Flying Fifteen Open at Notts County Sailing Club
by D Eberlin / J Arnold 26 Sep 2005 21:53 BST
24-25 September 2005
21 boats for the Flying Fifteen open at Notts County © David Eberlin
Notts County’s Flying Fifteen open attracted 21 boats with visitors from Wales and Teeside. Bright sunshine light winds made for pleasant racing.
Race 1 saw Peter and David Kitchen from Hartlepool build a comfortable lead early on, which they held to the finish. Jeremy Arnold and John Allen from Notts County where in second place for most of the race, but were passed within a few feet of the finish line by David McKee and Chris Hewkin from Dovestone SC.
Race 2 saw different boats fighting for the top places, with Will Gardner and Sam Parker (NCSC) leading the fleet home, followed by Paul Brown and Peter Baldwin (NCSC) and McKee / Hewkin in third.
After a break for lunch Race 3 was probably the most difficult of the event with the wind dropping and becoming very variable. McKee / Hewkin demonstrated their mastery of the conditions with a comfortable race win, followed by Brown / Baldwin and the Kitchens.
Sunday dawned slightly overcast, turning to a sunny day, with a perfect breeze for the remaining races. In race 4 McKee / Hewkin increased their overall lead by winning this race from Martin Stott / Andy Farmer (NCSC) in second and Arnold / Allen in third.
A building breeze and some tight spinnaker reaches kept the spectators on the clubhouse balcony entertained in Race 5. McKee / Hewkin again led the fleet home, followed this time by Arnold / Allen in second and Stott / Farmer in third.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 3805 | David McKee | Chris Hewkin | Dovestone | 5 |
| 2nd | 3595 | Peter Kitchen | David Kitchen | Tees & Hartlepool | 13 |
| 3rd | 3724 | Paul Brown | Peter Baldwin | Notts County | 13 |
| 4th | 3685 | Jeremy Arnold | John Allen | Notts County | 13 |
| 5th | 3613 | Martin Stott | Andy Farmer | Notts County | 18 |