2022 Allen Flying 11 Australian Championships at Gosford Sailing Club

by Mark Rothfield 21 Jan 2022 19:14 NZDT 11-15 January 2022

2022 Allen Flying 11 Australian Championships © Mark Rothfield

With Queensland to host the Olympic sailing a decade from now, it's possible that some of our future representatives were competing in the 2022 Allen Flying 11 Australian Championships at Gosford Sailing Club last week.

It was watching the 2000 Games in Sydney that ignited the passion of Gosford local Tom Slingsby, who went on to win multiple consecutive world championships and Olympic gold in the Laser class, and Brisbane should provide a similar incentive.

Right now the talent of 2032 are likely aged 10 to 15 and a golden opportunity awaits, based on the skills displayed at the Flying 11 nationals. It helps that the two-handed class is a highly competitive, high-performance training platform for both the 49er and 470, with a proven track-record over many years.

You just have to look at some of the names who've progressed through the class into the Olympic realm: Malcolm Page, Nathan Wilmot, Nathan Outteridge, Iain Jensen, Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Katie Spithill, along with legends Iain Murray, Michael Coxon and Adam Beashel.

Adam Beashel's son Joel won the previous Flying 11 nationals with Marshall Day. He then sold the boat, Cheeky, and handed the baton to his former for'ardhand for this year's regatta.

Marshall, 13, delivered on the big stage, now sailing with young Leo Pirret who progressed from Sabots. Joel attended the presentation last Sunday to award Marshall and Leo the trophy.

2022 Allen Flying 11 Australian Championships - photo © Mark Rothfield

Marshall's sister Keisha, 15, was also skipper in the top all-girl crew, finishing 4th overall with Amy Ellis. Marshall also collected the first-time skipper award and the junior skipper award, so the Day's car was certainly full on their return trip to Lake Macquarie.

Manly's Sam Stodart finished runner-up for a second year after being pipped on the last day as the wind faded. The breeze direction also changed from nor-east to sou-east, necessitating a full reset of the race course on Brisbane Water.

2022 Allen Flying 11 Australian Championships - photo © Mark Rothfield

Belmont held the teams trophy but handed it back to Manly's sailors, who showed great consistency at the pointy end of the fleet. Fortunes fluctuated during the week as conditions favoured the lighter crews. The heaviest breeze was 13 knots and there were frequent times when it fell below 3 knots.

The strongest squall of the event came during the presentation, when a storm cell brought lightning, hail and heavy rain. Market umbrellas began to rip as Marshall was mid-speech.

2022 Allen Flying 11 Australian Championships - photo © Mark Rothfield

Fleet size (51) was slightly diminished, with only one Brisbane boat venturing south due to Covid uncertainty - otherwise, there would be up to a dozen. Two boats also withdrew during the regatta as a result of being close contacts.

The young sailors all enjoy the F11's performance and competitiveness. As Ellen Murray from Helter Skelter commented: "You have to think a lot more. Single-handed boats are pretty easy but when you get to Flying 11s there's more to consider.".

2022 Allen Flying 11 Australian Championships - photo © Mark Rothfield

Former class president Hugh Stodart has had two sons go through the class, his eldest now sailing 29ers and younger son sailing his last regatta at Gosford.

"For us, the Flying 11 has been a really good class to develop their sailing. They can sail a two-person boat with their mates, and the boat teaches them good techniques, good boat handling and they go fast," he said.

"It has put them in a really good position to move on to whatever's next for them, be that an Olympic pathway in the 49er or 470, or into the skiff classes. It's a very equal class. We've had all-female national champions and a lot of mixed crews. It tolerates quite a high weight range and everyone has a lot of fun."

Overall Results: (full results can be found here)

