Wow!  We had 27 Flying Scots from at least 7 states participate in our first LMSC Clinigatta.  Teams joined us from Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Louisiana, and Florida.  We got in 9 races over the three-day event, including a practice race on Friday, five competitive races on Saturday, and three big-air races on Sunday.

Grace O’Hare stepped up big for us as our Regatta Co-Chair (early estimates are that she did over 90% of all the work!).  Trevor and Tristan Bannister, and Tim Stanton ran flawless races.  Mike Ekberg handled the scoring.  Jonathan Hart kept communications flowing on our website. Our coaches, David Ames, Ryan Malmgren, and Mike Faugust were stellar.  Jesse and Tammy O’Brien hosted a beautiful party on Saturday night.  Several of our members hosted out-of-town crew, and many other LMSC members pitched in as well.  THANKS TO ALL and my sincere apologies to all of you whose names I have neglected to mention!

The weather mostly cooperated.  Our race clinic on Friday was held onshore due to the lack of any breeze.  Still, everyone participated and LEARNED.  We were able to get in a practice race Friday afternoon in light and shifty conditions before heading over to the UW Memorial Union for a party at Hoofers.

Saturday was champaign sailing!  After a short postponement onshore for a passing thunderstorm the sun came out and we sailed 5 races in a beautiful and challenging 8-15 kt breeze.  Coaches jumped on competitor’s boats to race with them and provided additional coaching from our support boats.  Four different boats won races in the competitive 27-boat fleet.  Boats that were used to being at the back of the fleet often found themselves running with the leaders with the help of their onboard coaches, giving them a whole new perspective (but at the cost of learning that their boat was not necessarily the problem).  SailboatInstructor.com live-streamed the first three races with live commentary from Tyler Andrews of Flying Scot, Inc., Mark and Michelle Taylor from Davis Island, FL, and Amy Smith Linton, crew on this year’s Flying Scot North American Champion Flying Scot, also from Davis Island, FL.  Check out the Flying Scot Class Facebook page and YouTube for video from the event (including onboard 360 degree video from aboard regatta winner, Too Many Daves!).

Sunday greeted us with a carbon copy of Saturday’s forecast… then decided to pump up the wind just as boats left the harbor to 20kts+ under clear skies.  After an on-water postponement due to the big breeze, the Organizing Authority abandoned the Clinigatta series for the day and opted to run a three-race Big Wind Sunday Series for those intrepid mariners who opted to sail.  12 boats stayed out for the racing.  The crews who wisely opted out were able to join the coaches on the support boats and watch the breezy racing up close.  Based on competitor comments, some of the best learning of the weekend came aboard the coach boats while shadowing the racers and interacting with the coaches. 

We capped the weekend with an awards party at the Olbrich Biergarten that included Wisconsin craft beer, root beer floats, hot pretzels, and lots of Wisconsin cheese!  The Biergarten party also included the Clinigatta Raffle, where competitors won fabulous prizes, including a new Mad Sails race jib (with the winner passing their old sail on to the competitor who needed it the most).  Another lucky winner, Jennifer Ikeda, won $150 cash… and promptly donated $50 of her winnings to LMSC.  THANKS!  Another note about Jennifer… she’s from Sarasota (in the winter) and Ephraim (in the summer).  She’ll be back for the Women’s North American Championship this coming weekend.  The Clinigatta was her first experience steering in a regatta.  She placed 5th overall!  Watch out for her at WNAC!

Props to our race/regatta winners, but really, everyone won big at this event.

Our sponsors contributed greatly to our ability to host such a fantastic event.  Thank them personally if you get the chance!  We could not have done this without them.

Dane Manufacturing Co. 

Neider & Boucher, S.C.

Wisco Boys, LLC

Harken, Inc.

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin

SailingWithMyBrother.com

SailboatInstructor.com

Flying Scot, Inc.

Peterson Management Co. 

West Marine

Images Plus of Madison

Jerry’s Camping Center

SailAnew

See You Next Year!
Dave Gorwitz, Regatta Co-Chair

Regatta Results

 View Results

Videos

Clinigatta Ride-along with Too Many Daves!(click)

Upwind with Tammy (click) 

Photos

Photos from Stegmaier Photography View Photos

Stegmaier Photography | Portraits and Areal Photography | Illinois