A fleet of 57 boats lined up for day 1 of the 21st Flying Fifteen World Championship being held in Napier, New Zealand.  It was a grey day with light, oscillating breeze that made for fair sailing.  A great day for the Australians with FFIWA President and Secretary David Yu and Chris Nelson securing a third and first to lead the regatta at the close of day one. Matthew Owen and Andrew Reed were also steady to finish the day in second place with a second and a fourth and Janet and Nick Jerwood close behind in fourth with a fifth and second. Johnny Fullerton has more of the story here. Provisional Results (Top six of 57 entries, after two races) 1 AUS 3859 David Yu / Chris Nelson - 3,1 - 4pts 2 AUS 3684 Matthew Owen / Andrew Reed - 2,4 = 6pts 3 NZL 3091 Hayden Percy / Scott Pedersen - 1,6 = 7pts 4 AUS 3986 Nick Jerwood / Janet Jerwood - 5,2 - 7pts 5 GBR 3760 Jeremy Davy / Martin Huett - 9,5 = 14pts 6 GBR 4005 David McKee / Mal Hartland - 7,10 = 17pts Image © Jonny Fullerton    

Australia has sent a good contingent of 22 boats to the 21st Flying 15 World Championship being hosted by Napier Sailing Club. FFIWA is very well represented with 14 of those boats coming from Western Australia. The Nationals have been completed and they can only have been described as testing.  Winds have been light throughout, never getting much above 8 knots and the conditions generally during the Nationals were very foreign to the Australian boats with swell large enough to obscure boats in the trough well beyond the sail numbers.  This leads to the peculiar sensation of the wind going out of the sails each time the boat goes down the back of the swell.  As the regatta progressed the swell has fortunately diminished. The NZ Nationals were won by Matt Owen and Andrew Reed from Canberra, with Nick and Janet best placed of the West Australians.  Ashley Smith and Adam Kingston from Queensland (sailing for Hong Kong) led the regatta through the first couple of days but a tough day 3 saw them drop down the leader board.  Greg Tonnison and Andrew Jackson rounded out the top 10 for SoPYC. For more detail see Jonny Fullerton's story here. Overall Results Open Fleet (top 10 of 55 entries, 7 races with 1 discard) 1 AUS 3684 Matthew Owen / Andrew Reed 4,1,6,6,5,(12),2 = 24pts 2 NZL 3739 Aaron Goodmanson / Alister Rowlands NZL 3,12,(17),3,4,4,12 = 38pts 3 GBR 4004 Charles Apthorp / Alan Green 5,10, (30), 1,12,8,4 = 40pts 4 GBR 4030 Greg Wells / Richard Rigg 8, (39),15,7,1,2,9 = 42pts 5 AUS 3986 Nick Jerwood / Janet Jerwood 6,16,8,2,2,(18),10 = 44pts 6 GBR 4005 David McKee / Mal Hartland 9,9,14,5,3,(22),5 = 45pts 7 GBR 3760 Jeremy Davy / Martin Huett (20),11,9,8,20,7,1 = 56pts 8 HKG 3972 Ashley Smith / Adam Kingston 1,5,1,4,10,36, (56/BFG = 57pts 9 GBR 4021 Steve Goacher / Tim Harper 12,6,16,16,9,(19),3 = 62pts 10 AUS 3743 Greg Tonnison / Andrew Jackson 11,13,2,13,23,5,(26) = 67pts Image © Jonny Fullerton

Easter is getting closer and that means the 2017 Flying 15 State Championship and this year we're being hosted by Geraldton Yacht Club from April 14 to 16.  Time to get accomodation booked and the trailer ready for the road trip! Download a copy of the Notice of Race and Entry Form. ENTRY FORM Flying 15 NOR State Championship 2017 Final Poster

The Coweslip Trophy was presented to the Association by HRH Prince Philip in 1962 named after the Flying Fifteen Uffa Fox presented to HM Queen Elizabeth & Prince Philip as a wedding present. Prince Philip often sailed with Uffa Fox at Cowes in Coweslip. The Trophy is a little unusual as it comprises 2 parts firstly there is a silver trophy and rather than have the trophy engraved there is a book in which all of the winners are registered.  A second leather bound book has been produced to continue on the winning scripts words of wisdom. View all the winners at FFIA. Nick and Janet Jerwood won the Coweslip Trophy back in 2003 when they sailed their boat 'Spot the Difference'.  Janet and Nick had a short break from sailing the Flying Fifteen and returned a few years later with their new boat 'Ineffable'. Is this the year of the trifecta...National Championship in Esperance, World Championship in February/March Napier, New Zealand and FFIWA State Championships at Easter in Geraldton.