1 3969 Mike Ingham, John Baker & Delia Ingham 1 1 5 6 1 8 6 28
Congratulations on a great week of sailing! You were able to perform well over all conditions, what were the keys to your success at the Midwinters?
Congrats on your victory! What are the key success factors in your winning MWW?
The 2004 Thistle Midwinters East greeted 62 competitors with fabulous
weather, decent breeze and some of the best Race Management around.
With sunny, 80+ degree weather, few could complain about the post-card “look” of
St. Pete. The breeze, however, didn’t cooperate 100%. Most races
saw dying winds giving competitors fits and rewarding those with patience.
The good news is that the team at SPYC made the most of the conditions
and 8 races were completed (most in recent memory)!
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Thistle 2004-2005 News Sail Information || Thistle News || Thistle FAQs || Tuning Guide || Contact Thistle Experts || Order
Report by Greg Fisher North Sails dominated the Thistle Nationals held at Lavallette, NJ this past week. Mike Ingham, with his wife Delia and John Baker dominated the regatta characterized by shifty trying conditions. North Sails were 1,3,4,5 overall and Walter Grubb won the Presidents division as well with North Sails! Here's the top 5:
Complete results, photos and more at www.thistle2005.com For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Interview by Skip Dieball
Paul: Well, like I’ve said before my team is the reason I do well. This week I had Scott Griffin and Sarah Paisley. Scott and I had just sailed together as crew for the previous week and a half on a J/24. I am extremely comfortable with him calling all tactics so it lets me focus on just starting and driving. Sarah is a top notch forward crew that started sailing with me a couple of regattas before. It doesn’t hurt that she’d been on the winning boat of both midwinters in 2004. We sailed very conservatively and let our boat speed get us to the front. I went for good clean air starts and not try to win each start at an end. Scott did his magic and connected all the right shifts to get us on top throughout the week. How did you have the boat set up (crew weight, mast tune, etc.)? Paul: Going to St. Pete, I plan on sailing a little heavier than I usually do throughout the year. We were about 500 lbs total. My mast stayed the same as it always does. I’m at 5-12-8 on my diamonds from upper to lower and 26’ 11” rake. You use Fisher Main and Jib and a new 500 AirC CrossCut spinnaker. How does this fit your sailing style? Paul: I’ve always used Fisher sails so I guess that’s my style. I like to vang sheet and really play the main sheet for how I drive. I use the main to help drive the boat up and around waves and it really seems to work. I change to the new Airx spinnaker and loved it! Having been in the class for some time, where do you think you’ve made the biggest gains in achieving the success you’ve had? Paul: I’m by no means an oldie in this class at 35, but the last few years my team’s finishes at large regattas have improved greatly. It is mostly because of the team I put together. I believe any good driver could do what I’m doing with the team I get to sail with. They make me look real smart, so it’s them that should get the credit. I have sailed more in the last 5 years than in the first 20, so that doesn’t hurt either.
