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See also: 2006 Regatta Reports | 2004-2005 Reports | 2003 Reports | 2001-2002 Reports
Thistle Sails
The Lake Erie Thistle district had their final regatta of the season hosted by Buckeye Lake Yacht Club on Saturday, October 18. Twenty boats showed up for a fantastic day of fall sailing. They were greeted with cool temps, a brisk breeze, and plenty of sunshine. Four races were sailed in breezes ranging from 5-15 knots and oscillating 30 degrees, which made for some interesting racing. Race one was sailed in the most breeze of the day, and Fred Bauer and team were able to figure out the crazy and frequent wind shifts to win the race with Kevin Bradley close on his heels. Race two was sailed in a little lighter but puffier conditions with shifts favoring the left side of the racecourse. Nicole Shedden and team pulled out a fantastic second beat to take the lead and hold on to the finish. Race three saw similar conditions with the breeze being very unstable and puffy. It was a tough battle between Kevin Bradley, Nicole Shedden, Kyle Finefrock, and Fred Bauer. Kevin Bradley split the leeward gates with Kyle Finefrock heading up to the finish and was able get into a little bit more pressure to take the bullet. The fourth and final race of day began with a big wind shift to the left, which caused the first general recall of the day. After a clean start, it was Jack Finefrock who took an early lead and held it to win the final race. Kevin Bradley’s team took second, sealing the regatta victory.
9 out top 10 boats had North Sails! For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts. Thistle Sails
North Sails dominated the event by finishing 1,2,3,4*, 5* plus 28 of the 33 boat fleet sailed North sails!! Brent Barbehenn with team mates Scott Meyer and Ted Resheteiloff won the event over 2008 Championship of Champions winner Doug Kaukenien. Top five: For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
* partial inventory
Thistle Sails
On September 20th 13 Thistles headed out from Cleveland Yacht Club for 2008 Thistle fall regatta. The fleet was presented with light winds and sunny skies. The PRO decided to run windward leeward courses once around to ensure that they could get 6 races in for the series. The first race Nicole Finefrock and team found their way up the middle of the course and help off the fleet to win the race. At the start of the seconded race a big left shift came in which forced the fleet to start on port tack. Nicole’s father Jack and his team was on top of the crazy wind shift and won the race. The next three races saw similar conditions, which kept the racing tight and mixed up. For the sixth and final race of the day the PRO decided to run a triangle course. On the first reach leg the breeze decided to die which caused the fleet to spread out a bit. The top three boats which where, Kyle, Nicole, and Jack Finefrock where neck and neck most of the race. In the end of the shortened race Kyle held off his sister Nicole and father Jack to win the final race. After the days racing the competitors headed to a local bar and grill for a few laughs and friendly conversations about the regatta. Top 3: North Sails won every race and 11 out of the 13 boats where armed with North Sails. Good times were had by all. For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
This past weekend we sailed the Thistle Atlantic Coasts in Sayville, NY out on the south shore of Long Island. We were pleased as this was our second Thistle event of the year. I've not always been competitive in the big breeze but with Jeff Eiber and my wife Jo Ann we were able to squeak by with a 1, OCS, 1, 4, 1 so we're psyched for the Nationals coming up in two weeks! Our customers are fired up as well as we expect breeze in Pensacola. For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts. Thistle Sails
In a hotly contested Florida District Championships sailed on May 3rd at The Florida Yacht Club in Jacksonville, FL, North Sails sailed to an impressive first and second overall beating some of the best sailors in the district. The conditions were light to medium air and quite shifty and class veteran Chris Klotz and crew Andy Culvert and wife Antoinette won the regatta by virtue of beating second place Robby Brown with partner Dave DeCamp in the middle and Ginger Denn on bow. Going into the last of five races there was a virtual dead heat between the top three boats with four boats with a chance to win. In the end, Chris Klotz and team sailed a great last race to finish first and win the event in a shortened race in the dying breeze. Other noteworthy performances were Matias Heinrich who stayed in the regatta right up to the end and finished third overall. Greg Griffin, always strong on the St. John’s River, was fourth. Everyone enjoyed the great sailing and strong competition in a very nicely run event by Rick Preston, a reliable source of quality race management in Northeast Florida, and is looking forward to the Nationals in Pensacola and the Summer Thistle sailing season. For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
Great news from Lake Chautauqua, New York this past weekend. North Sails finished 1,2 over all in the 16 boat fleet. Congrats to Bill Wilson, for finishing first and to Tom Hubbell for second. Tom's report follows: "Let's see, October in western NY - often in the 50's with high wind and some rain, but no; how about a high of 82 degrees, 8-12 mph thermal from the WNW, and sunny! Add 16 Thistles, 5 races with > 1 mile beats, fall colors on the trees, and a pretty good party with catered dinner, a visit by a paddle-wheel steamboat at sunset, bonfire, camping, and the Milky Way overhead. Bill Wilson's team grabbed the glory for the second year in a row (2,2,8,4,1). My team was second, Andy Lawrence's boat was third. Every boat had at least a 7th, so the scores where close and it wasn't over until. well, you know how that goes. Afterwards we learned that a crew with Sandy Douglas' '58 & '59 Nationals wins watched the regatta from the far side of the lake. [There must be a present or former Thistle sailor behind every other gas pump or on every other boat on every body of water.] For complete results, click here. For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts. Thistle Sails
This past weekend the 2007 Thistle Oyster Roast was held. Here's the top 10:
* partial inventory! Below the story of the regatta written by past President Peter Hale. My good buddy Brent Barbehenn sailed his brand new (right out of the box) # 4004 to a win with finishes of 2,1,3 overall. His team was Jess and Chris Murphy. Congrats!! Great turnout with 40 boats at the ECFS Oyster Roast
Regatta at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis!
