Flying 15 South African National Championships 2025 at Aeolians Club
by Sophie Thompson 21 Oct 14:44 BST
18-19 October 2025
Thomas and Gust Funke - Flying 15 South African Nationals at Vaal Dam © Ingrid Wilcox
Impressing on his debut, Alex Schon together with David Rae claimed victory in the 50th Flying 15 Nationals which took place at Aeolians in the North Bay of the Vaal Dam the weekend.
'I thoroughly enjoyed sailing the F15. It is not just a great boat but also a fantastic bunch of people competing in the class. Some of them I have known for years, others I had the pleasure of meeting this weekend.' A delighted Schon shared.
A total of nine races were sailed over the two-day event, the first day in some breezy conditions where the race officer managed to get in six races on the first day, and another three on the final day. 'Sailing six races in strong breeze is certainly challenging - especially as this ended up being a baptism of fire.' Schon considered.
No stranger to the top step on the podium, the experienced sailor has a long list of yachting awards. Finishing first on handicap in the Cape To Rio Race in 2003, and in the 2011 event where he helmed Prodigy V, he finished first across the line. Other titles include Provincial Champ in the Stadt 23 and L26 classes, second in the 2023 Lipton Cup Challenge, and firsts in the Keelboat Week at Vaal Dam and Mistral Nationals on numerous occasions also feature on his sailing cv.
'Sailing with David was truly fantastic and a real pleasure. It due to his input that we got up to speed so quickly.' A chuffed skipper stated.
In the nine races, Schon and Rae earned five victories, three 2nd places and one 6th, which was their allotted race discard. Finishing in 2nd overall, Patrick Harris sailing with long time crew, Jeremy Kriek were only one point behind Schon and Rae - the victors were on 11 points, while Harris and Kriek finished on 12 points. On the hunt for their 14th title, Harris and Kriek cut the tape in four of the nine races, and scored five 2nd places in their remaining runs at this year's Nationals.
Harris commented after the prize-giving, 'It was a great regatta, I haven't sailed at Vaal Dam for many years, never on a Flying 15 before. Overall, it was a very hard regatta, we did 6 races on Saturday, the whole fleet were absolutely finished. We haven't been sailing much recently, so we were a bit rusty, but things got better during the regatta. The highlight certainly was the third race, Jeremy and I made a big comeback to get into 1st after being 200m behind, our first victory of the regatta.'
Finishing 3rd overall, fresh from the Flying 15 World Champs Campbell Alexander had a magical weekend on the water. Sailing with Debbie Cox, the duo notched up a 2nd place, seven 3rd places and a 5th which was their race discard.
The enthusiastic sailor, Alexander commented, 'We had a great race officer in Rob Wilcox, he understood the weather conditions and used them well - Saturday blew hard- he tested the sailors by adding an extra race in case the next day was too light. Rob wasted no time between races, acting decisively!'
'An eager fleet set off at 9 o'clock for the first race on Sunday in 10-14 knots and finished just in time ahead of the no wind, rain, thunder and bitter cold. Rob waited an hour and was rewarded with 8-10 knots of solid switchy, sailable wind for the last two races with the wind fading to finish the regatta with a shortened course.'
The defending champ, Thomas Funke took to the water on his new-to-him Flying 15 with his oldest son, Gust. The proud Dad beamed, 'What an amazing experience. Racing these Nationals with Gust in our newly refurbished F15, a father and son weekend of epic proportions. Gust sailed like an absolute champ. First youth and 4th place overall. A good start to many more events.'
For 12 year old Gust, this was the third time sailing a F15, and first time racing it. Chiming in, Gust stated, 'It was pretty fun but on the first day it was tough because the wind was blowing quite hard. I had a busy time on the bow, getting splashed as I was trimming the jib or keeping the spinnaker full. The fifth race was a stand-out moment for me, where we came 3rd We almost got the win in the last race, which was a good way to end the regatta.'
One of Durban's Flying 15 stalwarts, Myles White wrapped up the event perfectly, 'What a brilliant event! Kudos to Thomas for initiating the idea of sailing F15 Nationals at Vaal Dam - first for the class in over 50 years. Then, thanks to Peter and the Aeolians ladies for re-teaching us the terrific family values of what the core of sailing is all about. Finally, to a fantastically wonderful group of people who enjoy sailing these timeless classic boats, it is an honour to keep your company. This weekend will remain amongst the more memorable of my life, simply because there were so many good things about it.'
Results:
1 Alex Schon / David Rae 11pts
2 Patrick Harris / Jeremy Kriek 12pts
3 Campbell Alexander / Debbie Cox 23pts
4 Thomas Funke / Gust Funke 34pts
5 Damian Muller / Aziza Botthale 43pt
6 Myles White / Estelle Buys 56pts
7 Anton Ellens / Robert Findley 57pts
8 Andrew Edwards / Pierre van Rensburg 76pts
9 Jeremy Tucker / Bryan Paxman 93pts
10 Clive Whitburn / Neil Armstrong 94pts
11 Peter Goble / Sholto Douglas 96pts