Clinton Lake Boats Take First, Second at Indy Regatta

Ben and I are so glad we went to the Mayor's Cup. Eagle Creek Sailing Club outside of Indianapolis is lovely and has a very strong one-design racing program. The regatta had about a dozen J 24s and nine Highlanders. We had five Flying Scots there and could easily have had eight or nine if other obligations had not interfered! The wind was light and we got two long-ish races Saturday and none Sunday.  Clinton Lake Sailing Association carried the day (not that I'm biased or anything!), with Eric and Rod Bussell placing second and Ben Williams and Deb Aronson taking first.

The best thing about the regatta, though, was that Carrie Carpenter, who moved to Indianapolis last fall, was reunited with her boat Shadow. Ryan Malmgren delivered it from Madison and then they sailed it together. Carrie has now joined the Eagle Creek club and, together with Geoff Endris, has lots of plans for building a fleet and having a Scot-only regatta in the near future. That would be an extra fleet in the Midwest District and has got Ben and me really excited.

The next best thing, or maybe tied for first best, was the speech the race committee chair, Kenny Carpenter, made about how pleased he was to see the Flying Scots at the Mayor's Cup and how much they supported one-design racing at their club. In fact, he said, anytime we wanted them to host a Flying Scot regatta, just say the word and they would be there. That got a lot of cheers from the assembled crowd, too. It's a club with a lot of spirit, a LOT of spirit, mostly young-ish sailors who like to have a lot of fun. I think this is a club that is ripe for a Flying Scot fleet, so stay tuned!

Kenny went so far as to show us where, on the massive Mayor's Cup traveling trophy, he was going to remove another fleet and put a Flying Scot class logo. I guess he is hoping we'll get many more Scots next year and one of them will win the cup (though the scoring for the cup was a bit confusing, I must admit!).

Oh, and another cool thing. We saw a gorgeous water snake with orange diamonds on its back in the harbor. Just gorgeous! And we had a little tiny baby praying mantis on our boat deck! All this within earshot of the Clermont Raceway (where they practice for the Indy 500) and Interstate 74!

On the Road Again: Heading Off to Indi for the Mayor's Cup

Well, Ben and I are headed to Indianapolis for the Mayor's Cup, a new regatta for us. Our buddy, Geoff Endris, invited us to it and so we'll check it out. Another boat from CLSA, Eric and Rod Bussell, is coming. And I think Ryan Malmgren will be there as well. We'll see!! I'll try to take photos and report fully Sunday night.

Amazing Offer From Boat Builder Harry Carpenter

Dreaming of a new boat for the North Americans this June? Flying Scot builder Harry Carpenter is offering a once-in-a-lifetime GROUP DISCOUNT deal!! Check it out. Get your sailing buddies on board and take advantage of this amazing opportunity!

Package price complete $19,995.00
Package price on two boat group order $17,995.00
Package price on three or more group order $16,995.00

Group Order Discounts for the 2012 NAC June

Free freight to the NAC in Carlyle, IL
These boats will be ready to sail, just add crew!


Flying Scot complete – white deck and hull with no trim stripes, fiberglass centerboard cap
Mad main, jib with AirX spinnaker
Galvanized trailer and tie-down
Mast hinge
Jib sheet cleated on seat with Harken auto ratchet
2:1 jib sheet rig
360 swivel cleat for centerboard
Ronstan X-10 fixed h-o stick
Mainsheet – 5/16 polypro - rigged 2:1 with Harken Carbo blocks
Spinnaker rig and spinnaker pole
Two rings on mast for pole
Spinnaker halyard led aft with take-up reel
Spinnaker guy hooks on deck with cleats at chainplates
Spinnaker sheets – ¼” Ultra-lite - internal system with self-ratchet cheek blocks under seat
Spinnaker turtles on forward seat corners
Outhaul – 6:1 internal wire
Cunningham system led aft to console
Vang – 12:1 cascade purchase led aft to console cleat
Pole lift – 2:1 - led through deck to console cleat
Pole downhaul – shock cord through deck
Mast head fly
Break-away rudder blade hold down pin
Tack-Tick compass and mount
Safety equipment - anchor & line, paddle, cushion, whistle, bucket & chamois
Package price complete $19,995.00
Package price on two boat group order $17,995.00
Package price on three or more group order $16,995.00

Terms – 50% down and the balance on delivery

Lake Norman Hosts 44 Boats for Great 48

Lake Norman Flying Scot Fleet #48 ordered up perfect wind for their annual Great 48 regatta May 5 & 6 and 44 boats participated. This club often has large numbers at their regattas, but this was a great showing even by their standards.