Beautiful weather, and a break from the recent heavy
air at other ECFS events. Brent Barbehenn returned
to Thistle skippering with his new ash-trimmed #4004,
taped "Bad Ash" for the weekend, winning the
shortened 3-race event with a 2-1-3, followed by
John Baker, Doug Kaukeinen, Tom Lawton and Dave
Parker. For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
Berlin did a FANTASTIC job taking over the CYC regatta! The regatta fee actually dropped at the door from 30 to 20 with dinner included! When is the last time you saw that??? 15 boats competed, they came from cleveland, columbus, berlin and detroit. The wind (8-13) was beautiful and enabled five heavily contested windward leeward twice around races. Jack Finefrock dominated his home lake walking away with 9 points and several fall series keepers. Rockstar came out of semi retirement to race with Jack and Kathy. Kyle was second with the lovely ladies Jackie Bouillon and Anne Keyser. Champ Glover and Nuke finished 3rd! Special thanks to the Highlander fleet at Berlin for being the race committee for the regatta. We couldn't have done it without you! For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
65 boats made the trek to Eugene, Oregon for the 2007 Thistle Nationals. We sailed on Fern Ridge Reservoir, a good sized body of water that easily "housed" the fleet and allowed for super nice, and long, courses. None the less, Fern Ridge is indeed a lake and acted just like one with 30-50 degree shifts 4 o5 times up a weather leg. Couple that with heavy breezes hitting the 20's sometimes ( most races were sailed in 12-18mph) it was some interesting sailing. The Eugene Yacht Club should be commended on running a superb event with a nice social event nearly every night and some especially talented race management action. Thanks the Winchesters, the Baloughs and all those who made it happen! When it was all over Mike Ingham, with wife Delia and long time crew John Baker dominated the series in winning by 18pts over Scott Griffin of Jacksonville. Terry Lettenmaier was third, our team with my wife Jo Ann and Brent Barbehenn was 4th and Lloyd Kitchin was 5th. North Notes:
* main/jib only
Needless to say we are thrilled and proud of all our customers who sailed so well and sailed so fast!! Also, here is a link to a round table video taken during one of our one race days…it is especially nice as there is representation of all the North designs ( Fisher, Proctor and Northwest) …lots of talk about trim and boat handling. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7136125255027532398&pr=goog-sl Congrats too to Matt Soderlund with Dad Dave and his girlfriend Jennifer Griffith for winning the Presidents division by 1 point over Ron Smith. Tyler Andrews from Indianapolis won the Juniors in a close finish over Kevin Bradley from Toledo. In the Women's Nationals, Haley Lhamon sailed to win in a close series over Nicole Finefrock. We are looking forward to a great fall and winter! For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
Vlasta Kunc sailed impressively over the weekend of July 14 th & 15th in Fernandina, Florida to win the Gregor MacGregor Regatta hosted the Fernandina Old Town Dinghy Club. Saturday provided for quite a bit of unexpected excitement when a huge thunderstorm blew through shortly after the start of the first race sending the fleet for cover on the beaches surrounding the racing area. The sailors had to beach their boats and lay down away from the boats due to high winds and frequent lightning. No races were completed on Saturday due to the inclement weather. Vlasta remarked, however, that it was a real treat to see the wild horses and flamingos that inhabit Cumberland Island where he and a number of other boats sought shelter. The whole fleet was buzzing at the end of the day about the experience. No one was injured, but it was quite an ordeal for all involved. Sunday brought more favorable sailing conditions with four good races being sailed in great conditions. The first three races were sailed in a fairly steady southwesterly land breeze blowing around ten knots. Vlasta sailed extremely well finishing with a 1,2,1. In the last race the southwesterly began to waiver as it fought a developing sea breeze and became very shifty. The current also became a big factor in the dying breeze. Vlasta sailed conservatively to protect his lead and wound up holding on for the win in a three-way tie against some of the best competition that the Southeast has to offer. Greg Griffin was second and Scott Griffin was third. Congratulations to Vlasta on a great win. Vlasta, powered by North, was sailing with a new team who obviously did a nice job. We look forward to seeing Vlasta at the coming events and wish him the best. See complete results at www.macgregorregatta.com . For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
A North domination! 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 overall!!!! 52 boats descended on Toms River Yacht club for the Thistle ACC's this past weekend. We sailed 5 good, but tricky, races over 2 days in westerly ( most of the time!) winds from 10 to 15 with some much higher gusts. Mike Ingham, with team mates wife Delia and John Baker crushed the competitive fleet with 5 straight bullets! Our team, with my wife Jo Ann and Brent Barbehenn, was second, 14 pts back. Third was Brad Thompson from Cedar Point YC 10 pts back from us. Lloyd Kitchin and Dave Hansen rounded out the top 5. Our own Allan Terhune sailed his first Thistle regatta with his wife Katie and Dave Burkowski and finished 6th, 1 point from 5th. Full scores, click here. The Toms River Yacht Club ran a great event both on an off the water. Al's dad Allan, was the PRO and made some superb decisions about race course setup and timing so we got all 5 races in and still had time for the wonderful Saturday steak dinner and party! Will Demand went way over and above the call of duty with finding housing for 35 of the 52 BOATS (67% of the attendees)! Thanks again to everyone at TRYC who helped make it one of the very best, as well as well attended Thistle regattas on the east coast this summer. For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