The Jacksonville/Southeast area has really become quite competitive, how has this helped? Paul: We have all raised our level of competition around the southeast and everyone has benefited from it. There are at least 6-10 people who can win any given race on a weekend. With that kind of competition, in order to win the regatta you have to be very consistent. That consistency is what has made me better at the larger regattas. What advice would you give other “districts or fleets” to step up participation and competition? Paul: I’m not one to be handing out advice about many things, however sailing at the local level has been down for many years here. We don’t have the numbers down here like they do in the northern fleets. If you want to hone your skills and start on a line with more than 10 boats you have to travel. We enjoy meeting all of our fellow Thistle friends at all the southeast regattas. We race, party and camp out every other weekend during the season. It’s why I sail Thistles! What advice would you give new Thistle Sailors and/or Junior Sailors? Paul: Don’t expect too much too soon. Sailing is and art and you have to learn it one step at a time. It’s not going to happen in one year. Maybe not even in three, but if you ask a lot of questions from people who know, you’ll get up to speed a lot faster than I did. It took me over 7 years to win my first southeast series regatta. If I can do it anybody can! What do you have planned for the rest of the summer? Paul: I’m going to continue my normal life of sailing and working. I’m hoping to be at either ACC’s or Great Lakes. I’ll be Nationals for sure! Look forward to seeing everyone again soon!! Paul thanks for your time and thanks for your continued support of North Sails! For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Interview by Skip Dieball
Craig - I think the keys to our success at MWW were multifaceted. We had excellent boat speed. This enabled our team to overcome a lot of obstacles including bad starts and being on the wrong side of the course. We always seemed to have great speed which allowed us to point higher than the rest of the fleet. The new Fisher main gave us great boat speed and acceleration in the 4-10 knot range. We felt as though we were the fastest team there in every condition. Upwind, we found ourselves sailing towards the pressure more than most of the fleet. Our philosophy was to get to the pressure as fast as possible and deal with the shift when we got there. Then it just became fleet management by trying to lead people with us to the same side of the course without 'camping' on them. Downwind became much of the same. Nick kept us in the pressure and we would play the shifts aggressively. In the all around race course management we always tried to avoid large packs of boats or getting involved in a "one-on-one" situation with another boat. The one or two times this happened I think we finished 4th and 6th. Lastly, the advice that is available to our class is phenomenal. I have sailed other classes where the top guys are only seen on the water. Skip Dieball, Mike Ingham, Blair and Bryce Dryden, Eric Gesner, Greg Griffin, Paul Abdullah, Brent Barbrehan.. I mean the list is endless and each of them have been our "coaches" through the learning process. The information is there, it's all in the application. What/how did you get to where you are right now in the Thistle Class? Craig - I have been in the class for about six years now. First with 3731 and now with 3974. I had about a two year break from Thistles from 2000-2002. In 2003 I asked if I were to buy a new boat if Nick and Karl would sail with me. We wanted to form a regular team, define our functions in the boat, and sail only Thistles as much as possible. In the first year, we sailed more regattas by Nationals than I had in the previous years with 3731. We try to travel as much as possible (I think we log more miles than any other team in the class) to compete against as many people as possible. We sailed a total of 15 Thistle regattas in 2004 with some tuning sessions in between. What was your impression of MWW and MBYC? Craig -Fleet 13 did an excellent job. So much work to do for this event for a fleet their size. The race committee is on the ball. They have this regatta management down to a science. No detail went uncovered and the willingness to accommodate the out-of-towner s was overwhelming. What’s next for you and your team? Craig -We have a full regatta schedule for 2005. Do as many local regattas as possible and all 'the majors' including MWE, Districts, Great Lakes, and ACC's. How are you going to prepare? Craig - Lot's of practice and sticking to our routine. Keep pestering the top guys for advice and techniques. How did you have your Thistle Set up? (Tensions, Rake, Crew Weight, etc). Craig - North Fisher main, Fisher jib, crosscut spin. Diamonds are 6-12-10 from top to bottom