Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard 2025 child

Flying Fifteen Mercedes Trophy at Datchet Water Sailing Club

by Michael Clapp 16 Apr 2018 18:23 BST 7-8 April 2018

Seven visitors from as far afield as Yorkshire, Cowes and Ireland, joined an injury depleted seven-strong local fleet at Datchet Water Sailing Club to compete for the Mercedes Trophy in the first Flying Fifteen open meeting of the year over the weekend of 7th/8th April.

The weather on Saturday was glorious (at least by comparison with recent weeks!) with wind of 10-15 knots from the south and streaky gusts giving advantage to both sides of the course at different times. Racing was tight at the top with Simon Kneller and Dave Lucas winning the first two races before being pipped in the third race by Charles Apthorp and Alan Green.

Sunday brought a glassy calm which would have yielded a great reflection of Windsor Castle if it had been visible through the mist! The Race Officer very wisely abandoned racing to allow the travellers to save a few Brownie points by returning home early after coffee and prizegiving. Overnight leaders Simon and Dave received the Mercedes Trophy for the second time while Charles and Alan were the leading Datchet boat in second place, closely followed by Brett Dingwall and Tim Scarsmark in third.

There was general agreement that Saturday's champagne conditions and racing more than made up for any disappointment on Sunday.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3Pts
1st4024Simon KnellerDave LucasGrafham Water11‑22
2nd3957Charles ApthorpAllan GreenDatchet Water2‑513
3rd3875Brett DingwallTim ScarsmarkAldenham SC‑4246
4th4055Ian CadwalladerEllie DevereuxChew Valley3‑436
5th4052David TabbChewey SherrellParkstone(DNC)3811
6th4041Bill ChardAmy ChardChew Valey5‑7611
7th3954John HansonHelen SeldenDatchet Water66‑712
8th3391Mark WestonAndy WeatherspoonWest Riding‑118513
9th4027Mike ClappPeter MorrisDatchet Water7(DNC)1017
10th3563Alastair StevensonJeremy ValentineDatchet Water810‑1118
11th3904Mervyn WrightHoward ShawyerDatchet Water‑99918
12th3583Mike WilczynskiJean WilczynskiRORC1011‑1221
13th3316John ChristensenJonathan BaggottDatchet Water1212‑1324
14th3888Mike FirthAllison ?Datchet Water(DNC)13DNC28

Related Articles

BMW Autumn Regatta 2025 concludes
The regatta featured seven one-design classes, Sportsboats, and Big Boats What a fabulous weekend of racing! Despite early forecasts predicting less-than-ideal conditions, sailors were treated to unexpectedly steady winds and clear blue skies across two exhilarating days of competition in Victoria Harbour. Posted on 15 Sep
Poole Week 2025 day 6
A (Relatively) Gentle Way To Wind Up The Week After one of most consistently breezy Poole Weeks of recent years, everyone was hoping that the wind had seen the forecast for Friday and would know that it was supposed to moderate. Posted on 30 Aug
Poole Week 2025 day 5
A Jolly Hard Way To Earn A Beer As ways go to earn yourself a pint (the day's sponsor was Hall & Woodhouse), racing on the Thursday of Poole Week in 2025 was probably among the harder ones. Posted on 29 Aug
Poole Week 2025 day 4
A Wait For The Wind To Wane Whether good things always come to those who wait might be debatable, but they certainly did on Wednesday. The morning really wasn't very nice: lots of rain, and gusts up to nearly 30 knots. Posted on 28 Aug
Poole Week 2025 day 3
All Change On The Western Front If you like sailing in windy weather, the Tuesday of Poole Week was a day to savour. Some love the excitement, the challenge, the satisfaction of a job well done if you get around the course, and the sense of exhilaration and relief. Posted on 27 Aug
Poole Week 2025 day 2
Monday Sun-Day (Again) It's rare to have weather that's as similar on two successive days as it was on the Sunday and Monday of Poole Week 2025. Monday was, like Sunday, a beautiful day on the water. Posted on 26 Aug
Poole Week 2025 day 1
A wonderful way to start the week It would have been hard to ask for better sailing conditions than those that greeted the competitors in Poole Week as they headed out into the harbour for the first day of racing. Posted on 25 Aug
Flying Fifteen Worlds at Weymouth, UK overall
Six the magic number for Vials and Turner Graham Vials and Chris Turner started the day on the cusp of winning an unprecedented sixth Flying Fifteen Worlds requiring a result in the top 5 of either of the final races, while Andrew McKee and Richard Jones required nothing less than 2 race wins. Posted on 21 Aug
Flying Fifteen Worlds at Weymouth, UK Day 4
Vials and Turner on the cusp of the title after three race day 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. Posted on 20 Aug
Flying Fifteen Worlds at Weymouth, UK Day 3
Russell Peters and Zeb Elliott bank right to take the race win A promising breeze in the morning on Allen Sailing day at the Flying Fifteen Worlds, headline sponsored by PRO-SET Epoxy and Ovington Boats, flattered to deceive when the wind petered out as the only race of the day was completed. Posted on 19 Aug