National Flying Fifteen Champions 1974–2012

Year Boat Helm Crew Club
1974 E.Sheehy KYC
1975 J,Lowry Mrs.J.Lowry CSC
1976 N.Watson KSC
1977 E.Gilmore KSC
1978 D.Tucker KYC
1979
1980 J.McCann SLYC
1981 C.Simmonds
1982 J.Rodgers KSC
1983 J.Millar KSC
1984 P.Morrison M.Gotral
1985 A.Bax NSC
1986 R.Bannon NYC
1987 J.Millar I.Coryn “Tie”
Trophy presented by to Flying Fifteen Association by Mr & Mrs Olaf Sorenson
1988 The Real Thing G.Dunleavy D.O’Brien NYC
1989 Lethal Weapon J.Millar C.Coffey CSC
1990 Mind Over Matter G.Dunleavy M.Conway
1991 Cunning Stunt I.Claever D.Shellcock
1992 Ruffa Gruffa J.Thomson M.Brown
1993 Newform J.Millar S.Penney KSC
1994 Going Grey G.Reilly D.Morrison SSC
1995 Forrader IV B.Falet I.Coryn RN&SYC
1996 Zimner J.Rodgers S.McCarthy PSC
1997 Tender Wood B.McKee Bob Gilmore SLYC
1998 Awesome J.Lavery G.Dunleavy NYC
1999 Ffangs J.Burke A.Green NYC
2000 J.Lavery G.Dunleavy NYC
2001 G.Dunleavy D.Gorman NYC
2002 J.Burke B.Canton NYC
2003 J.Lavery D.O’Brien NYC
2004 D.Martin S.Murray SLYC
2005 M.Hart T.Hall PDSC
2006 M.Sheehy A.Green KYC
2007 D.Martin S.Murray SLYC
2008 D.Gorman C.Doorly NYC
2009
2010 D.Martin S.Murray SLYC
2011 D.Gorman C.Doorly NYC
2012

This coming weekend the Mitsubishi Flying Fifteen Frostbite Series starts and are being hosted by the National Yacht Club for the next six weeks. Local FF fleet captain Joe Coughlan is hoping for a good turnout following the success of last week’s East Coast Championships and the high numbers racing during the summer.

As usual in this fleet it is difficult to call the winner as racing is always close and exciting, the holders David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne will be hoping to retain the trophy but any of a number of boats could win including the in form Meagher’s in Ffantastic Mr Fox and National Champions Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly in Betty.

It promises to be an exciting series as the local Moth class will also be participating in this annual series where Ian Mathews is race officer.

With three three race wins on Saturday Charles Apthorp and Alan Green were always going to be hard to stop for overall honours today at the Mitsubishi Motors Flying Fifteen East Coast Championships at the National Yacht Club. In the end the visiting world champion from Hayling Island Sailing Club won by a convincing margin of eight points.

Second overall was Sean Craig and Chris Doorly on 15 points, a single point ahead of host club club–mates Ian Mathews and Keith Poole.

Full results in the record FF turnout are downloadable below as a PDF file.

Apthorp and Green retained the East Coast championships in an exciting weekends sailing on Dublin Bay. In contrasting conditions, Saturday was wet and windy with winds from the N-NE while Sunday was sunny with the winds eventually coming from the S-SE.

An impressive 33 boats participated with boats travelling from Strangford Lough, Dunmore East and Lough Neagh adding to the strong local fleet. Apthorp dominated proceedings on Saturday in the strong Northerly winds with three wins. Behind it was a much closer racing with places up and down, the chasing group included Ian Mathews& Keith Poole (NYC) who was second overnight, Chamberlain & Hoarder (SLSC) in third with Craig & Doorly (NYC) fourth

Sunday we all arrived to a sunny morning with no wind so the AP was hoisted while ashore, a welcome respite for those that overdid Saturday night! The wind started filling in so off we went for a 1.00pm start. After the delay the fleet was a bit too keen and there was a general recall and the black flag was introduced for the restart where two boats got caught out and were disqualified. On the restart there was a strong out going tide, The fleet split up the beat, Mathews and Mulligan were among those that headed towards the shore and led at the weather mark closely followed by Craig. The gate prove to be the crucial moment, Mathews going left and Craig and Mulligan to the advantageous right, Craig took the lead which he kept to win followed by Mulligan & Court with Mathews third, O’Neill fourth and Apthorp fifth thanks to Statham getting a black flag.

Going into the last race things were more interesting as Craig or Mathews still had a chance if they won and Apthorp was sixth or worse. Alas it was not to be, on the second start after a general recall Mathew, Craig, Chamberlain and Martin were all disqualified under the black flag and headed in for an early shower as Apthorp wrapped up the series with a fifth, the race race been won by McCleery & Dougan (KYC) with Colman & Quinn(NYC) second and Statham third.

