The IMF and the ISA have jointly been trying to rekindle interest in small boat sailing. As part of next week's show en classes are attending. As one of the most popular keelboats in the country the Flying Fifteen class is taking its own participation seriously.In how many sports and in how many classes can people of all ages compete on a level footing, rewarding simply the stronger skills, and not merely muscle? Where can men and women share the course on an even footing, the vertically challenged reach beyond those of basketball proportions, and those who suffer from a healthy appetite challenge the salad munchers?Such a sport surely does not exist? Well, it does, and it is on your doorstep. Traditional, yet fresh and exciting, the Flying Fifteen is a constantly evolving racing boat for the fanatic, the foolish, and the fat alike. The beauty of the boat is that it is simultaneously modern and classic. A design that has been around for long enough to ensure it will not disappear in a flash like many modern dinghies and keelboats, with an established and effective association both locally and internationally. 4000 boats have now been built, and counting.
The ages of those racing Fifteens at the recent World Championships in Australia ranged from 17 to 70. Recent World Champions have spanned an deficit of over twenty years, this is a class where the best on the course really will win. As a keel boat the fifteen offers tactical small boat racing in often huge fleets. National Championships attract around 30 boats, with European and World events beginning with over 100 on a start line. Yet these boats are far from pedestrian. Planing hulls and punchy, powerful spinnakers make for electric downwind sailing, particularly in a big sea. They can handle almost all weather conditions, and frequently compete in up to 30 knots of breeze. Unlike many new racing shapes, the light airs are no hindrance to racing. The water will not seep over the transom in expectation of a puff.
Fifteens are happily trailed behind small and family cars the length and breadth of Ireland. Last year the European Championships in Kinsale had to cap the entry at sixty, as visitors arrived from as far away as Spain. At the World Championships nine Nations were represented, with seventy boats making the final cut. Every other year the Irish fleet competes to get a place at the top event, and make the pilgrimage to see friends and competitors from every corner of the earth.
'Fifteeners' compete in five major events around Ireland each year, one on each coast. The National Championship in the coveted title, and rotates around the major clubs annually. There are strong fleets in Dublin, Galway and on both Strangford, Belfast and Carlingford Lough. There is racing at clubs as far apart as Kinsale and Carrickfergus. Competition is far from limited to the newest boats however. There is a strong classic fleet of both wooden and fibreglass hulls in Carrick, Galway and Carlingford. Of the newer boats, a ten year-old hulls have proven just as competitive as one straight out of the mould, such are the modern epoxy sandwich techniques adopted by class builders.
For many, the best aspect of racing fifteens is the social scene, certainly one of the strangest elements of the fleets. Crews regularly bring their families along, and stay for a few extra days or a long-weekend in whatever town or village an event is held at. The younger, (and older) in the class often enjoy a healthy and competitive nightlife during Championships, in what is a great way to enjoy and see your own country and others.
Whether you are scaling down from an expensive 'big boat' or craving the end the loneliness of Lasers, the Fifteens offer a fast, exciting and manageable alternative to the deluge of new hulls that are flooding the market at the moment. The Fifteen will always be there, simply because once you have sailed one, you will never go back.
The Irish Flying Fifteen Association will have a boat on display at the Boat Show, RDS Dublin from 18th - 22nd February. Class representatives will be available to answer any questions, with lists of boats for sale and new hull / ready-to-race package prices. The Association will also be offering test sails in early summer. Just drop your card in the boat bowl and we will get in touch to take you racing.
