2026 Flying Fifteen Southern Championship

The International Flying Fifteen Class returned to Royal Torbay Yacht Club on the weekend of 16th-17th May for their Southern Area Championship, our first visit to this long-established club since 2008

The event was held in conjunction with the Fireball and 420 fleets and it's fair to say that all the entries were lighter than would normally have been expected – perhaps high fuel costs are having an effect – but nonetheless twenty Flying Fifteens sailed, some of whom had travelled from as far as northern Cumbria

A decent 10-15 knots from the WSW was forecast for the Saturday and after a briefing from PRO Bob Penfold the fleet launched easily from the wide slipway and enjoyed a 20 minute reach out to the race area

The Flying Fifteens shared the race track with the other fleets but each had their own start and remained largely separated; but if the Fireball and 420 sailors would like to give a 'Fifteen a go sometime they would be very welcome!

Conditions were very shifty all day, with the occasional rain shower thrown in, and the race team were made to work hard keeping the start lines and courses fair. There were many theories in the bar afterwards ranging from “ hard left paid every time” to “ right paid off the start line”, but one thing that was clear to everybody was that Ian Cadwaller & Harry Lucas in GBR4135 were on a charge. 

The results didn't entirely bear this out, however, with overnight leaders after the first day of racing being Jeremy Davy & Martin Huett in GBR3760 due to Cadwallader & Lucas – and indeed several of the other top teams – recording UFD scores on the first day. Clearly once the discard kicked in the results would be looking a bit different!

Saturday evening was very sociable with a wonderful dinner in the finest traditions of the class held in the RTYC restaurant. With speeches and banter going on well into the evening a good time was had by all

Sunday dawned bright and clear but those who ventured out in shorty wetsuits perhaps regretted that decision when, after a long wait for the wind to appear, it arrived in conjunction with a huge black cloud that sprinkled rain and occasional hail onto the fleet.

In the final three races, and with tidal effects having a major impact, the racing was far too chaotic for a blow by blow account of who overtook whom at any given time. That's my excuse anyway! 

Suffice to say though that some classic close Flying Fifteen racing was taking place with boats sometimes crossing the finishing line with inches of each other and with a different winner for every race

After the dust settled third place overall went to class stalwarts Charles & Charlie Apthorpe in GBR 4143, with Jeremy Davy & Martin Huett settling for second overall – meaning the Flying Fifteen Southern Champions for 2026 are Ian Cadwallader & Harry Lucas – and just to note that, at the age of 21, Harry is possibly the youngest champion we have seen in the fleet.

Thank you to Royal Torbay YC for hosting an excellent event, and if the chat taking place afterwards was true we may be back to RTYC for a Nationals in a few years!

And talking of Nationals – the 2026 Flying Fifteen National Championship takes place at Tees & Hartlepool YC between July 9th - 12th – see you there!

Text: Simon Kneller

Photos from 50 North Photography, with additional images from Jayne Hickey & Amy Roberts

Overall Results

Rank	BoatName	Sail Number	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Nett
1st	Ted	GBR4135	Ian Cadwallader	Harry Lucas	Chew Valley Lake	1.0	(21.0 UFD)	1.0	5.0	1.0	7.0	36.0	15.0
2nd		GBR3760	Jeremy Davy	Martin Huett	Draycote Water SC	5.0	1.0	5.0	6.0	2.0	(8.0)	27.0	19.0
3rd	Fourwinds	GBR4143	Charles Apthorp	Charlie Apthorp	HISC	4.0	4.0	(11.0)	9.0	3.0	2.0	33.0	22.0
4th	Off Course	GBR4145	Richard Jordan	Matt Armstrong	RTYC/HISC/CCYC	(14.0)	14.0	3.0	1.0	4.0	4.0	40.0	26.0
5th	Sparks & Bubbles	GBR4033	Justin Waples	Jackie Mckellar	RCYC	2.0	5.0	4.0	8.0	(13.0)	13.0	45.0	32.0
6th	Raffi	GBR4124	Andy Tunnicliffe	Richard Rigg	Bassenthwaite SC	3.0	3.0	(20.0 UFD)	2.0	7.0	18.0 UFD	53.0	33.0
7th	Angels one-five	GBR4113	Simon Kneller	Ashley Painter	Grafham Water	7.0	2.0	7.0	(17.0)	6.0	12.0	51.0	34.0
8th	Indulgent Sparks	GBR4141	Chris Waples	Simon Weatherill	HISC RCYC	13.0	(21.0 UFD)	2.0	7.0	12.0	1.0	56.0	35.0
9th	Windbreaker renatus est	GBR4148	Simon Patterson	Simon Thompson	Draycote Water SC	(15.0)	7.0	9.0	10.0	5.0	5.0	51.0	36.0
10th	Fizz Buzz II	GBR3904	Paul Williams	Melanie Edwards	CVSC	8.0	10.0	8.0	3.0	(15.0)	9.0	53.0	38.0
11th	Ffizzbuzz Ffizz	GBR4111	Mervyn Wright	Ralph Singleton	Parkstone YC	9.0	11.0	(15.0)	11.0	9.0	3.0	58.0	43.0
12th	Sprocket	GBR3903	Gary Stuart	Mark Greer	Northampton	12.0	9.0	6.0	4.0	14.0	(21.0 DNC)	66.0	45.0
13th	Quindici	GBR4069	Bill Chard	Josh Preater	Chew Valley Lake SC	11.0	6.0	12.0	16.0	(17.0)	6.0	68.0	51.0
14th	Defying Gravity	GBR4130	Adrian Tattersall	John Mathie	Parkstone	6.0	(21.0 UFD)	13.0	15.0	8.0	11.0	74.0	53.0
15th	Agatha	GBR4030	Alastair Stevenson	David Culpan	HISC	10.0	8.0	(18.0)	18.0	10.0	10.0	74.0	56.0
16th	Puffin	GBR4131	Mark Nicholson	Amelia Nicholson	Hayling Island Sailing Club	16.0	12.0	14.0	(20.0)	11.0	14.0	87.0	67.0
17th	Frisky Finish	GBR3912	Charlie McKee	Adrian Simpson	HISC	17.0	13.0	10.0	13.0	16.0	(21.0 DNC)	90.0	69.0
18th	Effervescence	GBR4097	Matthew Thompson	Raymond Flanagan	Draycote Water Sailing Club	18.0	15.0	17.0	12.0	(21.0 DNC)	21.0 DNC	104.0	83.0
19th	Ffoenix	GBR3850	Christina Moncur	Stephen Moncur	Parkstone Yacht Club	20.0	16.0	(21.0 DNC)	14.0	19.0	18.0 DNS	108.0	87.0
20th	Fast Forward	GBR3911	Peter Hogg	Alan Hogg	South Cerney	(19.0)	17.0	16.0	19.0	18.0	18.0 DNS	107.0	88.0