Flying Fifteen Southern Area Championship 2026 at Royal Torbay Yacht Club

Flying Fifteen Southern Championship at Torbay © Tania Hutchings / www.50northphotography.co.uk

Plenty of sun, a bit of rain, lots of camaraderie and some great racing!

The International Flying Fifteen Class returned to Royal Torbay Yacht Club on the weekend of 16th-17th May for their Southern Area Championship, our first visit to this long-established club since 2008.

The event was held in conjunction with the Fireball and 420 fleets and it's fair to say that all the entries were lighter than would normally have been expected - perhaps high fuel costs are having an effect - but nonetheless twenty Flying Fifteens sailed, some of whom had travelled from as far as northern Cumbria.

A decent 10-15 knots from the WSW was forecast for the Saturday and after a briefing from PRO Bob Penfold the fleet launched easily from the wide slipway and enjoyed a 20 minute reach out to the race area.

Flying Fifteen Southern Championship at Torbay - photo © Tania Hutchings / www.50northphotography.co.uk

The Flying Fifteens shared the race track with the other fleets but each had their own start and remained largely separated; but if the Fireball and 420 sailors would like to give a 'Fifteen a go sometime they would be very welcome!

Conditions were very shifty all day, with the occasional rain shower thrown in, and the race team were made to work hard keeping the start lines and courses fair. There were many theories in the bar afterwards ranging from "hard left paid every time" to "right paid off the start line", but one thing clear to everybody was that Ian Cadwaller & Harry Lucas in GBR4135 were on a charge.

The results didn't entirely bear this out, however, with overnight leaders after the first day of racing being Jeremy Davy & Martin Huett in GBR3760 due to Cadwallader & Lucas - and indeed several of the other top teams - recording UFD scores on the first day. Clearly once the discard kicked in the results would be looking a bit different!

Flying Fifteen Southern Championship at Torbay - photo © Tania Hutchings / www.50northphotography.co.uk

Saturday evening was very sociable with a wonderful dinner in the finest traditions of the class held in the RTYC restaurant. With speeches and banter going on well into the evening a good time was had by all.

Sunday dawned bright and clear but those who ventured out in shorty wetsuits perhaps regretted that decision when, after a long wait for the wind to appear, it arrived in conjunction with a huge black cloud that sprinkled rain and occasional hail onto the fleet.

Flying Fifteen Southern Championship at Torbay - photo © Tania Hutchings / www.50northphotography.co.uk

In the final three races, and with tidal effects having a major impact, the racing was far too chaotic for a blow by blow account of who overtook whom at any given time. That's my excuse anyway!

Suffice to say though that some classic close Flying Fifteen racing was taking place with boats sometimes crossing the finishing line with inches of each other and with a different winner for every race.

After the dust settled third place overall went to class stalwarts Charles & Charlie Apthorpe in GBR 4143, with Jeremy Davy & Martin Huett settling for second overall - meaning the Flying Fifteen Southern Champions for 2026 are Ian Cadwallader & Harry Lucas - and just to note that, at the age of 21, Harry is possibly the youngest champion we have seen in the fleet.

Flying Fifteen Southern Championship at Torbay - photo © Tania Hutchings / www.50northphotography.co.uk

Thank you to Royal Torbay YC for hosting an excellent event, and if the chat taking place afterwards was true we may be back to RTYC for a Nationals in a few years!

And talking of Nationals - the 2026 Flying Fifteen National Championship takes place at Tees & Hartlepool YC between July 9th - 12th - see you there!

Overall Results:

Flying Fifteen Southern Championship at Torbay - photo © Jayne Hickey