Flying Fifteen Northern Championship at Royal Windermere Yacht Club

There is much interest in the class at the moment with this being a World Championship year, being held in the UK at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy in August, which was reflected in the entry for the event.

A total of 22 visiting boats from all parts of the UK and Ireland, made the journey to Windermere to join 13 boats from the home fleet, all in all an excellent entry of 35 boats.

Flying 15 Northern Championship at Royal Windermere Yacht Club - photo © Jane Legge

Saturday dawned bright with the promise of some breeze, but as the crews began to rig, the Lake was flat calm. However as forecast the wind F2-3 filled in from the SW and Race Officer Steve Bewsher made the decision to take the fleet out into the North basin. After a short postponement while the breeze settled a little, a windward / leeward course was set for the afternoon's racing. The fleet were keen to get going, resulting in a general recall in race 1, after which a little more discipline was shown by the fleet.

Local hero and 4-time World Champion Steve Goacher, crewed by Tim Harper took the win in Race 1, but it was Andy McKee and Rich Jones from Dovestone who stamped their authority on the fleet winning races 2 and 3 on Saturday afternoon. It was very close at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday evening as the crews enjoyed RWYC hospitality in the bar and restaurant and exchanged stories of a very close and competitive day's racing.

Flying 15 Northern Championship at Royal Windermere Yacht Club - photo © Jane Legge

Sunday dawned much cooler than forecast with a little mist around the Lake. It was back to woolly hat weather for many of the sailors. The forecast was for more wind than Saturday and sunshine later in the morning. Two races were scheduled, and the first got away in light SW winds very similar to Saturday. Andy Mckee and Rich Jones completed their hat trick by winning race 4 from another RWYC pair, Tony Woods and Andrew Davey, with Steve Goacher and Tim Harper third.

So, it was all to play for in the final race. By now the wind was filling in with some testing gusts and shifts particularly in the vicinity of the windward mark. Excluding discards, at the start of the final race there was a 6-point gap between Andy McKee and Steve Goacher. However, it was Steve and Tim who mastered the conditions to take the win from John Hanson and Helen Selden (RYA). Andy and Rich finished 6th and which put them second overall, one point behind Steve and Tim. As Andy alluded to in the bar afterwards, it was probably the first open meeting where he and Rich had won 3 races and not the event overall.

Flying 15 Northern Championship at Royal Windermere Yacht Club - photo © Jane Legge

With the generosity of our sponsors, Goacher Sails and Maiden Marine this was a hugely successful event and wonderful showcase for Royal Windermere YC and its Flying 15 Fleet. We look forward to welcoming everyone back next year.

Overall Results: