Yachting partners now rivals
A Christchurch yachtsman, Marton Sinclair, has good memories of the last time Charteris Bay held the national Flying Fifteen championships. Eight years ago Sinclair and Mike McPhail took the title, but when this year’s contest opens with the invitation race at Charteris Bay tomorrow the pair will be rivals. Sinclair will sail with Chris Davis, and McPhail, who won the championship in 1985, will have John Taylor as
crew. The fleet will include the title-holder, the Aucklander Alan Ballentine with his crew, Roger Davies, and Napier’s Barry Finlayson, who won the world contest in 1982. Finlayson will have Graeme Robinson as crew. Dunedin’s Flying Fifteen fleet will be represented by Leatham and Anne Edmond, while Jeff Morrison, wha is enjoying a good season, will be Timaru’s main hope. As far as Canterbury crews go, the honours this
season have been spread fairly evenly between Sinclair, the experienced Paul Pritchett (who will be sailing with Glen Cowan) and the husband-and-wife team of Hec and Leigh Dawson. At national level the Flying Fifteens, while not commanding the numbers of the Olympic classes, are attracting growing fleets. They are strong in Auckland, Napier and Wellington as well as Canterbury. Part of the reason for their popularity is in their versatility and the
challenge they offer. “I think they suit a particular type of person,” Sinclair said. “They offer the mobility of a small keel boat and yet you are not being tied down, having to bother about marinas,” he said. The Flying Fifteen has some of the attributes of a dinghy as well. In Sinclair’s words, there was also “some tolerance” within the measuring system which had allowed some variation with the hull specifications. However, that
was beginning to be tightened up, he said. It appears that a design brought back from the 1986 world championships in Hong Kong was gaining popularity and providing the fastest hull shape at present. Several of the Flying Fifteens at this contest have been built on those lines. The championship will be sailed over seven races, starting with the first race proper on Monday, and ending on Friday. JANE DAVIDSON
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19881230.2.112.14
Bibliographic details
Press, 30 December 1988, Page 20
Word Count
357Yachting partners now rivals Press, 30 December 1988, Page 20
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in