7 July 2006

Archie Massey and George Nurton are the new National Champions, their boat is Composite Craft’s first fourteen; a slightly modified Beiker 5. In a week characterised by competing gradiant and sea breezes, the race committee successfully ran the Prince of Wales Cup race in Poole Bay yesterday. A few boats went left of the start line, but most of the pack went right led by Michael Lennon and Jon Blackburn in good breeze for the first lap. Then the wind went left continuously, placing the left-hand boats, led by Archie Massey, in a good position. By the time they reached the windward mark for the second time, Lennon and Blackburn were somewhere around 5th. Then the wind dropped. For those of you who remember North Berwick, apparently it was not quite as dire as that, but almost! From there on in it was a game of snakes and ladders, led by Archie and George. At one point, Lennon and Blackburn slipped to 25th, but clawed back to 4th. Congratulations to Archie and George who have shown, once again, that they are rocket ships in light to moderate winds. The tension is builiding for the LA Worlds!!

Top Ten Results

1st Archie Massey & George Nurton, 2nd James Fawcett & Dave Dobrejevic, 3rd Martin Jones & Neale Jones, 4th Michael Lennon & Jon Blackburn, 5th Tom Smedley & Jonathan Clegg, 6th Ian Teasdale & Matt Chapman, 7th Andy Partington & Tom Partington, 8th Matthew Larkin & Sam Pascoe, 9th Richard Thibaud & Ben Le Poisson, 10th Julian Pearson & Nick Martin

Above: Composite Craft's first '14 build, a Beiker 5, just out of the shed. To be named 'George 1st', the high-performance dinghy was fitted out by owner George Nurton. George and sister Katie (who also has a Composite Craft '14) were part of the build team thoughout the project..

Composite Craft's Flying Fifteen 'Fluux' is launched for the 2006 season

Composite Craft's second Flying Fifteen was launched this month, in time for the Europeans at Hayling Island. Originally designed by Chris Benedict, Composite craft modified the design, with assistance from Fifteen guru Roy Windebank, and will be sailed by Composite Craft's directors Gavin Tappenden and Bob Preston.

Other events for Fflux in the coming weeks include Skandia Cowes Week, where the boys are looking forward to sailing on a boat both designed and built on the Island.