Waples Wines Flying Fifteen Northern Travellers' Series at Rutland Sailing Club

Waples Wines Northern Traveller at Rutland winners © Richard Drabble

Rutland Sailing Club hosted the first event of the 2018 Waples Wines Flying Fifteen Northern Travellers series on 2nd & 3rd June, with boats travelling from as far afield as Cumbria and Wiltshire, including a contingent of three boats from the fast-growing 'Fifteen fleet at Blackpool & Fleetwood YC.

Traditional triangle-sausage courses were set, with the event being held in conjunction with the K1 fleet.

The weekend was one of sunny weather and predominantly light and patchy winds, with the occasional significant shift thrown in for good measure - indeed the start of the first race became slightly chaotic as the line became very biased and everyone suddenly found themselves early and pushing each other over the line. A couple of boats suffered individual recalls, including that of Ian Cadwallader & Ellie Devereux from Chew SC who had to return and re-start - but then went on to demonstrate their superior boatspeed in the very light conditions by being the first boat to the windward mark and continuing on to win the race. Second was John Hanson & Helen Selden from Datchet SC, followed by Nick Clarke & Pete Ashworth from the home club.

The wind had gained both strength and consistency for the second race and the racing was noticeably tighter throughout the fleet; at the front Hansen & Selden were leading but defending hard against Cadwallader & Devereux, with Jeremy Arnold & John Allen from Notts County SC and Chris & Marion Bowen from Northampton SC very close behind. After a close-quarters gybing battle down the final reach Cadwallader & Devereaux stole the inside position at the leeward mark, then headed out to the righthand side of the beat that had until then served them well every time - but on this occasion there was more pressure on the left and the race was won by the Bowens, followed by Arnold & Allen in second and Hansen & Selden in third.

The final race of the first day saw normal service resumed with Cadwallader & Devereux taking the victory, followed on this occasion by Mike Moore & Kayla Sheard from Bassenthaite and the Bowens in third - with the Hansen & Selden boat unfortunately retiring after breaking it's main halyard shortly after the start.

After a meal and some memorable party games on the Saturday evening the fleet re-convened on a hot, sunny and windless Sunday - with a flat calm on the lake and a wind forecast predicting no more than 5mph all day an early decision was made to abandon the racing, leaving Ian Cadwallader and Ellie Devereux as overall winners, followed by the Bowens in second and Moore & Sheard in third place.

Thanks go to Rutland SC for organising the event, to Waples Wines for their generous sponsorship, and to the K1 fleet for adding a bit of variety. The next event in the Waples Wines series takes place at Bassenthwaite SC in July.

Overall Results: