2008 MWW Write Up

To say the 2008 version of the Thistle Mid-Winters West Regatta was a success is being modest to the extreme. Dave Bloomberg, regatta chairman and member of MBYC Thistle Fleet 13 ran the most memorable regatta in recent history. We had crack race committee, dedicated volunteers, fantastic food, live entertainment, great raffle gifts, warm weather, 7-12 knots of wind over a slow rolling 2-4 foot ocean swell – great conditions for a thistle regatta.

This year, Fleet 13 broke tradition and scheduled 3 days of ocean racing beginning Thursday, February 7, 2008 and the Larry Klein Memorial Match Racing Championship on Sunday, February 10, 2008 in the bay. By Wednesday, the parking lot was full of boats, trailers, sails, gear and 110 plus sailors who traveled from all parts of the United States to compete. We are truly blessed to live in San Diego which enables us to sail just about every weekend. Several of the competitors told me they are unable sail between November and April due to the severity of the weather on their home waters.

The MWW competition was intense especially at the starts as Roger Patterson, regatta PRO found it necessary to display the “I” and eventually the “Z” flags to control the aggressive sailors. I was amazed as Doug Hart, driving 3852 “hovered” 2-3 boat lengths off the line 45 seconds before the start diving down to save the leeward hole and then driving back up to control the boat to windward. All the good sailors did this and it was fun to watch it up close.

Memorable this year was the ocean wild life. During race three of the second day, four to five of the lead boats began yelling and pointing upwind. Apparently, a whale had surfaced on the race course right in the middle of converging boats. He or she dove for cover as we approached and no one reported hitting the leviathan on its migration south.

MWW was won by Paul Abdulla of Florida and the Larry Klein Memorial was won by defending champion Mike Ingham of Rochester, New York. Plans are in the works for the 2009 MWW and Larry Klein Memorial regattas and the regatta committee is planning for 40-plus boats.

See you on the water.
Cesar Romero, Captain, Thistle Fleet 13

2008 Larry Klein Winner Mike Ingham

One of the reasons we like to go to the MWW is the Larry Klein Memorial Match race regatta. This year after sailing 3 great days in the Pacific Ocean swells, it was a nice change of pace to first do the qualifying in the bay followed by the elimination match race ladder. Here is how it worked:

-Twenty some boats sailed 3 short races in the bay Sunday morning

-Then we came in for a civilized lunch while the RC calculated the scores

-The top 8 qualified for the single elimination match race series

-We sailed our matches that afternoon

It’s a lot of fun because if you did not qualify, or when you were waiting for your match, you could hang out on the porch of the YC and watch the races. The weather mark is set very near the club, so you are overlooking the race course.

It is also great that Leslie Klein and her son Alex are still involved after all these years. She hosts the event and always hosts a great dinner on Wed night of the MWW.

We discovered the MWW about 5 years ago and hope to keep making it back! See you there next year!

Article by Mike Ingham

(Mike was the Top Seed after the morning Fleet Race. He defeated Chris Gedrose and Team in the 1st round, Team Lettemeir in the 2nd and Mike Gillum in the Finals.)

2008 Orange Peel ONLY 2 WEEKS AWAY!

2008 Thistle Orange Peel Regatta and Clinic


March 14 - 16 2008JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA


Official Website



Once again, the Orange Peel Regatta will have great coaches to help out for the Coach TCA Concentrate session on Friday March 14th - including for the 5th straight year - the MWW Champions. Here are a few that have committed:

Paul Abdullah 2008 MWW Champion
Nick Turney 2008 MWW Champion
Skip Dieball Quantum Sails(Past MWE and MWW Champion)
Jim Kincaid
Greg Griffin
2007 Thistle National Champion Mike Ingham
2007 second place finisher Scott Griffin
ACC Champion Erik Goethert

We have a great program planned for Friday with Tuning, Classroom, and On the Water sessions. If you can't take the whole week off for MWE - this is a great opportunity to learn how to sail faster from some class veterans.

Thanks to our sponsors (Quantum Sails, North Sails, Layline, Zhik, and Coral Reef Sailing Apparel) we will have lots of good stuff to give away Saturday night at the party. Need a new centerboard or rudder cover? How about a fleece or hat? What about custom hiking straps for your boat? There will be a lot of great stuff given away.

Contact Greg Griffin for more details!

Check out all the fun plans on the website: http://www.thistlefleet133.com/orangepeel/

Thistle #929 (the Paisley's)

Here's some insight on some of the work my good friend Mark Paisley is doing. He lives in Maine with his beautiful bride Jen. They've bought a woodie (929) and are in the process of restoring it. Mark is one of the best woodsmiths I know. He works for Thomas Mosier (check out the stuff! http://www.thosmoser.com/?campaign=1&gclid=CNS4io6H4JECFQsYkgodjFgwcA). I expect some great things from Mark and Jen with this boat.

The name explains the color, or maybe it is the other way around...who knows.
I started stripping paint from on the bow below the waterline, mainly because it was my greatest area of concern.
Centerboard--Than new peice of mahogany attached to the base of the trunk makes me nervous, I hope it's not really ugly behind there.
I started my removing all the old hardware. Not much has changed on this boat since the early 60's from what I can tell.
The Interior

After removing the patches the previous owner had screwed to the centerboard trunk I had to think optimistic.

We invited some friends over to help flip the boat over. I stress tested the clear-span building frame by hoisting the boat up with block and tackle and spinning it in the slings. It actually worked pretty slick and the tent frame didn't seem to mind much.

I cut out the bow tank, which I have come to the conclusion was put there specifically to induce rot.

Mark has more photos on Facebook if you want to check them out.