June 8/9 the New Jersey/Long Island Sound Districts, Lake Erie and Central Atlantic Districts were sailed...and all three were dominated by sailors using North Sails! North Sails were first in all three! Congrats to all our fast customers!!! At the Lake Erie Districts held at Cleveland Yacht Club 22 boats sailed. Kyle Finefrock, Sarah Paisley and Ben Mercer dominated with dad Jack in third! North Sails were 1,3 and 7 of the top 10!! At the NJ/LIS Districts held at Nyack, NY 32 boats sailed. Mike Ingham won followed by Chris Murphy and Brad Thompson. North Sails were 1,2,3 and 10 of the top 10!! At The CAD Districts, held at Newcastle, De. 20 boats sailed. Scott Latham with Kevin Bradley and Logan Hearn dominated the regatta with Charlie Krafft with Doug Krafft and Martin Krafft in second and Chris Annand with daughter Megan and Candace Ewalt in third. North Sails were 1,2,3 and 9 of the top 10! For more info on the fastest North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
Vlasta had arguably the best speed in the medium wind flat water. The conditions were tough as it was shifty too. Here's what Vlasta and Bill had to say: "Having superior boat speed in light wind and relatively flat water is really important, second only to showing up on a race day. There are several factors that most sailors associate with boat speed such as hull age, mast stiffness and rake, and sail shape. We think that what really matters is how you sail the boat. And by you, we don't mean the skipper, we mean the plural you. Everybody on board should understand his or her tasks and focus fully on their assigned tasks. Having reliable and readily adjustable equipment is important. If something does not work on your boat, either fix it or get rid of it. Either way, you will be better off. Good sails will definitely give you an edge, but you need to sail well to use this slight advantage. When the wind is light and the water is flat, we really work on (1) focus/crew work, (2) steering/balance, (3) anticipating changes/trimming sails, and (4) maintaining a positive attitude. We focus on our respective responsibilities. Going to windward, the skipper keeps the boat going fast; the middle crew looks for wind, monitors other boats and adjusts the jib; and the forward keeps track of compass headings and immediate port-starboard situations. There is a lot more to say about task assignments and communication, but that is another article. The point is that if the skipper keeps checking the compass because the forward keeps looking at the tale-tales and telling the skipper to head up, the boat will probably not go very fast. There are two basic steering modes upwind: below hull speed and at hull speed. Thistles don't need much wind to reach the hull speed, therefore we will discuss each separately. In very light wind, we are looking for power and speed, the direction becomes a secondary concern and pointing higher seldom pays. Greater speed will get you to the next puff faster and allow your centerboard to work better. To the maximum extent possible, steer the boat without using the rudder. If you are new to the concept of using the body weight to sail the boat, try coupling your body movements with your rudder movements. Between races on a day with light/medium air and flat water (or better yet, on practice day), remove the rudder and steer only with your bodyweight. You will find that you can tack and jibe, you can even fly the chute without the rudder. The boat will round up when you heel the boat to leeward and drive off when it is heeled to windward. You will also learn to anticipate the wind and heel to steer the boat. Don't forget to have the crew practice steering the boat with their weight, the ability to feel the boat and help the skipper steer is a critical skill for each crew member. Keep looking for new wind, drive toward it, and have set a routine for adjusting to puffs to keep the boat balanced and driving. Our sequence of going to the rail is skipper-middle-forward. We come off the rail in the reverse order. As puffs arrive, remember to flatten the boat. This keeps the centerboard working and minimizes weather helm. Once you reach hull-speed, power is no longer the singular objective. An increase in power will result only in a small increase in speed. More pressure will give you more height, allowing you to shift to a higher gear and point higher without sacrificing speed. At this point, it becomes very important to go the right way as each boat is going very nearly the same speed. Getting back to lighter air, the best sailors anticipate changes in wind speed and direction, reacting to small changes in wind direction and velocity before the sails stall. Although it gets a lot of attention, we don't pre scribe a specific tension for your vang or distance from the jib to the top spreader. We don't believe in one optimum setup, it must be continuously found and then found again. (Knowing a reasonable range of adjustment is certainly good. In case you were wondering, we keep the jib 1-3 inches from the top spreader, and we keep the vang loose until we can no longer flatten the boat.) Again, sailing without a rudder will help you learn how to anticipate and adjust to changes in the wind without applying your brakes ( i.e., turning the rudder). Finally, there is no substitute for attitude. It's easy to work hard on the race where you got the best start, hit the first shift, and coast along in a steady 8 to 10 knot breeze with wide open tacking lanes. It's a bit more difficult coming off the second row with everyone is tacking on you, or worse yet when you win the start in fluky conditions but watch half of the fleet sail by because the first big puff came from the wrong side. However, races are not over in the first 5 minutes. Regattas are seldom lost due to a bad start; but the results for the weekend can certainly be affected by one bad finish. That's why it's important for everyone on the boat to have a positive attitude and race every minute - from the start to the finish - of every race. This is particularly true in light wind, when other teams are distracted or frustrated. Sometimes a positive attitude is the only thing working in your favor. More importantly, racing is supposed to be fun, and you won't have fun when you can't find the positives. So don't look at light wind or flat water as boring, look at is an opportunity to outperform the other teams with superior focus, better steering, anticipating the next puff, and a winning attitude!"
