FLYING 15 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

World Championship Series

Seven days of world championship racing began on Saturday 25 March with three consecutive days of light to moderate winds sailing under warm Fremantle skies.

On day one, current world champions Graham Vials and Chris Turner (GBR) were out of sight to finish the opening day with two bullets in 12–16 knots of SW breeze.

Sunday, race day two, was sailed in 7–8 knots from the east, shutting down and swinging south late in the afternoon. The youngest crew at the regatta RFBYC sailors Lachy Gilmour and Ryan Donaldson held off the competition in a fading breeze to win race 3. Graham Vials and Chris Turner (GBR) made it three wins out of four races to establish an overall lead.

The fleet enjoyed a real treat of a Wagyu beef BBQ served on the sundeck, supplied by legendary Western Australian Match Racing guru Peter Gilmour and his family including his son Lachy, the race winner of the first race of the day.

Race day three served up another 10–12 knot easterly going very light later in the day.

The second race of the day was a first race win for Philippa Packer and Dean McAullay, as it turned out later the first race win at a world championship for a female skipper!

Just one race took place on day four of the regatta in 7–11 knots from SW. As the championship went past the half way mark after seven races with one discard, Graham Vials and Chris Turner (GBR) led overall but the gap was closing to second placed Nick Jerwood and Brad Sheridan. Another GBR boat sailed by Ian Pinnell and Ian Cadwallader remained third overall. The fleet then enjoyed an evening at Gage Roads Brewery on the Fremantle Harbour wall followed by daily presentations at the WA Maritime Museum with an entertaining chat with the 1983 America’s Cup winning crew members.

The lay day on Wednesday will be remembered by the fleet for a very long time.

An epic day where the vast majority of the fleet of 150 competitors took a boat trip to ‘Rotto’ organised by the legendary hospitality gurus, the ‘Glamour Buoys’.

David Yu and Levo’s good ship the Four Seasons was loaded to the gunnels with grog and a smorgasbord of grub. Having rafted up with other vessel’s at Parker Point for a mass swim they joined others who had gone by ferry for a massive lunch at the pub.

After racing resumed on day five, two more races were held in 10–12 knots of SW breeze. Two boats were edging ahead of the rest of the fleet. Graham Vials and Chris Turner (GBR) won both races just ahead of Nick Jerwood and Brad Sheridan (AUS) (2/2). Both crews were putting a bit of daylight between themselves and the rest of the fleet. The British team had now racked up five race wins in the series.

No sailing was possible on the penultimate day of the regatta due to insufficient wind and a rare phenomenon in Fremantle, some light rain! Only one race was sailed on the final day of the championship. With an unassailable lead Graham Vials and Chris Turner (GBR) won their unprecedented fifth World Championship in the class. Vials and Turner from Derwent Reservoir / Lyme Regis SC won 5 of the 10 world championship races and with drops of a 4th and 8th they could not be beaten.

Nick Jerwood and Brad Sheridan from South of Perth YC/Fremantle SC led the final race from start to finish extending on every leg. The Australian pair did everything possible to close the points gap on ‘Floaty McFloat Face’ (Vials and Turner) but ended up just three points shy of the British boat.

Going into the last race there was only one point difference between third and fourth place overall. The youngest crew in the fleet, ex-Olympic sailors Lachy Gilmour and Ryan Donaldson from Royal Freshwater Bay YC / Esperance Bay YC, had steadily improved throughout the regatta and again had to work their way through the leading bunch to take second in the last race and secure an excellent third overall.

Other top 10 placings included Grant Alderson and Luke Paterson who steadily improved throughout the series to finish a credible 6th overall. Philippa Packer and Dean McAullay finished an excellent 8th overall.

Sailors, families and friends all enjoyed presentations at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club with a large banquet to celebrate a thoroughly successful regatta. The camaraderie and mateship was noted within the fleet and the vast group of volunteers marshalled by John Anderson a key factor in the success of the regattas. FFI Commodore Chris Waples described it as the best that he had attended and it bodes well for the future of hosting major regattas in Perth and Fremantle.

RFBYC SAILORS

OVERALL POSITIONS:

3RD LACHY GILMOUR / RYAN DONALDSON

6TH GRANT ALDERSON / LUKE PATERSON

8TH PHILIPPA PACKER / DEAN MCAULLAY

12TH DAVID YU / CHRIS NELSON

19TH GREG LEAVERSUCH / PETER BARBLETT

22ND HAMISH CARNACHAN / PETER MUDFORD

25TH JOHN WILSON / MATTHEW SUMMERS

31ST CLIVE BEETON / JUSTIN TREMAIN

59TH JENNIFER SIMS / CHRIS HOWELL

65TH MURRAY JOHNS / NATALIE WADDELL

68TH SETH EGGLESTON / ROB NAISH

72ND DARIN MAHER / KEVIN NORCOTT

76TH HUMPHREY HALE / MENNO WEUSTINK