Goacher/Evans claim Flying 15 title

A report from the Nationals by Steve Arkley

50 boats entered the Flying 15 National Championships, a good number as all the boats were visitors, there being no home fleet. Furthermore, qualification for the World Championship only takes place in alternate years and this tends to attract more boats, but this was not one. The number of visiting boats represented a substantial increase on recent years.

Apart from the participation of four previous World Champions and several former Olympic sailors, there was an extra element of interest because a number of National Champions in other classes of boat had entered the event. It was going to be interesting, therefore, to see what effect sailors would have on the regular fleet members.

The first day of the Championships took place on a rather overcast day but with a fairly steady force 4 westerly breeze. After a short practice race the first race proper got underway at the first attempt. There was a close battle between David McKee and Chris Hewkin, Mike Hart and Richard Rigg and Steve Goacher and Phil Evans. The latter came through only on the last beat to win with Hart second and Mckee third, Sam Mettam (in his first Flying Fifteen Championship) was fourth.

Day two dawned as a rather more dull day with lighter breezes. Race two began in a reasonable breeze. Charles Apthorp, having been left at the bus stop missing the start of race one showed his mettle, taking an early lead in his old boat. It was, however, Ben McGrane, current RS800 Champion, in his first appearance in a Flying Fifteen National Championship who won the race with Alan Bax, David McKee and MikeHart in hot pursuit. The wind lightened towards the end of the race and then died altogether leaving the later boats stranded. There followed a torrential downpour followed by a long delay because of an unstable breeze.

Once the breeze filled after a substantial shift, the third race started in a steady force three breeze. There was no obvious advantage on the first beat, but the right side paid best on the second round. There was no established order in the fleet and a lot of variability in results was noted. Justin Waples and Ian Stowe took an early lead which they held to the finish. David McKee and Chris Hewkin were second and, because of their consistent results they held the overnight lead.

Day3 - The competitors arrived to find a lovely sunny day with a fairly steady force 5 breeze from the South West. The forecast for the following day, however, was for a strong easterly wind which would produce sizeable waves on the beach making launching impossible. The Race Officer decided, therefore, to run three races on the third day because of the risk of losing the last day. The Championship was likely to be between Steve Goacher, Mike Hart, Alan Bax and David McKee.

After the start of Race 4 no one side paid particularly at or after the start. Steve Goacher and Phil Evans went straight into an early lead which was never challenged. Alan Bax, David McKee and Greg Wells were in contention. Henry Craven-Smith and Matt Alvarado using Hyde Sails, another new arrival in the fleet this year, arrived at the first mark in fifth place then worked their way into second place. David McKee finished fifth and Mike Hart seventh.

After a general recall which saw a change of mind about the favoured end amongst a large portion of the fleet race 5 developed into a battle between Mike Hart, Alan Bax and Steve Goacher. Hart took an early lead to win the race with Bax second and Goacher third.

Going into the last race the Championship was still wide open. The race was won by Charles Apthorp have rested after a black flag disqualification in the previous race and sailing his old boat. Andy Davis and Andy Farmer took second place and Greg Wells and Mark Darling third. Of the main contenders, David McKee finished ninth, Steve Goacher seventh, Mike Hart sixth and Alan Bax fourth.

After the arithmetic, only four points separated the top five boats with Steve Goacher and Phil Evans tying with Mike Hart and Richard Rigg. Goacher and Evans had more first places and so took the Championship.

The sailing at Abersoch was wonderful, organised by an excellent Race Team and a hospitable host club. It was also pleasant to have four boats from Ireland and one from New Zealand competing.

This was a most enjoyable Championship with the largest number of visiting boats for some time. There were some excellent performances from some of the older boats and a wealth of new talent in the fleet.

On the social side the club and adjacent facilities of the town provided for good bonhomie. A "buddy" system was tried to award prizes to the second half of the fleet and it will probably be developed further. Thanks are due to some generous sponsorship from Goacher Sails, Tacktick, Harken, Selden and Synthesize, without which this would not have happened.

Some development sails were tried on the blowy last day and they proved to be good at giving better gust response than the present sails but were not obviously any faster.