Thistle Sails
We are quite pleased and proud that North Sails finished 1,2*(main/jib),3,4,5 overall at the 2007 South Atlantic Districts this past weekend in Atlanta, GA. The regatta was hosted by Atlanta Yacht Club on Lake Altoona. I understand that there was quite a variety of conditions from a good blow on Saturday and quite the drifter ( see the pictures!) on Sunday. Brent McKenzie, of lake Lanier sailing Club, with Pete Gregory and Scott Schulze, remained on his winning ways and won yet another Thistle Championship! Congrats guys! Brent, who has had a great year in the Thistle, winning the Great Pumpkin last fall, the and was second at the Farragut in Knoxville, had this to say about what he felt was important to his wins: "Since I have been out of the class for almost 25 years jumping back in requires understanding what has changed and what has not and what I may be able to use over the years and from other classes to help speed up my learning curve to the thistle of today. First, Look for as stiff a boat as you can get or afford as the thistle's design and shape make this important. Then get new sails, sails are the engine and newer is better. I Go with a tried and true design and I try to go with someone who has done a lot of testing and class experience. Then really pay attention to the tuning guides. These have gotten a lot better and much more detailed than they were 25 or 30 years ago. I am pretty close to the tuning guide numbers although I want to buy a new loose gauge to make sure the borrowed one I used is still accurate. We set the boat up close to the numbers and then start practicing. Tiller time and time with the crew on execution is more important than anything!. When I am sailing I try to keep a close eye on the main leach. The thistle has a big one and depending on if you need speed and power or you need to point you adjust it all the time. I do use a main sheet cleat because I try to go single purchase as long as I can and I'm not that big or strong anymore but I don't cleat it often. When sailing on the lakes we vang sheet a lot to help control the proper leach angles. On the lakes the traveler just isn't fast enough to keep up with the change in direction and velocity we usually see. On big open water and its blowing 15 you might see puffs of 5 or 10 degrees and puffs to 18. On the lakes if its blowing 15 you might see puffs to 25 and hard shifts of 15 to 30 degrees, you can run out of traveler real quick and its just to slow to keep the boat reactive and flat. We are still learning how to fine tune and get more speed so I continue to talk to people about little things they do or have tried. I think the new tighter rigs are much faster but I still need to fine tune my diamonds to what works best and best for me. There still may be more speed opportunity here as I learn this part. Hope some of these thoughts help. See you on the water." Here are the results and a few pictures of the top 5, again all had North Sails!! The Atlanta Yacht Club For more info on speedy North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
Congratulations Robby Brown and team!
The Southern Circuit is a new concept promoted by Greg Griffin starting last year. Greg was the regatta chair for the Orange Peel, an event that is growing quickly and is a great draw for those sailors who want some great southern hospitality and a little warmth, but don't have perhaps the whole week necessary to sail the Midwinters. There was a good group who sailed both this year, nearly 30 boats, and qualified for the overall circuit.
We already shared the report on Midwinters East a couple weeks back. The Orange Peel, with 55 boats in attendance was sailed in a wide variety of conditions, but for sure there was no lack of breeze. Saturday it blew 10-20mph and was just a bit shifty!! Sunday a bit lighter, but certainly no more steady. But the temperature was great and the regatta a huge success. The racing was close...in fact, at the end there was a tie between Mike Ingham and Skip Dieball with Skip winning on the tie breaker for first overall. Mike sailed with his wife Delia and Dan Fien. Skip sailed with Mike Stark and Ryanne Gallagher.
