To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Uffa Fox, one of the most highly regarded naval architects and enthusiast of all aspects of sailing, the Royal London Yacht Club, together with the Cowes Classic Boat Museum, and supported by the Atalanta Owners Association and the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club, are holding a series of exciting events in Cowes from 18th-21st August 2022.

To celebrate the life of a man so ahead of his time, a regatta will be held for all the Uffa crafts – a once in a lifetime opportunity for owners of Uffa designed boats.

The Classic Boat Museum will be organising a series of events including seminars and an exhibition of Uffa’s various dinghies.

The Uffa Fox celebrations will be followed by the Flying Fifteen European championships organised by the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club from the 20th to 26th August 2022.

It is appropriate that the Royal London Yacht Club should be chosen to organise the sailing as Uffa was a stalwart of the RLYC and, as Chairman of the Sailing Committee, was instrumental in the resurgence of sailing after the Second World War.

Racing will be for 100% Uffa Fox designed dinghies, keelboats and classic boats, with some classes’ racing areas along the shore to attract spectators.

Along with various off-the-water tours and activities, evening social events have also been planned for participants, their families and Uffa enthusiasts.

Uffa was not only a successful author and boat designer, he was also a superb sailor and instructor; sailing with Prince Philip and Prince Charles. In 1928 Uffa gained line honours in every race he sailed in “Avenger” (135), an International Fourteen. Of her 57 starts, she gained 52 first places including the Prince of Wales Cup, two seconds and three third places. “Avenger” was the first true planing dinghy with a good windward performance.

Uffa even sailed her 100 miles across the Channel to Le Havre - three-up - in a mere 27 hours. He then proceeded to claim a victory over the French on their home waters, then promptly turn around and sail Avenger home in another 37 hours. During the Second World War Uffa conceived the idea of the Airborne Lifeboat, a vessel to be carried beneath aeroplanes and dropped by parachute to survivors of ditched aircraft.

Lightly built, with lines that blended to the shape of the planes, the Airbornes had sails, an engine, survival kit, radio and instructions on how to sail. Many aircrews owed their lives to Uffa’s invention. Years later he was caught by Eamon Andrews on the television programme “This is Your Life” where many of the airmen that had been rescued by the Airborne Lifeboat were able to thank him personally. For all his success in the field of yacht racing, he maintained that this was “his most fulfilling design”.

Tim O'Brien, President of the UK Flying Fifteen Association, paid tribute to HRH Prince Philip, a former FF helmsman

By now many will have read and seen the sad news that HRH Prince Philip has died - much will be written about his significant contribution to many walks of life whether science, industry, commerce, environment, sport, and family. Through his concept of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, launched 65 years ago, he encouraged the youth of the day to build skills, confidence and resilience that equipped them for life - in many cases through outdoor activity.

Prince Philip's other main passion was the sea and his link with sailing was prominent throughout, none more so than during Cowes Week when the Royal Yacht was anchored off Cowes with many of the Royal family actively involved in the week's racing. Flying Fifteen K192 - Coweslip - was a gift from Uffa Fox to Her Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip on the occasion of their marriage in 1949, and Uffa and Prince Philip were often to be found sailing Coweslip throughout the 1950s & '60s, usually in front of the paparazzi of the day and frequently with significant racing success... fun times.

The Prince subsequently became life Patron of the Flying Fifteen class association, and indeed Coweslip can still be seen today on display in Edinburgh with the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The thoughts of the UK Flying Fifteen Association are with the Queen and her family at this moment, and we wish them many happy and fond memories that will hopefully bring smiles to the fore.

The 2022 Flying Fifteen World and Australian Championships have been postponed to 9th to 23rd March 2023.

A consequence of this change is that the 2023 World Championships scheduled for Weymouth will now be held in the Summer of 2025.

Flying Fifteen international hope that the delay will allow the event to sail in more normal times and that travel arrangements can be made with more certainty on overseas travel.

Irish crews were planning to attend the event.

The event will remain in the same format as the proposed 2022 event but delayed by a year due to the uncertainty surrounding the global COVID 19 pandemic. The event will be sailed out of Fremantle Sailing Club (“FSC”) with Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (“RFBYC”) being the Organising Authority. South of Perth Yacht Club (“SoPYC) is also supporting the regattas.

RFBYC Commodore, Robert Parker, said “As the Organising Authority, RFBYC remains committed to hosting this prestigious event and fully supports the postponement to March 2023. We will continue to work collaboratively with the Flying Fifteen Associations, FSC, members and volunteers from both RFBYC and SoPYC to bring this event to fruition. We look forward to welcoming regional, interstate and overseas competitors to enjoy the hospitality of the three Clubs. Every effort will be made to ensure this is a memorable experience for all involved and we are confident sailors will enjoy the superb sailing conditions off Fremantle and our Club’s excellent facilities.”

