F15ers and friends, It is a my very sad duty to advise you that Chris Hall, a long time Flying Fifteener from Victoria, passed away on the weekend suddenly. Many of you may have met Chris at the WA 50th National Championship, he also sailed with Jen Sims in Sandgate Nationals and then secured John Randall, Sue Thompson's son as his more recent crew. Chris had an infectious smile and a chatty personality to go with it, he was passionate about making his boat go faster and was always ready to give lots of help and support to others. For those who attended National events would have met Chris in the boat park having a chat. Chris supported the fleet with purchasing many boats, if he couldn't make it go any faster he'd search Australia and Britain and find another boat to purchase.  Our thoughts are with Chris's family, Kirsten and Emily at this time. A funeral for Chris will be this Friday 31 July at Ballarat and will be attended by many from the Victorian fleet. Chris's family has requested no flowers and for friends to donate to 'Beyond Blue'. Keep Sailing Fast Chris. Jen Sims Vice President FFI-WA    

After two trips to Europe and six regattas in 2014 my UK based Flying Fifteen, AUS 3845 "Glass Half Full" had been left in a barn near Rugby in the middle of England since October 2014 with only a few free range chooks to keep her company. It was going to be interesting to see what sort of condition she was in when I collected her on 1 July 2015. Read more about Glass Half Full ...

A Preliminary Notice of Race for the 55th FFIA Australian Championship is available from the FFI-A website, the event will be hosted by Esperance Bay Yacht Club in January 2017.

With two of the Solo Winter Series completed the Flying Fifteens are out and about in winter with a 16 boat fleet participation and plenty of competition in the results to date. 'Mr. Fox' Mark Millman and Kit Lambert along with crew Henri of '16'  have been seen sailing the solo series in Perth. El Toro was seen skippered by Phillipa Packer with crew Dean McAullay, practising for the upcoming Flying Fifteen World Championship in Crozon Morgat, Brittany France. Participation from Western Australia sailors sees a fleet of seven boats competing.