Flying Fifteen Belgian Nationals at Lake Plate Taille (SNEH)
by Alain Kinard 2 Oct 20:05 BST
26-27 September 2026
The Belgian Championship at Lake Plate Taille (SNEH) was held a bit earlier this year due to a scheduling conflict with the European Championship in Palma.
However, in coordination with the French Flying Fifteen Association, we agreed to sandwich the European event between the Belgian regatta (the weekend before) and the French one (the weekend after), hoping to attract crews from UK to compete in all three.
We gathered a fine fleet of twelve boats, including two crews from the UK (GBR4044) Deffiant III, Richard Hope and Jeremy Arnold, from Draycote Water Sailing Club and (GBR3626), Jailbreak, Ian Lees and David William Hill from Dovestone Sailing Club. Three boats from the Liège club (BEL), and seven local crews from SNEH, the club hosting the event on its magnificent waters.
With four races on Saturday and four on Sunday and the usual two worst results discarded, there were some great battles on the water, reflecting the increasingly even level of competition across the fleet.
Since we were sharing the race area with the Ponant class (a dinghy similar to the 505), our Race Officer set up inner and outer loops as courses for the F15's. This prevented interference between the fleets and, thanks to the difference in boat speeds, allowed us to run races back-to-back without delays. It worked perfectly.
The weather was superb, defying rather gloomy forecasts. We had a Northerly wind on Saturday and a Southerly on Sunday, generally ranging from 6 to 19 knots with plenty of sunshine, what more could you ask for?
It is gratifying to see the standard of competition levelling out, leading to exciting contests where strategic choices and the quality of starts are the deciding factors.
The Saturday evening results remained largely unchanged, though there were some shifts in position, even at the top of the leaderboard and adjustments to the gaps between boats. In some cases the gaps vanished entirely, resulting in a three-way tie for 4th, 5th, and 6th places.
(GBR4044) Deffiant III, Richard Hope and Jeremy Arnold put in a stellar performance, claiming overall victory and the Belgian Championship title with three race wins. (BEL3530) Ffortuna, Michel and his son Kevin Vincent, SNEH club members also secured three wins, finishing second just one point behind the winner.
The second visiting boat, (GBR3626), Jailbreak, Ian Lees and David William Hill, won two races and finished third overall with 15 points.
In more detail, the first day saw winds from 020° at 10 knots, featuring rapid shifts of 10 to 20 degrees and occasional gusts reaching 13-14 knots. The top three boats in the overall standings shared the day's four race wins between them, with the occasional interloper breaking into the leading group.
The interim standings already hinted at the final championship outcome, albeit in a different order: GBR4044, GBR3626, and BEL3530. Special mention goes to BEL2007, the oldest boat in the fleet, helmed by a highly experienced newcomer to the class, which finished 8th.
The second day proved technically more challenging due to stronger winds (9 to 20 knots) blowing from 200° and slowly veering to 210°, with some surprising shifts toward 240° at the start line.
Additionally, the lake has a unique feature, it serves as an energy reservoir, with a hydroelectric plant alternately pumping water in and out. Bad luck as Sunday was a day for pumping, and the downwind mark was affected by a current reaching up to 5 knots according to the RO. Some sailors got caught out, grazing or even hitting the mark. There was only one OCS (On Course Side/premature start) over the weekend, (BEL3530) which was immediately rectified.
We witnessed some spectacular moves, for instance, BEL2007 Charles-Edouard Poncelet (helm) and Sandra Gottcheiner (crew) who enjoyed the thrill of rounding the windward mark in first place before finishing the race third. With two third-place finishes and one fourth, he managed to climb to fourth place in the overall regatta standings.
The leading pack featured the same names, though the order shifted slightly, with the second and third-place boats swapping positions. Indeed, GBR3626 battled it out with BEL2007 the former took fourth place twice, while the latter took third twice to keep the final ranking up in the air, it was a close contest. The lead kept changing hands, quite entertaining for onlookers onshore.
We wrap up this fantastic regatta, brilliantly managed by our Race Officer 'Tonio' with wind, sunshine, and high spirits.
Overall Results: (top three)
1st GBR 4044 - Deffiant III, Richard Hope and Jeremy Arnold, Draycote Water SC
2nd BEL 3530 - Ffortuna, Michel and his son Kevin Vincent, SNEH
3rd GBR 3626 - Jailbreak, Ian Lees and David William Hill, Dovestone Sailing Club
Congratulations to everyone, we hope you enjoyed the regatta and see you next year!