Ease, Hike, Trim (it's science)

Karl D. Felger

The Art of Crewing

The art of crewing is highly overlooked. As Dave Perry says, “"....it's damned hard to be a crew. You have to be a contortionist, a psychic, and a glutton for verbal abuse, not to mention flawless...." Not only, as he so clearly states, do you have to be at your physical peek; manipulating your body into awkward and uncomfortable positions, performing physically draining tasks for hours on end, and doing so while wet, hot/cold (hello Musto???) and God forbid occasionally hung-over; you clearly have to be on top of your mental game too. If crew let the skipper do all the thinking they’d be going in a straight line for hours because the one on the tiller says “he/she’s in the grove.”

Read more:
http://thedailyswerve.blogspot.com/

Thistle MWW Recap

Thistle Midwinters West - 2008The Mission Bay Yacht Club was faced with some tough decisions after the 2007 event. The event wasn't growing, many were having a tough time with the timing (holidays). The gang at Fleet 13 decided to push the date back, tweak the venue with all ocean sailing and see how the masses would react. With nearly 40 boats this year, they've made the right call!

read more:
http://quantumtoledo.blogspot.com/2008/02/thistle-midwinters-west-2008-mission.html

Thistle MWW Final Results 2008

Congrats for Paul Abdullah and Team for winning the 2008 Thistle Class Association's Midwinters West Regatta, hosted by the Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego, CA.


Final Results:
http://www.mbyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=321&Itemid=51

Thistle MWW Race Results 2008

Day One:

http://www.mbyc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=319&Itemid=51

Pensacola – Jubilee 2007

How early would you plan for a big regatta? That’s an interesting question as it varies for many sailors. I usually try to hit a few events in the spring/summer with my Nationals team, but sometimes it doesn’t always work out with busy schedules, work, etc. This year I sensed an opportunity to at least do some homework for the ’08 Nationals in Pensacola by attending the Jubilee in November. Pretty easy decision to head down to warm, sunny Florida as the days grow colder here in Ohio!

The plan was pretty simple. Show up a day early to practice and learn and then do the event, all the while taking in the sites, sounds, atmosphere of Pensacola and the yacht club. Plans seem to always get goofed up with “life”. For the team on 1049, this meant forgoing the practice day due to a death in my family. The anticipation of relaxing, learning and enjoying the Friday was now an afterthought.

Nick Turney made the trip from Toledo solo. An unbelievable task and greatly appreciated. The good news is that he could take his time, which he did and got there safely.

We had a new addition to Team 1049 in Emily Pulos. It is a great story on how we met. Ben Mercer (North Cape, exceptional Thistle crew) and I were racing with Chris Carroll at the Beneteau 36.7 NAs in Buffalo. The boat we were rafted off was a boat from Rochester and we got to know them pretty well throughout the week. One evening, over cocktails, we met Emily and her entourage and learned that she LOVED sailing, but didn’t have many opportunities, so Ben signed her up for some Jet 14 regattas and I promised that we’d get her out on the Thistle….which led her to Pensacola. Emily fit in quickly with the Thistle gang and we look forward to having her sail more in the coming year.

As Friday evening wore on, the Southeast characters started showing up. We had a great time tailgating behind Dave Van Cleef’s truck and everyone was anticipating a great weekend with nice breeze and sunshine. We learned that night that the Blue Angels were giving a show on Saturday…we were very much looking forward to that!!!

As we rigged on Saturday and started sizing up the fleet, it became apparent that this was going to be a fabulous practice weekend. Blair & Bryce Dryden teamed up, Vlasta came down from Tennessee, the JAX teams came over, Atlanta sent a number of great sailors….I was looking forward to the sailing and my team was very much eager to hit the water early.

We practiced a bit with both Dave Van Cleef’s team and Paul Abdullah’s team before the racing on Saturday. It was fun matching up and speed comparisons were so close that Nick, Emily and I quickly knew that it was going to be tough racing and having heads out of the boat would yield consistent scores.

Races 1,2,3 were held in a dying Easterly going Southeast. The wind didn’t make any big moves until we took a break between races 1 & 2. There it went more SE and did a bit of shifting. I was looking for an increase build to the right as it appeared “seabreeze”. We raced Paul Abdullah and Bryan Anderson to the right only to see the wind go hard left. Curious, for sure. But chalk that mistake up to me trying to “guess” what was happening, rather than recognizing what had happened….oscillations.

Race 3 was a bit of a mess at the start. There were 7-8 teams called OCS. Some went back, some received OCS on the scorecard and some weren’t scored OCS. Apparently the RC hailed the numbers at the start and some of the numbers were recorded, some weren’t. It all seemed quite confusing, even going into Sunday AM. Our team apparently was called, but scored in the race. I knew we were pushing it, but Nick and I thought we were good on our line-sight, so we didn’t think we were over….if we were, we thought, “its just practice”. Blair and Bryce Dryden were in our shoes as they were called but not scored. Greg Griffin was called and rec’d redress. Dave Van Cleef, Vlasta, Scott Griffin and Mike Ross all were scored OCS.

At the hoist most were confused with the scoring, but that didn’t cloud the next task at hand….DINNER. What a crowd we had going out to Maguire’s. Put that place on your list for Nationals. It is exceptional and rumored to be owned or managed by a Thistle sailor. Great food, good atmosphere and killer drinks! The Thistle crowd took over one of the rooms and had a great time!

Sunday’s racing started in better breeze than Saturday’s 7-10. I think at times we had 3 up and hiking w/a little vang to depower. That freshness didn’t last long as the temperature went up. We ended up with 5-7 by the end of the racing.

