By Douglas Dommermuth
The United States National Championship was sailed in San Diego, California at Mission Bay Yacht Club on August 17-19, 2018. Six FDs sailed eight races in winds between 8-12 knots in the ocean. Boats traveled from Canada and Florida to sail in the Nationals. Paul Scoffin and Brendan Heussler won the National Championship, winning 5 of 8 races. Three teams, Paul Scoffin and Brendan Heussler, Lin Robson and Kim McDonald, and Douglas
By Tim Sayles
Halloween weekend provided a new venue and great sailing for FD sailors at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center for the National Championship Regatta. Over 3 days on the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Clearwater Beach, the fleet had a range of weather conditions, largely based on a weather system that came out of a south easterly direction, moving east and then back to southeast as the weekend progressed. Winds ranged from ligher 7 knots up to mid-teens over the weekend, under sunny, warm skies.
Clearwater Community Sailing Center will be the site of the 2015 USA Flying Dutchman National Championship. The event will be held October 29 through November 1. Registration will be held Thursday and racing will commence on Friday, October 30. The Notice of Race can be found here.
By Kurt Hemmingsen
It was a tough start for the FD Nationals at Santa Cruz on Friday. The weather forecast for the weekend promised light winds from WSW, typical for the time of the year, however the local sailors knew better and warned participants on shore that the breeze typically fills in and sure enough we ended with heavy air, 15-18 mph from SW, gusts to exceed 25 mph which is nothing for the enduring FD’s, but requires skills and perseverance.
The 2014 North Americans will be held April 25-27, at the St. Petersburg Sailing Center in downtown St.Petersburg, FL. Many know that three FD Worlds have been held at this site, 1962, 1997 and 2006.
By Dave Ellis
Florida’s Gulfport Yacht Club hosted the Flying Dutchman Nationals on lower Boca Ciega Bay in their usual style of minimal on-shore amenities and great on the water racing. The fleet was smaller than some Nationals because of a scheduling conflict for the West Coast fleet. The quality, however, was very good.
A front moved into the Tampa Bay area early Sayurday morning and brought rain and plenty of wind – too much in fact and that brought on a postponement. Gusts well over 30 knots were reported on the Gulf and so plans to set of to race there were abandoned. At 1300 racing resumed in the light air that remained after the front passed through. Buzz and Kurt were the big winners in two of the three races, pulling in two firstplaces. The breeze showed much variability across the course so those teams that were practiced in boathandling and paid attention to conditions did well.Â
After six races on Boca Ciaga Bay Lin and Arthur have a commanding lead with 5 bullets. The rest of the fleet had good close and tight racing during which time winds were up to 14 knots gusting to perhaps 18 with the wind getting particularly shifty and gusty reaching the top mark. PRO Dave Ellis had planned to set the course to sail on the Gulf Saturday however with a front moving through and winds up to 30 knots racing was postponed and will probably sail on the bay again.
The 2013 U.S. Nationals will be held November 1-3 at the Gulfport Yach Club, Gulfport, FL. We’re expecting some great fall sailing, and social events.
Every year over Columbus Day weekend in October, the American Yacht Club in Rye, NY, hosts the HPDO. HPDO is the acronym for High Performance Dinghy Open. It is a regatta that has become a big fixture in the Fall on the East Coast, with many dinghy classes in attendance. In fact several classes held their North American championships at the regatta this year. They throw a nice dinner and gathering afterward. We had the pleasure of seeing a few FD sailors from years past, it was good catching up with Guido Bertocci and others.