Flying 15 Open at Middle Nene Sailing Club

 

Traditionally part of the Southern Travellers Series, the Flying 15 Open is a well-established event on the racing calendar, and with the corona restrictions over, the meeting was brought forward from October to June.

One of the great benefits of the new date is that the seaweed (an issue for all shallower lakes) is no longer a problem. This year’s event was only the second time it has been held in June and not every keen sailor has yet found space on his calendar to participate.

But it was an enthusiastic fleet of seven boats which crossed the start line, kicking off a series of four closely contested races on Saturday, 11th and one on Sunday, 12th. This again was a break with the usual 3:2 race pattern to allow for the lighter winds forecast for the second day. The decision proved to be right, because whilst the first four races enjoyed a steady breeze of 20 to 25 knots from the north, the fifth round was sailed in very light winds that veered from north to south, making course-setting very difficult.

For a few years now MNSC has allowed all categories of 15s in the club and thanks to visitors from nearby Broxbourne and as far afield as Ripon in Yorkshire there was a good spread of age in boats, ranging from 1155 ‘Squall’ (Graham and Alistair Lamond) as the oldest to 3873 ‘Cavalier’ (Neil Bartholomey/Gary Livingstone) the youngest boat. Despite the age differences in the hulls, in the end there was a single point separating place one and three, with 2433 ‘Hen’s Tooff’ (Mark Greer/Jim Reid) coming home second with the same points as the winner, but one retirement costing the lead.

Overall Results:

Pos Boat Sail No Helm Crew Club PY R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts

1st Cavalier 3873 Neil Bartholomey Gary Livingstone MNSC 1021 1 ‑6 5 1 3 10

2nd Hens Tooff 2433 Mark Greer Jim Reid MNSC 1051 5 2 1 2 (RET) 10

3rd Squall 1155 Graham Lamond Alistair Lamond Ripon SC/Broxbourne SC 1051 2 3 2 (DNS) 5 12

4th Ffraholic 2700 Ed Connellan Andrew Connellan MNSC 1051 ‑7 1 3 3 6 13

5th 2468 Roo Jarvis Julie West 1051 ‑6 4 4 4 1 13

6th Nelly The Eleffant 3707 Brian Turner Jackie Barns Broxbourne SC 1021 4 5 ‑6 5 2 16

7th 2647 Matt Yallop ?ndy Rapley MNSC 1051 3 (RET) DNS RET 4 23