Six is the magic number for Vials and Turner
Graham Vials and Chris Turner started the day on the cusp of winning an unprecedented sixth Flying Fifteen World Championship, headline sponsored by PRO-SET Epoxy and Ovington Boats, requiring a result in the top five of either of the final races, while Andrew McKee and Richard Jones, the only team who could cause an upset, required nothing less than two race wins.
Vials and Turner stuck to McKee and Jones like glue in the pre-start, and then proceeded to loosely cover them on the first upwind leg, only deciding to break away and make a dash for the windward mark when a clear lane presented itself towards the end of the leg.
Their tactical acumen and timing, which they’ve demonstrated throughout the event, was once again flawless, rounding the top mark first, and then only looking back to savour the moment, going on to take their sixth race win. An astounding record in such a high quality fleet, where consistency has been nigh on impossible to find for all the other teams.
Calm and composed to the last, there was never any doubt in the result once they got away cleanly, and Graham’s confidence post-race was well founded:
“We were leading by a good margin going into today, but looking back, to get six wins and a second in our counting races was a phenomenal scoreline, and I don’t think we’d have quite expected that. We’ve sailed really well, so we couldn’t be happier.
“There was a lot of pressure coming into this week, but we’ve managed to keep the basics right and concentrate on what’s important.
As it was, race nine was to be the last, with the wind petering out, leading to Race Officer Mark ‘Woody’ Woods to make the popular decision to quickly raise AP over A and send the fleet home so they could pack up ahead of the gala dinner celebrations.
Andrew McKee and Richard Jones in second overall pushed hard to come second overall, while Ben McGrane and Russ Clark, who had won the Nationals and Pre-Worlds the week before, faded a little in the second half of the event to complete the podium in third.
The top international team was 2005 World Champion Nick Jerwood, this week crewed by Greg Tonnison, who had a great final two days with 3, 2, 4, 4 results, which rocketed them up the leaderboard into sixth overall.
Also of note in the final race as the port tack flyer by Lijia Xu, clearing the fleet with the Nothe Fort in the background, which must have brought back memories of London 2012, where the crowds thronged during the Olympic medal races and she took home gold for China in the women’s singlehanded class.
Graham was effusive in his praise for the event itself:
“The whole event organisation has been incredible. Woodsy and his team have been absolutely spot on - they’ve made the right calls at the right time, really good, square lines, perfectly square beats, and the course length was bob on each time as well. I can’t really commend him and his team enough for what they’ve done. Back on shore Christina, Sally and the team have done a great job as well with the social side.”
Throughout the fleet there have been races within races, and personal rivalries settled one way or the other. Talking with the sailors I’ve repeatedly heard how what happens on the water, stays on the water, and those same crews battling at sea were sharing a drink and a laugh ashore.
The ‘Club Australia’, made up outside of the two containers they’d shipped from Down Under, was open to all, with a seemingly never-ending supply of cold beers from the esky, and an inflatable boxing kangaroo looking out over the boat park. So many of the boat names incorporate the ‘ff’ of the class logo, and the ethos is undoubtedly ‘friendly and fun’.
The question now is whether the greatest Flying Fifteen team of all time, with six World Championship titles, is Finally Finished as their boat name suggests. Graham and Chris explained that the name had double meaning, firstly in how late they were at getting their boat ready for the event and also that it may be their last event together. After racing Graham enigmatically said ‘nearly Finally Finished’ with a subtle smile, and then proceeded to draw a question mark after the boat name on the stern of the boat:
“Chris and I need to have a conversation about Hong Kong 2028. The worlds are every other year, so it’s a big planning exercise. I’m keen to keep going, it’s great fun sailing with Chris and he’s obviously very, very good. We’ve got a good boat, we’re quick, we enjoy it, so it’s just a case of balancing it with work, life and family.”
Once part of the Flying Fifteen community, it’s a hard class to leave, as proved by the longevity of many of the sailors’ duration in the fleet. It’s a friendly class, where the activities ashore are just as important as those on the water, and friends made become friends for life, which is why so many of the sailors are willing to travel from the other side of the world to attend the major events.
While a new boat will set you back a fair whack, there are boats available for as little as £200, as demonstrated by Jordan Aspin and Jason Benn sailing GBR 3286 ‘Nimbus’ which required only £1000 to make modifications bringing it up to a modern specification as Jordan explained:
“First of all we took the wooden crossbean out, which all the control lines were on, as it’s a bit of a problem that you can’t move the crew weight forward and aft very easily with that in the way. So, we took that out, bonded in a modern console from Ovington, which still fits the hull. We then changed the crew floor from marine ply to epoxy foam sandwich, which is incredibly light in comparison, put the jib plinths on, and then we got some new jib fairleads, a second hand set of sails, gave her a polish and here we are!”
Further quotes from the sailors:
Ben McGrane (Hyde Sails / 4002) from Netley Sailing Club, sailing with crew Russ Clark, finished third overall:
“It’s been really good. We always said top five was the goal. We were looking good half way through the series, but then, when it came off the land, which usually would be our strong point, we just didn’t quite manage to join all the dots up. I’m really pleased with how all the Hyde sail development has gone over the past couple of years, and we won the qualification series, the Southern Championship last year, the Inlands and Nationals this year, and then to come third here at the Worlds shows where we’re at and I’m really pleased with that.
“I think you would struggle to find better fleet racing than this. Yes, it’s a keelboat, but in keelboat terms it’s relatively easy to manage and we’ve been slipway launching all week. 82 boats racing with a very wide age demographic and weight range ticks a lot of boxes.
“I think the event itself has all been put together really well. Christina and the team around her have done an amazing job and Mark and his team on the water were everything I’d expect them to be. Really well managed, and they changed things when they needed to, got races in when they needed to get races in. Case in point, at the end of today’s race, they could have sat around waiting to try to get a tenth race in, but very sensibly sent us home. Really good.”