Robby Brown, who finished third, sailed with David O'Riely and Dave Decamp. A clinic, hosted by Greg Griffin, Skip Dieball and myself kicked off the Orange Peel regatta followed by a great dinner/party night on the town on the river in Jacksonville. Greg organized about 8 powerboats to shuffle the whole regatta up the river to downtown Jacksonville. It was for sure one of the more memorable regatta party nights I've been to! Saturday night, a nice banquet was held where JD Reddaway was awarded the Van Allen Clark US Sailing sportsmanship award. JD comes from a strong Thistle family from Atlanta and the entire class is proud that JD earned this prestigious award! Don't miss the Orange Peel next year! For certain it will be even bigger! We were pleased that North sails performed so well at the Orange Peel, following up some super results at the Midwinters. In Jacksonville, North sails were 2,3,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,22,24- that is 17 of the top 25!!! Both Mike and Robby, again, second and third, used the Fisher design main and jibs and the Full Radial spinnaker. Don't hesitate to contact our Thistle experts for more details on our designs, tuning tips and sound advice. See you on the water soon! Thistle Sails
NORTH WINS... AGAIN! 69 boats sailed the 2007 Thistle Midwinters sailed at St Petersburg, Fl. A wide variety of conditions met the record fleet ( largest since 1978) with one day sailed to an abbreviated one race due to light winds and the last day with only one race due to too much. Carol Bardes and her team did a superb in providing both great race courses and decisions on when to race in the trying conditions. When it was all over my team of my wife Jo Ann, Jeff Eiber and myself was fortunate to take the regatta win with scores of 1,2,2,7,1,5,6. It was a special win for me since I was sailing with Jo Ann and Jeff who I first sailed Thistles with in 1981! We had a 12 pt lead over last year's runner-up Paul Abdullah with Andy Lawrence and Tim Fitzgerald. Robby Brown with Patrick Wilson and Merrill Talen was 4 points behind the Abdullah team. As usual the popular "Coach TCA" program was in full swing with a record 1/3 of the fleet participating. Coach TCA ( Tom Hubbell's brainchild) is a special series of seminar and coaching sessions for those who are looking for a little extra help from some of the best sailors in the class. This year there were 20 coaches total so everyone had a good piece of personal attention and instruction. We were proud that North Sails customers had a great showing this year!!! North Sails were 1,3 overall and 5 of the top 10 ( more than any other sailmaker) PLUS we had 15 of the top 20 and 21 of the top 30! Both Robby and I used the Fisher design mains and jibs and our .5oz Full Radial spinnaker. However it was interesting that in the top 20 there were 7 sets of Ched Proctor design North sails and 8 sets of Fisher designs. We have different designs available for different tastes or styles in sailing the Thistle! For more info on speedy North Thistle sails contact our Thistle experts.
Thistle Sails
GREG FISHER INTERVIEW WITH MIKE INGHAM & Mike, congrats on your big win at Thistle Midwinters West in San Diego a few weeks ago! That must have been a fun regatta! Mike It's always good to get out of Rochester in the winter. We have a great IC frostbiting series but that just keeps us sharp for these early spring regattas . It’s a pleasure to stay with Leslie Klein and her son Alex, we look foreword to that every year. You sailed a chartered boat in the regatta and only had one day to prepare it before the racing started...yet you had great speed in the choppy conditions you sailed in the ocean as well as the flat water in the Bay. What areas did you concentrate on the most in boat preparation for the racing? What areas were of least concern? Mike - I have not had good luck chartering in the past, so having speed was a relief. This was a proven winner boat but it has not been sailed hard the past 10 years. There were some things broken like the rudder head . Our two priorities were to replace anything that might break and to tune the rig up the way we like it. Of least concern was making it look nice. We did not change much rigging either preferring instead to adapt to what was already there. Did you tune it to the tuning guide? What was your rake, rig tension and diamond tension? Mike - We tune right in to the tuning guide, we did not do anything different . We had to spend some time cleaning the boat and mast up as it was stored in a warehouse full of pigeons! That was disgusting.
I had hoped you'd say you were on the tuning guide numbers since most of the suggested numbers came from your boat! Mike - We have been going well and we have been able to reproduce the speed through different boats, different hull manufacturers, different blades etc. To be able to reproduce we have had to take good notes and keep track of our measurements, which has turned into at least some of the tuning guide North today. You sailed with Sarah Paisley and Kyle Finefrock, two excellent Thistle sailors in their own right, yet you guys hadn't worked together as a team. How did you work out the communication, delegation and even the boat handling. Your boat handling ( again with only a few hours of practice) was nothing less than spectacular to watch! Mike - We talked about who was to do what role on the boat ahead of time so it was very clear. We did not have much time to sort things out so we had to do so on land first. The cool thing about working with Sarah and Kyle was that they both actually implemented our agreed upon plan right away. But they also both understand what is going on so well that when something went a little wrong, they were not afraid to re-prioritize and make something happen. For example, something went wrong with the jib halyard one time and the leeward mark was fast approaching, so Kyle stepped in and pulled the chute down without anyone saying a word -the job just got done. They both were also flexible, for example, we had agreed that Kyle was to pull up the chute, but the halyard and cleat was at the base of the mast and they figured out on the fly that Sarah needed to pull it up. Having the practice clinic Wednesday was a huge help too. Thanks for that. The choppy, wavy conditions in the ocean are always tricky when it comes to boat speed. You Kyle and Sarah always seemed to have speed, height and acceleration consistently. What was key for you in those conditions? Mike - We felt we had a significant boat speed advantage in the ocean waves, but not as big an advantage in the bay. This led us to believe that a lot of the ocean speed had to do with driving, body movement, and trim. I like the fullness and amount of hook the leach has in the Fisher cut main, but with that extra speed comes the responsibility not to over trim it in the waves. We were dynamic with everything we did and worked hard to keep the boat moving. We pointed well but not by trying to point, but rather getting the blades to work by going fast first, then letting that turn into height because the blades were working. I look foreword to seeing the video you took. Our technique was all done by feel in the waves and I am curious to see what it looked like from off the boat. But the sailing inside on the Bay was 180 degrees different! Totally flat water and shifty puffy conditions were the norm. Did you set the boat up differently? Steer the boat differently? Mike - We did not set up the boat any different, but we trimmed harder and were less dynamic because we did not have to steer around waves and play the radical apparent wind changes. I had the opportunity to watch and video much of the racing..one thing that stood out to me was that you never wound up on a corner..or even far off from the middle. It seemed as though you were really careful to stay away from the edges of the course. Was that an intentional strategic move? Mike - We had done some local knowledge research before we went sailing, but it seemed like there were 15deg or more shifts that would last a long time. We could find no pattern nor sign as to when these shifts might appear and how big they would be. We decided to guess the best we could, but then not bet the race on our guess. So we would just stay on what we thought was the favored side of the majority of our competitors. For example, if off the start we thought the left was favored, we stayed to the left of most of the fleet. Our guesses were often wrong, so this paid off big as we never got too far away from the majority. When we were wrong, we were still close enough to make it back.
