early showers clearing late morning and another light breeze to fill just in time to get the final race completed before the 16:00 cut off.
25 August – Europeans 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 start one final 3 lap race at 13:30 on the second attempt.
The wind averaged 10–12 knots from around NW in direction, with a slightly stronger ebbing tide improving upwind boat speeds by a shade. With a second series race discard coming into play the maths was a bit complicated but Andy Mckee and Richard Jones did enough by finishing 18 in the last race to win the championship. The pair from Dovestone SC / Shotwick Lake SC counted four race wins and an overall net point score of 25.
Their nearest threat before the last race of the series was Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado (WYC / HISC) but the Hyde Sails pair suffered a bad start and struggled deep in the pack for the first two laps, deciding to throw in the towel and retire.
But this did provide another twist in the maths when Ian Pinnell and Ian Cadwallader (Pinnell & Bax) broke into a handsome lead to finish their regatta with a race win and thus, when dropping a lowly 27 in the race 5 of the series, promoting them to second place overall on 30 points.
Richard and Matt secured third overall nudging the youngest competitors in the fleet, Henry Bagnall and James Downer (Cowes Corinthian YC) down to a very credible 4 overall. Henry and James both sailed in the British Finn squad and James still races an OK Dinghy, but the pair jumped into a Flying Fifteen this week for the first time to give it a go. Henry explained that he had borrowed the boat from his father-in-law and enjoyed his time with the fleet but was suitably surprised by the level of competition.
Overall place 5 was taken by Hamish Mackay and Andrew Lawson (RTYC / HISC) and in 6, seasoned F15 campaigners Greg Wells and David Tulloch from the big Hayling Island SC team.
The Classic fleet trophy went to Graham Latham and Sara Briscoe from Parkstone YC. The trophy for best local sailors went to Henry Bagnall and James Downer.
This event staged by Cowes Corinthian YC brings to a close two weeks of thoroughly successful and enjoyable F15 sailing on the Solent on this the 75th anniversary of the class.
Up next:
19 November Pollença Liga de Tardor 2
17 December Pollença Liga de Tardor 3
If you’re interested in a trial sail, just follow the link: http://tiny.cc/TrialaFlying15, we’d love to see you!
Our 2022 calendar is posted on our website http://flyingfifteen.mallorcaservice.de
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By Stephen Babbage, Stephen Parry & Jonny Fullerton