Plc	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	Club	From	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	1327	Cheeky	Marshall Day	Leo Pirret	Belmont 16s	NSW	2	9	3	2	5	4	5	1	2	24
2	1383	The Muppets	Sam Stodart	Ash Napper	Manly 16s	NSW	14	4	2	1	1	6	6	5	8	33
3	1402	Dirty Rat	Liam Karunaratne	Ben Milham	Manly 16s	NSW	5	1	8	8	3	11	3	6	3	37
4	1370	Giggle & Hoot	Keisha Day	Amy Ellis	Belmont 16s	NSW	17	7	5	4	6	1	13	2	13	51
5	1386	Aeolus	Tom Cameron	Beau Dransfield	Manly 16s	NSW	16	2	1	26	11	12	1	3	10	56
6	1345	Suspicious	James Hopkins	Baden Thomas	Manly 16s	NSW	10	16	4	12	7	2	4	11	6	56
7	1363	Knot Shore	Jemma Hopkins	Harrison Thomas	Manly 16s	NSW	1	13	6	10	10	9	14	8	5	62
8	1393	Waverunner	David Tulk	Alex Baldi	Manly 16s	NSW	9	11	9	7	8	5	8	9	16	66
9	1352	Up 2 No Good	Charlie Nosworthy	Aidan Nosworthy	Port Macquarie SC / Belmont 16	NSW	13	17	13	5	12	14	2	4	4	67
10	1336	Hydromatic	Makenzie Mayne	Flynn Beck	Lane Cove 12 ft Skiff Club	NSW	3	12	11	DPI	2	8	11	12	17	70
11	1331	General Lee	Banjo Nicholson	Bella Jones	Belmont 16s	NSW	7	DPI	7	9	9	3	7	22	22	77
12	1407	Flying Star II	Sebastian Spencer	Christian Spencer	Belmont 16s	NSW	11	6	12	3	13	7	19	18	15	85
13	1392	Gary	Noah Steenson	Connor Radford	Belmont 16s	NSW	18	3	10	17	4	19	15	20	1	87
14	1397	Artemis	Theo Franklin	Lucas Rolfe	Manly 16s	NSW	4	15	15	11	19	10	10	10	24	94
15	1379	Firefly	Lucas Patrick	Zachary Patrick	RQYS	Qld	8	19	14	24	14	16	12	15	14	112
16	1366	Protagonist	Max Nearn	Zac Golovosky	VA12FtSC	NSW	6	14	35	22	16	15	27	14	DPI	128
17	1388	Zephyr	Kye Rivers	Jacob West	Gosford Sailing Club	NSW	OCS	DPI	DPI	UFD	15	17	9	7	7	135
18	1399	Nomad	Taj Waters	Mackenzie Paterson	Belmont 16s	NSW	20	5	17	13	18	13	26	26	26	138
19	1338	Brace	Coby Napper	Lachlan Jansen	Manly 16s	NSW	12	18	22	16	17	35	24	23	25	157
20	1361	Mayhem	Don Rowlison	Tayla Lees	Manly 16s	NSW	PEN	21	28	18	22	23	23	16	27	178
21	1339	Luff Me Knot	Isabella Armistead	Bailey Mayne	Lane Cove 12 ft Skiff Club	NSW	22	33	21	19	20	21	33	19	30	185
22	1395	Airborne	Zackary Wyatt	Zara Wyatt	HKSC	NSW	25	28	24	14	25	37	37	24	11	188
23	1401	Ondalay	Jadon Morris	Phoebe Pilgrim	Belmont 16s	NSW	15	32	18	33	24	20	29	35	18	189
24	1405	Don't Tell Mum	Peter Rowe	Henri Dehe	Gosford Sailing Club	NSW	34.5	29.5	27	21	28	24	16	25	DPI	195.5
25	1369	Raptor	Ollie Barrett	Max Barrett	HKSC	NSW	27	23	20	15	26	40	17	28	40	196
26	1384	Don't Worry	Thomas Milham	Jaden Kelly	Manly 16s	NSW	28	24	19	20	27	25	32	31	39	206
27	1254	Helter Skelter	Ellen Murray	Amelia Pilgrim	Belmont 16s	NSW	34.5	26	37	23	29	34	20	21	19	206.5
28	1406	Fanging	Evie Doolan	Charlotte Fletcher	Drummoyne Sailing Club	NSW	41	20	29	29	23	22	21	34	31	209
29	1389	Mojo	Jack Paterson	Nicholas Drummond	Belmont 16s	NSW	37	34	23	31	35	27	22	29	12	213
30	1263	Oscar	Byron Lowe	Will Harding	HKSC	NSW	24	27	33	28	30	36	25	17	33	217
31	1404	Schmick	Natasha Kemp	Emily Kemp	Middle Harbour Skiff Club	NSW	23	40	38	27	21	31	18	38	29	225
32	1323	Up In Flames	Isaac Robbins	Cooper Lowe	HKSC	NSW	32	35	31	25	38	26	39	13	34	234
33	1396	Flying Bye	Ryan Morris	Elijah Morris	Belmont 16s	NSW	29	39	25	30	34	42	35	27	23	242
34	1377	Cool Running	Tomas Armistead	Eoin Cullinane	Lane Cove 12 ft Skiff Club	NSW	33	43	26	32	31	18	34	37	32	243
35	1353	Flying Hellfish	Lily Springett	Matilda King	Manly 16s	NSW	31	22	34	36	32	29	31	30	DPI	245
36	1364	Dynamite	Zara Coates	Gus King	Manly 16s	NSW	30	29.5	32	34	33	33	28	40	35	254.5
37	1381	Flight Time	Abigail Rolfe	Chloe Franklin	Manly 16s	NSW	26	25	41	40	36	30	30	32	38	257
38	1252	Hard Drive	Sophie Pilgrim	Zali Waters	Belmont 16s	NSW	38	41	36	35	41	32	38	33	21	274
39	1333	Sudden Impact	Millie Cullinane	Max Nicholson	Lane Cove 12 ft Skiff Club	NSW	40	36	30	41	39	28	41	39	DPI	286
40	1387	Marvellous	Sophia Ugarte	Hugo Minnett	Vaucluse	NSW	36	31	40	37	37	39	36	36	DPI	292
41	1275	Bluebird	Caitlin Gong	Emily Armistead	Lane Cove 12 ft Skiff Club	NSW	39	38	39	39	40	38	40	41	36	309
42	1347	Virevolter	Liam Babb	Ella Babb	Drummoyne Sailing Club	NSW	42	42	42	38	42	41	42	42	41	330
43	1357	Speedy	Joe Mills	Levi Windust	Manly 16s	NSW	21	37	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	334
44	1149	Sandfly	Max Lane	Mary‑Lou Doolan	Drummoyne Sailing Club	NSW	43	44	43	42	43	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	353
45	1385	Daringyan	Harry Wyer	Elliot Wyer	Gosford Sailing Club	NSW	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	368