The curious thing, to me, was how the left side of the course (East wind) paid in a flood tide and 5 degree oscillations. I can’t explain it, but will be looking at charts, maps, etc. to see if there’s anything more to it. We got burned in the 1st race, but battled back nicely. Nick made some great calls and we recovered for a nice finish.The last race saw some fleet inversion about mid-way through. Our team and Abdullah’s team had some good downwind pace for the last run to cut Greg Griffin’s horizon job in half and then benefited from a large righty (remember the left paying in the 1st race!!!) and jumped him. This proved to me that anything can/could happen at Nationals next year. So be prepared.Congrats to all the teams. If you check out the scores you’ll see that this fleet was incredibly stacked!!! Blair & Bryce Dryden benefited from consistent scores and a slightly lighter boat as they were one of two boats that sailed 2-up. The gamble paid and they made the most of it. For the rest of us sailing 3-up, it proved to be a great preview for next summer’s Nationals….it’ll be a good one!

A personal thanks to Nick Turney and Emily Pulos for a fun weekend. Nick did the cannonball run solo down and I joined him for the return home. We didn’t get back until 6:AM on Monday and he was in the loft working at 8:AM. INCREDIBLE! Emily learned faster than anyone I know. She’s keen to sail more and we’ll no doubt have her more involved this winter/spring!

http://www.pensacolayachtclub.org/CFRacing/2007racing/2007Jubileeresults.pdf


Article By: Skip Dieball

Photos By: The Lovely Christy Illius

Thistle Invitational Regatta

The San Diego Area Thistle Fleet #13 Invitational Regatta was a great success and a stepping stone to more excitement for next year. The 13’s Invite demanded a mix of sailing skills to challenge the competitors. Large course open ocean sailing and tight course, hand-to-hand combat, bay sailing.
We had 11 teams this year for the regatta. All of the 13ers should pat themselves on the back for the turnout. The growth of our fleet in one year has been lead by P3, aka-Pied Piper Poltorak. With great enthusiasm from all of the fleet we have brought not only newer racers but also seasoned experts into the fleet. We have great potential to make it to 20 boats for next years Invite Regatta and might even make that with just Fleet 13.
The Thistle showed its diversity this weekend ghosting through the light stuff. Saturday, four races were sailed in the ocean with windward-leeward courses. The weather predictors said light air and for a change unfortunately they were right. Quick quiz, I’m not a surfer so when I saw waves predicted at .8 meters with 13 second intervals is that A) Yee haw B) skating rink? The answer is B, except coming out of the channel was a washing machine and I hear that there might be some good fishing around that area after a few boats chummed the water.
The conditions on the ocean turned out to be 4-7 kts with flat gentle swell. Boat speed and finesses, never a bad thing, were at a premium. Half of the boats sailed 2 up and it was evident that the light boats could accelerate more easily with each pressure change. Hunting pressure was the game all day with the added bonus of 15-degree shifts just for excitement. Surprisingly, even with the opportunity for big pitfalls the marks were crowded and often the first weather mark had the top 3 or 4 boats rounding together and delicately setting their chutes. Downwind angles were high and several times the fleet spread out almost to half a mile from one side to the other at the outside gybing angles.
Points after Saturday reinforced that 2 person teams had a distinct advantage. After 4 races, Dave and Era Bloomberg had 7 points holding a tenuous 2 point lead over fleet champion Mike Poltorak with Amy Cook. Kirsten Cummings with aspiring welterweight Jane Engleman followed closely with 10 points. All three teams didn’t top 400 lb team weights with Kirsten and Jane under 300 lbs!
Sunday arrived and the weather looked to even the score with the lightweight optimized teams as we set out for three sprints in the bay. The weather came up and the wind for the first race and a half was 8-11 knots. The lighter weight teams needed to eat their Wheaties to compete. We even had a light rain during the second race! Remember, this is San Diego where people buy canned foods and careen off the highway if it mists. Team Cummings crushed the fleet in the first two races with commanding bullets. They worked flawlessly and may have actually been eating sandwiches while racing. Several teams surged ahead in the tight racing in the bay with George and Becky Samuels coming on strong and scoring a pair of seconds. We are excited to have Stu Robertson join our fleet, this was kind of his inaugural event in his new boat and he had moments showing what lies ahead. George Spoerri, a new boat owner this year, stole the intrepid Jane Engleman on Sunday and scored a bullet as he and Stu battled for 1-2 in the final race, way to go George! Of course, do it more often and we’ll be less happy for you ;)
The final scores showed Team Kirsten Cummings 1st, Team Bloomberg 2nd, and Team Poltorak 3rd with less than 6 points separating 1st and 3rd after 7 races. The points were close and the racing fun and exciting. But better yet, we had almost 30 people racing and we didn’t even have all of Fleet 13 participating. We had three beautiful natural sided woodies racing this weekend with another one soon to join the fleet being restored by Nigel, no pun intended, Wood. We are also expecting a brand new boat to arrive soon to join the fleet (don’t scratch the new boat). Remember, Thistle Midwinters West is February 7-9 and we are planning for 40 Thistles on the line this year.

Sailing in the “D”. Detroit, that is!

What a treat to sail close to home in one of my favorite boats….the Thistle! I have been traveling so much, racing so many different boats, so it was a treat to sail my Thistle again. What made it even more fun was sailing with and against so many of my friends. Craig Koschalk and his team (Lauren and Rick) came in a day early to practice, test, hang out….we had a great time. We took the opportunity to catch up Friday Night as well, at a local establishment called Muggzies! Apparently we were quite entertaining as the band did everything they could to shame us into staying!

