Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023

Flying Fifteen Open, Silver and Classic Meeting at Grafham Water Sailing Club

by Peter Gee 16 Jun 2021 04:06 PDT 12-13 June 2021
The Flying Fifteen Classic and Silver Fleet prize at the Grafham Flying Fifteen Open was taken by Bryan Willis and John McPeake © Paul Sanwell / OPP

A beautiful summer's day greeted the Flying Fifteen competitors for the Grafham Water SC Open meeting held on the 12/13th June. The meeting was open to all vintages of boat with competitors in the Classic, Silver and Open fleets.

The gleaming varnish of the classic fleet decks was admired by all. The star of the show was a classic Flying 15 dating back to 1949 sail number K28, sailed by Elliott Hall and Iain Brown from Burton SC.

The wind for Saturday varied from 5 to 12 knots throughout the day and the Principal Race Officer, Peter Saxton fired the warning signal for Race 1 bang on time.

A variety of courses were sailed with really close racing throughout the Open and Classic fleets with constant place changing gave the fleet plenty to think about.

In the Open fleet a theme began to emerge with Dave Philpott and Pippa Chapman from the home club taking line honours in Race 1 and 2.

This pattern was disrupted in Race 3 which was won by Simon Kneller and Ashley Painter, also from Grafham Water SC and then a really close contest in Race 4 saw Simon and Ashley taking the line closely followed by Dave and Pippa. This gave the overall result to Simon Kneller and Ashley Painter on countback by the slimmest of margins.

The Classic fleet also had some close action with the IRL boat of Bryan Willis and John McPeake of County Antrim YC taking the overall win from boat builders Brett and Ben Dingwall who deserve a special mention as they've worked on so many Flying Fifteens over the years. The Silver Fleet were also represented and their numbers will be boosted next year.

Due to the lack of wind forecast for the Sunday, the PRO ran 4 races on the Saturday and cancelled the sailing for Sunday.

The full spectrum of Flying 15s were in action this weekend from FF4082 delivered this year to K28 delivered in 1949, but still with the graceful lines that make the Flying Fifteen - the planing keel boat- such a pleasure to sail.

Malcolm Hall and Martin Nelson sailing the silver fleet Flying 15 GBR2864 said 'We really enjoyed sailing in the classic and silver fleet, it has a really 'good sportsperson' feel to it. We were pleased to score a third in the first two races and finished mid fleet overall. A nice result for a boat that has been in retirement for the last 5 years!'

The fleet heads off to the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club later this month for the class National Championships- not to be missed.

More photographs of the event are available at www.grafham.org/photos

Grafham Water SC is hosting 14 open meetings this year for many different classes of boat. Memberships are still available for the 2021 season. For more information about the club please visit their website www.grafham.org or call the club on 01480 810478. Follow the club on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pg/grafhamwatersc

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3R4Pts
Classic and Silver Fleet
1st817Bryan Willisjohn mcpeakeCounty Antrim Yacht Club212‑55
2nd3875Brett DingwallBen DingwallRickmansworth‑55117
3rd2260John HansonHelen SeldenDatchet sailing club1‑4348
4th3362Scott TrainAnne StewartSolway Yacht Club(NSC)2428
5th2864Malcolm HallMartin NelsonBurton Sailing Club33‑6612
6th3130Jordan AspinJason BennSir John Fisher SC4‑65312
7thK28Elliott HallIain BrownBurton Sailing Club6‑77720
8th617Graham LamondRachel LamondRipon(DNC)DNCDNCDNC30
8th2923Alan WilliamsStephen ScrivenRoadford Lake SC(DNC)DNCDNCDNC30
Open Fleet
1st4024Simom KnellerAshley PainterGrafham Water Sailing Club2‑4114
2nd3794David PhilpottPippa ChapmanGrafham Water Sailing Club11‑324
3rd3844Duncan MatthewJohn chalkerAldeburgh YC3‑5238
4th4012Jonathan KnightTrish KnightGrafham Water Sailing Club‑424410
5th4084Tim O'BrienGraham WadeleyGrafham Water Sailing Club‑535513
6th4039Sue RhodesAndy RhodesGrafham Water Sailing Club(DNC)66618

Related Articles

Flying Fifteen Southern Travellers at Middle Nene
The weather forecast of a lively weekend was spot-on A strong fleet of 16 boats (six visitors, ten local) arrived at the start line for the traditional Flying 15 Open Meeting at Middle Nene SC, which was held on 14th/15th June as part of the Southern Traveller Series. Posted on 18 Jun
Flying Fifteen Classic and Silver Championships
A weekend of close racing and camaraderie in the Peak District Classic and Silver division Flying Fifteens enjoyed a weekend of close racing and camaraderie in the glorious surroundings of this Peak District location. Posted on 11 Jun
Flying Fifteen Open at Aldeburgh
13 boats entered Aldeburgh's annual open meeting, including 4 visitors The open is one of three key events hosted every year, alongside our Spring Regatta and August Regatta, all of which welcome travellers for racing on this beautiful stretch of river. Posted on 11 Jun
Save the Date - Cowes Classics Regatta 2026
The dates now confirmed after a highly successful 2025 event As the curtain comes down on what has been a remarkable Cowes Classics Week 2025, thoughts at the Royal London Yacht Club and the Royal Thames Yacht Club turn towards the hosting of Cowes Classics Regatta 2026 with the dates now confirmed. Posted on 5 Jun
Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 overall
Building breeze and sea state create a spectacular conclusion Ahead of an oncoming, breeze-filled front from the west, the superb race management teams, under the watchful eye of Principal Race Officer Tim Hancock, elected to send all the fleets out early on the concluding day of Cowes Classics Regatta 2025. Posted on 1 Jun
Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 Day 2
Fog lifts on the Solent to reveal the front-runner A dense, wispy fog sat over the Solent this morning, hampering visibility and causing Cowes Classics Regatta Principal Race Officer, Tim Hancock, to call a short delay shoreside to let the sun burn through and leave a simply stunning day for all. Posted on 31 May
Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 Day 1
Perfect Solent Conditions The Solent shimmered and glistened under early summer sunshine and with a brisk building Force 3-4 westerly wind over tide initially before the turn mid-afternoon, the racing areas of Hill Head and Osborne Bay offered near-perfect conditions. Posted on 31 May
Poole Week Revitalised For 2025
New race teams and new courses for the summer's big event How do you make a great sailing week even better, without losing the elements that have always made it a great sailing week? Posted on 24 May
Enter now for Chichester Harbour Race Week
Last year nearly 600 competitors in 383 boats attended Book your place at the biggest dinghy and keelboat regatta in the UK! With the website open, you can now reserve your place in this year's 'must attend' event. Starting on Monday 11th August, ending on 15th. Posted on 24 May
Cowes Classics Regatta countdown is on
A week away, and late entries are coming in thick and fast across all divisions We are just one week away now from the start of the Royal London Yacht Club's flagship event - the Cowes Classics Regatta 2025 - and as ever, late entries are coming thick and fast across all the divisions. Posted on 23 May
V-DRY-XBarton Marine Pipe GlandsMackay Boats 728x90 BOTTOM