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.
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!
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.
Classic fleet:
Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 Pts
1st 759 David McKee Emily Kippen Dovestone SC 2 1 1 4
2nd 397 Brett Dingwall Ben Dingwall Rickmansworth 1 2 2 5
3rd 2646 Jeremy Arnold Richard Hope Draycote SC 3 3 4 10
4th 2663 David Morgan Lorina Walden LSC 4 4 3 11
5th 627 Bobby Salmond Paul Atwell Royal Northern SC 5 5 7 17
6th 485 Graham Sharp Alasdair Sharp Loch Earn 7 6 5 18
7th 2803 Glen Fullarton Craig McCracken Helensburgh SC 8 8 6 22
8th 2645 Paul Woods Nigel Annett LSC 6 9 10 25
9th 2695 J Craddock J Layton LSC 10 7 8 25
10th 419 Mick Scholes Anne Webb D{vestone SC 11 11 9 31
11th 1155 Graham Lamond Rachel Lamond Ripon SC 9 10 DNC 32
12th 762 Pete Smith Graham LSC 12 DNC DNC 38
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