The Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta was held at Canandaigua Lake on July 28-30, 2023. The Canandaigua Yacht Club hosted. Jonathan and Anna Gorbold organized the event and were the PROs. As former FD sailors, Jonathan and Anna know Canandaigua very well. Jonathan and Anna were assisted by members of the Canandaigua Yacht Club. Once again, Jonathan, Anna, and yacht club members did an excellent job. The Flying Dutchman Class is very grateful to Jonathan and Anna and the Canandaigua Yacht Club for their support. The galley at the Canandaigua Yacht Club prepared excellent food. Everyone had a great time socializing in the club on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Sailors came from California, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Long Island, and Maine to attend the regatta. Paul and Pavel put in long days and evenings refurbishing a 1987 Mader to get ready for the event. Lee refurbished a 1987 Lindsay. Both boats looked great and sailed well. Paul and Pavel had some breakdowns, but in the two races that they sailed, they got two bullets!
Races were held on Friday and Sunday. No racing was held on Saturday due to the threat of lightening storms. Winds varied over the course of the regatta from light and shifty to full trapeze. It was great Flying Dutchman sailing!
Jeff and ChrisOvidiu and RazvanDoug and JasonChris and Emily
Chris, Emily, and AnnaAnna, Jason, Doug, and JonathanAnna, Chris, Jeff, and JonathanPaul, Pavel, and AnnaAnna, Razvan, Ovidiu, and Jonathan
We added a new feature for crews and skippers. Check it out here: Crew/Skipper Wanted. If you need a skipper or crew and would like to make a posting, contact FD Sailor.
The famous or infamous Brookville Lake Pork Regatta is scheduled for September 9 & 10. We call it a fun regatta since you can come and enjoy the fellowship and you can also compete as seriously as you want. Sailing will take place at the Hanna Creek launch ramp on the east shore of Brookville Lake just off Indiana Route 101. That’s just north of Brookville IN and south of Liberty IN. We’ll plan to run as many races as we can starting at about 1 PM EDT. After racing the club has invited us to enjoy the club picnic dinner with brats, grilled chicken and pretzels along with all the fixings. Sunday we’ll plan to continue racing starting about 10 AM with a lunch and trophies by about 2 PM. Please bring any trophies along that will be the awards for the regatta. The Puddle Duck Racer fleet also uses that approach and you can bring fun or fancy trophies. To add interest, BLSA will have another start for club boats to keep things interesting for all of us. Please contact me if you have any questions or comments. We look forward to your joining us and if you know of any other FD sailors, please us know about them and invite them.
We are planning to hold the Flying Dutchman Nationals at St. Petersburg Yacht Club on November 10-12, 2023. This will be a great opportunity to test your mettle on Tampa Bay in preparation for the Flying Dutchman Worlds in late March, 2024. Additional opportunities to sail on Tampa Bay include a North American Championship to be held in conjunction with the Helly Hansen Regatta Series in February, 2024 (https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/) at St. Petersburg Yacht Club (https://www.spyc.org). Lin Robson will also be organizing a series of clinics starting in the late October to November time frame to help sailors prepare for the World Championship (Contact Me) .
The Canandaigua Yacht Club (http://www.sailcyc.com) is hosting the Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta on July 28, 29, and 30. Nearly all FD sailors who have sailed on the east coast are likely familiar with CYC as the hosts of the over 50 consecutive Cannonball Regattas, as well as many NA and Nationals over the history of the class. For much of that time, the Gorbolds were active (and fierce) competitors on that lake, and this year’s NA will feature Jonathon Gorbold as PRO with Anna assisting (contact). Jonathan, Anna, and Sue Raymond did a stupendous job hosting the Flying Dutchman North Americans last year. We hope to see you at this year’s event.
The International Flying Dutchman Class Association of the United States (IFDCAUS) is very pleased to announce that the 2024 Flying Dutchman Worlds are being hosted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in March 2024. For additional details, please contact Lin Robson Contact.
“Hello all FD enthusiasts, in an effort to not only have a great regatta, but an excellent marketing opportunity, the class is planning to have Nationals as part of the Helly Hansen regatta February 17-19 at St. Petersburg Yacht Club.
There should be great conditions and the usual excellent SPYC race management. Get out of the cold, take a nice FD sailing break. Let’s show off our great boat to a national level audience.
Contact me direct with logistical questions, I’ll help in any way I can. It’s important to have a good crowd of us for this one, start your plan now, there are other sailors from other classes looking at accommodation, etc., and it is high season in Florida! Contact Me
“Breathe – you are in Campione del Garda” this is what they tell you when you first arrive at Univela. For many, Campione is the most beautiful spot on the Lake Garda, located on the western shore, about 20 km south of Riva, and can only be reached via a very spectacular system of tunnels. The mountain is a very rugged terrain made from limestone. The impressive rocks face erosion by strong winds, rainwater and rivers.