You even started near the middle most of the time! Mike - We did not want to get stuck going to a side, and that can often happen from the ends. We also avoided clumps of boats at the ends because we wanted to go fast off the line. One time I saw you check the line head to wind at about 1 1/2 minutes...and then sail up closer to the committee boat to start. It was unusual for you...of course the wind shifted right and you had a huge lead 100yds off the start! What told you that was coming? Mike - Sailing back and forth on the line, I think I was on port and realized that I needed to sheet tighter than usual. That meant there was likely a big right shift. So we did a head to wind to check it out and sure enough, it was 15deg or more. We realized that most people did not notice it and the boat was wide open, so we went for it. Few Thistle Sailors have accumulated the long list of wins that you have...what do you think is most important to a winning Thistle effort? Mike - I think it is important not to try to be too clever. Whether you use the Fisher, Proctor, or North West version of the sails, follow the tuning guide. I have tuned many boats to help people out and I am always surprised at how many don’t follow the guide and they wonder why they are slow. I think one of the biggest keys to our success is racing with people that are willing to work hard both off and on the water. It's a team effort. It should also be with people you get along with well and there is mutual respect for. Things will always go wrong, and there will always be bad regattas no matter how good we are. We need to keep our friendships and still work hard at it no matter what our results are. We'll miss you at Thistle Midwinters East but you'll be off sailing the J/24 Worlds this March. That's got to be a totally different style of sailing compared to the Thistle. Is it hard changing gears? Mike - I think campaigning two boats helps us in the long run in 2 ways. The overall approach and preparation to big events is the same for both boats and as we learn more about preparation, we just get better and better at it. The other thing is the sail shape on each is so different that at first it was confusing, but now we can take what we learn from each and translate it to the other. It's getting easier as I truly understand how each of these very different boats goes fast. You have a great team for the J/24...we sure wish you luck!! Mike - We have great Karma on the team. Like our Thistle program, everyone works and travels so well together. Thanks Mike! We'll all see you at your next Thistle event! Mike - The people in the Thistle class are awesome. Too bad we can't do everything because I would sure like to be at the MWE.
Thistle Sails
North Sails dominated the 30 boat Thistle Midwinters West sailed in San Diego and hosted by Mission Bay Y C this past week. 9 races were sailed in all-6 in the ocean and 3 in the Bay on Sunday. Mike Ingham with team mates Kyle Finefrock and Sarah Paisley dominated the championship division winning every race but one...Mike and his team sailed a very conservative series, nearly always starting near the middle of the line and rarely ending up out of the middle upwind. They demonstrated exceptional speed both upwind and down. Terry Lettenmaier with wife Laurie and brother Dennis were second, 20 points behind Ingham and 24 pts ahead of third. In the President's Division, Skip Kempff with JB Clemmons and Larry Klaasen, won over Wayne Balsiger with Karen Gilbert and Susannah Carr. It was a tight series with only 3 points separating these two boats...Dave Keran was third. The regatta was exceptionally well run with a major effort by regatta Chair Dave Bloomberg. There were great dinners ( and parties!) each evening. Saturday night Leslie Klein presented Mike Ingham with the Larry Klein Trophy for the Match race series held on Thursday. This is always a special event with Thistle sailers as Larry was one of the class's staunchest supporters. Although I didn't sail the event this year I had a great time helping moderate a roundtable discussion with the leaders each morning. I also shot video of the racing as well and we'll make this available to those who are interested. Drop me an email! Watch for an interview with Mike Ingham in the future on his feelings about his successful trip to Midwinter's West! North Sails were 1,2,4,5,6,8,9,10 overall in the Championship Division and 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10 overall in the President's division! Mike Ingham used the Fisher main and jib and the Full Radial spinnaker out of Contender .5oz fabric, Skip Kempff, using his new sails for the first time, used the Fisher main and jib and a Full Radial spinnaker from .75oz Airx. For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts! DAY 2:
Day 2 was spectacular! The breeze was a nice 6-12 mph and the sun was out! Mike Ingham again dominated the long windward leeward windward courses with 3 firsts and Lettenmaier remained in second. Mike and team always started directly in the middle of the line and worked hard to stay near the middle of the course. The breeze was shifty with 10-15 degree oscillations but rarely did one side pay to the point where shooting the corner was beneficial. Those who took the least amount of risks usually were most consistent. Mike, Kyle Finefrock and Sarah Paisley won all 3 races of the day and enter today's racing inside the Bay with a huge lead over team Lettenmaier. Dave Keran from Fresno is leading the President's division over Wayne Balsiger from Seattle. North Sails are 1,2,4,5 in the Championship division and 1,2,4,5 in the President's division!
