PRO-SET Epoxy and Ovington Boats Flying Fifteen Worlds at the WPNSA, UK - Day 4
by Mark Jardine 20 Aug 2025 16:18 PDT
16-21 August 2025
It was an earlier start for the fleet on P&B Race Day at the Flying Fifteen Worlds, headline sponsored by PRO-SET Epoxy and Ovington Boats, with the aim of completing three races to bring the event back on schedule.
A decent North Easterly, gusting 20 knots, was established - but the same was present on Tuesday which petered out after one race - would it hold today?
Thankfully the wind did hold and three great races were held, but after the exemplary discipline shown by the fleet on days 2 and 3, a bit of unruliness crept back in with general recalls on both the second and third races of the day. Race Officer Mark 'Woodsy' Woods re-established the rule of law for the second attempt on each start with the black flag.
For a top result, a good start and reading the shifts has been paramount, and no team has been better at getting away cleanly and picking the lanes than Graham Vials and Chris Turner. With a sixth place, followed by two more wins on day 4, they are on 18 points including all their results, putting them on the cusp of an unprecedented sixth World Championship in the class.
Their boat is called 'Finally Finished' and as Graham explains it may not be quite as final as it seems:
"It's got a few meanings! Firstly it was finally finished being built quite late in the day, so that's the first meaning, and the other is whether we're going to do another campaign after this or whether we're going to call it a day. The jury's out on that at this stage, but it's very hard if you win not to come back and defend the title, so I think you'll see us again on the start line! It's a really good class, it's got some great sailors, very competitive, the racing is very tight, we're all going around the same speed, and it comes down to tactics and who can pick their way through the windshifts best."
Andrew McKee and Richard Jones were the winners of the first race today, and with it have moved up to second in the leaderboard, which was pleasing news to hear when Andrew came off the water:
"That's fantastic. It still feels like there's a long way to go, and we'll see what happens tomorrow, and we're not going to count our chickens. We didn't make any changes today, but I think we just pressed up on to the line a bit better, and I think our mistake yesterday was getting a bit close to Graham and Chris and getting rolled off the startline. We started in more space, making sure we could get our bow forward, so we could go bow down through the sloppy chop we had today. Being able to pick your own lane was definitely important today."
It's been an up and down week for 2005 World Champion Nick Jerwood from South of Perth Yacht Club in Australia, sailing with Greg Tonnison, but results today of third, second, and fourth have catapulted them up the rankings into sixth overall.
"Certainly we were a bit more on it today. Two good starts and one bad start, but we managed to pull ourselves out of the mire in the last race. With the wind shifting back and forth, and with good pressure, it allowed us to get in and compete with the boats around us, which was really enjoyable."
Trying to recover from a mistake in this quality of fleet is exceptionally difficult and can ruin a race in seconds:
"If you fall back and allow the front of the fleet to get away then it's really hard. If you make a bad start you've got to do something about it there and then, or it really is all over. You've got to try and find that shift or gust that's going to get you out of trouble. Catch it and you're really in luck, if you haven't then life gets hard for the rest of the race."
Opening the series with a black flag and also scoring a 27th wasn't in the plan for Nick, but he easily falls back in the fun they have at Flying Fifteen events when things don't go right:
"The whole ethos of the fleet is to be here to have fun. If you do well and get great results then that's a bonus. For sure it hurts when you have a bad race, but you've got to say 'it's just a yacht race' so go and enjoy it! If you walk around grumpy it's a bit of a waste of time."
On the enduring appeal of the class Nick added:
"It's the fun factor, the camaraderie, the support if things aren't going well. You don't get kicked when you're down, you get lifted up, and that's terrific. Also the class itself has been developed over the years and refined. I think if I was sailing the kind of Flying Fifteen that was around 30 years ago then I wouldn't have stayed in the fleet, but the good leadership we have and governance in the class allows it to develop, to use modern materials, to bring the weight down where we can and making sure that everybody sails a boat in a class where everybody's equal."
The 'Flamingo Buoys' Lewis Davies and John Radnell from Daveys Bay Yacht Club in Victoria, Australia, were impossible to miss today on the race course, fully kitted out in fluorescent pink, which John explained has been a long-term project:
"We've been working on the pink flamingo thing for about ten years. Our old boat was called the Flying Flamingo, and so we've run pink kites and various combinations of pink over the years."
The buoys turned around an otherwise average day into a good one with a third in the final race, celebrating with the adage 'you're only as good as your last race' which John described:
"We found some clear air, got into the rhythm of the swell, and managed to round the top mark second, staying with the top guys the whole way round the course, and decided that third was probably good enough! Battling through the pack is really tough work, which is something we've had plenty of experience with so far!"
Lewis explained how the game plan may not have worked in the final race of the day, but their plan B worked instead:
"We finished strongly today. The first two races were a bit mediocre, but the third was good. Our game the whole time has been to have clear air and speed off the line, and today in the third race we didn't actually achieve our goal, but we achieved a clear lane out, and at the end of the day that's what helped us get through to the top mark in a really good position."
On the fleet itself Lewis added:
"Everyone's your friend in the fleet. Most things that happen on the water, stay on the water, which makes coming back to the boat park a really good time. Everyone's willing to congratulate you on your wins and your losses!"
For Peter Allan, sailing with wife Jo, this was originally going to be an event he was organising rather than sailing in, as he was CEO at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy when it was first scheduled, but delayed by the pandemic. Seeing it come to fruition and taking part is giving Pete great satisfaction:
"I think it was back in 2017, if not before, when the planning for this all started, and I had this ambitious thought that I could be the event director and sail, and I'm quite glad that I'm just sailing here! I think it's amazing when you look at the volunteers who turn out week after week, and they are fantastic at what they do. I think we've got the best race management teams in the country, and Woodsy and his team have done a tremendous job this week. One day to go, and it could be a challenging one, but the courses and the lines have been superb, and everything ashore has worked well too. Hats off to everybody here."
On reaching the shore the day sponsor became instantly popular when P&B branded beers were handed out in sunshine. Three races completed, some great racing, lots of smiles and everything back on schedule going into the final day.
In the early evening a Women on Water drinks and discussion was held with thanks to tquila, a technology venture-building firm who are supporting the event. There is a strong contingent of female sailors in the Flying Fifteen fleet from a wide variety of different places and backgrounds. We will be following up on their routes into sailing and the draw of the Flying Fifteen in a later story!
More information on the event noticeboard.
Full results so far here.