With good numbers of Flying Fifteens turning out at club level in Dublin and Strangford Lough the 20–foot keelboat class take to the road to Cushendall Sailing & Boating Club who host the Flying Fifteen Championships of Ireland this weekend, in what is one of the most picturesque settings in the country beneath the Glens of Antrim.

There is also a vibrant fleet along the north east coast in Whitehead, Larne and Cushendall.

As usual in this fleet it is very hard to call the winner as the racing is always close and exciting and any of a number of boats could win. An interesting fact in this fleet is that nobody has ever retained the trophy since it was first presented in 1986.

Current holders Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly (NYC) will be hoping to ‘buck’ that trend as they will be one of the favourites for the title.

Others hoping to stop them will be Sean Craig & Alan Green (NYC) recent winners of the South Coast Championships, Andy McCleery & Colin Dougan (KYC), Brian Willis & John McPeake, and Ian Mathews & Keith Poole (NYC) amongst others. Word is that former National champion Darren Martin & Simon Murray(SLSC) are going to compete, currently they are sailing on the SB20 circuit.

There was again a good Flying Fifteen turnout on the resumption of the DBSC Saturday series and two races were held in a tricky wind from the s-sw, well it was supposed to be from that direction! Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly in Betty flew the series leaders Mitshibushi Yellow spinnaker.

The first race was delayed due to shifting winds and then some problems with the committee boat holding anchor. The fleet headed off eventually, then the wind seemed to disappear, those who went right suffered most, this included Gorman and it was difficult to get back in a short two lap race. Sean Craig & Alan Green led the way but Ian Mathews sailing with Alan Balfe, the Cahil brothers and McCambridge were not far behind. There was very little change till the approach to the line. To the delight and confusion of the Cahill boys Craig went around the leeward mark to do another lap. So Cahill’s won the race by inches from McCambridge with Gorman third.

Race 2 started shortly after and the wind had settled, there were a couple of boats over the line. Out to sea was paying more so the fleet stayed out on starboard tack, Gorman tacked and went behind a couple of boats that were to weather of him but he had a perfect line for the mark and with the help of the tide was around first followed closely by Craig and Mathews. Downwind Craig gybed and went left and had the lead by the leeward mark. It was all very close and again those who went more out to sea on the beat did well. Approaching the weather mark for the second time it was very close, Mathews, McCambridge and the Cronins were just behind Craig and Gorman. This is how things stayed with Craig deservedly winning, Gorman second and McCambridge third with the Cronins fourth.

As forecast the wind had picked up and the fleet enjoyed a fantastic three sail reach into the harbour. Many thanks to the PRO and her crew for providing two very competitive races in tricky conditions.

Seventeen Flying Fifteens were out in Dublin Bay last night in great conditions with a turning tide and a s-sw wind. PRO Jack Roy was back from his holidays and was greeted by an over eager fleet which resulted in a general recall and a black flag for the restart. Also included in the evening was an extended tour of the bay when the incorrect mark Poldy was rounded by all of the fleet instead of East mark so all but three will be retiring!

The line was slightly favoured to the pin but the concensus was that there was more wind out to sea. Colman, Green, McCambridge and the Cahills were sailing well but it was Green who had a good approach line to the first mark Battery who was first around closely followed by Colman. It was a reach to East and these two were now pulling ahead, Colman got a good surge going up to weather to take the lead, the next reach was even tighter with some crews struggling to keep the spinnaker flying. On to the next long beat up towards Dalkey Island to Bullock, what would happen? After playing the shifts and negociating their way round the bigger boats it was nip tuck with Green and Colman, the gap had closed and Green sailed over Colman to take the lead when he tacked under him at the weather mark. Then the fun started, with the marks being difficult to see Green & Doorly much to their surprise ended up at Poldy not East! Their luck was in as the rest of the fleet followed – the blind leading the blind!

A quick check on the card and they headed to East but no one else did except for Dooley and the Cronins. That was the official finish order, all a bit messy but it didn’t take away from a lovely evenings sail.

As usual Dunmore East didn’t disappoint at the weekend with great Flying Fifteen racing in this picturesque village as well as fantastic hospitality. The winds held steady and a full programme of races was completed with Sean Craig & Alan Green (NYC) winning the event in Frequent Flyer after a consistant series of results from David Gorman & Chris Doorly (NYC) in second and Andy McCleery & Colin Dougan (KYC) in third.