The racing up at Crescent Sail Yacht Club is a great combination of close racing proximity and open water excitement. Todd Tigges and his team set great courses close to the club, which made the “commute time” low and allowed us to pile in 3 great races on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.
Saturday was light winds and heavy chop (lots of fishermen and freighter traffic), so it was a good test of concentration. The wind was a bit shifty as well….which made the day tough on the mind. My team (myself and Nick Turney) had a great score line of 4,1,1 to lead Ron Sherry’s team by 2 points. They sailed great in those conditions as they were 3-up with a team ready for big breeze!

Sunday’s racing was in fresher winds, but still in the range where those sailing 2-up could handle it. Nick and I won the 1st race and finished 3rd in the second race to win the event. Team Horseshack had a great day moving from 4th to 2nd. Ron Sherry and his team were 3rd. Champ Glover was 4th and Ken Swetka was 5th.

The Crescent Thistle Fleet was hospitable as always. They’ve got a great group up there and know how to have a good time. We appreciate all that they did for us and look forward to sailing there more!

HOTLINK: http://www.swetka.net/thistlefleet/2007IceBreakerResults.htm

Article by: Skip Dieball

Photos courtesy of Skip Dieball

That White Guy Wins Again

Sailing in the best conditions the Midwest could throw at us, Steve White and crew won the 2007 Dornin Memorial held at Pymatuning Yacht Club. The temperatures ranged anywhere from cold to colder and as my good friend Ben Mercer would say "the breeze ranged anywhere from light to frightening."

We were blessed with a race committee that had a "Go Big or Go Home" attitude and they took us out Saturday in winds around 16-20 knots. After they clocked a sustained gust at 28 knots, some of us thought we just should have stayed home. A warm thanks goes to the rescue boats and their teams as safety was never an issue and they were always on the spot. Saturday's dinner and hospitality was up to par with any Pymatuning regatta and the festivities were much enjoyed late into the evening.

Sunday was much more pleasant, though the breeze was a little light. After leading the first day with a 1st and 2nd, Craig Kolschalk and crew had a rough day and finished the regatta 3rd overall. Kyle Finefrock and team finished 2nd overall while sailing consistently and overcoming a few mistakes along the way.

There is at least one new Thistle sailor among us these days, as my crew Rick Banning seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself and even got to drive the last race! Rick is an advid Flying Scot sailor, and one of the best in the Midwest! He kept wondering how he was going to tell his wife he wanted to buy another boat. I told him, "What's the worst that can happen?"

Special thanks to Rick and his daughter, the Lovely Brooke Banning, for sailing and swimming with me on 1049 this past weekend. I wouldn't have enjoyed it with anyone else. Also, thanks to Skip Dieball for letting me wash his boat out ;-)

Respectfully,

Karl D. Felger

TCA Press Officer

Hey Goat!... Yea old man?

The Old Goat Regatta had another successful year. We had about 10 boats for the Greg Fisher Clinic and a great BBQ that evening.

Saturday and Sunday brought light breezes but 5 races were completed by all 37 boats. The awards are below, but for full race results you can visit http://www.llsc.com/ under the RESULTS or you can visitwww.thistleclass.com http://www.thistleclass.comand go to the CALANDER section.

Awards:

1st Place - Greg Griffin and Mark Reddaway

2nd Place - Scott Griffin and Brad Russell

3rd Place - Bryce Dryden and Will Paschal

4th Place - Mike Ross and Clayton Dixon

5th Place - Paul Abdullah, Nick Turney, and Ashley Saylor

6th Place - Ed Hill and Buddy Wainright took the "OLD GOAT" as well as the"FARTHEST TRAVELED" and "FASTEST OVER 50" awards! Way to go Ed and Buddy!

Also we had a "FASTEST OLD BOAT" award which went to Bob McCormack (8thPlace) from Atlanta Yacht Club who was in boat 1167 which is circa 1955!

Tuesday Night at the Race

In a yacht club dominated by PHRF sailors that sometimes get 50 boats on a Wednesday bouy race, the dinghy sailors are keepin it real. At North Cape Yacht Club the local Thistle Fleet, which consists of all the boys at the local Quantum loft and numerous others, get together on Tuesday nights for some beer can races (most often literally).

They welcome all takers, and I've never seen anyone turned down. Race committee usually consists of Skip Dieball, Ernie Dieball and John Griener all offering their services. There are 2 boats that are only 3 years old, and 2 woodies competing regularly, with a few mixed in between.

No one keeps score because that's not the point. It's all about getting together, sharing some laughs, and busting off a few roll tacks in between. Afterwards they mingle at the yacht club bar and cheer at the PHRF boats as they arrive from racing up the lake. Chicken wings and bragging right usually follow.

Photos provided by Skip Dieball

Respectfully Submitted

Karl D. Felger

Thistle Class Press Officer

Tuesday Night Regular

ABYC Labor Day Regatta

Ron Smith totally dominates the 2007 ABYC Labor Day Regatta.



Armed with Jim Moyer, and Jill Moritz as crew, Ron Smith (former Thistle Class President) easily wins the regatta with straight bullets. The Race Committee and the army of volunteers at the club all did a fantastic job in dealing with a lot of boats, cars and participants. The conditions on the race course though a little lighter than normal still provided for a great regatta. The winds were in the 5-15 kn. range and we had moderate chop and really no swells to speak of.


The scores don’t tell the whole story, Ron not only won every race, he did so with a healthy margin between him and the 2nd place boat every time. The 2nd -6th place boat probably had more fun while they were able to fight it out in very tight racing with lots of position changing on the very square and well set W-L courses. My crew Kory Smith asked Ron why he was so fast? Ron humbly replied, well Kory, “I think it’s because I replaced my centerboard gasket”. So there you have it! If you want to win a regatta all you have to do is replace your centerboard gasket.