The World’s Committee recommended that RFBYC requested a further postponement of the World Championship event from FFI, as there was no clear understanding as to how international visitors would be able to attend the event, due to the continued travel restrictions im- posed by the Australian and State Governments at the present time, and the unknown global regulations regarding travel with the rollout of COVID vaccines.

RFBYC would like to thank Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) for agreeing to postpone the Worlds they were due to host in 2023 to the UK Summer of 2025.

RFBYC looks forward to welcoming competitors to Fremantle, and in particular, the many visitors expected from Overseas and the East Coast. The facilities at FSC are world-class and that Fremantle is renowned throughout the World for its unique sailing conditions. The proposed course area at Owen Anchorage is a location that has been used for numerous World Championship events, including the Perth 2011 ISAF World Championships and a host of other National and International Sailing events.

The Flying Fifteen organisation in France is working hard to try and have a European Championship in 2021 but Covid is being very persistent and its scheduled event at École Na-vale, Lanvéoc-Poulmic, Brest, France between 13 -15 May 2021 is looking very unlikely. 

Currently, there are international travel restrictions in France and the UK which at best will be eased in France in mid-April and mid-May for the UK which in the circumstances means the current dates for the European Championship are unworkable.

FFI France is hoping they may be able to sail the event later in the year and are seeking a venue, most probably CN Crozon-Morgat where it previously staged a World Championships in 2015.

FFI France is asking the organising club CN Crozon-Morgat if they could hold a two to three day regatta for the Europeans later in the year (possibly Sept/Oct), when hopefully life will be nearer normal.

The event will be open to all EU Countries and under current requirements, competitors from EU countries other than France will require a valid PCR taken within the 72 hours prior to entry to France.

The 20-foot Flying Fifteen class is one of Ireland's most popular keelboat classes.

A new hull builder gives Flying Fifteen sailors an option to the Ovington hull that has been so dominant in the class in recent years has been announced for the 20-foot keelboat class. 

The class, one of the largest one-design keelboat classes in Ireland, raced for World Championship Honours on Dublin Bay in 2018.

Ginger Boats of Cockermouth in Cumbria, run by Phil Hodgkins, has a reputation for building fast GP14 dinghies is now adding Flying Fifteen Hulls to its inventory.

The company has recently been strengthened by the recent appointment of Alex Leonard (another skilled boat builder) as a director of the company last year. Phil and Alex have recently won contracts to produce solo hulls for Rooster and RS200 hulls for RS Sailing.

Flying Fifteen racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Hodgkins says he has made a few changes to the traditional Dingwall internal layout, designing a new console as can also be seen in the above picture.

More here on the new build on the class website

Mewanhile, as Afloat reported here, Scottish club Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club is keen to recruit Irish Flying Fifteen entries for its staging of the UK National Championships from 24th - 27th June 2021 where no doubt the first of the Ginger boat hulls will be competing. 

Scottish club Royal Northern & Clyde Yacht Club is keen to recruit Irish Flying Fifteen entries for its staging of the UK National Championships from 24th - 27th June 2021.

Ireland has a strong tradition of attending the UK event, particularly when staged in Scotland and convenient for Northern Ireland fleets at Belfast and Strangford Loughs.

Royal Northern & Clyde says the hope is that Covid-19 restrictions will have been relaxed or even lifted by the time of the Nationals that could reasonably expect a fleet of 50 boats or more. 

The Argyll and Bute based club is basing its planning on the assumption that either of the two lowest tiers in Scotland may still apply.

Ireland has past Flying Fifteen success on the Clyde with Dun Laoghaire's Gerry Donleavy from the National Yacht Club sailing 'The Real Thing', the last Irish winner of the UK title in 1988.

The Flying Fifteen Association of Ireland (FFAI) hosted their delayed AGM on the Zoom platform last Wednesday night (13th Jan) with a virtual attendance from Dun Laoghaire, Strangford Lough and Dunmore East and, refreshingly, Galway, where there is a significant fleet of boats. In all, there was an attendance of just over twenty people, including our Middle East Representative (and Treasurer) who was home on a short break from his posting in warmer climes.

Current Class President, Chris Doorly opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and proceeded to give a synopsis of the season, noting at the outset that the impact of Covid 19 had decimated the regatta schedule with the Championship of Ireland, hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club in Dunmore East one of the few to be sailed. This reduced race Championship was won in a heavy weather weekend by John Lavery and Alan Green sailing their new 2020 boat after the Friday and Saturday racing had to be abandoned. We also managed to sail the single-day regatta that commemorated the 150th Anniversary of the National Yacht Club. This regatta had some "fun and games" in determining the overall result due to a varying number of interpretations of the numbers of races to count. All the other regattas for the season were lost.

