This 15′ water line, 20′ overall 2 person keel boat represents some of the best that sailing has to offer. Weighing in at little over 300kg the planing hull fixed keel design is attractive to the performance enthusiast and novice alike.
Capable of 14 knots plus off the wind in flat water with no trapeze to worry about, few if any boats in its category can match its ultimate performance. An efficient rig and fine entry also provide for good performance and exhilarating competition upwind. This combined with a boat that has the stability and safety of a fixed keel together with the practicalities that come from being trailerable, makes for a unique combination.
It is the stuff of legends or myths depending on how you look at it, that Uffa Fox came up with the design for the Flying Fifteen whist taking a hot bath. He described the event as follows, “Suddenly, in my mind’s eye, I saw the Flying Fifteen marching in triumph before a brisk nor’wester”, wrote Fox. “Her mast, rig, the shape of her hull, the layout of her decks, fin keel and rudder were as clear in my mind’s eye as though the first boat was built and sailing on her trials.”
The lines that look smooth neat and uncluttered today were certainly radical stuff sixty odd years ago. Many yachtsmen got their first look at the new Flying Fifteen in the early summer of 1949 when an article featuring the newly‑designed Flying 15 appeared in the magazine “Yachting World”. Australia’s own “Seacraft” soon followed with the editor lucky enough to go for a sail with Uffa Fox in one of the first boats FF 4 “ My Dainty Duck”. Orders were soon flowing for plans.
In the 1976 yearbook the there are three boats listed that predate FF 196 “Serena” that started F15’s in WA. FF 9 and FF 125 are from NSW and FF 195 from Queensland. Early boat numbers were often allocated with the issued plans, some boats may have taken years to build and first hit the water long after later numbered boats were already sailing. In the early 1950’s the Perth fleet grew slowly. While in the eastern states Flying Fifteens were being sailed in the waters around Sydney and on the Gippsland lakes of Victoria in small numbers as well.
The Royal Prince Alfred Club in Sydney had twelve boats constructed in fibreglass, all off one mould for Senior sailors of the club in the early 1950’s. This should have been a great boost for the class, but regrettably the hulls, sails, spars and rigging were very crude and much too rigid, resulting in excessive weather helm, which could not be easily corrected. These boats eventually formed the basis of the Tasmanian Flying Fifteen Fleet.
The numbers of Flying fifteens grew slowly in NSW with many being built by amateurs as Uffa Fox had intended. However by 1954 the first Fibreglass F15’s had appeared in the UK and David Hinckley in Sydney soon followed, producing many fibreglass boats. One of his boats FF 619 “Schuss” was even fitted with a cuddy. The interpretation of the plans were still a long way from a one design class.
The Flying Fifteen class in Australia has often been said to have originated in Western Australia. However by 1962 the eastern states of New South Wales and Victoria had formed their own state associations along with WA. Flying Fifteens were also sailed in Tasmania and Queensland. In an article by Tally Hobbs, he states that when WA heard the NSW had been talking to other states about the possibility of a national association for the class, they decided to beat them to the punch and the Australian Flying Fifteen Association was declared. Tally Hobbs explained it as follows, “I got the job of president with a committee with instructions to give the Eastern States connections formal notice of what had happened and to get out a constitution and complete formalities.” In some ways it was probably easier that one state took on the initial organising of the National Association.
In the early days of the class NSW got involved in the running of the association on a National level with John Hurley stepping up to take on the position of President of the class in 1965 and again in 1969. John Dickson from NSW also took on the role in 1973.
The first National titles were held in WA that year, but it was not until 1965 that NSW achieved a National victory when IK Downing sailing “Bookiera” took advantage of home town knowledge to win on Pittwater at the Avalon Sailing Club. This was the last major event for Flying Fifteens that used a two man crew in Australia.
