The 2019 World titles in Ireland have been completed, with the best of the West Australian boats (Firefly from RFBYC) finishing in 4th place.  The other West Aussies competing in the 72-boat fleet finished 21st (Glamour Buoys, also from RFBYC), 26th (Ffast Lane 4 from SoPYC), 38th (Final Fifteen Says She! from SoPYC - including an excellent 4th in the last race) and 45th (Aussie Way from SoPYC).  The top three places were all filled by English boats, with Graham Vials and Chris Turner from Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club taking out their fourth World Title, having previously won in 2011, 2013 and 2015 before taking a break in 2017.  For a full report and results, see https://www.flying15.org/championship-results/2019-world-championship-nyc-dun-laoghaire-ireland.

Photos of the event can be viewed at https://www.flying15.org/gallery#18/1499 and https://www.flying15.org/gallery#17/1522.

There is also a short video prepared by David Heron at https://vimeo.com/360375750.

All Flying Fifteen sailors are now looking forward to the next World Championships to be sailed off Fremantle in 2021.

Amongst the range of trophies handed out at the State Championships in Esperance was the President’s award which goes to a sailor or sailors who have ticked a lot of the boxes relating to involvement and competitiveness even if that hasn’t manifested (yet) at the top of the results list.

This year the President, Muddy, presented his award to David and Mary-Anne Reid who sail Double Nickel from South of Perth Yacht Club.

David and Mary-Anne have just finished their first summer season sailing at South of Perth in the Flying Fifteen fleet. David brings a fair bit of sailing knowledge having grown up in the regional area of northern Tasmania and spending his early sailing years at the Wynyard Yacht Club which has Bass Strait as its course area. Classes included the P-class and Cherubs. Mary-Anne also hails from the same area of Tasmania but had never sailed until now. With children grown and looking for an activity they could enjoy together, she is on a particularly steep learning curve in a class that can be quite intense and has a lot of strange strings to pull.

Both completed university in Victoria, David in Engineering (and later a PhD)  and Mary-Anne in Music before departing for a couple of years in the UK with new born twins.

The late 1990’s saw the Reids settle in Western Australia with David having taken up a role of with Woodside where he continues to work as a Development Manager. Mary-Anne has worked as Executive Assistant to a number of state and federal politicians and for the last 5 years has worked in the disabilities sector.

The Reids live in Gooseberry Hill, interestingly, in a street named after the late John “Tally” Hobbs who was responsible for the introduction of the Flying Fifteen to Western Australia.

The fresher breezes in the early part of the season probably didn’t suit a team new to the class and sailing in general, but with the advent of twin pole systems to improve spinnaker handling, the mechanics of getting a boat around the course becomes less of a chore.

Other new-comers to the Flying Fifteen fleet last season included Terry Newby, who purchased Eagle Eye and won the consistency trophy at Esperance, Dave Roberts, who bought Deffcon1 from Canberra, and Andrew Colhoun in Running Free who has been sailing with Paul Howard.

The Notice of Race for the 2020 National Flying Fifteen Championships has been issued and can be downloaded from here --->Flying Fifteen Australian Championship 2020 - Notice of Race.  

The Championships will be sailed from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron between January 12 and 18, 2020.  With the world FLying Fifteen Championships being held in Fremantle just over a year later, this is a great opportunity to hone your skills in a top class fleet (and enjoy some Queensland hospitality at the same time).

Les Kearney, the National President of FFIA has written:

Dear Member

In my recent letter I suggested that the 2020 FF nationals in  Queensland  become part of the selection process for the 2021 Worlds. This was prompted following a request from the Worlds Organising Committee to shorten the length of the  2021 National Championship, thus making this committee concerned we would not have enough time to complete a series based on our by laws requiring a minimum of 5 races, due to external influences.

RFBYC have re-assured  the FFIA committee that we will have the invitation race on completion of the measurement and a further 4 full days allocated for the Championship.

On this basis we can revert to the status quo and the Worlds Qualifying will be a single event, being the 2021 National Championship.

Yours Sincerely

Les Kearney
President