with our rake at about 27' 1 1/2". Forestay is pretty constant at 32ish. We are a heavier team at about 490 to 500 lbs so we reduce prebend and the forward "rock" of the mast to keep the boat powered up. We have a shaved mast step and use shims to control prebend and the rocking of the mast forward. It's hard to explain on paper and I don't know if we are doing this stuff correctly, but it sure feels fast. What advice would you give someone looking to elevate their sailing/racing abilities? Craig -Listen to what the top guys are doing and apply it. Not all at once, but in increments. We go to regattas and actually work on only three goals (ie: starts, upwind speed, roll tacks). We don't really care about the scores, just want to work on our goals. It makes the boat handling and speed secondary which enables you to focus on the race course. Stick to the basics (everyone told me this when I asked for advice), don't try and re-invent the wheel. The basics work very well. Take time and set the boat up to the tuning guide. Make it an exact science before you go sailing and help eliminate doubt. Again, don't try and re-invent the wheel. The tuning guide was created for a reason, it simply works. Are you planning any other sailing this season? Craig - I plan on a lot of Thistle sailing. If anyone were to ask me to sail something else I would. I used to sail J 24's, Lasers, Lightnings, and Interlakes a lot. I don't own any now, so I'll probably stick to the Thistle. Thanks Craig and congratulations again on a great win!!! For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Report courtesy Scott Griffin 2004 Bloody Mary Regatta Thirty teams, the most in over 10 years, gathered for the annual Bloody Mary Regatta on a near perfect fall weekend. Competitors came from all over the Southeast and also from OH, PA, and even NJ (sort of). PRO Tommy Craft and his race committee team ran 4 races in 6 to 10 knot S-SW winds on Saturday. Unfortunately, there was no wind on Sunday morning, so after patiently waiting until 11:00 the RC had to cancel the one remaining race. The racing Saturday was very tight throughout the fleet with positions changing early and often. Paul Abdullah and his crew, Dan Borrer and Sarah Paisley, won the regatta impressively with three firsts and a third. In each of the three wins, they managed to move from third to first between on the final leg of the race. Greg Griffin and his crew, Mark Reddaway, showed tremendous consistency finishing second in all four races as well as the overall regatta. Continuing their strong performance throughout the Fall Series, Michael Lenkeit and Tanner Shultz finished in third place. Bryan Anderson and Jennifer Lund were rewarded for their solid sailing on Saturday and held onto fifth place overall, despite having to leave Saturday night due to another obligation on Sunday. As exciting as the racing was, what truly makes this regatta is the camaraderie shared off the water. Saturday night a great crowd gathered for a fajita dinner and a lot of socializing. Many crowded around the fireplace in the clubhouse to stay warm and share stories. Others hung out on the back porch under the clear, star filled sky and enjoyed recapping the days racing. There were quite a few families at the regatta, and an impressive group of kids scampering around the club all weekend. I would like to thank the 30 Thistle crews who attended for making this year's regatta such a great success. I look forward to seeing you all at the Bloody Mary again next year and at many regattas between now and then.
Report by Greg Fisher 2 weeks ago, again in Annapolis, the Thistle Oyster Roast with 30 boats in attendance, was held in a wide range of conditions over a beautiful weekend. The great news is that North sails were on all of the top five boats!! John Baker with Doug Kaukeinen co skippering won, Lloyd Kitchin was second, Don Stehle third, Tom Lawton fourth and yours truly with past national champ Brent Barbehenn co skippering in fifth. Actually for us, it was a great weekend. It had been a number of years since I had been in a Thistle and we sailed my daughter's boat. Brent and I co-skippered all the races with my daughter as crew ( and she co-skippered as well in one race- she was third!) with my wife filling in on Sunday. We had a fun series rolling along after the first race when while Brent was steering and leading up the last beat our main halyard came untied. Not good since, again, yours truly had tied it! We had to count a DNF that race.
Report by Skip Dieball August 1-6, Michigan City, Indiana A total of 80 boats showed for this year’s Thistle Nationals in Indiana’s Lake Michigan coast. In the end, the RC squeezed in the full allotment of races with 3 on the final day. Congratulations to North Customer, Eric Gesner with crew/wife Judy Gesner and Dave Hansen. They won the event by winning the last race of the regatta.
