PRO-SET Epoxy and Ovington Boats Flying Fifteen Worlds at the WPNSA, UK - Day 2
by Mark Jardine 17 Aug 2025 15:13 PDT
16-21 August 2025
The sailing was close to perfection on Hyde Sails Race Day at the Flying Fifteen Worlds, headline sponsored by PRO-SET Epoxy and Ovington Boats. Sunshine, winds starting at 23 knots, slowly decreasing through the afternoon, two metre waves and exemplary courses allowed two superb races on this second day of the event.
The first race of the day started with an incredibly even line, with the fleet going away cleanly first time, which pleased Race Officer Mark 'Woodsy' Wood no end after the general recalls on Saturday: "We tweaked the line slightly and ended up with the leader overnight at the pin end, while the boat which was second overnight at the committee boat end, and the boat in third starting in the middle."
The racing was exceptionally tight, with the battle for the race win going down to the wire, only being decided in the final seconds on the reach to the finish line from the leeward gate.
Aptly it was Hyde Sails' own Ben McGrane who took the win on the day they sponsor, and he described how they came through by taking an audacious high line at the end: "It was always going to be a bit touch and go, but it's a world championship so you've got to go for these things. We'd been in front a lot of the race, but had a slow second downwind leg when we didn't get in sync with the waves, and the two boats closest to us did a better job on the first half of the run. When we rounded the final mark we went high and just managed to squeeze through."
The race made for spectacular watching from beginning to end, and showed the strength in depth of the fleet. Five-time world champion and overall leader Graham Vials, who finished fifth with crew Chris Turner, explained how tricky it is when you're in the pack and can't get a lead early: "In that sort of breeze we're fairly quick, but you've still got to get the basics right, and in the first race we got caught slightly on the outside of a shift, which put us back into the pack. The racing is super competitive, and anyone in at least the top 20 or 25 is capable of winning races, so if you find yourself in the pack it's a whole lot harder."
Legendary dinghy sailor Zeb Elliott, who is crewing for Russell Peters and ended the day in eighth overall, echoed Graham's thoughts on the quality of the fleet, "We've got work to do upwind. We're pretty quick downwind which gets us out of jail, but we still have some speed to find. It's a really great fleet, and you can finish in 25th and still have had a hell of a good race to get there. If you lose your concentration for a minute you drop five boats. It's full-on and good fun!"
With so many visitors from around the world competing, it's always interesting to hear about how Weymouth Bay compares to their local conditions and the Flying Fifteen fleets where they are from.
Lily Grimshaw is sailing with Rob Darby, representing Wanaka Yacht Club in New Zealand, which is on the South Island in the heart of the Otago Lakes.
They've been loving the Weymouth conditions as Lily describes, "I haven't looked at the results yet, but we had boats behind us so it must have been alright! It's been a treat for us as we sail on a lake back home and we don't get this sort of consistent breeze, or rolling waves, so it's been incredible riding waves down into the trough. The upwind legs are pretty relentless, but we seem to be holding our lane and keeping up with the people in our pack in the middle of the fleet, so I guess we're doing alright."
On Flying Fifteen sailing in New Zealand Lily added, "We have two fleets; one in the North Island in Auckland, and ours at Wanaka, where we have around twelve Flying Fifteens. We enjoy regular Thursday night club racing which is great."
While Lily and Rob are used to flat water, Campbell Alexander and Ralph Thomas usually race from Point Yacht Club and the Royal Natal Yacht Club in Durban, South Africa, and think the rolling waves of the past two days are mere tiddlers as Campbell explained:
"These waves over here are a little bit small. Our waves are a good deal bigger than this! Ask any of the international sailors who've been to Durban and they'll say we have really big waves. The water's warm, it's £1 a beer, and you can't ask for a better place to go sailing. We have a fleet of six who are really good, who could be in the top 15 or 20 here, and a few more slightly off the top pace."
On coming to Weymouth and encountering such good weather and conditions Ralph added, "We've had a fantastic start to this regatta. The waves are fantastic, the wind is fantastic, and the only thing against us is our age! Hands burning on the reaches, legs burning on the upwind legs, and the problem is the brain cells are burning on the start line as well!"
About their racing today Ralph quipped, "We were disappointed that we matched the Springboks in our performance today, but on the first day we did better than that." For those who don't know the rugby score from Saturday, the Springboks were beaten by Australia 38 points to 22...
Oscar Tullberg crews for James Waugh and usually sails from the Port de Pollença in Mallorca, which is on the north side of the island and pretty sheltered, but Oscar is already looking forward to 2026 as he explains:
"For the Europeans next year we're going to be sailing in the Bay of Palma, which has absolutely fantastic conditions. Really solid sea breeze, a little bit of swell - probably not too dissimilar to what we had here today - but not as windy. It's been extremely hot down there, so coming to a nice 20 degrees couldn't make me happier! It's a nice little escape from summer in Spain."
On his day on the water Oscar added, "We did a lot better today with a tenth and 14th, and we're pretty pleased about that as we knew we may struggle a bit in the heavier breeze, but we sailed really well today, and hopefully it'll be lighter for the rest of the week."
On his home fleet Oscar said, "We usually have around 15 boats for our weekend events, with around 20 boats at the club, but not all of them sail regularly."
An overnight repair allowed Andrew Jameson and Matt Alvarado to get back out on the race course after a nasty collision left them with a badly holed hull.
Things were looking pretty bleak on Saturday evening, as Andrew explained, "It was a bit dark for a while, but Matt found a very, very nice man at Simon Hiscocks' shop who did nine hours of labour for us overnight and did a cracking job. We're back on the water, had a nice day, and are generally super relieved. I need to go find him now and buy him a beer!"
There are stories throughout the fleet, and Gary Stuart's Flying Fifteen sports a beautiful pink kite with the dog Sprocket from Fraggle Rock painted on it, which is also the boat name. This holds particular and poignant meaning as it's in memory of a friend who tragically died in a car accident 17 years ago as Gary recounted, "I'd known him since we were four years old, and he used to only play three songs in his car when we were younger, and one was the Fraggle Rock tune with Sprocket the dog. It keeps his memory alive and it's nice to stand out and be different. I've called all my boats Sprocket since then, which can be a bit confusing!"
It wasn't all plain sailing for Gary and his crew John Wayling today, with Gary going overboard in the first race of the day, "I did, yes! In my defence it's the first time it's happened. I went back to unhook the mainsheet from the transom and got hit by a wave and the next minute I was swimming after my boat. They go quite quick, even when the sails aren't filling! John picked me up and we got a few places back, but not where we'd like to be. Even when we stay in the boat we're nowhere near where we want to be!"
After rinse and repeat on the first two days, it's now rest, rinse and repeat for the fleet as they enjoy a well-earned lay day on Monday, ready for another cracking forecast on Tuesday.
More information on the event noticeboard.
Full results so far