2026 Regatta Schedule

Posted on April 29, 2026 by - Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta, Pig Regatta, Schedule, Whiskey Town Regatta, Worlds

Hello everyone,
Gerhard and I have gathered some info, and here is an outline our 2026 FD Regatta Season Roadmap.
The 2026 sailing season has shaped up to be a good one, from the high-altitude breezes of California to the historic waters of the Finger Lakes. Whether you’re a seasoned sailor or a dockside enthusiast, these four events offer a perfect mix of competitive racing with an excellent sailing community.
Here are the listings of our key regattas you can’t miss this year.
_______________________________________________________________
Whiskeytown Lake Regatta
Dates: May 23–24, 2026 (Memorial Day Weekend)
Location: Whiskeytown Lake, California
Kick off your summer at the 61st Annual Memorial Weekend Regatta . Hosted by the Whiskeytown Sailing Club , this event is a West Coast favorite known for its stunning mountain backdrop and family-friendly atmosphere.
● What to expect: Typically featuring a variety of centerboard and keelboat classes, this regatta is as much about the friendly vibe as it is about the podium.
● Pro Tip: Whiskeytown is famous for its clear water and unpredictable canyon winds—come prepared for shifts!
● Camping spots : Spots are first come first served, RV’s at Brandy Creek Marina, Tents at Oak Bottom Marina.
Registration for Whiskeytown can be found here:
Whiskeytown Sailing Club,Whiskeytown Registration
_________________________________________________________
Canandaigua Yacht Club Invitational Dinghy Regatta
Dates: July 24–26, 2026
Location: Canandaigua Lake, New York.
In the heart of the Finger Lakes, the Canandaigua Yacht Club serves as a premier host for mid-summer racing. This late-July window often features intense competition across popular one-design classes.
● The Vibe: Expect classic Finger Lakes hospitality combined with tight, technical racing on one of the most scenic lakes in the Northeast.
● For the FD sailors: Five or more boats at this event can set up a designated start.
Information for Canandaigua can be found here:

Canandaigua Yacht Club
______________________________________________________________
Flying Dutchman Regatta @ Baseline Lake
Dates: August 15–16, 2026
Location: Michigan Sailing Club (Baseline Lake), Michigan
The Michigan Sailing Club is the place to be in mid-August. This year, the club highlights its high-performance roots with a dedicated two-day regatta. Baseline Lake offers a protected but challenging environment perfect for small-boat tactics.
● The Scene: Known for its cooperative, volunteer-run spirit, the Michigan Sailing Club events are fantastic for meeting local sailors and enjoying post-race barbecues at the clubhouse.
Information for the FD Regatta at Michigan Sailing Club will be posted here:

Michigan Sailing Club
___________________________________________________________
2026 FD Regatta Season Close Out The Pig Regatta
Dates: September 12–13, 2026
Location: Brookville Lake, Indiana (Brookville Lake Sailing Association)
Our last regatta and the closing out for the season is the legendary Pig Regatta . Hosted by the Brookville Lake Sailing Association (BLSA) , this event has earned a cult following for its unique blend of fun racing and the serious food on shore.
● The Main Event: While the racing on the water is competitive, the shore-side festivities—specifically the namesake roast—are the highlight of the weekend.
● Classes: This low key event usually attracts a diverse fleet including keel boats, and various dinghies.
Information for the Pig Regatta at Brookville Lake Sailing Club is posted here:

Brookville Lake Sailing Association
____________________________________________________________
And; we need to finish with a Grand Finale: 2026 FD World Championship
While our regional circuit starts in California and wraps up in Indiana, the pinnacle of the year sits across the eastern horizon on the international stage. This year the ultimate test of Flying Dutchman skill and speed is in Kiel, Germany.
● Dates: June 21 – 28th, 2026
● Location: Kiel, Germany (Kieler Yacht-Club)
The 2026 Flying Dutchman World Championship returns to the historic waters of the Kieler Förde . Known world-class race management and challenging Baltic Sea conditions, Kiel offers a legendary backdrop for the FD class. This is more than a regatta; it is a gathering of the fastest sailors in the world in a city known for sailing excellence.
The official Notice of Race (NoR) and registration details are here:

2026 Worlds Registration

Big Race on the Little Lake

Posted on September 29, 2025 by - Uncategorized

The Michigan Sailing Club held a 2-day Flying Dutchman Regatta on August 23-24.  Five FDs competed, as well as a 505. All 3 club boats competed, along with Ovidiu and Russell in Sailor Family, and visitors Paul and Eric Hemker in their FD. An overcast day on Saturday kept the powerboats away for the most part. Southwest winds were light in the morning but filled in, with plenty of wind for trapezing. Day 1 was a full day with 7 races.

