2024 is a worlds qualifying year for the Flying 15 class and not surprisingly, a large and high quality fleet of 40 boats turned up at Grafham to find the sun shining and some wind blowing.
Principal Race Officer Nigel Denchfield told the assembled sailors at the briefing to expect some possible windshifts on the race course- how right he was!
Great shoreside organisation from the club meant everyone was launched in plenty of time- huge thanks to all the club sailors who assisted with that.
A decent southerly stayed in across the course, but with serious shifting going on near the top mark.
Anyone silly enough to end up not making the windward mark and having to tack back out
several times – well what can I say, except welcome to my world!
The class stipulated that the spacer mark be laid to leeward of the windward mark in an effort to reduce windward mark pile- ups. On balance it seemed to work- other recollections may differ.
Anyway, R1 and for that matter R2 were both taken by Ben McGrane and Scott Dawson with Jeremy Davy and Martin Huett taking two seconds. R3 was won by Greg Wells and David Tulloch with Shane McCarthy and Jim Hunt taking 2
nd.
So overnight pretty close and the forecast indicating a decent breeze for the three races planned for Sunday meant that there was all to play for.
So, for Sundays three races, there were some postponements and some recalls, too many for this scribe to remember, although there was an awful lot of chat on the VHF between the PRO and his on water team, keeping those with handheld radios entertained.
Three races happened, and three races were good- for some at least.
R4 and a new race winner -Mark Nicholson and Steve Culpitt followed by local heroes Dave Lucas and (one of the youngest competitors in the fleet) Harry Lucas in 2
nd.
R5 and another winning team Richard Whitworth and Trefor Jones taking the win from 2
nd placed Hamish Mackay and Andrew Lawson.
Jeremy Davy & Martin Huett, winners of the 2024 Inland Championships
And finally (we do this for fun right?) in the hot sun, in shifty, impossible to read winds (for mortals anyway) under black flag (I think – I was too spaced out to notice) Simon Childs and female crew Kato stormed it to the finish line with a brilliant win from David McKee and Mal Hartland.
All this was being closely observed by Nigel Denchfield, our PRO who said afterwards “ wind was a bit crazy, lots of place changing, some very close finishes and only two OCS all weekend. The fleet was mighty good at starting”….High praise indeed! Thanks must go to our sponsors Gill and to our photographer Paul Sanwell whose photographs can be seen
here.
Championship winners and hugely consistent Jeremy Davy and Martin Huett richly deserved to be 2024 Gill Flying Fifteen inland champions. Second, Ben McGrane and Scott Dawson, and third overall Shane MacCarthy and Jim Hunt.