Class captain Joe Coughlan performed the prize giving thanking the sponsors, the PRO Brian Mathews and his team including those in the race office and the competitors who all helped make it an exciting and memorable weekends sailing.

There was a record 33–boat Flying Fifteen turnout

This coming weekend the Mitsubishi Flying Fifteen East Coast Championships are being hosted by the National Yacht Club and local fleet captain Joe Coughlan is hoping to have up to thirty entries. With great numbers out in Dublin Bay all season additional boats will be coming from Dunmore East and Stangford Lough as well as from clubs along the Antrim coast and possibly Lough Neagh where there is a growth in the class.

As usual in this fleet it is difficult to call the winner as racing is always close and exciting and any of a number of boats could win. Frequent UK visitor and current holder of the trophy Charles Apthorp is expected to team up with Alan Green and they should be favourites to retain the trophy. Unfortunately National champions Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly will not be competing together as the ISA All Ireland Helmsman’s Championships are on the same weekend in Cork. But there is plenty of talent who will give Apthorp & Green a run for their money including Mathews & Poole (NYC) McCleery & Dougan (KSC), Willis & McPeake (CAYC) and also the in–form Niall & Nicki Meagher (NYC).

As well as FF event at the NYC, the Fireballs Leinster Championships and SB20’s re–arranged Southern Championships will also sail with Brian Mathews as the PRO.

The final day of a long season of Flying Fifteen DBSC racing which started back in April draws to a close tomorrow, weather permitting of course. In a season where the numbers on the water have been impressive, 21 sailed last weekend, it is a contrast to other classes which have struggled to get meaningful numbers out racing. This has led to great club racing and also an improvement in the performance of Dun Laoghaire boats in Regional and National competitions.

The Saturday Series Trophy, kindly presented by Ken Dumpleton after the original was lost, has already been decided with David Gorman & Chris Doorly in Betty winning the overall Series from Ian Mathews & Keith Poole in The Gruffalo. The Second Series along with the Silver and Bronze fleet trophies have yet to be decided so there is plenty to play for tomorrow.

Next weekend the Mitsubishi Flying Fifteen East Coast Championships is hosted by the National Yacht Club and local fleet captain Joe Coughlan is hoping to have up to thirty entries.

The Flying Fifteen East Coast Championships, the Irish Fireball Leinster Championships and the SB20 Southern Championships will all be raced under the burgeee of the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire, Dublin in a fortnight on the 1st and 2nd October 2016. 

This is a change of plan for the SB20 class who have moved both the date and club for their Southern Championshipd fixture. The event was originally scheduled for the 24th & 25th September at Cobh SC in Cork Harbour.

It's not the last event of the 2016 calendar for the SB20s or Flying Fifteens either, both fleets are slated for a Midland Championship at Lough Derg YC on 22nd & 23rd October. 

Download the notice of race below. 

On a warm Septembers day an impressive 20 Flying Fifteens turned out for racing on the Bay. It was a difficult day for the PRO Eddie Totterdell and his team as the weather was to shift at some stage to the SW but when it would change nobody knew, but change it did on the first beat of the first race.

In Race 1 the wind was still NW and there was a strong outgoing tide, so strong that boats had difficulty getting over the start line. An individual recall was called, a few who had dipped down were too close to call, this included McCambridge and Gorman who played safe and went back.

Tom Murphy along with O,Neill and the Meaghers headed towards the shore while Mathews and most of the fleet went right as the SB20 had done. Meanwhile those who went back including Gorman and Coughlan were having their own little battle to see who would be off the start line last!

A short time later the winds were changing as forecast and those on the left looked like they would get it first, they did but they had overstood the mark. Gorman after a late start tacked early and somehow managed to get in a good position as they approached the weather mark, at this stage the wind was behind and the spinakers were up!

O'Neill & MJ Mulligan led but Gorman managed to slip inside at the wing mark to take the lead down the run which was now a beat down to the gate which was the new weather mark! It stayed this way for the next lap with the Meaghers third, Murphy fourth and Alan Balfe fifth.

After resetting the course Race 2 got going but with the tide pushing the boats over the line and with the boats going up to soon and to fast there was a general recall. No messing with Eddie and the black flag went up for the restart. Three were still over the line, others including Gorman got stuck adjacent the committee boat as most of the fleet headed out to sea. The Meagher;s and O’Neill were nip and tuck but judging the tide and wind perfectly the Meagher’s lead at the weather mark and there was no catching them. They were closely followed by O’Neill and Mathews but it was all very close behind. On the last lap the Meagher’s increased their lead but behind there were changes happening, Mathews moved into second, Frazer & Gabrial were third and Gorman with the yellow Mitsibishi spinnaker had moved to fourth. The Meagher’s third and first was enough for them to deservedly win the day.

