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
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
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
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 Pig Regatta
The famous or infamous Brookville Lake Pork Regatta is scheduled for
September 14 & 15. 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.
2024 World Championships
The Flying Dutchman World Championships are at St. Petersburg Yacht Club, FL on March 22 – April 1, 2024. We are expecting about 40 Flying Dutchman. Registration for the World Championship is available here: 2024 World Championship. In preparation for the World Championships, Flying Dutchman are sailing in the Helly Hansen Regatta at St. Petersburg Yacht Club, FL on February 16-18, 2024. Registration for the Helly Hansen Regatta is available here: Helly Hansen Regatta. If you need a skipper or crew, please check out this page: Skipper/Crew Wanted. For more information about our 2024 World Championship contact Lin Robson.
2023 INTERNATIONAL FLYING DUTCHMAN
CLASS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Registration is online for the National Championship at yachtscoring.com. The Notice of Race is also available there. The Championship is scheduled for November 9-12 at St. Petersburg Yacht Club,
St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
Canandaigua Dinghy Regatta 2023
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!
| Rank | SailNo | HelmName | CrewName | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Total | Nett |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | USA 153 | Doug Dommermuth | Jason Breeden | 1.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | (4.0) | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 16.0 | 12.0 |
| 2nd | USA 8 | Ovidiu Adam | Razvan Adam | 3.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | (6.0) | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 20.0 | 14.0 |
| 3rd | USA 301 | Jeff Wrenn | Chris Wrenn | 2.0 | 2.0 | (4.0) | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 23.0 | 19.0 |
| 4th | USA 1486 | Lee Costello | Dan Baker | 5.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | (5.0) | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 33.0 | 28.0 |
| 4th | USA 1197 | Chris Liberti | Emily Swanson | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | (6.0) | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 38.0 | 32.0 |
| 6th | NZL 145 | Paul Scoffin | Pavel Ruzicka | DNS | DNS | (DNS) | 1 | 1 | DNS | DNS | DNS | 44.0 | 37.0 |
Flying Dutchman USA 1441
Refurbishment and upgrade by Paul Scoffin & Pavel Ruzicka
The beginning of this project began as a number of discussions between Pavel and myself over quite a few years. Over these years the geographical location of Pavel living in Pennsylvania and I living in Florida and later San Diego made getting to regattas extremely time consuming and costly, using my existing boat(s). A number of times we were forced to use loaner boats to compete in various locations. Last year we considered this option again but realized the logistics were just too difficult to overcome.
Again we discussed obtaining a second boat that Pavel would keep in Pennsylvania and use for the mid and upper east coast regattas or events. Pavels first choice was to obtain a “Lindsay” but these were increasingly difficult to obtain. Costs were also of a major concern. We were made aware that a 1983 Mader was being donated by it’s owner and that Chris Liberti had collected it from Martha’s Vinyard and had taken it back to Maine with the intention of refurbishing it. He decided early on that it would be better to forward this project on, and after a great deal of back and forth discussion between Pavel and myself, we decided to take it on as a project.
The horizontal piece of timber across the
centercase area is chainplate jig.
After speaking with a number of class personnel, I agreed to report on our intended program and its progress.
The Boat: 1983 Mader foam Kevlar hull with plywood decks. Registered number USA 1441.
The first part of the project was to purchase a trailer and acquire a dolly. Pavel finally managed to purchase the trailer and convert it to accept a dolly. He drove to Maine and collected the boat and towed it back to Pennsylvania on temporary framework, then began the design and fabrication of the dolly.
During this period we discussed at length on how to proceed, particularly financially. We debated on whether to replace the decks with foam /carbon or try and patch the existing plywood decks. We chose the latter to lessen the expenditure and (slightly) more importantly, the time involved. Our aim is to convert the boat from it’s 1983 set-up to a present day accepted set-up.
In 1983 when this boat was launched, the rigs were adjustable but heavy raking and multiple clew cringles were still not the norm. Chainplates were further forward than todays norm, and genoa car arms were not fitted to this model of Mader. These changes are planned for USA 1441.
Fabrication of parts and layout:
Heavy damage to the bow was discovered and missing was any form of launcher roller, so a mold was built using USA 1497 as a reference for the launcher and also for a number of other parts.
The objective is to upgrade the systems and to create a reliable platform to sail and compete with. A full refurbishment was never contemplated. It is planned to have the boat racing in Canandaigua July 2023.
love in San Diego
Crew/Skipper Wanted
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.