Flying Fifteen Classic and Silver National Championship 2026 at Llangorse Sailing Club

The Flying Fifteen Classic & Silver Fleets convened in the picturesque setting of Llangorse Lake in the Brecon Beacons National Park for their 2026 National Championship over the weekend of September 12th-13th. Visitors brought boats from as far as North East Scotland to take part, with one competitor even flying-in from the Caribbean!

The members of Llangorse Sailing Club had done a tremendous amount of work in preparation for the event, both for the racing itself and also the social side of the event which included catering for nearly fifty people in the clubhouse on the Saturday evening - with the meal even accompanied by a specially-created Flying Fifteen-themed quiz! Needless to say the effort was greatly appreciated by the competitors and a friendly and enjoyable time was had by all.

Flying Fifteen Classic & Silver National Championship at Llangorse - photo © LSC

Before continuing with a description of the racing itself it's worth mentioning that the Flying Fifteen class is on the verge of it's 80th anniversary with well-over 4100 boats built since the original "Dainty Duck" rolled out of Uffa Fox's shed. For those that may not be aware, a 'Classic' fleet Flying Fifteen is defined as one with a sail number of 2700 or below, whilst a 'Silver' has a sail number between 2700 and 3200 - these points approximately representing significant stages in the development of the class.

With such a long history tremendous changes have taken place not just in terms of materials and construction but also in evolutions of hull shapes and sailplans, and it's fair to say that amongst those attending the Llangorse event were some significant boats in the history of the class.

The youngest boat taking place this year (Jordan Aspin's Silver fleet boat 'Nimbus', GBR3286) is now approaching 40 years of age, with the oldest being over 65 years - that being the beautiful all-varnished GBR397, owned and fully restored by Brett Dingwall.

Between them, amongst others, were boats with multiple in-period championship victories to their names and some that were historically-significant for other reasons - such as GBR419 'True North' which was the very last Flying Fifteen built by Uffa Fox's Medina yard in 1961 and GBR1155 'Squall', built for Bruce Banks and the final boat to come out of the famous Chippendale yard.

Flying Fifteen Classic & Silver National Championship at Llangorse - photo © LSC

And so back to the racing...

The first day saw three races completed in conditions which were mostly overcast but with glimpses of blue sky breaking through. Winds were variable both in strength and direction and gusty enough to provide some exciting and slightly challenging sailing at times on a course which featured a long broad-reaching leg.

David Mckee, sailing with daughter Emily in GBR759, and Brett Dingwall, sailing with son Ben in GBR397, were in a class of their own in the Classic fleet and between them filled the first two spots in every race, with David ending the day one point ahead. Behind them Jeremy Arnold & Richard Hope in GBR2646 and David Morgan & Lorina Walden in GBR2663 were having an equally-close battle for third, again ending the day separated by only a single point, followed further back by the two Scottish boats of Bobby Salmond & Paul Atwell (GBR627) and Graham & Alasdair Sharp (SCO485)

Over in the Silver fleet the local boat of Rob Dangerfield & Claire Ellis (GBR3121) were making the running with two race wins from the three races, chased by Michael & Mark Green (GBR3003) in second and Jordan Aspin & Jason Benn (GBR3286) in third.

Back on shore a very convivial evening was had by all, including amongst other things the afore-mentioned quiz and a healthy exchange of opinions regarding whether or not Loch Ness is a lake!

Flying Fifteen Classic & Silver National Championship at Llangorse - photo © LSC

I'd like to say at this point that Sunday morning dawned bright and clear and with a nice steady breeze - but unfortunately it didn't and we instead had rain, mist that obscured the tops of the hills and not even enough wind to turn the impeller on the Race Officer's anemometer. It was clear that racing looked doubtful and for many crews boat launching was replaced by coffee drinking under the shelter of the clubhouse veranda.

An initial one-hour postponement was set with an further announcement promised at 11am - but at that point, and with that impeller still not turning and no wind at all forecast before 1pm, the Race Officer made the sensible decision to abandon further racing. Whilst this announcement was being made the abandonment flag chose to flutter away merrily having found a patch of contrary Welsh wind from somewhere, but none of the competitors were fooled and everyone agreed that the Race Officer had done the right thing.

So with the overnight results standing David Mckee & Emily Kippen became 2026 Flying Fifteen Classic Fleet champions (with Emily also winning the prize for First Lady), with Rob Dangerfield & Claire Ellis taking the Silver fleet title.

Many thanks to Llangorse SC for putting-on a hugely enjoyable event both on and off the water, and we look forward to returning to your green and pleasant, if sometimes rather wet, part of the world again in the future.

Flying Fifteen Classic & Silver National Championship at Llangorse - photo © LSC

Classic fleet:

Classic fleet winners - Flying Fifteen Classic & Silver National Championship at Llangorse - photo © Jeremy Arnold

Silver fleet:

Silver fleet winners - Flying Fifteen Classic & Silver National Championship at Llangorse - photo © Jeremy Arnold