Thanks to the PRO Eddie and his team who did a great job in difficult conditions. To have 20 boats out in a club race was fantastic, all being well there will be a good number entered for the East Coast Championships that take place in two weeks time in Dun Laoghaire.

An impressive 19 Flying Fifteens turned out on Saturday in the DBSC Series on a warm summers day with a light E-NE wind and a raging incoming tide. Many fleets would be glad to have this number at their Nationals! It was a frustrating day for competitors and the committee boat. Just before racing began the wind went more NE as actually forecasted and the race became very one sided with little or no time spent on the starboard tack.

At the start the pin was biased and it was hard with the tide to get over on starboard, some did, some were over the line and one brave man started on port at the pin. We heard later it was the perfect start but on the water Gorman & Doorly went back to play safe but made their way to fifth by the first mark. Colman, Mathews, Mulligan were going well and that was the order at the weather mark, Mathews took the lead at the wing mark which was higher than the weather mark as Colman struggled in the tide. The Meagher’s went to third with Mulligan fourth and Gorman fifth, this is how it finished as nothing changed over the next lap but it did change ashore as Colman was deemed to be OCS.

There was nearly an hour delay as the course was reset, the fleet were obviously restless and there was a general recall. The black flag was introduced and away they went some to the left others to the right. The right which was up tide was looking good for Dumpleton and the Meaghers, O’Sullivan and Gorman were in close proximity and O’Sullivan lead at the mark from Meagher. Gorman did a gybe set to get left and was followed by Mathews. As the fleet approached the gate most were on the right side of the gate, it looked like there would be a bit of a pile up but they spread out as they struggled against the tide, this allowed Gorman to slip into a gap and head up to the weather mark in first place closely followed by O’Sullivan and his crew Ken Ryan. At the weather mark Mulligan had moved into third place but it was Gorman who led the way down to the finish line with the now familiar Mitsubishi yellow leaders spinnaker in full flow with O’Sullivan having a great race in second place and Mulligan third. It was fantastic to see such a great turn out, maybe Annalise’s heroics in the Olympics are inspiring people to get out on the water!

With the excitement of Olympic sailing in Rio having gripped the sailing community it was always going to be hard to match it but it was also exciting  on Dublin Bay for the Flying Fifteen class who had two races in a moderate but shifty westerly breeze and an outgoing tide. Dave Gorman and Chris Doorly sailing Betty for the first time after recently winning the Championship of Ireland won both races.

Race 1: the pin was favoured by a long way and Gorman got it, he got under Murphy who in turn had to push Mathews up and over the line. Most of the fleet went right but Gorman, Galvin and Colman headed towards the shore. Galvin got to the weather mark first by a boat lenght and kept the lead till the second run down to the finish. Gorman threathened to attack to weather but suddenly gybed over to the right and headed for the pin end of the finish to take the gun by a boat lenght. Tom Murphy had come in fast from the right to take third place with Mathews & Poole fourth. The rest of the fleet were only a few boatlenghts behind- great close racing which is what we all like!

For Race 2 the winds had shifted to the right, more NW and the PRO reset the course. The big question was would it flick back? The majority of the fleet went right including Galvin who had an excellent start and crossed the fleet. Those on the left including Gorman, OSullivan and Coughlin hoped it would. . . and it did! Gorman led and headed down the run with the Yellow Mitshibushi spinnaker in full flow to extend their lead which they held to the gun. Behind places would change, Murphy was up to second with Mathews and Galvin close behind. The excitement was saved for the last run down to the finish line. Mathews luffed Murphy and eventually gybed to the left, Murphy followed which left Galvin on his own out on the right, this was decisive as Galvin got clear wind and nipped in for second, Mathews third and Murphy fourth. Great racing!

Thanks to the PRO and his team who did a great job.

The DBSC series continues This Thursday.

On route to Dun Laoghaire last night it didn’t look good for sailing as there was a strong westerly breeze and white horses in Seapoint. However it takes a lot to cancel a DBSC race and out went the Flying Fifteens for an exciting evening's sail.

Doorly & Green in Frequent Flyer won comfortably in the end but they didn’t have it all their own way as it was neck and neck with David Mulvin & Ian Mathews in the early part of the race, Ben and Jonathon Mulligan finished third.

After a clean start it was a beat to Harbour mark in choppy waters where Doorly was just ahead of Mathews and Colman. It was an exciting reach down to Omega. Mathews got inside and as he called for water he got more than he bargained for as suddenly he broached. Conditions were difficult for spinnaker work and the Cronins took advantage to get ahead of O’Sullivan.

It was still close going around Poldy but it was the next beat that was to be decisive as Doorly went out to the breeze and increased the lead which they held till the gun.

Thanks to PRO Jack Roy and his team for a great race.