Flying Fifteens in 2002

All the latest information and news on hulls, gear, sails and rig for the popular Flying Fifteen

Mast and Rig

Masts have gravitated to the Proctor Epsilon becoming the standard choice, with Holt and Superspar also in use. Steve Goacher has always used a more upright rig, the Alan Bax rig has always had more rake and more prebend and Alan feels that it is easier to keep control of the mast with some prebend than maintaining the straight column mast. Although the Bax set up has more mast rake it is only a small difference, 7570mm (24'-10") compared with 7595mm (24'-11") for Goacher.

Crew weight is again important and Alan will set the mast step back a small amount for a heavier crew and spreaders set up to 430mm from the 422mm standard, fore and aft distance remaining the same.

Another major decision area is chute or bags - the trend in the top boats has been to bags. New World Champion, Charlie Apthorp uses bags as do both Steve and Alan - no halyard weight, no water in the bow, better controlled drop, easier on life of spinnaker, but for those without a regular crew the chute can ease things.

Same with the spinnaker pole, Steve uses a double-ender with centre ramp believing that there is more control in gybe to gybe changes in a blow than with the single end pole which has to be removed before the gybe, and keel boats do have a habit of taking charge in those conditions. Again the crew ability and size will come into play here, the FF pole can be a struggle with the high fixing point and the automatic single ended system has a growing following.

The rope stern horse system led to the centre mainsheet take-off is almost universal in the FF and allows the boom to be centered easily in light weather, the FF main having considerable twist as the wind direction varies compared with the relatively low genoa, and also improves tacking speed.

Changes and Gear Guide tables on page 4....