Day 1
After a day of practice racing much more manageable conditions greeted sailors for the first day of racing at the 2026 Flying 15 Australian Championships. The venue was the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia and sailed on the crystal clear waters of Saint Vincent Gulf.
The southerly breeze was a very pleasant - 12 knots at the start of the first heat building to around 18 knots by the end of the third race.
Nick Jerwood and daughter Enfys got out of the blocks quickly in heat 1 and were never headed although hotly pursued by Mike and Paul Dunbar, who ended up second and Peter Groom and Phil Epps in third.
The breeze shifted slightly left and put on a couple of knots for heat 2 and it was the Dundar boys who maintained a healthy lead from Nick and Enfys with Guy and John Radnell third.
Still more breeze for heat 3 and Nick and Enfys got back to the front ahead of Mike and Paul, second, and Guy and John third again.
A couple of boats had jib problems and performed the difficult and high risk manoeuvre of lowering and re-hoisting the offending sail in a lumpy sea without bending the mast. All repairs to boats and bodies to be completed before 2 more heats on day 2.
Day 2
Day 2 of the championships started with a moderate southerly of 12 knots that steadily built to 18 knots by the end of the second race.
Nick and Enfys Jerwood bought their customary A game and won both heats by about a minute. Second in heat 4 was Guy Bancroft and John Radnell while third was Mike and Paul Dunbar.
Guy is sailing a Flying Fifteen for the first time having finished 7th in the Australian Sharpie Championships last week. Second in heat 5 was one of the local favourites from Christies Beach Sailing Club, David Tabb and Dave Bennett.
Day 3
An earlier start (11.00hrs) for day 3 with the hope of being off the water before the breeze hits the upper limits.
Heat 6 and Nick and Enfys Jerwood continued with their good form and lead at every turn from Mike and Paul Dunbar. Guy and John were third. In fourth place, and obviously benefitting from competing in the World Championships last August, was Mark Millman and Nigel Moffitt from Geraldton in Western Australia.
Heat 7 saw a reversal of positions with Team Dunbar having the edge over Team Jerwood and a very close finish. When the spray settled a UFD was recorded against Nick and Enfys so a lot of effort for no result. Guy and John were second and former World Etchell Champion Peter McNeill sailing with Mark Holmes were third.
Heat 8 had more breeze and the Jerwood v Dunbar battle continued and a finish so close that the red flags were fluttering for a discussion in the protest room.
The protests were dismissed and Nick and Enfys were the winners by the smallest of margins from Mike and Paul.
Ever consistent, Guy and John were third and the Daves ( Tabb and Bennett) fourth.
Day 4 lost due to strong winds
Two more races were scheduled on Friday as the weather on Thursday had been deemed too unfriendly. A good decision by Race Officer David Hughes
Day 5
The final heats of the 2026 Australian Flying Fifteen Championship started in near upper limit conditions for heat 9 and steadily moderated over the next couple of hours to be 15 knots by the end of heat 10.
Always pushing to the end, Nick and Enfys Jerwood won both races and, hence, the Championship. This is the sixth time Nick has his name on the Coweslip Trophy and the second time for Enfys.
Second overall, with results of 3rd and equal 6th on the final day, was Mike and Paul Dunbar for the second consecutive year.
Third overall was Guy Bancroft and John Radnell with a strong finish of 2 second places on the final day. Guy has won the B14 World Championship 3 times and this was his first experience in sailing a Flying Fifteen.
As an indication of the talent developing, the brother and sister team of Jonah and Pippi Sayer from Tin Can Bay were third around the first mark in the last race and were awarded the Rising Stars trophy.
Our appreciation to the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia for running a first class regatta. The timetable changed regularly to suit the expected conditions and the communication to competitors was excellent. Race Officer David Hughes conducted 10 races in generally strong breezes with, obviously, a very dedicated team of volunteers
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Our thanks also to sponsors Yalumba for supplying some excellent wines for the re-telling of those on water stories that need some extra embellishment.
Links; Full Results
https://app.sailsys.com.au/club/73/results/series/5221/pointscore?view=individual&handicap=s
More photos via The Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia facebook page;
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=CruisingYachtClubofSA&set=a.1343727224438204
Regatta report & photos credit Russell Dawes
Jonny Fullerton of Regatta Services on behalf of FFI