DAY 1:
Although the day started out warm with a nice 8mph breeze for the Thistle sailors racing Midwinters West, by race time the sun had disappeared and with it much of the breeze. 3 races were sailed with only the first having any substantial wind. It was downright chilly on the water with temps never getting above 50 degrees! The first race was started in breeze around 8 mph. Mike Ingham had a great start in the middle of the line and was in a fine controlling position half way up the first leg. But by the weather mark the breeze had faded left and Joe McCorkel from Annapolis had done a nice job working that side and rounded first with a nice lead, with Ingham in second. Mike Gillum was third. It was until half way up the second beat that Ingham caught and passed McCorkel and led to the finish. Since the wind was slowly fading the race committee wisely shortened the course to finish downwind. Unfortunately there was some confusion for some of the sailors about the position of the finish line and some of the fleet rounded and headed back upwind. McCorkel for one didn't recognize the finish and sailed all the way to the top mark....and then missed the start of the second race as a result. The second race started in some of the lightest breeze of the day and in a huge left shift...everyone tacked to port at the gun and were literally laying the weather mark. The breeze was spotty and the lead changed several times...Mike Polterak had the lead for a while, them Mike Gillum, but it was Scott Latham from Pennsylvania led at the top mark. It was also a reach back to the finish and it got quite tricky. Ingham once again slide into the lead and held it to the finish. The Lettenmaier team was second.... The third race was started shortly after the finish and this time the breeze cranked right at the start. It was Ingham and Latham who recognized this shift and raced up to the weather end. Mike, Kyle and Sarah had a sizable lead at the top mark as a result and held it to the finish of the windward leeward course. The Lettenmaier team was second again... With 3 bullets Mike Ingham commands a strong lead as we enter the second day, Lettenmaiers are second 6 points back. John Weightman from San Diego is in third. McCorkel with a 2, DNS, 3 is in 10th...no throw out for Joe unfortunately however! North Sails are 1,2 overall!!
GETTING READY FOR DAY 1:
30 boats are ready to sail the Thistle Midwinters West here in San Diego. The first day of racing, to be sailed in the ocean, starts today. As usual the out look is beautiful with breeze about 10-12. Yesterday the Larry Klein match race series was held inside Mission Bay. 3 fleet races were sailed in the morning to narrow the field to the top 8. After the ladder series was sailed, the final championship race took place between Mike Ingham from Rochester with team mates Kyle Finefrock and Sarah Paisley and Terry Lettenmaier from Eugene with wife Laurie and brother Dennis. At the start Mike was able to pin Terry out to the port end of the line and once they eventually made there way back to the start line well after the gun, Mike had the lead and covered the Lettenmaier team the remainder of the race for the win. We were proud as both Mike and Terry sailed full North inventories! Mike sailed the Fisher design main and jib with our Full Radial spinnaker and Terry sails the North West cut with our crosscut spinnaker. Both boats were obviously quite speedy! Today and Saturday I will be on the water shooting video and helping Thistlers in between races with their tune and trim. We'll be holding a roundtable discussion as well in the mornings and watch the video in the evening..it's a nice place to be and a great group to be with! Watch for more updates!
Report by Greg Fisher We are pleased to announce that North Sails won the 2006 Thistle Nationals sailed at North Cape YC in Monroe, Mich. 100 boats sailed in the event that offered up all different types of sailing. The first couple days were nice medium winds of 10-12 with some pretty light and lumpy stuff for the next 2 days. The finale was a 18-22mph blow with some good old lake Erie square waves. North Cape YC did a super job...Dave Schaeffer ran some fair and solid racing while co-chairs John Heagy and Skip Dieball keep the regatta organized and fun.
I, with my team of Brent Barbehenn and Sarah Paisley were fortunate to win. We had great speed especially in the light lumpy stuff and won by 19 pts.. Brent and Sarah were tremendous- Brent has won the Nationals 4 times himself as a skipper and there has never been a crew who has the resume Sarah has...though this is the first time she has won the Nationals. They did a super job. Scott Finefrock with crew John Riddle and Liz Laborde dominated the Presidents Division by a similar margin! They were exceptionally consistent with no races out of the top 5 in the tough conditions. In the Women's Nationals preceding Pictures will be posted here when available. We are working hard to continually develop better and faster sails. Our new FR1 spinnaker has been updated as has the Fisher jib, the Proctor jib and the Fisher main. We are looking forward to 2007! Any questions please contact Greg or Ched.
FINAL RESULTS - Top 10 CHAMPIONSHIP Fleet Series
PRESIDENT'S Fleet Series
For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Report by Chris Snow Congratulations to the Mike Poltorak, Evan and Scott Hoffman for winning the So. Cal Thistle Districts June 24 and 25 at Mission Bay YC in San Diego, CA. Sailing was in the ocean on Saturday and inside Mission Bay Sunday. Conditions were usually windy on both days with winds topping out at close to 20 knots. Mike and his team used our North West cut sails to sail away with this event. Skip Kempff who finished second in this event also flew a North inventory. For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Report by Greg Fisher 2006 Thistle Michiana Districts June 10-11 2006 Thistle Central Atlantic Districts June 10-11 2006 Thistle Mid America Districts June 3-4 2006 Thistle Lake Erie Districts June 10-11 2006 Thistle Long Island Sound Districts June 10-11 For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Report by Greg Fisher Our own Robby Brown, in a highly competitive fleet, won the 2006 Thistle Florida Districts. Not only did Robby win, but Chris Klotz, also a North customer, was third!
