Sprint 15 Association kicks off a celebratory year at 2018 RYA Dinghy Show

by George Love 10 Mar 19:49 GMT 3-4 March 2018

The 'Beast from the East' proved no match for the Sprint 15 Association's volunteer members who battled through snow and ice to get to Alexandra Palace ensuring that the stand at this year's RYA Dinghy Show was ready to receive visitors last weekend.

Centre stage on the stand was a brand new boat straight out of the box for one lucky member and delivered for the occasion by manufacturer and Class Sponsor Windsport based in Falmouth. Readers may recall the red weather alert for Cornwall the day before The Show. Once again, the 'Beast from the East' was thwarted, albeit by way of a nine-hour drive from Falmouth to London. At the helm was Brian Phipps who managed to avoid the many road closures and drifting snow in the high winds to make the delivery.

The Show really kicked off the new season for the Association which is celebrating 40 years of the boat in 2018, (formerly Spark and Dart 15 and designed in 1978 by Rodney March).

Visitors to the stand had the opportunity to enter three fabulous prize draws. We are delighted to announce that the winners are:

• Richard Malden from Welsh Harp SC: London who wins an exclusive day's coaching session from Windsport 'Cat Clinic' on a one to one basis from a professional coach.

• Richard Knight from Draycote Water SC who wins a year's free membership to the Association.

• Simon Hare from Oxford SC who wins free entry to the 2018 Sprint 15 National Championships at Weymouth in June. Simon has recently purchased one of the crop of new boats.

Visitors to the stand also had the opportunity to sign up for a free 'Try a Sprint 15' demo sail at a club near them to be delivered by a local member. We shall be contacting them soon to arrange the sessions. The demo sail offer will also be extended to those visitors who entered the prize draws but did not win. Demo sails can be requested from anyone interested at any time by contacting The Association – so sign up for a free ride if the idea of sailing the best cat in the UK takes your fancy.

The cracking start to our 40th anniversary year has been given further impetus by way of new boats being manufactured for four lucky sailors. As this is written, they are being assembled at Windsport H.Q. in Falmouth ready to be delivered in time for the first summer event of the season at Marconi SC in April.

At a time when everything appears to be about foiling, the Sprint 15 Class is seeing a flourishing and growing group of club and open meeting sailors who appreciate the simple things in life. The Sprint 15 is fast, fun, quick to rig, easy to trail or even car-top and is easily maintained. It can be sailed by almost anyone including dad/mum with children and, as a race boat, is easily the most popular single-handed cat in the UK – bar none.

The Class welcomes anyone keen on cats who appreciate the simple things in life and spending active time with family and friends. If you would like to know more, check out the Class website www.sprint15.com where you will also find details of who to contact and how.

Come and join us – you'll be very welcome.