With many boats in the LA and Orange county area we really should have been able to have 4 times as many boats at this event. It really is one of the finest venues on the west coast. There are three major events at ABYC that the Thistles should be looking to participate in:

Turkey Day Regatta November 17-18, 2007
Memorial Day Regatta May 24-25, 2008
Labor Day Regatta August 30-31, 2008
.
So if you have a thistle out west, go ahead and put these dates into you calendars now.
Let’s get back to “the days” when we get 20 thistles at these ABYC events.

Written by Michael Poltorak, Thistle 3410

Thistles All the Rage in Jr Sailing

The last few years I have had the privilege of coaching Jr. Sailing Team from all over Lake Erie (Cleveland Yacht Club, Edgewater Yacht Club and North Cape Yacht Club). One of the best parts for them, and for me is they sail their Triple-handed regattas in Thistles. This year was no different.

At North Cape Yacht Club our Junior Triplehanded Team consisted of Brian Goldberg, Ben Goldberg and Kate Gladieux.

Armed with the best resources possible... 1. A woodie (#2020) rebuilt by their grandfater John Griener 2. Me as their coach 3. Wunderkind Skip Dieball... these kids took the I-LYA Jr Circuit by storm.

Having little to no experience in Thistles it was fun to have Brian, Ben and Kate lean on me so heavily for knowledge. As we progressed thru the summer we discussed and practiced incorporating some old techniques (they're all old 420 sailors) into their sailing style. This involved unlearning some bad habits, but also encouraging good technique and dialogue! It was quite the transformation they took over the summer... from asking questions like "When should I pull on the van" progressing to conversations about twist off on the main and mast rigging.

These kids then went on to sail the US Jr. Championship Quarter-finals at Put-In-Bay, Ohio; where they finished first in a very up and coming fleet of young Thistle Sailors! They then sailed int he US Jr. Championshipo Semi-finals in Rochcester, NY. This regatta was sailed in Sonars. They won this regatta also, and proceded onto the the US Jr. Championships in LAVALLETTE, NJ (i'm sure many of us remember this place). All said they ended up 5th against some of the best junior sailors in the country.

Just goes to show that Thistle sailors are the can hang with the best of them.

Karl D. Felger
Head Coach
NCYC Jr. Race Team

TCA Press Officer

Thistle Nationals Media

Here's some great video footage from Thistle Nationals.

Thanks to everyone that posted!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4621590588304988087&q=thistle&total=835&start=0&num=100&so=0&type=search&plindex=71

2007 Thistle Nationals Final Results

Congrats to Mike Ingham and Team for winning the 2007 Thistle Nationals in Eugene Oregon.

Matt Sonderlund won the President's Division

Nationals Finals results located under 2007 Event and Results:

http://www.thistle2007.com/

Scott Griffin and Skip Dieball On YouTube: 2007 TCA Nationals

This is courtesy of Craig Smith!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=v9zP2J7K6Ek

2007 TCA Nationals: DAY ONE

The weekend was full of measurement and all that good stuff. The winds we had 5 years ago were not here and things were looking bleek for the Nationals. The practice race was postponed and was sailed later in the day as winds blew in. We had about 5kts and shifty, but Scott did a great job focusing on boat speed and we popped out into the lead pack. Of course we didn't finish...... that just the way it is.
Monday morning it was brisk (65 degrees) and clear.... just what I remembered about Eugene. The wind was forcasted to be 10-15 kts and building all day. Just was Scott and I wanted!!
We were 2nd start, race #1. We got hung up with a slower boat on the line that wanted to stay head to wind, but we were able to get going and use our Quantum boat speed to get up into the lead pack. We rounded 4th and kept moving forward the whole race. Bullet!!! We all high fived each other and said one down, six to go. PS. Mike Ingham won the first race in Division 1.
Race two we were first start and we saw a little lefty at the start. 1minute into the leg a HUGE righty sheered the fleet off of us and we got a little uneasy feeling. We stayed focused and waited for the left to come back in before we tacked to consolidate our losses. We found ourselves in around 8th and knew what we had to do. A couple boat here and there and one on the finish leg gave us another bullet!!! Two in a row!! Unfortunately for us there's another guy that is sailing very well......Ingham had a bullet in Division 2.

More to follow later
Paul Abdullah
Scott Griffin
Sarah Paisley
#3997 "Team Southeast"

How do you celebrate our Independence????

With the mother of all parties... The Pymatuning 4th of July Regatta!

While some of you may have been shooting off illegal fireworks (is there such thing as "legal" fireworks?) or enjoying a nice relaxing weekend Thistle sailors from around the country (thanks largely to Scott Latham's roadtrip and Kawl Bwadwey being Kawl Bwadwey), along with Lightning, Highlander, J22 and Fireball sailors celebrated the 4th the only sensible way... with lots of libations, loud music, good friends and bench dancing!

Pictures are truly worth a thousand words... I believe their worth a lot more since they help me and many others remember what "fun" we got ourselves into the night before. In that regard I will let the pictures do the talking!

Oh... and Kyle Finefrock won the regatta, followed by George Allen in 2nd (GO GEORGE!) and Ben "Girly Pants" France!

Thistle Great Lakes 2007

TCA Great Lakes was held at the Vermilion Boat Club in Vermilion, OH this past weekend. 43 boats made the trek to Ohio and were welcomed witha wide range of conditions. The first race was a three hour drifting marathon... honestly I've sailed shorter legs on the Chicago to Mackinac Race. Scott Griffin showed incredible patience and sight as he pulled of a much deserved bullet. As the breezed filled for the 2nd race (3 hiking!) Steve White showed off some of that Pymatuning speed and won the 2nd race... Steve later found out he was OCS in the 1st race. John Lovett, driving the much revered Sled (1055) won the day with two 2nd place finishes!

