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Flying 15s at the Ovington Inlands

by Ian Cadwallader 25 Mar 2022 20:11 AEDT 19-20 March 2022
Flying 15s at the Ovington Inlands © Errol Edwards

The 2022 Flying 15 Open Meeting circuit started in glorious weather at the Ovington Inlands at Grafham Water over the weekend of the 19th & 20th March 2022. Bright sunshine, not a cloud in sight and solid 20 knots from the East blowing straight down the reservoir. Grafham's superb boat house team launched the 12 boats with their tractor and all the crews kept their feet dry.

Simon Kneller and Dave Lucas have spent the last 20 years sailing 15s together culminating in winning the UK Nationals in 2012. This was their first event sailing apart, Simon helming for Ashleigh Painter and Dave crewing for Shane McCartney - Who would have bragging rights ?

Ian Pinnell & Ian Cadwallader had a slight edge in boat handling and downwind speed, just pipping Shane & Dave to the gun in the first 3 races. In Saturday's fourth and final race, tiredness and general ineptitude from the two Ian's resulted in a port and starboard 720 penalty, when ducking Shane provided a well deserved race win for Shane & Dave. Simon & Ashleigh showed flashes of brilliance and speed throughout the day, but struggled for any sort of consistency.

Much to the battered and bruised crews relief, Sunday dawned with lighter winds with large variations in both its strength and direction. John Hansen & Helen Selden showed the fleet the transom of their new P&B boat, their lead growing on every leg of the 3 lap windward / leeward course. Buoyed in confidence from their race win, John & Helen tried (and spectacularly failed) to win the pin at the start of race 5, leaving Shane & Dave to lead the fleet. They were pressured all the way round by Alasdair & Lauren Stevenson showing that in the right hands, a well sailed Ovington mark 9 can be blisteringly fast. The pressure proved too much for Shane and they sailed to the finish a lap early and dropped to 3rd. Simon Kneller confirmed later that lap counting was a responsibility too much for his former crew.

Alasdair & Lauren went one place better comfortably winning the last race, with Jonathon & Trish Knight having their best race and rounding off the podium in third. The fleet just managing to finish before the breeze shut off entirely.

Overall Pinnell & Cadwallader won the event with a race to spare. And the Kneller / Lucas bragging rights ? They went to Dave Lucas ........ But don't let him count the number of laps!

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3R4R5R6R7Pts
1st4055Ian PinnellIan CadwalladerChew Valley Lake1112‑3128
2nd4085Shane MacCarthyDave LucasGrafham Water Sailing Club222122(DNC)11
3rd4094John HansonHelen seldenDatchet Water Sailing Club33441‑6419
4th3862Alastair StevensonDavid CulpanDatchet Water Sailing Club5553‑113122
5th4069Bill ChardJosh PreaterCVLSC746544(DNC)30
6th4024Simon KnellerAshley painterGrafham Water Sailing Club4(DNC)36810738
7th3794David PhilpottGraham WadelyGrafham Water Sailing Club88786‑9643
8th3550Les RantSusie SontagGrafham Water Sailing Club66(DNC)DNC57845
9th4042Geoff FloydColin GilbertGrafham Water Sailing Club10797(DNC)8546
10th4012Jonathan KnightTrish KnightGrafham Water Sailing Club(RTD)DNCDNCDNC75354
11th4084Tim O'BrienPip NoonGrafham Water Sailing Club‑11989911955
12th3703Patrick CondyKelly CarmichaelGrafham Water Sailing Club9(DNC)DNCDNC1012DNC70

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