On Saturday racing started at a popular time of 2pm, in Race 1 after a hectic start where the pin end was favoured Ben Mulligan led the way at the weather mark closely followed by Brian Willis & John McPeake. On the run Willis took the lead he was to hold till the end sailing particularly well on the reaches holding off Craig. These finished first and second with Gorman third and Mathews fourth after an excellent recovery getting inside a group of boats on the last run.
Race 2 the race was similar, pin end bias, shifty but one main direction to go, Mathews was out of the blocks quickly and led all the way, the Martin brothers were second with McCleery third, on the last leeward mark Gorman got inside Craig to take fourth place.

Race 3 the wind was a good 14 knots still from the NW and still shifty off the land, there were some strange wind bends coming from the village. Gorman was in good position to weather of the fleet but Craig and Mathews below them seemed to get their own private wind and took the lead at the weather mark. They both stayed ahead to be first and second but behind there were plenty of places changing, local men Lee Statham and Charlie Boland were in the thick of it and finally McCleery finished third, Statham fourth with Gorman falling down to sixth.

With the strong wind all the crews were wrecked as generally it has been light winds all summer. There was great food available and everyone enjoyed the evening, some too much as they appeared on Sunday. Mathews and Craig were in pole position going into Sunday and Gorman had only an outside chance to retain the trophy.

For Race 4 the wind was from the SW and the tide was still flooding. Gorman started at the boat end and then headed out to sea but those who headed inshore in the second half of the beat came out with a nice lift on port, Colman & Quinn lead the way from Mulligan with Gorman third. Down wind Gorman gybed to the inside and took the lead at the gate which he was to keep, with Colman still second and Craig third. Mathews had a poor start and was back in the group and couldn’t make a recovery. Craig moved up to second with Colman slipping to thirdand now would only lose the event if he had a bad last race and Gorman was to win. Its sailing and anything can happen.

Race 5 was very difficult, there were two general recalls and a black flag, the tide was now ebbing and pushing the boats over the line but the pin bias was way too much so everyone piled down there. With a lot of banging and shouting the fleet got off, again Mulligan and Colman went inshore to lok good but Gorman soon took the lead and went on to win his second race of the day. For a while itw as looking good for him to win as Mathews and Craig were in trouble on the start line. Craig got out of it and slowly moved up the fleet to finish second, enough to win the championship. Mathews ended up doing turns after the start and as it was his discard headed home. McCleery was third again with Colman fourth.

So Craig won, Gorman a close second and McCleery third. Lee Statham won the Silver fleet and Orla Devlin the classic. It was a great event and the race officer, his team and all the volenteers did a great job appreciated by all. It was great to see new faces at the event including Niall and Margaret from the DMYC and Frazer Mitchell and Gabrial Greer (NYC). We look forward to returning!

This weekend WHSC in Dunmore East will host the Flying Fifteen South Coast Championships. With good numbers turning out at local level they now turn to the road to one of the countrys favourite sailing locations for the second Regional event this season.

In recent seasons the local fleet in Dunmore East has grown thanks mainly to local class captain Charlie Boland and they will be hoping to be among the prize winners. As usual with this fleet it is difficult to call the winner as the racing is always close and exciting and any of a number of boats could win. Sean Craig sailing with Alan Green (NYC) will lead the charge with Mathews & Poole (NYC), McCleery & Dougan, Brian McKee and the Martin brothers all from Stangford Lough also likely to be contenders as will holders Gorman & Doorly (NYC)

Thursday morning 9th June 2016 and thick fog and no wind, will we get racing in Dublin Bay this evening? Jack Roy must have been on his prayer mat as the afternoon cleared and a nice 14 knots appeared for DBSC racing.

There was much “shuffling” of pairings on the platform with Ken Dumpleton & guest crew Ken Ryan together on Kooigjog. Ross Doyle as guest helm with Frank Burgess on Snow White, John Whelan with Alan Balfe on Perfect Ten. Peter O’Callaghan guesting with Ralph on Tuugannini and Chris & Alan back together again on frequent flyer. Regretfully no crew available for A Mere Triffle. Volunteers required in a hospitable class.

With a strong ebb tide and fifteen fifteens on the line the fleet got away, well almost. Some tight bunching at the committee boat end and frequent flyer jumping the gun and having to go back over the line. The first beat to Battery with ffling Brian O’Neill & Mary Jane Mulligan) followed by fflogger (Alan Dooley & Joe Hickey) and Ignis Caput (Dave Mulvin & Ronan Beirne) heading out to sea and the rest of the fleet heading inshore. At Battery it was the seaward boats ahead followed by frenetic (Mick & Hugh Cahill) and Kooigjog.