Sailors retired to shore as it was nearing 6 p.m. and were welcomed with cool beverages, good music and spectacular food. Dinner consisted of all you could eat BBQ chicken, broiled shrimp and jambalaya over rice. I say this all to make you extremely jealous, as you should be. I judge most regattas on their food and this one is definitely up there in my book.

Sunday morning were were welcomed with a southern breeze blowing 12-15 meaning big breeze and small waves (go fast mode upwind!). Lovett once again showed superior form in winning race 3. Race 4 may have typified the weekend. We sailed the first 3 legs in 10-15 knots. Then we sailed both reaches in 0-5 knots of breeze (reinforcing the fact that most Thistle sailor really don't care of reaches). Finally, we sailed the final beat in 6-10 knots with 20 degree shifts. Jack Finefrock made the most of the conditions and won race 4 handily. Unfortunately he was unable to keep Ben Mercer's personal Thistle winning streak alive, and ended up 2nd in the regatta... no small task.

The big winner was Daddio, John Lovett! He won the 2007 Thsitle Great Lakes by 14 points! In the last race along there are stories of him climbing back from 30th place to finish 5th... incredible!

This also continues a trend in which a wooden boat has won the last 3 of 4 regattas I have attending. This should delight the class and make Doug Labor sweat a bit because the older (more experienced? wiser?) boats are still highly competitive.

Thanks to the Vermilion Boat Club for hosting a great Great Lakes (haha).

Respectfully Submitted,

Karl D. Felger

Here's To...

A couple of weeks ago I learned a valuable lesson. Some would call it a lesson in sail boat racing; some would call it a lesson in life; maybe even a lesson in love, or at least passion towards something you enjoy doing. Either way everything came to a head and the point of this lesson is… “Oh, it’s just sailboat racing.”
This was no more apparent this past weekend at the Berlin Yacht Club Regatta in rural Ohio. I’m not sure many of you have been to Berlin, but I spent much of my misspent youth toiling about on a lake that is 1.5 by 5 miles. Berlin is known for a wide range of wind conditions that vary from spit-polished mirror finish to full on blowing the cousins off the cousins nuclear breeze. This weekend wasn’t much different as we experienced near drifter conditions on Saturday to “three hiking hard” conditions on Sunday. Oh, and don’t forget the 30 degree wind shifts…
Going back to Berlin Yacht Club is like a pilgrimage to paradise for myself. I loathe the place for it’s volatile conditions but yearn for those gorgeous days spent at “home.” Every morning I’ll crawl out of my tent and saunter down to the lake and just sit there. And that’s it. I have no expectations of something that will happen; I just take it all in. The smell; the sound; the sight. Some may say that there’s not much to see there, but it’s a little different when you know it’s someplace you belong.
I have family at Berlin, though I’m not related to anyone. I have 15 or more different mom’s; some older and wiser than others; some more ornery; some more accepting; most just happy to get that long awaited hug form their wayward “son.” I have brothers and sisters that I’ve known all my life, but have never been to a family reunion with. I have dad’s who would move mountains for you if you would just get them a beer once in a while and who are always there with a strong handshake and hearty pat on the back. I may not be the smartest, the most well behaved, the best… but that never matters once you start driving down that gravel road. I’m just Karl.
All being said, 19 Thistles showed up for the Berlin Regatta. We shared some great racing in trying conditions, some cool beverages at the World Famous BYC Cocktail Party, drank the BAC dry (Big A$$ Cooler) enjoyed a classic Berlin Sunset, and the smooth sounds of live music. Oh, and I think a cup or two was flipped.
I sailed with Ben Mercer and the lovely Ms. Brooke Banning. We had visions of grandeur and delusions of glory. But most of all we had fun. I would sail with these two again any day, any where, any race… hopefully they feel the same way. I can’t say enough about how enjoyable it is to see all those friendly faces again. I may not be able to make it back as often as I would like, but I revel in every moment. Sometimes you just need to stop and let life pass you by. If you’re always worried about what’s next, you kind forget about the present. And let me tell you, the present is pretty damn enjoyable.

…Oh, and we won the regatta. I guess it is good to go home again.

Here’s to all the moms and dads; brothers and sisters, friends and family who have always been there.
Thank you.

Karl D. Felger

Hitchin' Up... The New Wife, Not the Wagon

Proving once again that there must be something in the water, a few sailors you may all know and some of you love recently got hitched. While initially this lead to quite a few sailors missing out on a couple gorgeous weekends of sailing it did lead to a few enjoyble things...

1. Dressing up in our spiffy suits

2. A rousing rendition of Piano Man

3. JOURNEY

4. .....Oh, and the newly married

Mark and Jen Paisley (Left)

Brian and Bre Logue (Right)

For those of you who know these individuals and for those who await the pleasure of meeting them, these are 4 of my favorite people in the entire world. Watching these 2 relationships grow has taught me a lesson... Falling in love is easy, as many of us have done that often enough. But it is hard quest worth making to find a partner through whose steady presence one becomes the person one desires to be. With these 2 couples I see hope and I see faith. They've taught me that when love smiles at you, you must smile back.

Thistle Sails Take a Beating

Here's some great discussion from our leading sailmakers on Thistle Jibs. It's a great education on what goes into your sails and the philosophy behind their construction. Thanks Greg and Skip, for your time!