Tristiano Vacondio, the event manager holding the strings of Univela, was so kind to offer some information about this special place, which we`ll share with you. The tall cliff next to the sailing hostel is evaluated each winter with built-in sensors, whereas the fine crevasses are measured and read by drones. The safety of the rock structures provides the certification for the seasonal activity for the following summer. During the competition week, on a morning with strong winds, a relatively small limestone dropped in an unprotected area in the lake, the loud echo on the tall wall, sending the mobile homes’ inhabitants outside, in a frenzy.
The region around the Lake Garda has been in private property since 1850. A large cotton factory was the only industry on the Garda Lake, until it was closed in 1980. Starting with 1980, tourism seemed to be a promising kind of merchandising of the region. In 2012, the Univela Hostel opened its doors for the Italian Federation of Sailing. It was sending to this place, sailors for the Olympic classes consisting of 2-3 teams plus coaches. But it was a short time of exclusivity (approximately two years), then the Federation decided to split over several locations, so that the Hostel could offer its services to more than these unique customers. Any customer enjoying activities related to water and other sports around the lake is now welcome in this special house. The building is also special since it was built with a layout inspired from other sailing clubs (as in: Weymouth, Medemblik and Santander) but it was developed to promote competitions in addition to a venue where you can sleep, eat and have nice conversations with people coming from the whole world and of various heath conditions, since it was built to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Univela has a partnership with the AIL (Italian Association against the Leukemia/ Lymphoma/ Myeloma). According to the information of Tristano Vacondio “it has been discovered that one hour of sailing allows the strength of the pain medication to be reduced to half”.
Univela Sailing has organized the Flying Dutchman World Championship in September 2022. Unlike at other racing places, the place of residence was also at the venue of the boat slips. You can practically spit out the window, into the boat. Regional foods and drinks were served in a pleasant atmosphere by mostly young staff, who made all possible that the guests feel at their best during their stay.
The yard layout allowed barely tight room for cars, mobile homes, trailers and the narrow slips for boats with marked berths. A siren with the D flag would announce when the boats were allowed to be moved out of the slip, for boat launching to navigate to the regatta. But there was also sufficient place for the kite surfers, who stretched their 13-16 square meter sails next to the deckchairs and sunbeds, on the lush green lawn. Swimming in the crystal-clear water of the glacial lake was a treat for the participants and their supporters alike, the strong August sun on the tall rock warming the water at a reasonable temperature. Participants were surprised even by directional parachutes, whose flyers dared jumping from the tall cliff next to the Hostel, and then found a narrow landing place in between the boat trailers.
Overall, the trip was also worth due to plenty of opportunities available to explore the stunning area around Campione.
The FD Worlds races were marked by variable winds. The morning north wind put the skills of the sailors to the test, with speeds frequently above 20 knots, (with one day of even 38 knots) getting everything out of the boats, sometimes requiring postponement or cancelling of the regattas. The races allowed a splendid view of the multicolored spinnakers enriching the wonderful blue of the lake and contrasting to the soft green of the trees on the mountainous background. Not all the boats were able to cope with the high winds and so were some of the sailors: some masts broke, some sailors took an unwanted bath, in addition to capsized FDs.
The race ranking varied within the days of the competition. Some competitors who did not win any races, had top ranking on some days, while others have claimed the first place in different days. Strong winds brought some competitors in survival mode, while drifters challenged their patience. The last day was decisive for the trophy keeper. GER 88 proved to maintain its lead from the previous day, while the contenders DEN 2, HUN 70, GER 87, ITA 4 settled for this final order. Paul Hemker, the only USA team participating sailor had an ambitious goal to compete on an unfamiliar boat with a goodhearted, but unfamiliar crew. The other USA sailor, Razvan Adam’s plan to crew for a multinational team unfortunately did not come to fruition, due to last moment unforeseen logistical problems. Final results can be observed here.
The ceremony with the various trophies completed the fancy setup of the event. Additional prizes have included: best total with no discounts, best female helm, best skipper under 25 years old, best team on an over 25 year old boat, best team with an under 18 year old sailor.
Razvan’s interaction with Marc Strittmatter unveiled an interesting possibility of chartering or buying race worthy FDs during future competitions in Europe. During the competition’s week Marc’s entrepreneurship was in full display, buying the fully geared AUT 60 boat, that was put up for sale after only 2 days of races.
The 2022 Cuspidor will be held July 23 and 24, 2022 at Willow Bank Yacht Club Cazenovia, NY. Registration is Friday night 1600 -1800 and Saturday morning 0800-0900. Willow Bank Yacht Club has a fish fry Friday night all FD sailors are invited. Light Breakfast and lunch are provided both days of the regatta.
The club has a launch ramp and hoist. Camping on the club grounds as well as B&Bs small inns and hotels in the village. We are planning to sail 4-5 races Saturday and 2-3 races Sunday. July wind usually 5 to 12.
In addition to FD North Americans at Canandaigua July 29-31 we are planning to continue with our low key Brookville Lake regatta as part of Brookville Lake Sailing Association’s Pig Regatta September 24-25. The Pig Regatta is named for the pulled pork dinner that has been a highlight social event for BLSA.
The lake is south of Liberty IN and the racing will be as low key as you would like or as serious as you would like. Details to follow but plan on sailing Saturday afternoon and Sunday till about 2 pm.