Around the mark spinnakers up and out to Omega and a gybe on to Pier. At Pier there was some bunching with four boats rounding together which resulted in some “focused” discussion in the bar after and talk of protests.

A beat back to Bulloch and once around no spinnaker hoist for fflogger having lost her halyard and with Ignis Caput close behind ffling out to East mark where after the gybe Ignis Caput overhauled ffling to take the lead and on to Pier mark and to the line for the gun. ffling second with frenetic third and Kooigjog fourth.

With discards now in place Ignis Caput discards a first in the Thursday series.

#DBSC - Sixteen Flying Fifteens turned out on another sunny Saturday afternoon on 4 June for two races in the DBSC Series, writes our Flying Fifteen correspondent

And it can be confirmed that rumours of Gorman and Doorly's demise after last week's results are very much exaggerated as they were in great form on 'Betty', winning both races to lead the DBSC series from Mulvin/Beirne and Mathews/Poole.

In a light east-northeast breeze with strong ebbing tide, Race 1 eventually got going following a long postponement after the cruiser boats all came sailing through the start area, a dangerous situation to say the least.

The pin was slightly biased but it was hard to decide which way to go for the wind. Ryan, Colin, and Gorman all kept going left; Mathews cut back across to the right, as did Mulvin. The further the boats on the left went out the more breeze they picked up and they had a good lead approaching the weather mark. Colin and Ryan seemed to be ahead and tacked for the mark as Gorman approached on port.

It's moments like this that races are won and lost. Would they just dip the guys and stay third or tack below them?

With the knowledge that the tide was pushing the boats away from the mark they tacked under them and made it by a boat length, it was a lead they were not to lose despite the confusion of the gate being lifted as they approached the finish, a SB20 had apparently crashed into it. Colin, sailing his new boat Deranged was a close second.

Meanwhile back a bit, Mulvin caught Ryan downwind to finish third and Balfe and son were sailing very well to finish fifth, followed closely by Mathews as well as Mitchel and Greer.

It was similar conditions for Race 2. The winds were shifty but the committee boat was more biased. The individual recall flag went up but not many went back (they would find out later who they were).

Gorman was tuned into the shifts and the breeze and reached the weather mark just ahead of O’Neill and MJ Mulligan with Mulvin, Mathews and Ryan/McAree all close behind.

O’Neill lost out to Ryan and Mulvin but he was sailing well and on the second beat had got back to second place. Mulvin was third, Mathews fourth and Balfe and Son fifth again, with O’Sullivan and Ken Ryan next.

The winds were starting to fade on round 3 but this is how it stayed. O’Neill was deemed to be on course side so Gorman won with Mulvin second, Mathews third and Ryan fourth. Behind the racing was also very close with boats finishing within seconds of each other.

Thanks to the PRO and his team who did a good job on the day. Tom Murphy sported the yellow spinnaker and true to form they stayed in the peloton. Next up with the yellow spinnaker, after all the club regattas, will be Gorman and Doorly.

The DBSC series continues this Thursday 9 June.

This year's Flying Fifteen European Championships are at the highly regarded venue of Medemblik on the Ijsselmeer just north of Amsterdam and run from Sunday 29th August through to Friday 2nd September. It's the first time the Flying Fifteen class has visited this venue which is a chosen choice for many major sailing events including the Olympic classes circuit.

Flying Fifteen International's Greg Wells says 'It is a great opportunity to showcase our fantastic boat and the brilliant racing it provides to the Dutch sailors'

Hosts are the yacht club KZ & RV Hollandia. More here

Seventeen Flying Fifteens turned out on a sunny Saturday afternoon for two races in the DBSC Series with Gerry Ryan & John McAree winning the first victory in their new boat IRL 4045, Ian Mathews & Keith Poole won the other race but the winner of the day with two seconds was David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne.

Race 1: the tide was coming in and the wind from the E-NE, Mulvin went partially into the middle and then to the right where he was just ahead of Gorman and Mathews at the weather mark. There were not many opportunities for catching up but on the second beat Mathews went more left and took the lead at the weather mark to win the race, Mulvin stayed second with Colin and Mulligan getting in ahead of Gorman who had gone to the right in search of wind on the run to the finish.