Andrew Lawson (Puffa Fish / GBR 4117) from Hayling Island Sailing Club and the Royal Thames Yacht Club crewed for Hamish Mackay (Royal Highland Yacht Club), finished 5th overall:
“It’s been a great week. The level of competition is really high. I think it’s a level up from the Fremantle Worlds, with a lot more players. Weymouth has served up some difficult conditions and it’s been great fun.
The weekend saw perfect Fifteen conditions. These are fantastic sea boats, so it’s great to be out there in the waves and having some fun. It put a smile on everybody’s face.
It’s awesome to see the fleet in such a healthy condition. There’s a lot of really good sailors out there and new people coming in, testing the Fifteen and seeing how good it is.
Helm Hamish Mackay added: “It’s been a really good week. Surprising to have easterlies all week, which I wouldn’t have expected in Weymouth. The whole race management team has done a really, really good job. The start lines have been really good, there’s been more discipline in the fleet with less recalls, and the course length has been spot-on. Having some pasta and a beer when you get ashore is great and keeps everybody together. I think it’s worked really well.”
Greg Wells (Maurice / GBR 4112) from Hayling Island Sailing Club, sailing with crew David Tulloch, finished 12th overall:
“This was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most competitive worlds ever. The standard of the fleet now, where everybody is turning up with hugely competitive boats. People know and share the rig settings, and you’re on that race track and it is absolutely unbelievably close racing.
“Russell (Peters) and I went out today and two-boat tuned all the way out to the start, then started two boat lengths away from each other, and we got all the way to the windward mark two boat lengths away from each other having done about five tacks. There wasn’t an inch in speed between us, and it’s like that with the whole fleet. It’s really about the ability of the sailor, like Graham who can pick the wind shifts and opportunities, and has the boat handling that just makes the difference, and that is just wonderful.”
Mike and Paul Dunbar (Ineffable / AUS 3983) are twins from South of Perth Yacht Club in Australia,finishing 24th overall:
Crew Paul on whether it was worth the trip around the world: “Absolutely! Fantastically run regatta, great camaraderie, great bunch of boats, fantastic sailors. Yes, it’s a long way, but it’s worth every mile. The weekend with the big waves was challenging, but if you sail well you get a good result. Fantastic memories from that first day in particular, the second day was even bigger and tougher, but it was great.”
On the boat itself Paul added: “They are a classic boat, but they’re still high performance and small tweaks can make a huge difference. They also really reward hard work, and they’re small enough and light enough to fly around, unlike some of the bigger and heavier small keelboats, which makes them really rewarding to sail.”
Helm Mike added: “We started sailing together in 1984, sailing in Perth in state-specific dinghies, starting with the Fremantle Pelican class initially, then we moved into Moths for a number of years, obviously sailing independently, Flying Ants, 420s and then we went into a Skate, picking up two National Championship wins, then families took us out of competitive sailing for a few years, then into a 7.5 metre sportsboat, which was a lot of fun, but we wanted to race more and there was no other class of this sort of standard globally.
“I’ve only been sailing in the class for four years, helming for three, and it’s a fantastic fleet. The strength of this class is the strictness of the measurements, and it makes it so much more enjoyable knowing it's a fair fight amongst all.
“To have a crew who you know so well, as twins kind of do, makes it even more enjoyable to do and share. This is by far and away the best fleet I’ve ever sailed in. The quality of the teams is phenomenal, so to come away finishing 24th I’m pretty happy with. Of course I’d have liked a top 20, but it’s a really hot fleet and a really, really enjoyable regatta.”
Peter Barblet (Glamour Buoys / AUS 4136) from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Australia crewed for Greg Leaversuch, finishing 33rd overall:
“It’s been challenging! We’ve got a brand new boat, so getting used to that was quite hard in the heavy stuff, but really great fun. As Greg Wells, Commodore of the fleet once said, ‘This group of people is amazing, they come together every two years and at the end of the regatta we say ‘see you soon’, come back in two years time and continue the same conversation’. They really are a great bunch of people to be around.
“We started doing this in 1997, and we’ve been to all but one or two of the worlds, and this is by far the most competitive fleet we’ve sailed in. These sailors are hot. It’s an amazing class because it is so competitive at almost every level - rivalry will happen whether you’re sailing at the pointy end or in the pack.”
Colin Dougan (Foxtrot Oscar / 4120) from Killyleagh Yacht Club in Ireland crewed for Andrew McCleery, finishing 46th overall:
It’s been pretty tough - a steep learning curve for us. We’ve done better before, but getting off the start line with so many boats is really tricky. I’ve been sailing the boats since 1987, so lots of experience, but not in the big seas, as we’re used to flat water. We got a black flag in the very first race and had to hang arwound for the next race, so it wasn’t a good start to the week! It’s a really good class, very competitive and great boats.”
Nick Gibbons (Parkstone Penguin / 4088) from Parkstone Yacht Club, crewing for Geof Gibbons, finished 53rd overall:
“It’s been hard! It’s surprising how you make one mistake and you see ten boats go past. It’s been good fun though and lots of chances to go up, but also to go down - snakes and ladders!
“At Parkstone there are now 33 boats and some weekends you get over 25 on the start line in the harbour, so I think we’ll build on that after this event. Even during this worlds there were 16 boats sailing on Wednesday in Poole Harbour.”
Copy of this report at https://www.sail-world.com/news/289257/Flying-Fifteen-Worlds-at-Weymouth-UK-overall
Results at https://www.sailwave.com/results/wpnsa/2025_FF_World_Championship.htm
Daily video at https://youtu.be/eBkl8hfCwE8
Photos © Mark Jardine