Noroton FD Nationals

Posted on June 1, 2011 by - Nationals

Lin Robson along with GBR crew Richard Philips showed he would not be denied a return to leader of the pack at Flying Dutchman National Championships, hosted by Noroton Yacht Club.  Long Island Sound delivered a three day event that had pretty much every condition, although without the 20 plus conditions of the last Noroton event.  Strategy, cool heads and perseverence paid off as generally lighter conditions with local breezes but also persistent shifts combined with a variety of current conditions to challenge the competitors the entire regatta.

Updates: Season is finally Starting up!

Posted on May 9, 2011 by - Newport

After a long winter we are finally getting the FD’s going. Finals slowed all us college kids down, but after leaving the shop at midnight for a couple nights in a row, we manage to get the first boat (our vanguard) sailing for this past weekend. After our near sinking at the HPDO this past October, we took our time finding and sealing every leak in the false floor and centerboard trunk, and when we pulled the boat, the tanks were dry! As we prepare for Nationals and the rest of the summer regattas, we will be getting all the boats up and running, check back soon for updates!

DWI- July 17th-22nd

Posted on March 31, 2011 by - DWI, Seattle

Hi there!

I’d like to add Dinghies Whidbey Island to the race calendar up here; it fixes to be the premier event for sailing in the PNW.  Last year was the first year of dinghy racing, and this year we’d like to have 7-10 boats on the line.

Whidbey Island is a ferryboat ride away from Seattle, and is well- known as “summer camp for grownups”, with bands, volleyball tournaments, alcoholic beverages, and comisserating with other sailors. 

The racing will be July 17th-22nd, and should be very well run by the race committee.  The website for the racing is here.

Davis Island Regatta Results

Posted on March 16, 2011 by - Davis Island

March came in with some vigor (at least for one day) as the FD fleet joined other classes at the Davis Island Yacht Club recently for their Midwinter regatta.

The event actually started as the Fireball Midwinters, but over the years other classes have been invited to join. The regatta is now known as Fireballs and Friends. DIYC is a very active, sailing oriented club that hosts many noted regattas each year.

Davis Island

Posted on February 3, 2011 by - Davis Island

We are trying again this year to participate in the Fireball & Friends Regatta at the Davis Island Yacht Club.  This is a good venue on the other side of Tampa Bay NE of MacDill AFB.  The location tends to provide better wind this time of year and Davis Island YC has an active racing community and race management group.  We would like to make this a regular deal.

2011 Midwinter Championship

Posted on January 17, 2011 by - Midwinters

The hot team at Midwinter Championship: Lin & Maarten

FD teams from as far away as California, the Northeast and Ohio converged on the St. Petersburg Yacht Club for a three day weekend of sailing and get togethers. We shared the bay Saturday and Sunday with the Snipe fleet.

Conditions ranged from 2nd grommet for a lighter team on Friday, to lighter the rest of the series, but in the end seven races had been ably run by the SPYC race commitee. There were the usual current and particulars of a north breeze that St. Pete is famous for, with dividends being paid to those selecting the correct (usually left) orientation to the strong flood current upwind.

Upwind Sailing in Light Air

Posted on January 9, 2011 by - Upwind Sailing


Early on in the 2010 HPDO Willem and Maarten are trying to keep the boat going to weather in lighter air, before the breeze filled in.  PhotoBoat’s shot here shows pretty respectable air flow over both sails.

Telltales are not straight back as the wind is just too light.  Maarten is sitting to leeward which allows Willem to stay high and see what is going on.  But still there is a bit of induced heel that will help reduce drag a bit.

Early Spinnaker Retrieval

Posted on January 8, 2011 by - Rigging

From the February, 1957 Trapeze, here is a clever arrangement to stow a spinnaker.  It’s difficult to imagine not having a continuous arrangement for such a key piece of FD gear.  But then there are still many high performance dinghies that still use bags rather than socks.  In any event, wrap your heads around this one:

Double Harbeck

Posted on December 12, 2010 by - Trailers & Trollies

These pics are of a double Harbeck trailer.  At the time it belonged to Lin, but now resides in New York with the Gorbolds.  I was about to construct an aluminum version of the dolly (see elsewhere) and this was to give me a perspective on the balance points Harbeck worked out. 

The First Annual Spin Pole Regatta

Posted on December 12, 2010 by - Newport

Due to such late notice, the only three boats that made it down for the weekend were URI boats. Once we realized that this was going to be an in house event we simply invited everyone we could think of to come down and swap into the three boats, with 10 people coming down over the weekend to give it a try. Unfortunately, an old repair gave way, limiting us to two boats and the whaler for spectating and picture taking. Despite the set backs everyone had a great time and enjoyed sailing in Newport. Look for us again, about the same time next year. 

   Chris and Kate