THE LINTONS WIN THEIR FIFTH FLYING SCOT NORTH AMERICAN TITLE
AMY & JEFF LINTON WIN THE 2017 FLYING SCOT NORTH AMERICANS
The Flying Scot North Americans were jammed packed with great sailing and fun for all! Sailors using North Sails dominated the results placing 1,2,3,4,5,7,8*, and 9th overall!
A trip to the midwest in the summer typically means sailors prepare for warm temperatures and light breezes however Sandusky Bay had something else in mind for the last week of June this year. Lake Erie and northern Ohio reared back and threw the 68 teams at the 2017 Flying Scot North American Championships quite a curveball as, it seemed, someone turned on the wind machine and forgot to turn it off! Westerly breezes dominated all 5 days of the event with breezes ranging mostly between 14 and 20 mph (with a few exceptions) and while the breeze created a challenge for some of the lighter teams the regatta was flawlessly organized with plenty of opportunities to enjoy camaraderie, win some fun prizes and even pick up a few tips from some of the class experts throughout the week.
Brian Hayes and Zeke Horowitz hosted a morning coffee talk each day affording competitors a chance to pick up a tip and to to chat about techniques that work well, sail trim, and maneuvers that prove to achieve race wins.
Friday night and Saturday were spent measuring boats, practicing, and tuning rigs for competitors. Zeke and Brian did a presentation for the club on sail shape and trimming on Saturday night, which was informative for all who attended. Sunday there was more wind than anyone had asked for which led to the Women’s and Juniors events being cancelled and kept all the boats on their trailers, so the fine tuning tricks continued onshore, and sailors prepared for the racing that would begin the next day. Monday, the North Sails team hosted “Coffee with North”, which included a tip of the day. The majority of the fleet attended, and found it helpful to hear the guys talk about their techniques in big breeze. How to make a Flying Scot “go” in big breeze and chop was the most valued tip of the day-Spoiler alert! It’s tricky!
The first two days of the event was the qualifying round where fresh breeze greeted competitors, allowing for 2 races to be completed. After racing, North Sails Expert Zeke Horowitz hosted a debrief for the fleet where sailors asked questions and learned some new tricks to better their performance for the remainder of the week.
The Championship races held in much more temperate wind conditions until Thursday’s finale where a ‘wall of wind’ filled in, deeming conditions unsafe for sailing. All in all a great week spent in Sandusky, with challenging conditions raising the bar for the Flying Scot sailors. Overall sailors seemed happy with their performances and word in the parking lot was that the coffee with North morning briefings and afternoon debriefs helped them learn a lot from the class experts. Certainly, at a minimum, everyone had a great time enjoying the hospitality, catching up with old friends and making new connections.
Congratulations to the Ohio District, Sandusky Sailing Club and the bevy of volunteers for running and organizing one of the finest NACs in years. Also, congratulations to our clients for upping the competition and sailing to the top of the leaderboard this week!
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