The Australian Flying Fifteen championships kicked off today (Monday 8 Jan) at the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club. After a short delay,  the invitation race got started on the first attempt in a very light north-easterly that,  uncharacteristically,  favoured the right hand side and saw UK sailors Graham Latham and Sara Briscoe lead at the first mark followed by Ken and Lee Bubb from Queensland. 

The breeze filled in by a couple of knots for the second lap and Ashley Smith and Kym Thumpkin from Queensland established a race winning lead and left locals Chris Villa and Mark Holmes to pip the Bubbs into second place. Fourth was Neil òLestor and Graeme Dobson  (also from Queensland) and Victorian brothers Craig and Ian Rainey in fifth.

The racing starts in earnest tomorrow (Tuesday 9 Jan) with 2 heats scheduled starting at 1330 hrs.

Report via Jonny Fullerton

Image ©June Jelick