The members of the FSSA Board have been working hard to improve the Midwinter Championship, 2008 should be the best one yet.
The changes begin with the schedule which will be later in March, increasing the odds for warmer weather. To better enjoy the weather the maximum number of races has been increased to 10 races, over 4 days.
Greg Fisher who has won numerous National Championships will be on hand to head up the "Top Gun School" with daily sessions to improve all aspects of racing.
There are other improvements planned as well and I will discuss them here in the near future. The racing begins March 24th and ends on the 27th. We will also have a warm-up regatta at Davis Island March 22 and 23. Make your plans to attend, March will be here before we know it.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Sarasota District Regatta
A few words form the one and only Chuck Tanner, Sarasota Fleet Captain.
Typical picture postcard weather, world-level regatta management and hospitality, courtesy Jocelyn and Allen Broadribb, Lainey and Marshall Pardey, Andy Hodgson, with more great people, and sixty-plus Scot sailors aged six to 86 from here to New England, made for a wonderful Sarasota event this weekend. Worlds racers and winners of the last two national-level Scot regattas, Jeff Linton and Fred Strammer, certainly boosted our expertise level. Winds ranged from perfect to 'difficult', NE to NW, 16 to 6, making it plenty demanding for race committee and sailors alike. Ron and Barry won 40% of the races, with Jim / Rich, Jeff / Bob, and Fred / Fred taking the others. It's tough to put one winning race together, as well as a winning series, especially in these closely-matched boats.
One great story is the improvement of everyone in all aspects of close One-Design racing; big-fleet starts and course management, boat speed in all conditions, and overall growth toward Midwinter and NA competition. Another great story is your typical Scot fleet. Vermont sailors Linda and Chris Danilek plus sons Roger and Lee, knocked out multiple top-three finishes. Marshall and son Robin bombed around the course with all high finishes and a great shot at the top prize, and Dave and wifey Kim remained the consistent year to year top Florida series boat.
A great run of close Scot sailing continues, with Sarasota Drumstick Saturday Nov. 17, Davis Island Thanksgiving Regatta Nov. 24 and 25, and Gator Challenge in Jax. Dec. 1 and 2. Invite the family and neighbors. Chuck
Typical picture postcard weather, world-level regatta management and hospitality, courtesy Jocelyn and Allen Broadribb, Lainey and Marshall Pardey, Andy Hodgson, with more great people, and sixty-plus Scot sailors aged six to 86 from here to New England, made for a wonderful Sarasota event this weekend. Worlds racers and winners of the last two national-level Scot regattas, Jeff Linton and Fred Strammer, certainly boosted our expertise level. Winds ranged from perfect to 'difficult', NE to NW, 16 to 6, making it plenty demanding for race committee and sailors alike. Ron and Barry won 40% of the races, with Jim / Rich, Jeff / Bob, and Fred / Fred taking the others. It's tough to put one winning race together, as well as a winning series, especially in these closely-matched boats.
One great story is the improvement of everyone in all aspects of close One-Design racing; big-fleet starts and course management, boat speed in all conditions, and overall growth toward Midwinter and NA competition. Another great story is your typical Scot fleet. Vermont sailors Linda and Chris Danilek plus sons Roger and Lee, knocked out multiple top-three finishes. Marshall and son Robin bombed around the course with all high finishes and a great shot at the top prize, and Dave and wifey Kim remained the consistent year to year top Florida series boat.
A great run of close Scot sailing continues, with Sarasota Drumstick Saturday Nov. 17, Davis Island Thanksgiving Regatta Nov. 24 and 25, and Gator Challenge in Jax. Dec. 1 and 2. Invite the family and neighbors. Chuck
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Ramblings from the St. Pete Boat Show
I spent this past weekend working the Flying Scot display with Dee Burns of Flying Scot Inc. The weather could not have been better, low humidity, bright sun and high temps. approaching 80 degrees and awesome breeze. It would have been a great weekend for a regatta, a thought I had about 500 times over the course of the weekend.
The display boat was #5815, a beautiful white hull with blue trim that will now live over on the east coast near Vero Beach. The excited new owner; Peter Dubai (spelling?) was on hand Sunday to help pack up his new toy, (no scratches please) for the ride home. Pete will be primarily single handing the boat on the scenic Indian River and will keep it on a lift in his backyard.
Aside from “jonesing” to go sailing, I really enjoyed the show. One thing that really hit me was the number of people that mentioned some previous experience sailing a Scot. We heard many people say they learned to sail on one, or there parents owned one when they were kids, or it was really fun to sail, etc, etc. Being relatively new to this class, I don’t have that perspective but attending the NAC/50 anniversary events and shows like these and I’m starting to get it. When I was shopping for a boat about 4 years ago I began considering a Scot, since it met the criteria I had in mind; strong one-design, easy to trailer, sailed by two people and a spinnaker. I had some doubts but since there really weren’t any other strong classes in my area that met those criteria, it came down to the Scot almost by default. I had heard some negative comments (mostly from people in other one designs) so in the end I bought an old (read cheap) one to try out and see if it was for us, if not and I’ll sell it is what I planned. Now we have become attached to PIG PEN, #812, even if it is a little heavy and a little on the ugly side it also has some kind of character, not sure what kind. In the end the choice was a really good one, we are here to stay. I guess we have become a believer, like some of those people from the boat show.
The 50th anniversary thing is a big one too. Real big. Think about all the boats that have been introduced in that time frame. How many really catch on and last? How many one designs are sailed PHRF or Portsmouth because they have no fleets? How many people lost a bunch of money on a boat that failed or the builder failed?
Who would have thought a new Scot would be built and delivered every third day? After 50 years?
The display boat was #5815, a beautiful white hull with blue trim that will now live over on the east coast near Vero Beach. The excited new owner; Peter Dubai (spelling?) was on hand Sunday to help pack up his new toy, (no scratches please) for the ride home. Pete will be primarily single handing the boat on the scenic Indian River and will keep it on a lift in his backyard.
Aside from “jonesing” to go sailing, I really enjoyed the show. One thing that really hit me was the number of people that mentioned some previous experience sailing a Scot. We heard many people say they learned to sail on one, or there parents owned one when they were kids, or it was really fun to sail, etc, etc. Being relatively new to this class, I don’t have that perspective but attending the NAC/50 anniversary events and shows like these and I’m starting to get it. When I was shopping for a boat about 4 years ago I began considering a Scot, since it met the criteria I had in mind; strong one-design, easy to trailer, sailed by two people and a spinnaker. I had some doubts but since there really weren’t any other strong classes in my area that met those criteria, it came down to the Scot almost by default. I had heard some negative comments (mostly from people in other one designs) so in the end I bought an old (read cheap) one to try out and see if it was for us, if not and I’ll sell it is what I planned. Now we have become attached to PIG PEN, #812, even if it is a little heavy and a little on the ugly side it also has some kind of character, not sure what kind. In the end the choice was a really good one, we are here to stay. I guess we have become a believer, like some of those people from the boat show.
The 50th anniversary thing is a big one too. Real big. Think about all the boats that have been introduced in that time frame. How many really catch on and last? How many one designs are sailed PHRF or Portsmouth because they have no fleets? How many people lost a bunch of money on a boat that failed or the builder failed?
Who would have thought a new Scot would be built and delivered every third day? After 50 years?
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