Throughout the rest of the 1960’s and early 1970’s the national championship rotated through nearly all the Australian states, including Tasmania. It wasn’t till 1974 that NSW was able to claim another National Title when GA Mason won on the tricky Lake Burley Griffin in “Taurus”. 1974 was the inaugural year for the Uffa Fox Trophy and this was claimed by NSW as well with DG Bennett in “Mach II”
In the fifties, sixties and seventies the class was sailed at a number of clubs around NSW, these included, Port Hacking Sailing Club, Avalon Saling Club, Greenwich Sailing Club and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.
In the early 1970’s Flying Fifteens arrived at the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club. This was at the impetuses of Noel Davis, who saw the F15 as a great training boat for sailors as well as a capable class in its own right. Members of the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club approached local boat builder JJ Jarvie about supplying labour and building their own boats using Jarvie’s facilities. A number of boats were built using the Dulmison hull as their basis. These boats are recognizable by the squaring off of the bow above the waterline. Andrew Rennie’s boat FF1717 “Thistle” (previously “Lime Splice”), still has in felt pen on the top of the rear bulk head “Built by N Davis Jan 75”. As the NSW boats became more competitive, many opted to buy Shand boats as they competed against sailors form other states.
The eighties were dominated by the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club and by two helmsmen in particular, Chris Villa and Glen Coulton between them they won just about every prize out there for Flying Fifteen sailors. They travelled all over the east coast and over to Western Australia to compete.
In 1979 Chris Villa won the Victorian State Title in “Shermossle” before competing in the first F15 Worlds in Fremantle WA in 1979, he went on to compete again in 1982 and 1990, finishing 4th in the 1990 World Titles in Queensland. In 1985 Chris won the NSW Title in “Here We Go Again” and in 1988 picked up a double winning the Australian Title Coweslip Trophy and the Uffa Fox Trophy for the invitational race.
During the 1980’s the only major prize that eluded Glen Coulton was the Australian Title. Between 1981 and 1984 he won the NSW four times, as well as the Victorian Title (The Inglis Smith Trophy) four times over five years. From 1983 to 1986 Glen had a strangle hold on the Uffa Fox Trophy (invitational race prior to the Australian Titles), but couldn’t claim the Coweslip Trophy. 1986 would be seen as the pinnacle in this single year Glen won the Queensland Title, the Victorian Title, the Uffa Fox Trophy and in November /December of that year won the World Flying Fifteen Title, sailed in Hong Kong.
After the success in Hong Kong, the Flying Fifteen class in New South Wales seemed to fade away. For three more years the state held championships,but people had moved on to other classes and boats that had won district, state, national and even international events now languished as mooring minders or under covers in back yards and were sold interstate. People sailed the F15′s in one off events or regattas, but for all intents and purposes the class was nearly dead or at least in a coma.
About 2002 moves were made on two fronts to get the class active again. Keith Manion at the Botany Bay Yacht Club had obtained several Flying Fifteens and they were started to be raced at the Koograh based club in twilight events. Andrew Rennie in the Hunter Valley rescued a Lake Macquarie boat and contact with Keith was made and attempts were made to organise some events for the Flying Fifteen. Help arrived in the form of Les Galbraith from Harken who offered support for the class and a venue to run a State Championship at Sail Expo at Rozelle Super Yacht Centre. In the 2003/4 State Titles were held with support from the Flying Fifteen Associations from Queensland and South Australia.. 2004/5 State Titles were held at the Botany Bay Yacht Club again with support from the ACT and South Australia.
The 2005/6 season saw a turn of advents for the worse in NSW, the State Titles to be held at the Lake Maquarie Yacht Club were cancelled due to lack of support and the National Committee for the Flying Fifteen Class deemed that the class had not been formed properly and members were to be part of the ACT association.
Since that time a full effort was made to get the class properly organised. In the 2006/7 season the class achieved affiliation with Yachting NSW as a recognised class and in the 2007/8 season was recognised as a Class Association Member of Yachting NSW. With steps now afoot for NSW to have proper status with FFIA it is hoped that NSW will host a State Championship for the 2007/8 season., at this stage Grahamstown Dam in the Hunter Valley looks the most likely venue.
