Parkin power

Winner chosen on finishing places at end of Subaru Flying Fifteen Worlds

British husband and wife team, Barry and Sue Parkin (above) emerged as the new Subaru Flying Fifteen World Champions, after an unbelievably close finish to the five race series at Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. The National Yacht Club duo of Justin Burke and Alan Green secured the best ever Irish finish with fifth place overall after a thrilling final race held in light misty conditions.

The Parkin’s finished 7th in the single race held yesterday and afterwards the overjoyed couple spoke about the two and half hour duel to secure their first ever World title.
“It was the hardest race of my life,” said Barry, a purchasing director with Masterfoods. “It was light and lumpy and the wind was very variable”.

Towards the end of the race a group of 15 boats broke free from the pack. “Ten of the group could have won the overall championship,” said the delighted Barry “Myself, Mike Hart and Steve Goacher were having a right old ding dong. I was fortunate to finish just ahead of them.”

Parkin crossed the finish line in seventh place with Mike Hart in ninth - the pair finishing the overall series on identical points - 42. The Championship was determined by who had the highest race finishes. Both Hart and Parkin had won a race each but Parkin had a fourth place against Hart’s seventh as their next best score.

The crucial move which decided the title was Richard Estaugh moving into 8th place on the last race - enabling Parkin to draw level on points with Hart who finished 9th yesterday.

The Parkin's had finished in 4th place in the world championship in 1992 and had a lot of home support to compete in this event as Sue explained: “We have three young children who are being very well minded at home while we are here”.

The winner of the Subaru Cup for the best Irish pair went Justin Burke and Alan Greene who finished 33rd yesterday to end the championship as the fifth best Fling Fifteen sailors in the world. “We are delighted to be 5th overall - but it was a very difficult race for us today. We had a reasonable start but it was hard to see the first mark with the fog. We ended up on the lay line which was not where we wanted to be. There were some traffic bothers but that was the day that was in it. Our original ambition was to win a race and finish in the top ten in the series so I am thrilled we have achieved that,” said Justin.

The overall event was tough for the organisers due to lack of wind and fog but the new champion was full of praise for their efforts: “The National Yacht Club did a brilliant job. The courses were the best they could have been and the logistics on shore were very well handled - the whole atmosphere has been very friendly and professional” said Barry Parkin.

The Parkin's will reign as the world champions until the next World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand in 2005.