Greg Fisher of North Sails:
http://thedailyswerve.blogspot.com/2007/04/greg-fisher-speaks-on-thistle-jibs.html

Skip Dieball of Quantum Sails:
www.quantumtoledo.blogspot.com

On a side note: I am great friends with both Skip and Greg. And while they are "professional" sailors they are also raising great families. They sail Thistles because they are passionate about the class, not because their job demands it. Personally, I hope one day I can say the same this for myself. Please, before you judge someone take the time to get to know these wonderful people.

Respectufully,
Karl D. Felger
Thistle Class Press Officer

Getting Out From Behind the 8-ball

It was about time the midwest enjoyed a sunny weekend. Twenty nine boats drove from Kansas City, Chicago, Columbus, Louisville, as far as Philadelphia and many other places scattered across the midwest to visit in the Indianapolis Sailing Club. As has become the custom, we were welcomed with complimentary lunch Saturday before the races began. Several of the racers must have forgotten the effects of the sun, even when Midwinters East should still be fresh in their minds. Most of us came of the water a pleasant shade of pink, Barret especially. The sun took a lot out of most of the competitors, but that never stopped the beer from flowing and a campfire from growing. Some of us took advantage of the clear night sky to see the International Space Station go streaking across from west to east at precisely 10:03 PM. The RC woke us up bright and early to take advantage of the morning breeze and help those of us with a long drive home get on the road. Thank you ISC for another great regatta, we'll be back for more in the fall.

Article by: Kyle Finefrock

Interview with Scott Griffin (3997)

Nick Turney- Scott, Great Job at Thistle Midwinter’s East. You are a very accomplished sailor yourself, but we all know that sailing is very much a team sport. You always seem to be sailing with a good team. How do you choose your team? What sort of things do you look for when choosing your team from event to event?

Scott Griffen- Thanks for sailing with me again at Midwinter’s East Nick, I had a great time. When I am searching for crew for a regatta I am of course looking for good sailors but also people I can have fun with on and off the water. I look for a crew who is on the same page as I am, they want to have fun but being serious on the racecourse is also important. It is crucial to get along with your teammates especially when things get heated on the racecourse.

NT- Scott, you are a middle crew, or tactician, on a J 24. Your team has been sailing together for quite some time now. Why is this? What is the advantage of sailing with the same team for that long?

SG- Our J 24 team has sailed together for a while now. The main advantage for this is the compatibility. We know our jobs; we know who is going to move where on the boat during maneuvers. It is experience as a team at events also. We don’t have to show a new crewmember their job on the boat. We can trust each member on our boat to get his or her job done. I try to carry the same principles on to my thistle.

NT- There are a lot of jobs to hand out to your crew. Big picture tactics, sail trim, compass, boat speed, the lists can go on. How do you determine who does what on your boat?

SG- I encourage every on my boat to speak up. Every bit of information is good. I want my crew to have confidence in what they say. I try to have my middle crew talk to me about the big picture. What side is favored, where is the next shift coming from. I also depend on my middle crew to put me in good lanes to get to the next shift, information along those lines. My forward crew is more local. I look for information like boat speed compared to other boats around us, puff and wave calls, numbers on the compass. There is constantly a lot of information being fed to me. The less I have to look around the more I can focus on driving the boat at top speed.

NT- I am a big believer of setting goals for myself for a regatta. Example, I set three different goals for self at every regatta I sail. If I reach these goals then is was a successful regatta for me. Do you set goals for your team from regatta to regatta?

SG- I am also a big believer in setting goals. I feel it is important to challenge your self to become better. The same principles apply for a team. There are two different types of regattas. Small weekend regattas, and major regattas like districts, midwinter’s, and nationals. For the smaller events we can focus more on goals for boat handling, or mark roundings, things along that nature. For the major regattas I feel it is more important to set smaller goals to take away from the pressure of doing well.

NT- Thanks for your time Scott. Good luck to you at future events.

SG- Thanks Nick. See you at the next one.

Inteview by Nick Turney

A Day in the Life... @ QST (Office Space Style)

You see, what we’re actually trying to do here is, we’re trying to give you a feel for how people spend their day at the loft… so, if you’d consider, a typical day at Quantum Sails Toledo.

Skip Dieball: Karl, we're gonna need to go ahead and move you outside into the storage shed. We have some new sail cloth coming in, and we need all the space we can get. So if you could just go ahead and pack up your stuff and move it out there, that would be terrific, OK?
Ernie Dieball: What if - and believe me this is a hypothetical - but what if you were offered some kind of a stock option sharing program. Would that do anything for you? Oh, and remember: next Friday... is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know, if you want to, go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans.
Karl Felger: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late… and I use the side door – that way Skip can’t see me. And after that I go to my computer, pretend like I’m checking my email and just sorta space out for an hour or so. I just stare at my computer screen; but it looks like I’m working and dealing with customers. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I’d say in a given week I probably only do about thirty minutes of real, actual sail-making.
Nick Turney: Yeah, well at least your name isn’t Nick Turney. People confuse me with Nick Lachey all the time. I told Skip and Ernie I celebrate his entire collection. There was nothing wrong with my name… until I was 16 years old and that no-talent @$$ clown became famous and started dating Jessica Simpson. Why should I change my name? He’s the one who sucks!
Dan Synowiec: And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Skip that if they move my stool one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Ernie too, because they've moved my stool four times already this year, and I used to be over by the door, and I could reach high places, and I as merry, but then, they switched from the new plotting machine, but I keep using the old plotter because it didn't lock up as much, and I kept the designs on the old plotter and it's not okay because if they take my plotting machine then I'll set the building on fire...
Rick Rothenbuhler: Well-well look. I already told you: I deal with the gosh darn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people? I am a people person!
Shari Berger: Corporate accounts payable, Shari speaking. Just a moment… Corporate accounts payable, Shari speaking. Just a moment.
Tot Huynh: No one in this country can ever understand a word I’m saying. It's not that hard: Sansdfnfdsa Na-gheen-an-a-jar. Nagheenanajar.

