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Flying Fifteen International - ACT

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The 41st ACT Flying Fifteen Championship, conducted by the Canberra Yacht Club (CYC), was held on Lake Burley Griffin over Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October 2009. Twenty two yachts entered the Championship, including six from Victoria and one from South Australia. Amongst the competing skippers were four who had previously won the Championship: Bill Shand (Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club, Victoria – GLYC); Craig Rainey (GLYC); John Tracey (CYC) and current title holder Matt Owen (CYC). 

Five races were sailed, with the final scores for each yacht calculated on the best four results. First place in the Open Championship again went to Craig and Ian Rainey (Where The Bloody Hell Are You), with a total of 6.5 series points. Second were Dale Collings and Glenn Scheen from the Mordialloc Sailing Club, Victoria (Aussie Falcon) with 13 points while Matt Owen and Andrew Reed (Visit to Ward 11A) secured third place with 15 points on a count back from Bill Shand and David Parish (Relience Ffenty Ffoo). The prize for the first ‘Classic’ yacht went to Robin and Keir Malpas, CYC (Euffamism) while Glen Seeley and Nick Lemon, CYC (GT Wiff A Twist of Lemon) were awarded the‘Silver’ prize. The handicap result was taken out by Brian Carroll, Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and Matt Gleeson, CYC sailing Matt’s Flying Fifteen (Ffunnily Enuff).

The Championship was held in cool and overcast conditions. The wind for the three races sailed on the first day was predominantly from the South to the South East, fluctuating from around 5 to 9 knots and overall providing excellent sailing conditions. On the second day, the two races were held in lighter conditions with the wind oscillating from the South to the South East for the first race in the morning and from the South East to the North East for the final race in the afternoon. The results in the final race reflected the variable and tricky wind conditions.

Race 1: After a general recall on the first attempt at a start, the fleet got away the second time around. The results of this race were to set the scene for the whole Championship with the first four yachts across the line subsequently taking the first four places in the series. The Rainey brothers won the race with Matt Owen/Andrew Reed and Dale Collings/Glenn Scheen crossing the line together 43 secs behind the Raineys with Bill Shand/David Parish taking fourth place. Leigh Nielsen/Alex Hildyard,
CYC (Seraffim) sailed exceptionally well to finish in fifth place, David Meldrum/Trevor Williams, GLYC (£10 Note) finished sixth,
Peter Forster/Craig Murphy, CYC (Relience Ffeighteen) crossed the line in seventh position and the interstate combination of
Brian Carroll/Matt Gleeson secured eighth place.

Race 2: In a nail biting finish, the Rainey brothers won the second race by one second from Matt Owen/Andrew Reed. Third, only a further two seconds astern, were Dale Collings/Glenn Scheen with Bill Shand/David Parish again taking fourth spot. David Meldrum/Trevor Williams were fifth followed by Clive and Michael Arnold, Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron (Iffy); Brian Carroll/Matt Gleeson took seventh place while CYC’s John Tracey/Paul Cohen (Wings) worked themselves into eighth place.

Race 3:  With the breeze having freshened, the course was lengthened for the third race. Matt Owen/Andrew Reed finally broke through to take line honours. In equal second place were David Meldrum/Trevor Williams and the Rainey brothers. Fourth place again went to Bill Shand/David Parish while John Tracey/Paul Cohen advanced to fifth place. Dale Collings/Glenn Scheen finished sixth just ahead of Brian Carroll/Matt Gleeson. CYC crews Neal Davis/Peter Strauch (Swinger) and Graham Giles/Stuart Allan (Super Snabb) finished in equal eighth place. 

Race 4: The fourth race got away on time on Sunday morning in light wind. Dale Collings/Glenn Scheen showed a clean pair of heels to the fleet to win by over 2 mins from the Rainey brothers with Bill Shand/David Parish moving up to take third place. Brian Carroll/Matt Gleeson continued to improve to take fourth spot as did Peter Forster/Craig Murphy who took fifth place. CYC members Glen Seeley/Nick Lemon (GT Wiff A Twist Of Lemon) showed their obvious liking for the lighter conditions by crossing in sixth place, with Robin and Keir Malpas not far behind in seventh position. David Meldrum/Trevor Williams finished in eighth place. Matt Owen/Andrew Reed cruelled any chance of back-to-back Championship wins, crossing the start line early and being declared OCS – as were Leigh Nielsen/Alex Hildyard. 

Race 5: With the wind dropping off during the final stages of race 4, the PRO directed yachts to return to shore. Race 5 got underway early afternoon in light and variable winds. Those who chose the correct side of the course soon opened up a              
commanding gap on the rest of the fleet. Taking line honours for the first time in the Championship were Brian Carroll/Matt Gleeson
with Glen Seeley/Nick Lemon recording an excellent second, a little over a minute behind the winner. Equally impressive were
Robin and Keir Malpas who took third place edging out John Tracey/Paul Cohen by one second. David Meldrum/Trevor Williams were fifth followed by the Raineys and Graham Giles/Stuart Allan. The Arnolds took out eighth spot. Second overall place getters Dale Collings/Glenn Scheen only managed fourteenth across the line. Bill Shand/David Parish did not compete, having left early to return home. 

The Championship Dinner, held in a private dining room at the Canberra Southern Cross Yacht Club on the Saturday night, was attended by over 40 people. A relaxed and informal evening was enjoyed by all. ACT Flying Fifteen President Peter Dalton welcomed everyone to the Championship and to the Dinner. The President also hosted drinks for participants in the CYC’s Sailors Cabin on the Friday evening. 

At the presentation of prizes following the final race, appreciation was expressed for the work put in by the organizers of the Championship and to the PRO Ian Brokenshire, the Results Officer Jenn Nielsen, the Member Services Group led by Trish Gleeson and the teams on the water and in the club-house handling registration, results, hamburgers and drinks. Thanks was also expressed for the ongoing support and sponsorship provided by Karen Rush of Karen Rush Real Estate and Debra Nowell of Over the Moon Promotions.


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