Full results

Pos	Sailno	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Tot
1	GBR 3630	Barry Parkin, Sue Parkin	-29	1	15	4	7	42
2	GBR 3703	Mike Hart, Richard Rigg	1	7	-32	8	9	42
3	AUS 3781	Rod Beurteaux, Chris O'Keefe	-28	5	3	3	19	46.4
4	GBR 3721	Steve Goacher, Phil Evans	4	-17	17	1	10	47
5	IRL 3688	Justin Burke, Alan Green	10	6	1	28	-33	61.7
6	USA 3779	Rupert Mander, Chris Hewkin	-37	15	2	10	16	62
7	GBR 3675	A Tattersall, T Smart	5	10	9	19	-57	66
8	GBR 3615	Roger Palmer, Barbara Palmer	12	3	-30	11	20	66.7
9	AUS 3747	Grant Alderson, Dean McAuley	7	22	18	-33	2	68
10	GBR 3784	Richard Estaugh, Tim Harper	-44	9	14	16	8	71
11	AUS 3718	Ashley Smith, Kym Thumpkin	2	-23	7	23	21	72
12	IRL 3704	Sean Craig, Stephen Boyle	25	2	5	-38	26	76
13	FRA 3785	Eric Basset, Arnaud Biet	23	8	25	-26	5	84
14	GBR 3716	Justin Waples, Graham Wadeley	-42	30	11	14	6	84.7
15	GBR 3760	Jeremy Davy, Norman Byrd	-38	4	23	9	27	85
16	GBR 3776	Greg Wells, Miles Mitchell	20	13	(dnf)	5	25	86
17	IRL 3774	Gerry Donleavy, Ciaran Crummey	3	20	26	-54	22	91.7
18	IRL 3691	Ian Matthews, Ben Mulligan	9	35	10	-41	14	92
19	GBR 3591	Charles Apthorp, David Apthorp	6	24	19	-47	23	95.7
20	AUS 3619	Ron Packer, Peter Mudford	-52	25	24	24	3	96.7
21	IRL 3621	Darren Martin, Simon Murray	-51	27	39	2	12	99
22	GBR 3681	Pip Hudson, Adrian Simpson	-46	19	12	29	15	99
23	AUS 3743	Nick Jerwood, Janet Jerwood	22	18	33	6	(bfd)	103
24	GBR 3603	Brett Dingwall, Ben Dingwall	-43	16	22	31	13	106
25	IRL 3763	Morgan Sheehy, Jan Van Der Puil	18	12	-48	22	32	108
26	GBR 3786	Alan Bax, Paul Busby	32	36	31	-55	1	117
27	GBR 3770	Neil Platt, Jamie Marston	-61	45	4	48	4	124
28	IRL 3773	John Lavery, David O'Brien	(ocs)	39	8	30	24	125
29	NZL 3739	Aaron Goodmanson, Alister Rowlands	49	11	-59	12	31	127
30	GBR 3685	Peter Walters, John Allen	31	28	28	18	(dnf)	129
31	AUS 3635	Ian Cleaver, David Parish	34	40	6	27	-42	131
32	NZL 3089	Guy Dawson, Michael Morris	33	-34	21	21	34	133
33	GBR 3736	Peter Bannister, Susan Bannister	26	52	20	15	(dnf)	137
34	GBR 3734	Howard Green, Ian Preston	19	68	16	13	(dnf)	140
35	GBR 3576	Bobby Salmond, Kristoffer Till	11	51	27	-59	29	142
36	ESP 3796	Javier Chacartegui, Joaquim Cobarro	24	26	37	32	(bfd)	143
37	GBR 3792	Brian McKee, Stephen Martin	-60	14	53	37	18	146
38	HKG 3722	Sam Chan, Johnny Mulligan	35	-54	13	42	37	151
39	GBR 3612	David Giles, Susan Giles	-70	38	42	7	41	152
40	IRL 3780	Andrew McCleery, Colin Dougan	8	37	43	40	-50	152
41	GBR 3725	Tom Hall, Crew	45	42	-49	45	11	167
42	GBR 3628	David McKee, Andy Farmer	39	-49	35	25	46	169
43	AUS 3540	David Swan, Kerry Castledine	41	21	36	-58	48	170
44	GBR 3727	Gill Browning, James Grant	50	32	29	36	(dnf)	171
45	NZL 3086	Brett Willcock, David Pearson	-59	41	46	44	17	172
46	IRL 3495	Lorcan Balfe, Alan Balfe	14	-64	55	34	47	174
47	AUS 3766	Nils Blumann, Tom Brown	21	29	38	64	(dns)	179
48	IRL 3682	Donal Harding, Gary Curran	17	53	52	-56	35	181
49	GBR 3777	Geoffrey Bayliss, Martin Grady	40	48	-64	35	40	187
50	NZL 3543	Craig Coulam, Adriennne Rekke	63	47	(dnf)	20	36	190
51	NZL 3544	Peter Dallimore, Sarah Kiff	-72	57	44	17	49	191
52	IRL 3648	Ian Richardson, Fiona Richardson	13	43	-68	61	53	194
53	GBR 3606	Alison Coleman, Peter Coad	15	56	58	-60	45	198
54	AUS 3717	Greg Leaversuch, Peter Barblett	-65	63	34	49	28	198
55	IRL 3686	Niall Coleman, Chris Doorley	27	73	(dnf)	39	38	201
56	IRL 3749	Tim Fenlon, Peter Sherry	36	46	50	46	(raf)	202
57	IRL 3608	Ian Smyth, David McIlveen	-64	55	41	43	39	202
58	NZL 3771	Jeff Morrison, Gregor Bowater	56	-58	45	50	30	205
59	IRL 3408	Fraser Mitchell, Peter Glanville	16	59	(dnf)	66	56	221
60	IRL 3753	Ken Dumpleton, John McNeilly	-71	33	60	53	51	221
61	GBR 3788	Iain Laidlaw, James Gerard	53	44	65	-69	44	230
62	IRL 3759	Bryan Willis, John McPeake	58	31	40	(dnf)	dns	231
63	ESP 3600	Michael Clough, Kai Flint	47	50	56	63	(bfd)	240
64	IRL 3665	Shane Statham, Ken Wigham	55	(dnf)	51	68	43	241
65	IRL 3470	Peter Lawson, Jo Lawson	30	-69	63	67	58	242
66	NZL 3754	Jason Trow, Graeme Robinson	62	62	(ocs)	51	52	251
67	IRL 3556	Nick Robinson, Michael McCambridge	57	-74	67	52	60	260
68	IRL 3601	Tom Murphy, Crew	54	66	62	(dnf)	59	268
69	IRL 3387	Fintan Stanley, Saki Curtin	67	60	(dnf)	62	55	268
70	IRL 3383	Niall Meagher, Nicki Matthews	68	-71	54	70	54	270
71	AUS 3767	Greg Omay, Peter Vos	73	61	61	57	(dns)	276
72	GBR 3420	Athol King, Trevor Bellis	66	67	57	(raf)	63	277
73	HKG 3610	Howard Williams, Mark Lyon	69	65	47	(raf)	bfd	283
74	IRL 3558	Keith Poole, Peter Murphy	48	75	(dnf)	65	dnf	290
75	IRL 3196	Diarmuid O'Connor, Fergal O'Connor	-75	70	66	72	62	294
76	FRA 3585	Herve Jouet, Didier De L'annee	74	72	(raf)	71	61	302
77	IRL 3430	Hugh Cahill, Mike Cahill	(dns)	dsq	dnf	73	64	317