An Interview with George Allen - 1st place"B" Division Thistle MWE

How long have you been sailing?
About 10 years.
In the Thistle?
10 years
What other boats do/have you sailed?
I have sailed Flying Scots, Highlanders, Sunfish, and a Nacra 20 catamaran.
Tell us about your home fleet and district and how that plays into your sailing.
At Berlin, we have about 14 boats that actively sail. Our fleet is extremely active in fleet racing, volunteering for club events, and traveling to other regattas. We have a great bunch of people that really make it fun and competative to sail in the club races. Also, it is real easy to find crew, due to the 20 somethings that are part of our club(Sarah Paisley, John & Steve Bauer, Karl Felger, Kyle & Nicole Finefrock and others). This is how I came across Brian Logue and Christine Rice who have crewed for me several times. By being in the Lake Erie District, I get to race against some of the top sailors in the class on a regular basis at the local regattas and we do not have to travel far to attend. That makes it easy to do as many regattas as possible. So we sail several regattas and club races during the season.
What made you decide to attend MWE 2007 and will you consider going back?
I have been wanting to go to MWE since I purchased my first Thistle and this year everything fell into place. Also, Tom Hubble, Jack Finefrock, and Warren Duckworth have always talked about how fun it is and how much I would learn by going. They were right. So, we already made reservations for next year.
What were you most impressed with at MWE?
I think it was how St. Pete Yacht Club welcomes the Thistle Class. They are able to combine good race management along with having a good time.
Thoughts on sailing in a 70 boat fleet?
Were to begin? 70 boats really gets the adrelin pumping at the start. The starts are amazing. Also, there are alot of great sailors to sail against. It's great when you are racing and you say "Hey, There's Skip and Greg". You can really measure yourself and find out what things you are good at and what needs to be worked on. I surprised by how much you can actually learn.
What did you enjoy most about the social atmosphere (group gatherings, hanging out in parking lot, etc)?
Most of the people that know me, know that I do not talk alot and that my wife, Gretchen, is the exact opposite and she makes up for it. But we both enjoy meeting the other members in the class going to the get togethers. What I enjoyed most was just being there and the astmosphere it creates. It helps me get out of my shell and relax.
You took delivery of brand new Quantum Sails. How did they set up for you?
It was easier than I thought. Nick and Karl helped by answering any questions I had with tuning the rig. Also, one of the batten pockets in the main did not have a spring, but they fixed it right there. So, I was already to go. On Sunday, Skip gave me some advice on sail trim and things I should be doing. I like how easy it is to approach him and how willing he is to answer your questions. Sailing wise, the sails worked great, it did not take as long as I thought to get use to them and we had a very successful week . At times, we were in the top 20 during the races and we were very consistent after Monday.[George Allen] We ended up wining the "B" fleet @ Midwinters East.
You know Karl Felger pretty well….what can you provide us with that would thoroughly embarrass him? (fun question)
A few years ago during the Labor Day series at Berlin, I remember the beer god appearing on the bow of a thistle dancing around and hanging on to the forestay. He had a spinnaker pole in his right hand and an empty cardboard Bud Lite carton on his head. We could hear some type of chanting, but it sure sounded alot like Karl.
What do you have planned for the coming season?
I' m going to try to do as many regattas this year as possible. Buckeye Lake, Wet Your Thistle @ Hoover, Lake Erie Districts, Great Lakes, Berlin Invitational, 4th of July @ Pymatuning, and Lake Erie Fall Series. We're even talking about going to The Dixie in Atlanta and ACC's @ Toms River if things work out.

Interview by Skip Dieball

Translation: Fisher Wins J/22 Midwinters

Tell us about your week:
A week after the Thistle Midwinters East my same team of my wife Jo Ann, Jeff Eiber with the addition of Meg Muller, made the trek to New Orleans for the J/22 Midwinters. 37 boats sailed in the varied conditions on Lake Ponchatrain. The regatta was hosted by Southern Y C, the club so heavily filmed during Katrina as it burned to the ground 18 months ago. Although the club lives in a series of temporary trailers presently, their tremendous southern hospitality certainly was at an all time high. Dwight LeBlanc, Peter Gambel and the rest of their team did a great job hosting a superb event from the first class race management to the crawfish boil Friday night!The sailing conditions were tricky to say the least with predominately light breeze and super flat water ( tough flat out boat speed conditions) to some medium, almost heavy lumpy stuff the last race on Saturday. Sunday the fleet was greeted to 6-8 mph breeze with some good old Lake Ponchatrain lump. When the racing was all over my team, composed of my wife Jo Ann, Jeff, Meg and myself was fortunate to win. 5 points back was Kelson Elam, last years winner, from Rockwall, Texas followed by Terry Flynn, 2006 NA champ of Houston, Texas.
Here are the final results: http://www.southernyachtclub.org/gui/syc21825/pageimages/sailingevents/238/07J22Mids%20day3%20-%20results.mht

And how does this translate to the Thistle Class?
As always you come away from a big regatta like this learning something new...for me it was the importance of sailing the boat super flat whenever we could maintain speed. This absolute flat attitude meant we could trim the main very hard when there was enough breeze ( everyone nearly on the highside) which helped produce some great height. At times the boat was so flat that we actually developed lee helm and I had to push the helm away to keepthe boat tra