Please select your home edition
Edition
HALLSPARS_BOOMS_SW_728X99-lot-99 TOP

The oldest video footage of Flying Fifteen keelboat racing

by Magnus Smith 9 Dec 01:00 NZDT
Flying Fifteen sailing at Kircubbin Sailing Club in 1955 © UKFFA

When finding the earliest videos of the Flying Fifteen class of racing keelboat, we have a problem: British newsreels of the 50s and 60s were obsessed with royalty, and if the husband of the monarch was out in 'Coweslip' the cameras rarely focussed on anything else.

So if we ignore 20 videos that show only "The Duke", we must begin with Cowes Week 1952, as it does show the rest of the fleet (near the end).

Hayling Island in the 50s shows a fleet of Flying 15s (one with a two-digit sail number) amongst some other Hornet, Canoe, Finn, Enterprise and motor boat footage.

We cannot embed the video here, so please go to youtube.com/watch?v=e4vOIATSthY and then skip to 4m38s.

We then can show you the 1955 Championships at the Royal South Western YC, Plymouth, which is not on YouTube, at this link:
player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-yacht-races-from-plymouth-sound-1957-online (skip to 1m36 if you're in a hurry!)

Then, from the very same club where the class held its National Champs this year, we can see Amateur building of Flying Fifteens in Northern Ireland, which was taken sometime in the 1950s. You may see more steel nails than you'd like to...

Cowes Week 1963 has enough coverage of the fleet to warrant inclusion.

Cowes Week 1970 shows a different prince (now our King) but does cover the fleet a few times too (skip to 1m43s).

Finally we want to show a video from outside of the UK, and whilst the class only makes a brief appearance here, it's worth showing, as you might not have seen what a Fifteen looks like submerged full of water! Dinghy sailing at Port Hacking, Sydney (some time in the late Seventies) has a little at the start, at 0m50s and at 3m25s.

What of the rest?

Do you know the location of any F15 videos that show racing fleets from the 1940s to the 90s which we have missed? We would love to share these with other sailors. You can submit video links to us for immediate review.

Keep watching with:

Related Articles

South African Flying 15 Nationals 2024
Fantastic inland sailing at Midmar Dam With the water quality in Durban Harbour remaining foul and making launching of Flying Fifteen's a significant health hazard, it was decided to relocate much of the fleet one hour inland to Midmar Dam. Posted on 22 Nov
Broxbourne Flying Fifteen Open
An excellent turnout for the final event of the 2024 Southern Travellers series An excellent turnout of nineteen boats from the home club and one visitor enjoyed the open weekend of sailing and feasting at Broxbourne Sailing Club who sail on a gravel pit in the Lee Valley. Posted on 14 Oct
Belgian Flying Fifteen Championship
Event had to be moved forward due to the Belgian elections The Belgian Flying Fifteen Championship took place on October 5th and 6th at the SNEH SC on the Plate Taille lake. Traditionally held on the second weekend of October, this event had to be moved forward due to the Belgian elections. Posted on 10 Oct
Early Autumn Select One Design Maximum Discount
Great savings on sails and covers at Hyde Sails, orders must be placed by 30th September Hyde Sails One-Design Sails have had another successful season on the water, we are currently offering a maximum autumn discount period for select classes allowing for great savings on sails and covers. Posted on 27 Sep
Llangorse Flying Fifteen Open
A healthy entry of twelve teams were drawn into the competition Last weekend saw the 'Mid-Wales' Flying Fifteen Open Meeting at Llangorse SC. A healthy entry of twelve teams were drawn into the competition, including ten boats from the home club. Posted on 25 Sep
Irish Flying Fifteen East Coast Championship
Clean sweep for McCarthy & McNally at Dun Laoghaire Shane McCarthy and Hugh McNally recorded a perfect score of five race wins to take the penultimate regatta of the Irish Flying Fifteen season, the East Coast Championship, hosted by the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire this past weekend. Posted on 23 Sep
Ovington Multiclass Open at the WPNSA Preview
This is the final big multiclass event of 2024! Entries are now open for our multiclass event down at Weymouth, WPNSA on 5th / 6th October. This is the final big multiclass event of 2024 and features top coaches Adam Bowers and Sam Pascoe, who will host a racing de-brief on Saturday night. Posted on 20 Sep
Flying 15 Northern Championship at Bass
Charles and Charlie Apthorp from Hailing Island win the trophy An excellent turnout of 50 boats for the Flying 15 Northern Championship, after high winds over the last couple of days, were greeted with plenty of sunshine and a mirror like lake, with a forecast of F1 from the east. Posted on 9 Sep
Ben McGrane's inside track on the sailing scene
One of Britain's great dinghy sailors keeps his finger on the pulse of many of the UK's big classes One of Britain's great dinghy sailors, who keeps his finger on the pulse of many of the UK's big classes, is Hyde Sails' Ben McGrane. Posted on 6 Sep
Chichester Harbour Race Week 2024
60th edition attracs 383 entries across 20 different fleets As Chichester Harbour Race Week 2024 reached its last-day climax, there was still all to sail for in many of the 20 different fleets competing. Posted on 2 Sep
Motomuck SaltyMuck Static 728 x 90 px BOTTOMHALLSPARS_BOOMS_SW_728X99-lot-99 BOTTOMPredictWind - GPS 728x90 BOTTOM