Full Flying Fifteen fixture list for 2021

A full suite of regattas is scheduled for 2021 with events in Dun Laoghaire, Galway, Strangford and Lough Derg. Additionally, the Class will support the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, split this year over two weekends at the start of July in anticipation of the need to dilute the crowd numbers and to encourage more classes to attend. At this stage, there is no commitment to sail a ranking event as part of VDLR but that may be subject to change. (The regatta schedule has already been published on the Afloat website here and is on the Flying Fifteen website.)

In the past few months, the Class Constitution has been subject to a long-overdue review and a new draft Constitution was circulated before the meeting with a view to having it adopted by the Class. This prompted a lively discussion on membership, in particular, with some concerns expressed on the classes of membership and the rights accumulating to the proposed classes. The mechanism by which Association membership monies are collected also featured in the discussion. Concern was expressed on the implications of not having a quorum at meetings. Chris Doorly acknowledged the value of the discussion and agreed that further consideration of the Constitution would be given.

An update on finances confirmed that the Class is in a healthy position, despite the lack of regatta activity during the season.

New Flying Fifteen Class Officers

Having served a three-year team as Class President, Chris Doorly confirmed that he was standing down and welcomed Andrew (Hammy) Baker as the new President. Hammy sails out of Strangford Lough and he was also congratulated on his new position as High-Performance Coach with RYA Northern Ireland. Other officers confirmed on the night were; Ian Mathews, Treasurer, David Mulvin, Secretary, Ben Mulligan, Fixtures Secretary, Alan Green, FFI Representative and Messrs Martin (Rory) and Bradley appointed to PR and website support.

Classic Flying Fifteen Division

Under AOB, it was proposed that a Classic Division be accommodated at the Galway event and the Galway hosts gave a brief update on their plans for the regatta and the facilities that are available.

A straw poll was taken to determine interest in attending the next Worlds in Freemantle, Australia, postponed by a year to 2022 due to Covid. The early indication is that a container may be required for the Irish contingent.

The Class website is undergoing an overhaul and is expected to be operational by the end of January.

Roger Chamberlain proposed a vote of thanks to Chris Doorly for his term as Class President and the other officers of the Association were likewise thanked. Best wishes were afforded to the incoming President who said he would do his best to follow in the style of his predecessor.

Dun Laoghaire's buoyant Flying Fifteen class is getting behind the new format Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2021 One Design event scheduled for July

With two boats already entered five months before the event, Class Captain Neil Colin of the DMYC is encouraging the Bay's Flying Fifteen sailors and those in other fleets around the country to put the Dun Laoghaire Harbour event in the diary. 

As regular Afloat readers will know, in order to facilitate social distancing and be Covid-19 compliant, a new regatta format will comprise a One Design Championship (2nd – 4th July 2021) specifically tailored for sailors in the one-design keelboat and dinghy classes. 

Preparations are off to a flying start with nine of the expected 22 racing classes already declaring regional or national championships to be held as part of the biennial sailing festival.

The Flying Fifteens have two entries so far, Neil Colin's own FFuzzy from the Dún Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club and Niall Meagher's Ffantastic Mr Ffox from the National Yacht Club.

Traditionally, the FFers are big supporters of the Dun Laoghaire Regatta with a fleet of 24 boats mustered for the 2019 event and NYC duo David Gorman and Chris Doorly won the overall prize for the best one-design performance of the event.

The Irish Flying Fifteen class AGM will now be held this week on Wednesday, January 13th and not January 14 as previously notified.

As Afloat reported earlier, the 2021 Irish fixtures for one of Ireland's most popular one-designs were published ahead of the class AGM that see the fleet sail in Connemara in May. 

The main FF fleets are based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Strangford Lough and Casla Bay in Connemara with activity also out of Dunmore East.

Flying Fifteen AGM 2020 agenda

• Minutes of Previous meeting and matters arising.
• Apologies.
• FFAI Presidents report
• World Championship report
• FFAI Constitution review
• Finance report
• Election of Officers to Committee
• AOB

The Flying Fifteen class will move to support a growing Gaeltacht-based fleet by staging its 2021 West Coast Championships at Rossaveal in County Galway next May. 

The 2021 Irish fixtures for one of Ireland's most popular one-designs were published ahead of the class AGM to be held next January 14. 

The main fleets are based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Strangford Lough and Casla Bay in Connemara with activity also out of Dunmore East.

2021 Irish Flying Fifteen calendar:

• West Coast Championships, Rossaveal, May 23/24
• Championships of Ireland, Whiterock, August 27/29
• East Coasts, National Yacht Club September 18/19
• South Coasts, Lough Derg Yacht Club October 9/10

There may also be an extra event in the North of Ireland subject to confirmation at a later date.