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!

Great Conditions Saturday at the Choo Choo

 The Privateer Yacht Club hosts the Chattanooga Choo Choo regatta every year on the last weekend of April. We have been coming to this event for the last seven years. The first year we got T-boned and capsized and the next year we finished at the back of the fleet, but we have slowly worked our way up as we sail more and more. We always have a great time!

Given how early in the season it is, we also always have wind ... sometimes too much wind! This year the conditions, wind out of the south/southwest at about 10, gusts to 14, were perfect for a mid-weight boat like Ben and me. The race committee, headed by Steve Sherman, president of McLaughlin Boatworks, decided to run four races Saturday because Sunday morning conditions looked quite light. That was a good call. The wind was good but we saw huge shifts, with wind from 170-270 throughout the course of the day. Sometimes those shifts benefited us, sometimes, not so much!

We tried mostly to get starts in the middle of the line and play the middle of the course, which generally worked well. Twice, though, boats that played the left really made out. In the first race Bill Robertson, of Privateer, was probably in about fifth or sixth place on the last leg, which was upwind. He caught a shift on the left and blew by tons of boats, placing second. In the third race, at the last leg we were leading by 10 boat lengths and had finally learned to cover other boats. Nevertheless, Corky and Molly Hadden, who sail out of Bay Waveland in Louisiana, got just a whisker to the left of us and that was enough. They nosed us out by less than a boat length at the finish by riding a huge left shift right to the line. Boy! Did we gnash our teeth! Fun race!!

We were on the water until 5:30; the day was gorgeous, many of the races were an hour long, and we all came off the course feeling exhausted but satisfied. Sandy Eustis, Dixie Lakes District Governor, organized a short debrief with the top three leaders. Each skipper, and their crew, talked about what they did on the water and what they were thinking. Other sailors also asked questions. After that, we had a great hamburger cookout and plenty of beer.

The next morning, as predicted, there was no wind. The races were abandoned at about 10:30 and we packed up our boats.

Finishes:
First: Ben Williams and Deb Aronson 6 points
Second: Corky and Molly Hadden  11 points
Third: Ed and Tom Craig 18 points

Notice of Race, Midwest District Championships

The Notice of Race has been posted for the 2012 Ephraim Regatta and Flying Scot Midwest District Championships, August 3-5 at the Ephraim Yacht Club, Ephraim, Wisconsin.  Discounted pre-registration is available online.  To view the NOR and to register, go to www.eyc.org/racing  In-person registration also will be available August 3 and 4 at the EYC.

The regatta should be one of the largest in the country in 2012.  In 2005, the last time the EYC hosted the Districts, 55 boats competed!  Please be the EYC’s guest at what promises to be another fun and exciting Ephraim Regatta!  Questions?  E-mail regatta@eyc.org

Voodoo curse is broken; we get to sail!!

Some sailors started joking that the Flying Scots were the victims of a voodoo spell when three of the four days of scheduled sailing at the New Orleans Midwinters were cancelled — Tuesday and Wednesday had winds in the 20s with gusts in the mid 30s and Thursday was pouring rain and zero wind.

But others countered with the fact that we had made the appropriate sacrifice, referring to the Flying Scot that was totaled when a drunk driver side-swiped it on the drive to the regatta (the owners were uninjured and were able to borrow a Scot).

Friday morning we were woken at 6 a.m. by the loudest thunderstorms and rain yet. We groaned, rolled over and turned off our alarm. Except, when we did get up about 8 a.m., the skies had cleared and there were moderate breezes. Hallelujah!

By Friday morning more than half a dozen sailors had packed up and gone home, but we stuck with it and I'm happy we did. The sailing Saturday was in about 7-10 out of the west, northwest for most of the day. I thought I had been optimistic that we'd get to race, but I must have not been as optimistic as I thought because I neglected to bring anything on the boat but one bottle of Gatorade. We had four excellent races. Ben and I were parched and had to request water from the committee boat after every race, but we were happy. We had two great races (for us): a fifth- and a third-place finish. But then we had two not-so-great finishes. Oh well, that's sailing!

In addition to our boat, Eric and Rod Bussell and Chris Tesdal from Clinton Lake came and sailed the Challenger Division in the Bussell's boat, Windtalker. After a strong and consistent performance (one 2nd and three 3rds) they got second in the regatta. Congratulations to Eric, Rod and Chris!!

We learned a lot at this regatta, as usual. We learned a new technique for hoisting the spinnaker where we pull the jib in very tight right before the hoist and don't put up the pole until the spin is up. That worked really well for us. No more hourglasses and a much faster hoist. We also learned to launch our boat over the bulkhead, which was carpeted. That worked fine because the water was so high from the rain and strong winds that caused water to pile up on the southern shore of the lake. We also learned from the Carpenters that some sailors keep all the zippers and velcro tabs closed on their top cover and just slide it off through the hole where the mast goes. I'm excited to try that next regatta trip!

As usual we had a great time visiting with our fellow sailors and eating awesome N'Awlins food, from gumbo to bananas foster! Next up? Chattanooga Choo Choo at Privateer Yacht Club in Chattanooga, Tenn, the last weekend of April. See you all there!

Flying Scot Midwinters, day two...

Ben and I came to New Orleans for the Flying Scot Midwinters and are enjoying the trip so far, though so far we've sailed as much as if our boat were still in storage!

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, we sailed three races Sunday in the warmup regatta in great conditions, but since the official regatta started yesterday, New Orleans has been socked in with bad weather and too much wind. You know it's windy when they ban trucks from driving across the Lake Ponchartrain bridge because they'll be blown over. That's been the case the last two days.

Still, we are optimistic that things will clear up tomorrow or Friday and meanwhile we learned some things about sailing in heavy wind from a panel of racers — Paul Abdullah, Dave Bolyard, Kelly Gough, and Ryan Malmgren — and MC'd by Al Terhune.

Ben and I have spent some of our spare time in the French Quarter and along Magazine Street. Today we went to the WWII museum in New Orleans. It turns out the landing craft with those drop down ramps were all designed and built by a guy named Andrew Higgins, whose factory was in New Orleans. Every craft like that, even those he didn't build, was known as a Higgins boat.

More tomorrow.