Robby's report is below. Robby's report: The Florida Thistle Districts were sailed at The Florida Yacht Club in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday May 13th. In a fickle westerly breeze ranging from five to fifteen knots, the race committee did an excellent job of keeping the race course true and got in five short but quality races. The quality of the racing was a credit to PRO Henry Mullen and mark boat captain Skip Miller as the wind shifted back and forth at times as much as 90 degrees. After a couple of quick abandonments in races that became untrue, the remaining five races were expertly kept square through aggressive course changes to keep up with the ever changing breeze. The regatta was hotly contested by some of the best sailors that Florida has to offer, not to mention the Thistle Class. 1990 National champion Chris Klotz, Midwinters champion Paul Abdullah, and Great Lakes champion Greg Griffin were in attendance. The short races provided lots of excitement with short starting lines and crowded mark roundings that placed a premium on boat handling and crew work as well as tactics to negotiate the shifty conditions. Robby Brown, recently getting back into Thistling and showing a strong finish of fourth at the 2006 Midwinters, and Chris Klotz got off to a quick start trading first and second in the first two races while Greg Griffin stayed close with two thirds. Paul Abdullah fell behind sailing without his regular crew and ultimately had to retire due to a starting line collision. In the third race, Robby and Chris again rounded first and second with Robby ahead. Greg, who was right in the mix, had gone back for a dropped spinnaker pole and rounded a little back in third. With Robby loose covering Chris to the right on the second beat, Greg and Paul found a large shift on the left and rounded first and second. Greg held on to finish first, but Robby was able to catch and just pass Paul at the finish. Chris dropped well back and finished fifth. The fourth race was hotly contested with Greg, Chris and Robby all trading places several times. In the end Robby won race four by about one foot. This would prove to be the critical element in Robby’s ultimate regatta win since Greg went on to sail a beautiful race five to victory while Robby moved up from a fifth place position at the first weather mark to third to hold on to win by one point over Greg who was second with Chris a few points back in third. In the end it was a beautiful day of sailing on the St. John’s River in Jacksonville Florida. The race management by The Florida Yacht Club was masterful. Robby Brown was first, Greg Griffin was second and Chris Klotz was third. Final Results:
For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
Report by Greg Fisher
We are proud that North Sails dominated the 2006 Buckeye Lake, Ohio ( about 40 miles east of Columbus) spring regatta April 29/30. Kyle Finefrock was first, Steve Lavender was second and local Walter Grubb was third. Here is a report: The weekend began Saturday with 10-12 mph winds out of the southeast and oscillating shifts of up to 20° - unfortunately the most difficult direction and conditions for setting a course on Buckeye Lake. However the Race Committee was able to set a "triangle-windward-leeward" that held well throughout the day. Saturday saw five good solid races with good starts and a very competitive fleet! The number of lead changes and the tightness of the fleet showed that we had not only 14 boats with good sailors, but also a good, competitive course. At the end of day one, Kyle Finnefrock of Berlin Yacht Club held first place with a very comfortable margin, followed by a tie for second between Steve Lavender of Hoover Sailing Club and our own Walter Grubb. Saturday afternoon and evening was filled with enjoyable social time and entertainment at the Club by Alex Bevan. Everyone in attendance had a good time. Sunday morning, we arrived at BLYC to find winds very much the same as day one. With a concern of freshening winds and incoming weather, the Race Committee got the course set and the boats on the water for an early start. Two more very competitive races and we were back on land. (The winds never freshened as much as we feared, in fact they dropped off a bit.) At the end of the weekend the final results were as follows: For more information about our fast Thistle sails, contact the North's Thistle Experts!
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1st Kevin Bradley, Tim O’Brien, Kate O’Brien
This past weekend the 2008 Thistle Oyster Roast was held in Annapolis. In true Chesapeake Bay fashion unfortunately there was only breeze on Saturday and the fleet sailed 2 races. There was a valiant effort to make the Sunday's race happen but it had to be abandoned at the top mark when the Bay glassed off.
Vlasta Kunc with crew Natalie Pheasant and Bill Bradshaw won with a 3,2,1,1,1.
Brent McKenzie ( 2007 South Atlantic District winner) with crew Robert Gregory was second. Brad Russell with father Andy was fourth and Fred Griffin was 5th.
It is extremely important not to over trim either of the sails. Over trimmed sails cause the helm to feel sluggish and unresponsive - there will be no groove to steer in. You will not be able to speed up without loosening the sheets. Don't even think about putting the boat in third or fourth gear, make continuous adjustments to keep the speed up and make sure that you have your 4WD low gear ready for the inevitable 2-foot powerboat
wake. The crew should be far forward to get the stern out of the water and
reduce the wetted area. Crew movements in the boat should be smooth and rare. In a complete drifter, a small heel to leeward will help fill the sails and provide a bit of feel to the helm. 
Congratulations to Robby Brown on winning the 2007 Thistle Southern Circuit...a combination of scores of the Midwinters held in St Pete the first week of March and the Jacksonville Orange Peel hosted last weekend by Florida Yacht Club.
Robby bested some of the class's finest sailors in the overall. 