* partial inventory
Report by Skip Dieball July 17-18, 27 Thistles arrived at the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club out of Montrose Harbor for the “Blue” Chevron Great Lakes Championships. Thistles have been active in the Chicago area for some time, but this is the first big event in a number of years. The City didn’t disappoint providing some great winds, waves and nightlife! Craig Koschalk with crew Nick Turney and Karl Bradley from Toledo, Ohio sailed a spectacular last race to force a tie and ultimately win the tie-break against Skip Dieball with crew Karl Felger and Sarah Paisley from Toledo. saturday’s conditions were epic! Winds up near 20 knots and waves exceeding 7’, made for some memorable rides downwind. Sunday’s conditions subsided a bit, but provided similar fun. Thanks to the Chicago Fleet for a great weekend! Results:
Report by Skip Dieball This past weekend the LE Districts were held at North Cape Yacht Club. Saturday was blown out due to 20-25 knot winds and 6’+ waves…a little too much for the deck-less Thistles. Steve White, from Pymatuning, won with a very impressive 3,3. Steve used Proctor Main, Proctor Jib and CC Spinnaker. Steve was happy with his speed! 31 boats total. North sails was on 87% of the boats! Here's top 5:
Report by Skip Dieball I’m happy to report that our Circuit Rep, Greg Griffin from The
Report by Skip Dieball |
Photo Char Doyle
My team this year took home top honors. We worked extremely hard to be as consistent as possible, which was very tough as the results show. My old buddy, J.R. Francis, came out of “retirement” to sail with me this year and he did not miss a beat. He kept the “big picture” strategy in mind and helped me stay focused. My Midwinters West teammate Sarah Paisley worked hard in the front of the boat and did an exceptional job calling the compass upwind and spotting breeze downwind when there was very little. She’s a great sailor and I hope that she enjoys her final season of college sailing! The competition this year at the MWE stacked! There were many past MWE champions along with a slew of past National Champions.
The breakdown of the results and sail selection is below. North Sails again showed tremendous consistency irregardless of the design. I used the Fisher Main and Jib and 2nd place finisher Eric Gesner used the Proctor Main and Jib. Our design and production team have done a tremendous job producing sails that best match your sailing style and weather/water conditions. Feel free to contact your Thistle Experts or anyone within the North Sails Loft Network to learn more about our proven designs.
Full Results, click here. For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Report by Skip Dieball
Thistle Midwinters West is a unique regatta in that it is more of a Winter Thistle Festival. With the long weekend format, gracious chartering help and lots of racing, there’s little excuse for any ambitious team to not make the trip to sunny San Diego in January. This year’s event started with an informal Seminar on Wednesday, which consisted of many short-course races to shake the wintertime rust. I buzzed the fleet giving on-the-water trimming & technique tips. George Samuals/Will Cummings and their team set great courses and quick sequences. Good practice for sure! Thursday brought the Larry Klein Memorial Match Racing event. Three very short fleet races were sailed in light/medium and very shifty conditions. With over 25 boats on a short course, escaping the corners was key. Mike Gillium dominated the Fleet Series and moved to the Match Racing bracket seeded #1. My team and I squeaked into the Match Racing by overcoming an OCS and 720. We moved our way through the entire group to win the Match Racing portion of this event. We relied heavily on speed and boathandling, especially at the corners. Nick Turney and Sarah Paisley did a wonderful job executing quick maneuvers. Friday brought the “qualifying” portion of the MWW event. The format was three races in the ocean, split the fleet and bring ½ the points forward to the Championship Series. Again, Mike Gillium showed his speed and qualified in a tie with Terry Lettenmaier, with our team a few points back in 3rd. Sailing in the ocean is interested as the swells put a premium on patience and making good “breeze” calls. Saturday was our last day on the Ocean. Three races were sailed in varying breeze/sea conditions. Nick, Sarah and I found the racing to our liking as we posted a 1,1,1 to take the lead over Mike Gillium and Terry Lettenmaier respectively. With Sunday’s racing on the bay, no lead is safe with the shifty conditions it usually serves up. Our anticipation of “small lake” sailing proved to be true as the three races that were sailed on the Bay were very, very exciting and never over until you crossed the finish line. We posted a modest 5,1,2 to seal the victory, which we were all quite proud to bring back to the Midwest. This regatta served up various conditions and North’s Thistle product line handled these conditions better than any other. I used the Fisher Main/Jib and Cross Cut Airx Spinnaker. We relied heavily on our speed and it didn’t fail us. Mike Gillium used the Proctor Main/Jib and the RC-4 Spinnaker. Terry Lettenmaier used the Northwest Main/Jib and RC-4 Spinnaker. Both seemed quite comfortable and were very, very fast. If you are interested in talking to any of our North Reps about the various products, don’t hesitate to call. We have a sail design that will match your sailing style or local conditions perfectly! Championship Division
Presidents Division
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