Flying Fifteen Nationals Overall

by Judy Walker 7 Sep 2003 12:38 BST

Action from the Flying Fifteen Nationals © Judy Walker

Racing sponsored by Yachts & Yachting and MDL

The Championship has already been won by defending Champions Steve Goacher and Phil Evans but there was still all to play for second place with Simon Kneller/David Lucas only 0.7 pts ahead of Alan Bax & Andy Weatherspoon and only twelve points separating the next seven.

A cloudy, grey start but with the slight 6 knot wind from the north west for the first time this week. The highlight soon proved to be the school of dolphins who came to see if they could beat the fleet on the start line. A slight postponement allowed the crews to race them up and down the line!! I suspect the dolphins got the line bias right!!

A clean start saw Goacher, Bax and Kneller at the pin end; half the fleet including the locals tacked off to the cliffs on the right hand side where they picked up what there was of the breeze a tactic that paid off when 3144, Nick Oliver crewed by new wife Lucy, rounded the windward mark in 6th place.

Alan Bax had tacked early enough not to get headed down by the shore and was first to the windward mark followed by 3625, Mike Kilbee, and 3792 Brian McKee from Northern Ireland. By the second mark Goacher had got past Mike Kilbee and was in third place and then moved just behind Bax by the third mark.

Martin Payne tacked on Simon Kneller at the final windward mark and had to do his 720 which effectively ruled out his challenge for 5th place. The two front boats then had a close duel to the finish with Alan Bax just holding off Steve Goacher to take his first win of the week and to secure second place overall. Another close battle was for third place between Brian McKee and Mike Kilbee with Brian McKee 3792 holding off the challenge over the last beat as the wind died away to almost nothing.

Simon Kneller pulled up to 5th place, enough to finish in 3rd overall.

Nick Oliver won the Silver Fleet race choosing the right side for the first beat and also for the final run.

In the Classics David Hill having won the event in emphatic style winning every race chose to go on crane duty rather than sailing thus allowing another race winner for the week. George Rock Evans and Mike Jones went round the final windward mark together with Jones just ahead but the lightweight team on Sandbagger 2562 proved more patient on an ever slowing run and drew ahead for a clear victory. David Flint 2587 was becalmed in the middle of the penultimate beat so wisely retired.

Overall Results:

Open Fleet:

Pos	Fleet	Boat Name	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	Open		GBR 3721	Steve Goacher	Phil Evans	Royal Windermere	0	0	0	0	5.7	0	0	0	3	0
2	Open		GBR 3786	Alan Bax	Andy Weatherspoon	Hayling Island	3	5.7	14	3	3	3	5.7	5.7	0	23.4
3	Open	Ana Karenina	GBR 3699	Simon Kneller	David Lucas	Grafham Water	8	3	5.7	13	0	13	3	3	10	32.7
4	Open	Simply Spiffing	IRL 3792	Brian McKee	Ian Smyth	Strangford Lough	22	19	13	14	10	5.7	11.7	8	5.7	68.1
5	Open	Yachts and Yachting	GBR 3778	Martin Payne	John Heyes	Royal Torbay	16	11.7	8	8	13	18	10	15	11.7	77.4
6	Open	Tempus Ffugit	GBR 3625	Michael Kilbee	Tony Cox	Parkstone	15	16	22	5.7	15	8	17	18	8	84.7
7	Open	Clapped Out Toy Boy	GBR 3635	Ian Cleaver	Chris Owen	Royal Highland	10	13	16	16	8	17	RAF	10	14	87
8	Open	Freebird	GBR 3790	David Chubb	Adrian Simpson	Northampton	14	15	10	10	11.7	15	18	14	16	89.7
9	Open	Cygnet	GBR 3429	Colin Fletcher	Huw Fletcher	Llangorse	13	10	17	11.7	17	10	OCS	19	13	91.7
10	Open		GBR 3599	Jeremy Arnold	Mike Pearce	Notts County	19	20	3	15	20	11.7	14	11.7	18	92.4
11	Open	Toys Out Of The Pram	GBR 3689	Grayson Eacott	Gary Lane	Hayling Island	11.7	14	11.7	21	14	22	8	17	19	95.4
12	Open	Fat Boys Go Faster	GBR 3583	Simon Dangerfield	John Washington	Chew Valley Lake	5.7	8	DNF	19	18	19	16	16	DNF	101.7
13	Open	Nuttenuff	GBR 3695	Tony Lee	Chris Hough	Derwent Reservoir	20	17	18	17	16	16	13	13	DNF	110
14	Silver	Her Outdoors	GBR 2797	Bill Butcher	Martin Scobie	Royal Torbay	17	23	15	18	22	14	20	21	17	122
15	Open	Beeffeater	GBR 3768	John Wardrop	Neil Cunliffe	Bewl Valley	21	18	21	23	19	23	15	22	21	137
16	Silver	Miffy	GBR 3040	Rob Llewellyn	Seamus McDermott	Royal Torbay	24	22	19	20	21	21	19	20	20	140
17	Silver	True Colours	GBR 3144	Nick Oliver	Lucy Oliver	Royal Torbay	23	21	23	22	23	20	22	DNC	15	146
18	Silver	Forrader	GBR 3033	Paddy Bettesworth	Tim Edwards	Royal Torbay	18	24	20	24	24	24	21	23	DNC	154

Classic Fleet:

Pos	Boat Name	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	Nevados	IRL 671	David Hill	Maff Smith	Carrickfergus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	DNC	0
2	Sandbagger	GBR 2562	George Rock-Evans	Martine McPherson	Royal Torbay	3	8	3	3	10	3	5.7	5.7	0	23.4
3	Hangover	GBR 2645	Mike Jones	David Travis	Llangorse	10	3	5.7	5.7	5.7	10	8	3	3	34.1
4	Slartibartfast	GBR 2587	David Flint	David Hemmingway	Llangorse	5.7	5.7	10	8	3	5.7	3	8	DNF	39.1
5	Grey Goose	GBR 55	Jeremy Soulsby	Katherine Soulsby	Llangorse	8	10	8	10	8	8	10	10	DNC	62