Please select your home edition
Edition
Allen Dynamic 40 Leaderboard

South African Flying 15 National Championship 2024 at Henley Midmar Yacht Club

by Myles White 22 Nov 2024 00:38 PST 16-17 November 2024

With the water quality in Durban Harbour remaining foul and making launching of Flying Fifteen's a significant health hazard, it was decided to relocate much of the fleet one hour inland to Midmar Dam, thus exchanging the country's best offshore sailing waters for the best fresh-water sailing on offer. Once the current infrastructure repairs have been completed and the water quality has returned to good, we will again be able to launch and sail in Durban.

This relocation was timed to coincide with our 2024 National Championships, which was hosted by Henley Midmar Yacht Club, on 16 and 17 November. Most welcome visitors were Bryan and Gerald Paxman who trailed the beautifully re-vamped 'Ffenominal' 3009 down from Vaal Dam, and who helped to boost the F15 fleet to 12 boats. The final tally was 5 Classic boats and 7 Open boats, which included all 4 carbon boats that have been built locally.

Saturday was a frustrating day, with a major truck collision on the highway turning the 1 hour trip into 2 and even 3 hour trips for some, and then the wind remaining very light with no consistent direction. While waiting for the weather to improve the clouds to the South-West grew more and more ominous before breaking into a full blown thunderstorm which turned the dam into a froth. As seasoned sailors tend to do, we retired to the bar before convening our Annual General Meeting earlier than originally scheduled. This was followed by a thoroughly enjoyable F15 fleet dinner accompanied by generous quantities of good quality wine. Thereafter it was back to the pub to watch our mighty Springboks taking care of Steve Borthwick's English rugby team!

A thoroughly enjoyable breakfast at the Fern Hill Hotel got Sunday kick-started for me, after which we got back to HMYC and set about rigging. A light but most acceptable North-Easterly was blowing over the dam wall, promising reasonably consistent winds for the day. Race officer Kevin Bingham got racing under way at around 1000 hrs and by 1300 hrs we had 4 races in the bank, with each taking approximately 40 minutes for the leading boats to complete 2 laps. A 5th race was completed by 1400 hrs, and so a 6th and final race was started before the 1430 hrs cut off, but was shortened to 1 lap in order to give people sufficient time to de-rig and get home before dark.

All races were close with much place changing, and replacement skipper Mike Colbeck sailing 'Financial Fling' (3205) with Rob Finlay proving that a well-sailed Classic boat remains highly competitive in flat water. In addition to Mike, all of the Open boats had moments with their noses in front, but it came down to getting the right read on the subtle wind shifts going upwind, and then being fortunate enough to find the wind channel on the way to the leeward mark that dictated the positions across the finish line. Fortunately, the notoriously fickle Midmar holes did not play as much of a role as they could have.

505 National Champions Thomas and Peter Funke, sailing Neil Wadsworth's '55 South' (4066) were the dominant team of the day with 3 bullets earning Gold, while Estelle Buys and myself, Myles White on 'Ffothermucker' (3867) surprised everyone, and most of all ourselves, to win the first and last races, securing silver. Long time Flying 15 campaigners and perennial champions Patrick Harris and Jeremy Kriek sailed consistently into 3rd overall on 'Ffigjam' (3999).

The sailing took place with wonderful spirit from all competitors, and although there was some inevitable contesting with raised voices at mark rounding's, the regatta was a showcase of why the Flying 15 sailors get on so well both on and off the water.

There has been increasing interest from Vaal Dam sailors in obtaining Flying Fifteens, and several Classic boats have already been given homes there. The reality is that there is now a demand for boats from that area, to the extent that we are planning to hold our next Nationals at Vaal Dam in 2025. The outlook for Flying Fifteen sailing in South Africa is undoubtedly positive!

Overall Results:

PosnBoatSail NoSkipperCrewClubR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1stUTH4066Thomas FunkePeter FunkeHMYC & ASC4111‑629
2ndFfothermucker3867Myles WhiteEstelle BuysPYC HMYC12‑443111
3rdFfigjam3999Patrick HarrisJeremy KriekRNYC3‑5225517
4thF.F.S.3872Anthony McMillanZane GazeHMYC235‑82618
5thFfoxxoff3868Paul ChanguoinTim DuguidRNYC‑76771324
6thFfullerene3993Campbell AlexanderRalph ThomasHMYC 5‑7654727
7thFIT Fabulous Icecream Truck4067Dave HerridgeTorben HerridgeHMYC(DNS)4337DNS30
8thFinancial Fling3205Mike ColbeckRobert FinlayHMYC6‑8868432
9thFfenominal3009Bryan PaxmanGerald PaxmanDAC PWC8‑1212109847
10thFfree Flight4009Lorrian WellsOwen HemmingwayHMYC‑11999101047
11thFfaithfull3251Simon MusgroveBryce BowerPYC9.5‑11101111950.5
12thDragonfly3207Dominic CollettMarco CollettHMYC9.5101112(DNS)DNC55.5

Related Articles

Cowes Week 2025 day 4
Racing women and mini-series winners With three mini-series concluding today, lively winds and brilliant sunshine, there was plenty of action on the fourth day of Cowes Week 2025. Posted on 5 Aug
Ladies Day at Cowes Week gallery from Ingrid Abery
Capturing the crews on the Solent As always, we can rely on Ingrid Abery to capture fantastic images on the water, and this time it's Ladies Day at Cowes Week. Posted on 5 Aug
Cowes Week 2025 Day 3
Weekend warriors and inspiring figures With the decision to abandon racing for the day taken on Sunday evening, many crews took the opportunity to rest and gear themselves up for the rest of the week. Posted on 4 Aug
Cowes Week 2025 Day 2
Tight racing, big waves and family fun The second day of racing at Cowes Week 2025 proved much easier for the Race Officers, with a good breeze, which enabled all classes to get away on time and delivered great, competitive racing across all fleets. Posted on 3 Aug
Cowes Week 2025 Day 1
Light winds, building breeze and spectacular racing The opening day of Cowes Week 2025 dawned with light north-westerly airs. The weather forecast predicted a sharp change in wind direction, with Storm Floris moving in from Iceland later in the day. Posted on 2 Aug
Cowes Week 2025: The countdown to race time begins
Anticipation is building for one of the world's most iconic regattas With just a few days to go, Cowes Week 2025 is shaping up to be another unforgettable celebration of sailing and summer. Entries are already ahead of last year, and anticipation is building for one of the world's most iconic regattas. Posted on 30 Jul
Poole Week: it's time to enter
Take advantage of early-bird entry fees for the event in a month's time Poole Week - one of the south coast's biggest and best regattas for dinghies and small keelboats - is now less than a month away. Entries have been flooding in and already exceed 130 boats across the fleets. Posted on 29 Jul
Grafham Water Flying Fifteen Open
A decent 10-15 knots on Sundy after rain and no wind and rain on Saturday Despite the heavy rain, spirits remained high as competitors gathered in the club's wet bar — a fitting location given the weather! With plenty of banter and optimism in the air, they chatted about the slim chances of racing on Saturday. Posted on 24 Jul
Excitement builds for Poole Regatta 2026
Less than 12 months until the European IRC Championship comes to town With less than a year to go, excitement is steadily building for the return of the International Paint Poole Regatta, taking place from 23rd-25th May 2026 over the late May bank holiday weekend. Posted on 15 Jul
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
Hyde Sails 2024 - One DesignC-Tech 2021 America's Cup 728x90 BOTTOMRooster 2025