Sunday weather was spotless.  Winds from the west were a bit shifty before the first “gun” at about 10:28, but settled down in direction (only one pin-end adjustment!) and mostly varied in intensity at 6-15 kn.  Only a few powerboats to throw up waves.  Bright sunny day (you’ll see in the numerous photos) with some high clouds starting to build toward noon. Our 3 races (filling out to 10 total) were completed by just before noon and all were back at the dock shortly thereafter.

After 2 days and 10 races, the Hemkers took first place, with Ovidiu and Russell in second and Mike and Matt in the 505 in third.

Links:

FLYING DUTCHMAN USA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2025 RESULTS

Posted on August 23, 2025 by - Canandaigua, Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta, Nationals

CANANDAIGUA YACHT CLUB JULY 25-27 2025

For the first time since 2019 the Flying Dutchman National Championship was held on Lake Canandaigua, New York. Canandaigua Yacht Club has been a tradition for the Flying Dutchman class for over fifty years. The FD class has participated every year in CYC’s annual Dinghy Regatta. CYC graciously allowed us to designate our participation as our National Championship. Canandaigua is pretty much central to the northeastern FD sailors. We had seven boats participating coming from Maine, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Long Island with some crew members coming in from Rhode Island, Texas and California.

The first day of the regatta provided good sailing with shifty and puffy conditions. Five races were held. Saturday’s racing started with light winds. One race was started and abandoned but later the wind filled in becoming puffy and shifty and causing a couple of capsizes. Two races were completed. The third day started with very little wind and after waiting awhile the racers voted to end our participation in the regatta. The results are posted here.

There are reasons to believe we could have a larger fleet next year since there is potential for at least two new teams to become active and two to three teams coming out of retirement. We are also working to expand the number of regattas held.

The FD class is most grateful and thankful to Canandaigua Yacht Club and especially to Jonathan and Anna Gorbold for their expertly run race committee and overall regatta management.

PlaceSail NumberSkipperCrewRace 1Race 2Race 3Race 4Race 5Race 6Race 7Race 8Race 9 Points
1145Paul ScoffinPavel Ruzika11118 (DNF)11118
2115Ben HallBruce Mahoney32531224219
3251Paul HemkerJason Breeden443228 (DNF)32323
48Ovidiu AdamRussell Mora232438 (DNF)43627
5301Jeff WrennChris Wrenn554548 (DNF)75439
61197Chris LibretiEmily Swanson76768 (DNF)366546
715Lee CostelloeDan Baker67675457747

Pig Regatta, September 13-14, 2025

Posted on August 23, 2025 by - Pig Regatta

The famous or infamous Brookville Lake Pig Regatta is scheduled for
September 13&14.  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.  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.

Paul Hemker Contact

Whiskeytown Lake Regatta, 2025 Edition

Posted on June 1, 2025 by - Northern California, Whiskey Town Regatta

This year was the 60th anniversary of this famous Memorial Day weekend event, and the Whiskeytown Sailing Club and its members again did a wonderful job! This is also becoming the main event for the West Coast FD sailors.

The Carrs came down again the long stretch from Seattle area. They are a fixture to this event by now – even the local hydro powerplant is named after them!

Jim Conachen’s wooden Van Doesburg FD from 1968 caught a lot of adoration; Jim did a wonderful job in restoring this boat that used to belong to Buzz Ballenger (who unfortunately could not join the event due to work).

Three FDs showed up for this event: the Carrs, Jim Conachen, and Gerhard Panuschka.

There were reserved tent spaces for the sailors in the group camp nearby; RVs were allowed to stay in the parking lot of the launch ramp.

All boats had to be inspected for the Golden Mussel that was recently discovered in some lakes on the West Coast. The federal inspectors were very friendly, including the sniffing dogs.

The westerly wind on Saturday morning started to die just before the 1100 first start, as predicted by the locals. Nevertheless, the race committee was able to get three races through that day. 

Jumping into the refreshing water was fun after the races.

We were starving when dinner started at 1730. There was also a band playing good music from the ‘70ies and ‘80ies.

Gerhard just returned from Europe and was not able to find crew. Jim did not have crew either, so on Saturday Jim helmed the West Coast Lindsay with Gerhard as crew. Jim had to leave on Sunday to prepare for the Memorial Day celebrations on Monday: he is playing his bag pipe. The FD sailors sat with a group of nice people during the dinner on Saturday. Gerhard mentioned that he needed crew for Sunday, and Anna, a nice woman with no sailing experience, agreed. Somehow, Gerhard must have been convincing ;-). 

A lot of partying was going on that night, and some sailors were a little tired the next day.

Sunday was another beautiful sunny and warm day with 10 to 15 knots of wind (3 Beaufort) from the East that lasted all day. The FDs even got to use the trapeze! (except for Gerhard with Anna, who did a wonderful job handling the Genoa, but we didn’t want to overwhelm her). We raced another three races for a total of six races as planned.

