Flying Dutchman Nationals at Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club
by Julian Bridges 31 Aug 2007 23:22 BST
25-27 August 2007
Over the bank holiday weekend, the British FD fleet, with the addition of the multinational visiting team Ronald Stalman (NED) helming for Bill Bernard (USA), enjoyed a classic championships in their classic boats at a classic venue, Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club. In perfect conditions of sunshine and warm winds between force two and four, the class enjoyed eight very close races, convincingly won by Jon (Strangler) Williams and Alex (Daddy) Rogers.
First blood on Saturday went to Peter Doran and Richard Phillips, in a race shortened as the sea breeze swung the gradient wind. This was followed by the first of a succession of victories for Strang ‘n’ Alex, with Julian Bridges and Peter Hadfield robbed of a second as Julian had to retrieve Pete from the North Sea after he came off the trapeze. In the third race of the day, Tony Lyall was leading when he had to recover Colin Burns who went out on the continuous trapeze elastic while covering Stang and Alex, thus ensuring two new members for the exclusive waterwings club.
Sunday morning saw revenge for Tony and Colin who led all the way, with Neil Pye and Jamie Whitaker taking third behind Alex and Strang, as the race was shortened for the incoming sea breeze. In race five the fleet was again tightly bunched with no quarter given for the slightest miscalculation of the strong tide, while in the final race of the day, after the startline misdemeanours of the Javelin fleet, the black flag was displayed for the FDs and did for Tony and Colin, leaving the dynamic duo of Strang and Alex unassailable.
Monday saw one of the best FD races in GBR for some years with the top five boats almost overlapped at the top of not only the first but also the second beat in the seventh race, with the first bottom reach being a complete valediction of FD sailing, the leading group all within a couple of boat lengths, poles against the forestay, riding on the edges of control in the sunshine and the waves. By the second bottom reach the swing to the right meant that only the foolish tried to carry, and Peter and Richards’ miscalculated macho took them from first to fourth. The last race of the event was again a victory for Strang and Alex, as the breeze faded towards the top of one of the beats, spreading the fleet out over what appeared to be most of the North Sea, especially those parts of it occupied by inshore trawlers.
The championships was fantastically well run by FFSC, and the British FD class would like to extend our thanks to all those involved with providing such a great event, from the commodore and PRO, to the 505 world champion who skippered one of the mark boats.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 369 | Strangler | Alex Rogers | -2 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2nd | 382 | Peter Doran | Richard Phillips | 1 | 3 | 2 | -5 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 2 | 12 |
| 3rd | 386 | Tony Lyall | Colin Burns | -4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | (7 OCS) | 2 | 3 | 16 |
| 4th | 380 | Julian Bridges | Peter Hadfield | 3 | -4 | 3 | 4 | -5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 20 |
| 5th | 373 | Neil Pye | Jamie Whitaker | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | (7 DNS) | (7 DNS) | 25 |
| 6th | USA 2 | Ronald Stalman | Bill Bernard | 6 | (7 DSQ) | 6 | (7 DNS) | 7 DNS | 7 DNS | 5 | 5 | 36 |