A terrific weekend of sailing- if you weren’t there you can still join the fun at the Northerns, and the Scottish championships, all to come later in the year. We hope to see you.
Report by Simon Kneller
Photos by Paul Sanwell
Gill Flying Fifteen Inlands 2024
Sailed: 6, Discards: 1, To count: 5, Entries: 40, Scoring system: Appendix A
| Rank |
Sail No. |
Helm |
Crew |
Sailing Club |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
R6 |
Total |
Nett |
| 1st |
3760 |
Jeremy Davy |
Martin Huett |
DWSC |
2.0 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
(25.0) |
3.0 |
4.0 |
39.0 |
14.0 |
| 2nd |
4002 |
Ben McGrane |
Scott Dawson |
Netley SC |
1.0 |
1.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
(9.0) |
7.0 |
32.0 |
23.0 |
| 3rd |
4116 |
Shane MacCarthy |
Jim Hunt |
Greystones SC |
7.0 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
(8.0) |
32.0 |
24.0 |
| 4th |
4126 |
Ian Pinnell |
Ian Cadwallader |
NSC |
(11.0) |
5.0 |
10.0 |
3.0 |
7.0 |
3.0 |
39.0 |
28.0 |
| 5th |
4114 |
Richard Whitworth |
Trefor Jones |
Parkstone Yacht Club |
3.0 |
(12.0) |
12.0 |
4.0 |
1.0 |
10.0 |
42.0 |
30.0 |
| 6th |
4065 |
David Mckee |
Mal Hartland |
Dovestone SC |
8.0 |
(24.0) |
9.0 |
8.0 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
55.0 |
31.0 |
| 7th |
4017 |
Dave Lucas |
Harry Lucas |
Grafham Water Sailing Club |
5.0 |
(19.0) |
13.0 |
2.0 |
12.0 |
14.0 |
65.0 |
46.0 |
| 8th |
3884 |
Mark Nicholson |
Steve Culpitt |
HISC |
23.0 |
6.0 |
8.0 |
1.0 |
(41.0 DNC) |
9.0 |
88.0 |
47.0 |
| 9th |
3793 |
Peter Allam |
Jo Allam |
Parkstone |
9.0 |
10.0 |
5.0 |
13.0 |
10.0 |
(41.0 DNC) |
88.0 |
47.0 |
| 10th |
4089 |
Hamish Mackay |
Andrew Lawson |
Royal Thames YC |
13.0 |
(41.0 NSC) |
6.0 |
12.0 |
2.0 |
16.0 |
90.0 |
49.0 |
| 11th |
3918 |
Paul Busby |
Neil Barford |
NSC/HISC |
17.0 |
9.0 |
(25.0) |
9.0 |
11.0 |
5.0 |
76.0 |
51.0 |
| 12th |
4104 |
Simon Childs |
Kato |
HISC |
15.0 |
13.0 |
14.0 |
15.0 |
(17.0) |
1.0 |
75.0 |
58.0 |
| 13th |
3957 |
Charles Apthorp |
Andrew Stevenson |
HISC |
12.0 |
15.0 |
17.0 |
(28.0) |
5.0 |
13.0 |
90.0 |
62.0 |
| 14th |
4112 |
Greg Wells |
David Tulloch |
HISC |
4.0 |
8.0 |
1.0 |
14.0 |
(41.0 DNC) |
41.0 DNC |
109.0 |
68.0 |
| 15th |
4061 |
Chris Waples |
Simon Weatherill |
HISC |
10.0 |
4.0 |
19.0 |
(32.0) |
21.0 |
15.0 |
101.0 |
69.0 |
| 16th |
4094 |
John Hanson |
Helen Selden |
RYA |
19.0 |
7.0 |
(31.0) |
23.0 |
20.0 |
6.0 |
106.0 |
75.0 |
| 17th |
4033 |
Justin Waples |
Jackie Mckellar |
Rcyc |
20.0 |
(25.0) |
11.0 |
17.0 |
15.0 |
17.0 |
105.0 |
80.0 |
| 18th |
4103 |
Julian Clarke |
Nick Hampson |
Royal Windermere YC |
28.0 |
16.0 |
18.0 |
10.0 |
(41.0 RAF) |
18.0 |
131.0 |
90.0 |
| 19th |
3927 |
John Thornley |
Christian Barnes |
