#flyingfifteen – John Lavery and David O'Brien are off to a great start in the Flying Fifteen Europeans on Lake Garda, Italy topping the leaderboard after the first two days of racing with two wins and two second places at the big wind venue. (Full results available to download below).
35 boats are competing with entries from Spain, Belgium, France and Australia but the bulk of the fleet is British.
The sole Irish entry in the 40-boat fleet port tacked the fleet in the opening race to lead world champions Steve Goacher and Phil Evans over a windward leeward/triangular course at the Fraglia Vela Yacht Club in Riva del Garda. Goacher and Evans closed the gap on the final triangle but the Irish Champions defended to the finish.
The National Yacht Club pair produced a big lead in race three yesterday morning only to be overhauled by Greg Wellls and Richard Riggs when the Irish boat lost its outhaul on the penultimate leg. Lavery dropped back to fourth trying to fix it but had recovered to second by the finish line.
Race four started with an individual recall and a more puffy shifting breeze of about 12 knots. Wells and Rigg started in the middle of the line on starboard and tacked after about three minutes. From here they found a nice lane and led narrowly at the windward mark from Justin Waples and Iain Stowe. Once again Lavery and O'Brien had a good start and first beat to round third. As the race progressed the wind lightened and Wells and Rigg extended their lead while Lavery slipped past Waples. Half way down the final reach the wind started to shut off and the race officer quickly signalled a shorten course at the leeward mark. Wells and Rigg were becalmed about 10 boat lights from the finish line and were passed by Lavery and O'Brien about a boat length from the finish. Alan Bax and Simon Childs squeezed through to finish 3rd and Steve Goacher and Phil Evans made a good recovery to finish 4th.
Racing continues today with two mores races daily til Friday to complete the ten race (two discard) championship, the first time the Fifteen championships has been sailed in Italy.
More race details here on the British Flying Fifteen site and also on the Irish Flying Fifteen site.
