Grafham Water Flying Fifteen Open Meeting

by Simon Kneller on 2 Jul 2008 Twenty one Flying Fifteens gathered at Grafham water for the annual Grafham FF Open Meeting over the weekend of 28-29 June. Bright sunshine and a steady force 4 on the Saturday meant that a great day's racing was in store.

Jeremy Davy and Tom Hall from Hayling Island SC won the event overall on countback level after finishing level on points with Alan Bax and Paul Busby - very close.

We weren't disappointed and Davy and Hall took a commanding lead to win race 1 from Mike Hart and Duncan West and Mark Longstaff and Simon Childs took an excellent third spot in their borrowed Dingwall boat.

Race 2 was a convincing win for Bax and Busby (great to see Bax and 'Buzzer' straight back on the pace despite Buzzer having been AWOL for so long). Kneller and Lucas second and Davy and Hall third.

Race 3 was a real battle with a lot of place changing up and down the fleet, the old style triangle sausage triangle courses giving some great opportunities to win (and loose!) places. Davy and Hall took the chequered flag with Kneller and Lucas second and Bax and Busby third.

Sunday's weather was very similar to Saturday's - the same blustery west south west airflow producing a steady force 4 throughout the day, probably a bit more in the gusts and, the sun was still shining.

Race 4 eventually got under way and once again Davy and Hall showed the way to go with Bax and Busby second and Kneller and Lucas third.

Race 5 appeared to have some pin bias for the start but after severa minutes of racing those starting at the pin (us for one) realised it was a terrible mistake. Those starting further up the line simply lifted and lifted gaining hundreds of yards and Brian Thake and Richard Ledger soon established a solid lead to the windward mark.

Eventually the Bax/Hart/Davy trio got through but Brian and Richard held onto an excellent 4th spot. Alan Bax and Paul Busby first, Mike Hart and Duncan West second with Jeremy Davy and Tom Hall third.

Race 6 belonged to Class President Justin Waples sailing with Iain Stowe. They made a lovely pin end start, sailed on for 100 yds, tacked and crossed the fleet and from then on were never seriously threatened. The racing further back was fast and furious but eventually Bax and Busby finished second with Hart and West third. That meant that Davy and Hall who were 'DNC' for race 6 won the event overall on countback level on points with Bax and Busby.

It would have been nice to see more Silver/Classic boats taking part (especially some of our resident Grafham boats!) but of the three boats that did compete Tim Tomlinson and Mark Greener finished in 17th spot giving them the
combined Silver/Classic trophy .

It was a great weekend's racing, sunny, windy and some really competitive sailing throughout the fleet. Race Officer Nick Heath used the widest part of the lake to good effect and he and his team were thanked for their hard work over the Saturday and Sunday. Thanks to all that took part especially those who travelled . . . hope we can welcome you back to this part of the world next year.

We now look forward to the Nationals at Hayling Island in July 27th should be great!

Flying 15 - Final overall results

1st 3922 Jeremy Davy Tom Hall Hayling Island Sailing Club 1 3 1 1 3 (23.0 DNC) 32 9
2nd 3883 Alan Bax Paul Busby Hayling Island Sailing Club (23.0 DNC) 1 3 2 1 2 32 9
3rd 3917 Mike Hart Duncan West Port Dinorwic SC/RWYC 2 (23.0 OCS) 4 4 2 3 38 15
4th 3842 Simon Kneller Dave Lucas Grafham Water Sailing Club (23.0 DNC) 2 2 3 9 4 43 20
5th 3603 Mark Longstaff Simon Childs Grafham Water Sailing Club 3 -11 5 6 5 8 38 27
6th 3849 Brian Thake Richard Ledger Grafham Water Sailing Club 7 9 6 7 4 -13 46 33
7th 3736 Pete Bannister Sue Bannister Hayling Island Sailing Club 8 5 -11 10 6 5 45 34
8th 3898 Julian Clarke Graham Wadley Grafham Water Sailing Club 5 8 9 8 -10 7 47 37
9th 3818 Gill Browning Simon Weatherill Hayling Island Sailing Club 10 4 13 5 8 (23.0 DNC) 63 40
10th 3681 Pip Hudson Alice Hudson Broxbourne Sailing Club 4 10 10 -11 11 10 56 45
11th 3914 A Tattershall T Smart RYA (23.0 DNC) 7 7 13 12 9 71 48
12th 3718 Oliver Dingwall Ben Dingwall Grafham Water Sailing Club 11 6 12 -15 14 6 64 49
13th 3716 Iain Stowe Rebecca Stowe Grafham Water Sailing Club 18 16 (23.0 DNC) 9 7 1 74 51
14th 3789 Allen Clare Ashley Painter Grafham Water Sailing Club 6 12 14 12 -17 11 72 55
15th 3786 Chris Harris Tracy Harris Northampton Sailing Club 9 13 8 19 -20 12 81 61
16th 3794 Dave Philpott Jenny Philpott Grafham Water Sailing Club 12 14 -17 17 13 14 87 70
17th 2433 Tim Tomlinson Mark Greener Middle Nene Sailing Cliub 14 -19 18 16 15 16 98 79
18th 3626 Richard Marshall Geoff Parkinson Grafham Water Sailing Club 17 15 15 (23.0 DNC) 21 15 106 83
19th 2932 David Duke Carole Duke Grafham Water Sailing Club 15 18 16 18 16 (23.0 DNC) 106 83
20th 3924 Bob Gatton P Noon Grafham Water Sailing Club 13 17 (23.0 DNC) 14 18 23.0 DNC 108 85
21st 3233 Gary Fowler Mark Fowler Grafham Water Sailing Club 16 -20 19 20 19 17 111 91
22nd 3653 Adam Mangan Emma Mangan Datchet Water Sailing Club (23.0 DNC) 23.0 DNC 23.0 DNC 23.0 DNC 23.0 DNC 23.0 DNC 138 115