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Flying 15s enjoy a battle at Bewl
Sunday, 11 October 2009
New Hyde spinnaker design proves a winner on its first outing.Some 20 Flying 15s enjoyed a challenging weekend of racing, with Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado taking overall victory, with the assistance of the brand-new Hyde spinnaker design.
Saturday's racing took place in a blustery breeze, which ranged from 8-24 knots. Big clouds added to the entertainment, with the wind direction predominantly northerly, but some large shifts up to 40 degrees at times - whacky inland sailing at its best!
A relatively short D-shaped course proved very testing with the pressure and angle changes, and the two five-lap races proved a real challenge.
Unfortunately Sunday dawned with just 2-4 knots at 10am, which dropped to zero at 10.30. Racing was eventually cancelled at 11.30 leaving Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado in the Hyde-powered boat as winners, having won both of Saturday's races, with Robert Hogben and Glyn Morgan second.
Lovering and Alvarado put their win down to simple strategy with good starts, clean air and nice tactics from crew. Matt Alvarado commented: "The event was awesome fun given the massive changes in pressure and direction. Bewl is a beautiful place to sail. The main and jib combination was quick through the range, while the new Hyde spinnaker proved very stable and controllable on the tricky 3-sail reaches."
The first half of last year saw some intensive sail development by Hyde's in the Flying 15 class, resulting in a strong showing from Hyde-powered boats at the 2008 nationals. The main project over the winter and early 2009 has been the development of the new spinnaker design, which enjoyed its first airing at Bewl.
Hyde Sails is renowned for its success in working with one-design classes, and the last year has been a busy one. The Hyde team has been working hard to produce to best sails for each class to enable sailors to achieve their full potential. With the launch of Hyde's new webshop - www.hydeshop.com - you can browse the spec sheets and information for each class as well as being able to buy your sails direct online.
For more details on Flying 15 and other one-design sails, contact Paul Austin (T: +44(0)7872 816918) see www.hydesails.com or go direct to the Flying 15 class page: www.hydeshop.com/flying-15-143-c.asp
posted by Hyde Sails at
20:43
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