In addition to good wind and lots of boats, the regatta committee arranged for FS boats # 1/First One (owned and sailed by Harry Carpenter) and #2/Dream Weaver #2 (sailed by Tommy Weaver), and two of the newest boats, #6020/Moxie (Bill Ross) and #6022/ Rick’s Café Américain (Midwest District’s own Ryan Malmgren).

On Friday Paul Abdullah (Dieball Sails) offered a sailing clinic and boats #1, #2 and #6020 sailed together for several photo opportunities. The photographer, Doug Collins, had all the regatta participants sign the photograph and on Sunday the sailors on each boat received a signed copy of the photo. Look for a cover shot of this historic event in an upcoming issue of Scots ‘N Water.

After racing Saturday the club hosted the first ever OOH (Overly Outrageous Hat) contest.  Forks and knives, turtles and sailboats, polka dots and parrots all were featured on various hats entered. The MC, Larry Vitez, was highly entertaining and moved the show along with perfect pacing. I only think he should have had his wife, Carla, win a prize for the most gorgeous hat: an aqua blue number by Mr. John she bought for a buck at a yard sale! Chris Czapleski had a great polka dot hat number with a crazy brim. She had brought a second hat—red with all kinds of flowers on it — that she lent Ben to wear.

The racing was great as it always is at Lake Norman. You don’t get 44 boats on the line every day! Wind was generally moderate, though it built a bit for the last race Saturday. Saturday the wind came from the west, northwest and then by Sunday it had clocked all the way to the east and a little east. So over the course of the weekend we sailed upwind in completely opposite directions. That can mess with your head … or at least my head!

On Saturday we knew the wind was predicted to shift from west to north so we wanted to protect the right side of the course. Just at the start, though, the wind shifted left and the pin end was so massively favored it would have been malpractice to start anywhere else. That meant we weren’t on the right, so we just tried to keep the boat moving and sailed the shifts. Finally, by the third race, when we were on the proper (right) side of most of the fleet, the wind shifted to the right as predicted. We felt pleased that we had a plan and executed it!

Sunday was one of those days where it appears that the wind is strong and you get all revved up to hike and haul on sheets and instead the wind is light and has holes but the water surface is choppy enough it’s hard to see the holes or the puffs. It takes a lot to change gears in those conditions and, instead of looking over your shoulder whistling for more wind, to sail the wind you have. That meant that shifting my weight was critical and I had to do it constantly. In, out, straddling the centerboard trunk, on the deck, no too much! down on the seat. And then all over again.

On Sunday we liked the right side of the course before the races. We thought there was more pressure and the possibility of a shore effect off an island. But we went right the first leg and everyone to the left of us made out, so we didn’t do that again! Peter Beam, from Lake Norman was the next boat behind us going into Sunday’s sailing. We had five points on him so we figured we just had to keep an eye on him. But he was untouchable on Sunday. He had an amazing day, getting a 1 and a 2 and finishing third overall. I noticed … only after the racing, that he had gone right every time we went left and that worked well for him. Nothing like 20/20 hindsight!

A week ago Harry Carpenter also delivered a new boat to Mark and Maria Benner (#6011), whose original boat was totaled by another driver on their way to New Orleans for the Midwinters (which I see I neglected to write about back then…too painful. No one was hurt, though, thank goodness). The Benners also debuted their new boat at the Great 48.

Anyway, you’d think all those new boats would stay away from one another, but noooo. I heard no details, but apparently#6011 and #6020 …made contact, and not in a friendly, aliens-from-another-universe way! Ah well, no fiberglass was damaged, as far as I understand!

Next up for us? The Mayor’s Cup in Indianapolis. We urge all you Midwest District sailors to join us there May 19 and 20. It’s a multi-class regatta and Flying Scot sailor Geoff Endris promises us a separate start if we get 5 boats or more on the line. Geoff bought a Flying Scot last season and we’ve seen him at many local regattas, including at Carlyle and Clinton Lake, so come on out and support his regatta!