More than 60 boats registered. A total of seven groups started in a 3-minute sequence. Some classes had their own starts (Snipe, El Toro, Wabbit). The FDs started in the Centerboard A group together with C-15s, a Buccaneer, and two other fast dinghies, a Nomad and a VX-One (technically a keel boat). The VX-One was the fastest and got second place overall on corrected time. First place went to the Nomad, a father sailing with his two young kids – they are also from Gerhard’s Lake Washington Sailing Club.

Peter Carr and his son Conner became 5th behind the two C-15 (the FD’s rating of 80.1 was not in our favor), and Gerhard on 6th. Jim’s FD did not get in the water due to the lack of crew.

As Peter Carr already mentioned in his Facebook post, the Whiskeytown Regatta does not disappoint year after year. We will be back next year, and we welcome all of you to join the fun!

2024 FD Worlds

Posted on June 9, 2024 by - St Petersburg, Worlds

The 2024 FD Worlds, hosted by St.Petersburg Yacht Club was a success for several reasons.

To satisfy the class as truly International, every few years the Worlds must be held outside of Europe. When reminded of this fact, and that a Worlds for 2024 had not been decided, I approached SPYC to see if they were interested in holding it. A hearty yes was the answer. The fact that the club has hosted in 1962, 1997 and 2006 with fine result, went a long way to get International to say yes.

There were a few wrinkles, with container storage being a major hurdle as one example. Finally a local yacht yard agreed to use their Travelift vs. a crane, which made scheduling a lot easier.

Our PRO for the event,Todd Fedyszyn and his experienced crew did a great job, with good communication and efficiency. 

The weather cooperated in giving a wide range of conditions to deal with. Light air to 3rd grommet, it was challenging, especially the first day, which was full breeze on! For a number of teams the end result was some breakage, as well of not enough recent heavy air experience. There was very stiff competition, and the regatta results were not decided until the morning meeting of the last day. The breeze was forecast be from very light to nothing. Racing was cancelled, a side factor there is that a second throw out could not come into play.

A comprehensive results list can be found at https://yachtscoring.com/, but GER 88, Kay-Uwe Ludtke and Kai Schafers aboard are the 2024 World Champions. Multiple Worlds winners, Hun 70, with Szabolcs Majtheni and Andras Domokos aboard, were second. GER 113, with Killian Konig and Johannes Braak aboard, were 3rd.

Often these championships are the only time we see our FD friends from other continents, it was great to catch up with them. Overseas shipping has become harder and more expensive. We in the U.S. class appreciate the enthusiasm and effort  to come here. 

All the best,

Lin Robson
USA 36

Whiskeytown Lake Regatta

Posted on May 28, 2024 by - Whiskey Town Regatta

The Whiskeytown Sailing Club runs this famous event for almost 60 years. Whiskeytown Lake islocated just west of Redding/Northern California in the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area. The lake is a reservoir operated by the US Bureau of Reclamation to provide flood control, irrigation, and to generate electricity. Conditions were perfect with a full lake and warm (not too hot) breezes.

A big fire engulfed the whole area almost 6 years ago – it is nice to see new vegetation taking over again. Peter Carr and his son Conner came down from Washington State and competed in the races. I met them when they were relaunching their FD after doing some repairs that became necessary in the first race. As you can see, they were truly enjoying themselves! Winds were quite puffy on the first day, and much calmer on the second day.

There was a nice dinner on Saturday with live music and good food. RVs were allowed to park in the parking lot next to the launch ramp, together with the boats on trailers. In addition to toilets with running water, there were also a couple of porta-potties. People with tents (including Peter and Conner) stayed at another campground on the lake. We plan on bringing out more than one FD next year. We left with good memories and we are looking forward to coming out again.

Gerhard Panuschka US Flying Dutchman Class Secretary/Treasurer

PS: Gerhard could not sail this year because of an injured shoulder, but he was able to take some photos…

Charity Regatta in Sayville, New York

Posted on April 4, 2024 by - New York

Come sail the sea breezes of the Great South Bay on Long Island’s south shore at the Sayville Yacht Club (https://www.sayvilleyachtclub.org/) on August 24-25, 2024. We will have gold cup style courses. The entry fee and donation is $175.00. Dinner for two and dancing are included on Saturday, August 24th. We must have a minimum of three boats for a Flying Dutchman start, so please contact Lee Costelloe (contact) if you can come to this excellent venue.

Notice of Race will be posted when available.

2024 Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta NOR

Posted on March 6, 2024 by - Canandaigua, Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta

The Canandaigua Yacht Club (http://www.sailcyc.com) is hosting the Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta on July 26, 27, and 28, 2024. 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 members of the Canandaigua Yacht Club hosting the Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta last year. We hope to see you at this year’s event.

2024 Canandaigua Dinghy regatta NORDownload