Ullswater Yacht Club |
16.0 |
11.0 |
(36.0) |
20.0 |
22.0 |
21.0 |
126.0 |
90.0 |
| 20th |
3914 |
Adrian Tattersall |
John Mathie |
PYC |
21.0 |
27.0 |
15.0 |
(34.0) |
19.0 |
11.0 |
127.0 |
93.0 |
| 21st |
4113 |
Simon Kneller |
Ashley Painter |
Grafham Water Sailing Club |
27.0 |
21.0 |
16.0 |
5.0 |
26.0 |
(29.0) |
124.0 |
95.0 |
| 22nd |
4069 |
Bill Chard |
Josh Preater |
CVLSC |
25.0 |
(32.0) |
4.0 |
21.0 |
27.0 |
24.0 |
133.0 |
101.0 |
| 23rd |
3904 |
Ben Cooper |
Richard Bundock |
Royal Thames YC |
14.0 |
(41.0 BFD) |
41.0 DSQ |
26.0 |
8.0 |
12.0 |
142.0 |
101.0 |
| 24th |
3903 |
Gary Stuart |
John Wayling |
Northampton |
29.0 |
23.0 |
(30.0) |
16.0 |
13.0 |
23.0 |
134.0 |
104.0 |
| 25th |
4030 |
Alastair Stevenson |
David Culpan |
HISC |
(32.0) |
22.0 |
29.0 |
19.0 |
16.0 |
20.0 |
138.0 |
106.0 |
| 26th |
4037 |
Neville Herbert |
Mark Fowler |
Lymington Town SC |
6.0 |
(41.0 NSC) |
28.0 |
18.0 |
30.0 |
27.0 |
150.0 |
109.0 |
| 27th |
4091 |
Jeremy Arnold |
Richard Hope |
Notts County SC |
18.0 |
20.0 |
24.0 |
(27.0) |
25.0 |
22.0 |
136.0 |
109.0 |
| 28th |
4042 |
Geoff Floyd |
Colin Gilbert |
Grafham Water Sailing Club |
(35.0) |
29.0 |
22.0 |
11.0 |
18.0 |
35.0 |
150.0 |
115.0 |
| 29th |
4097 |
Mathew Thompson |
Raymond Flanagan |
Draycote Water SC |
(37.0) |
14.0 |
21.0 |
24.0 |
33.0 |
33.0 |
162.0 |
125.0 |
| 30th |
4080 |
Simon Patterson |
Simon Thompson |
Draycote Water SC |
(41.0 NSC) |
41.0 BFD |
20.0 |
29.0 |
23.0 |
19.0 |
173.0 |
132.0 |
| 31st |
3751 |
Peter Warne |
Graham Wilson |
Northampton |
24.0 |
17.0 |
(37.0) |
36.0 |
31.0 |
25.0 |
170.0 |
133.0 |
| 32nd |
4055 |
Stephen Fulford |
Freddie Fulford |
Aldeborgh |
26.0 |
18.0 |
(34.0) |
31.0 |
28.0 |
30.0 |
167.0 |
133.0 |
| 33rd |
3794 |
David Philpott |
Pippa Chapman |
Grafham Water Sailing Club |
22.0 |
26.0 |
32.0 |
(33.0) |
29.0 |
31.0 |
173.0 |
140.0 |
| 34th |
3912 |
Charlie Mckee |
Simon Montague |
HISC |
33.0 |
30.0 |
23.0 |
(38.0) |
32.0 |
26.0 |
182.0 |
144.0 |
| 35th |
4024 |
Tony Johnson |
Kenneth Wu |
Grafham Water Sailing Club |
31.0 |
(41.0 NSC) |
41.0 NSC |
22.0 |
24.0 |
28.0 |
187.0 |
146.0 |
| 36th |
3536 |
Angus Scott |
Philip Snowdon |
DWSC |
36.0 |
31.0 |
27.0 |
(37.0) |
34.0 |
32.0 |
197.0 |
160.0 |
| 37th |
4084 |
Tim O'Brien |
Colin Burns |
Grafham Water Sailing Club |
(38.0) |
34.0 |
33.0 |
30.0 |
35.0 |
34.0 |
204.0 |
166.0 |
| 38th |
3765 |
Chris White |
Roger Le Pla |
Northampton |
34.0 |
28.0 |
26.0 |
(41.0 DNC) |
41.0 DNC |
41.0 DNC |
211.0 |
170.0 |
| 39th |
3726 |
Duncan Grindley |
Jon Mortimer |
Grafham Water Sailing Club |
30.0 |
33.0 |
35.0 |
35.0 |
(41.0 DNC) |
41.0 DNC |
215.0 |
174.0 |
| 40th |
4082 |
Richard Jordan |
Toby Confirmed |
RTYC/CCYC/WYC/HISC |
(41.0 DNC) |
41.0 DNC |
41.0 DNC |
41.0 DNC |
41.0 DNC |
41.0 DNC |
246.0 |
205.0 |