Flying Fifteen National Championships at Parkstone Yacht Club - Day 3
by Christina Moncur 27 Jul 2019 21:48 BST
24-27 July 2019
Day 3 of the Flying Fifteen National Championships at Parkstone © Ian Roman /
www.ianroman.com
Event supported by UK Global - Day 3 was Hyde Sails Race Day
Another four races were held back to back in Poole Bay on the penultimate day of the UK Flying Fifteen National Championship hosted by Parkstone Yacht Club. A slightly cooler day with almost constant hazy cloud cover and more shifty light to moderate breezes tested a very competitive fleet of 47 Flying Fifteens. With only around six weeks before the 2019 Subaru Flying Fifteen Worlds in Dublin, a host of the top UK Fifteen teams were just beginning to find form on another very testing, tactical day on the water.
The first race of the day, race 5 of the championship was started as scheduled just after 12 noon under U flag in a shifty 11 - 13 knot S/SW. The U flag caught out one of the regatta leaders, David Tabb and Chewey Sherrell (Parkstone YC) becoming a race discard. However ironically the breakaway leader was Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado (Hayling Is SC/WYC) from race day sponsor Hyde Sails. The Hyde Sails team broke away and led around the 3 lap course to take a fairly comfortable win from Nathan Batchelor from Ovington Boats, now sailing with Ricky Riggs and representing Tynemouth SC. Third was another steadily improving team in Greg Wells now sailing with crew Andrew Jameson (HISC).
Race 2 of the day and 6 of the regatta started soon afterwards with the PRO reverting to the windward/leeward race format. The breeze was fading a bit down to 10 knots and dropping to 5 - 6 kts by the third lap. Another new leader in Ian Pinnell and Jeremy Wise from P&B (HISC) hit the front closely followed by birthday boy Pete Allam sailing with Jo (Parkstone YC). On the final run to the leeward gate it turned into a nail biting close three way bet. As opinions varied on who would get the inside berth at the gate with only the 100m dash to the finish, the planned script had to be rapidly re-written. In a cruel act of fate the wind shifted as the three boats rounded turning the final dash to the finish into an upwind crawl. As the most leeward boat Pete & Jo Allam snatched defeat from the jaws of victory having to tack to clear the finish boat and in so doing losing four places!. Pinnell and Wise took the gun followed by Richard Whitworth and Ben Scroggie (PYC/HLSC). Justin Waples and Jackie McKellar (RCYC) gratefully snatched third.
Before the start of the third race of the day (R7) of the regatta, the wind again shifted further right to 250 degrees and was flakey at 7 - 10 knots at best. Lining up in the final minute before the start it was obvious that the committee boat end was heavily biased. However four boats had chanced a go at a port tack flyer. On cue, on the gun, their dreams came true and this set the script for the race. Class stalwart Crispin Read Wilson and crew Steve Brown (Parkstone YC) was one of those who proudly port tacked the entire fleet to lead lap 1 from Mark Weston and Andrew Weatherspoon (West Riding SC) and another local boat Adrian Tattersall and Richard Popper.
On lap two of the shorter windward/leeward course, Crispin Read Wilson/Steve Brown just had to cover the opposition all the way down the rather one-sided run to take their first bullet of the championship. Skilfully working his way through the fleet, Ian Cadwallader and crew Steve Graham (Chew Valley Lake SC) took second place with Justin Waples and Jackie McKellar again gaining places to score third.
A quick turnaround and the final race of the day was started around 1530hrs in a late afternoon breeze that just held out at 8 - 10 knots. A much more even start line saw the majority of the smart money camped at the pin end. One of these was multiple world champion Graham Vials and Chris Turner (Derwent Reservoir/Lyme Regis SC) who had quietly been chipping away with consistent top five results all day. This talented duo showed why they are the hot tip to return to winning ways as they gradually extended their lead on every leg of the course. Another past world champion Greg Wells sailing with Andrew Jameson was also finding form at the right time closing in on second place from Hamish Mackay and Andrew Lawson (Royal Thames/HISC) in third.
At the end of the day after eight races had been sailed and the worst 2 races discarded, Graham Vials/Chris Turner go into the final day on 17 points, 7 clear of Richard Whitworth and Ben Scroggie (24pts), who had to discard their worst results of the regatta to date, 21/9. In third overall remains David Tabb/Chewey Sherrell (PYC) on 32 points.
The final day of racing on Saturday has two races scheduled and an advance forecast of light to moderate breeze from a new direction. After a day of four different race winners, can anybody upset the form of the champions elect?
Results are at www.parkstoneyachtclub.com/Sailing/Major_Events/F15Nationals2019.aspx