For Race 2 the winds had shifted to the NE and the PRO reset the course. The big question was would it flick back? Those on the right including Gorman and the Cahill brothers hoped it would but it was not to be as Ryan and Mulligan on the left came into the weather mark just ahead of Mulvin. On the second beat Gorman had gained and moved into second only to lose it by hitting the weather mark and doing turns. On the run Mulvin persevered and passed Mulligan as they both stayed uptide on the left, meanwhile Ryan was more on the right and when he went around the right gate he had a lift and wind and was soon in a comfortable lead he was not to lose.
Thanks to the PRO and his team who did a greta job on the day in difficult conditions, in particular he kept the fleet informed of his plans as the wind remained shifty and light. John O Sulllivan & Ken sported the yellow spinnaker and true to form they stayed in the peleton!

This Thursday the DBSC series continues.

Strangford Lough didn’t disappoint the Irish Flying Fifteen fleet at the weekend with the usual mixture of sunshine, wind, no wind, tides in both directions, thunder, lightning and hail stones as big as marbles and a bit of sailing thrown into the mix!

The Flying Fifteen Northern Championships was hosted by Portaferry Sailing Club at the weekend and was won by former World Champion and guest UK helm Charles Apthorp with Alan Green (NYC) crewing. Ian Mathews & Keith Poole were second with Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly (NYC) a close third.

On Saturday the wind settled to be reasonably steady from the sw and there were three races. In race 1 Gorman was out of the blocks quickly and led all the way, Mathews was second with .McCleery third and Apthorp fifth after having to do penalty turns. The wind was holding and the right was generally favoured, Apthorp won Race 2 with Mathews second again after gybsetting on the run to get inside Gorman who finished third with Brien Willis fourth. Shortly after Race 3 got going, Gorman got stuck on the second row as most sailed on, surprisingly no one was over the line. Gorman cut out to the right to get clear wind and work the shifts and came in second behind Apthorp at the weather mark. It was a triangle course and Apthorp went too high looking for the mark allowing Gorman to take the lead. It was short lived as Apthorp passed him at the gybe mark, a bit of rustiness in the crewing! It is strange that triangles are been taken out of club racing and then when we go to regional events we end up doing something we don’t practice, we live and learn!. On to the next beat, Gorman was flying and took the lead again but again it was not to last downwind. Apthorp won by a couple of boat lengths from Gorman with McKee and Darren Martin third and Mathews fourth. Over night it was Gorman just ahead of Apthorp with Mathews a close third- all to play for on Sunday with two races and a discard to come into the equation.

Sunday started off with little or no wind, ir was difficult for the PRO and each time he set a course and started the sequence it shifted and the AP went up. Eventually he started with the zephre of wind from Killleagh in the west. It was adrift up the beat, at one stage Ben Mulligan was flying over the glass like pond, soon spinakers went up and yet the ‘race’ went on, Apthorp, Mathews, Willis and Gorman all arrived at the weather . . or was it the leeward mark together but then it changed into a run as the wind filled in, Andy & Rory Martin who are back in the fleet were flying out on the right. The course was strangly shortened while there was wind, you could have thrown a blanket over the first six boats but it was Apthorp who continued his good form to win, Willis was second, Mathews third, the Martin boys fourth and Gorman suffered in sixth place.

The forecasted wind from the south slowly made its way up from the south and Race 5 got going after the course was reset. Gorman, the holder, still had a chance if he won the race but it was not to be as he had a poor start and got stuck in a pile up at the committee boat end, unfortunate as Apthorp also had a poor start. On the first beat right seemed to pay with McKee leading from Shane McCarthy and the Martin brothers and Ian Smith. The second beat the left paid, Apthorp was making inroads and moved to third, that was the way it was to stay and this was enough for Apthorp & Green to deservedly win the event which is the oldest Flying Fifteen trophy in the land. As the fleet headed back towards Portaferry the heavens opened with thunder and hailstones pounding on to the frozen crews, it was a sight and sound to behold!

As this year is the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Flying Fifteen Association of Ireland its first President and Flying Fifteen stalwart Jim Rodgers presented the prizes to the Gold fleet while Colin Coffey also a member of the original committee presented the prizes to the Silver and Bronze Fleet winners.

Special thanks to the PRO and his team who did a great job in really difficult conditions, to Shane, Peter, Jo and all the local sailors and volenteer’s who made the event happen. It’s always a pleasure to go to Portaferry which is one of the friendliest clubs in the country. Those who didn’t travel missed out on a great weekend.