Jacksonville Training Weekend - December 16th

Jacksonville Winter Training Series
December 2007

When we initially set up the Winter Training Series, the idea was to find a fun way to go sailing in the winter months. Our friends in Jacksonville offered up The Florida Yacht Club as our home base for a series of weekends starting in December 2006. Since that time, the training series has been a highly anticipated series!

The kick-off of the Winter 2007/2008 Series was this past weekend (Dec 15/16). We were a little nervous setting this up so close to the holidays, but it seemed like the only available weekend for the hosts & organizers. In hindsight, we couldn't have picked a better weekend from a weather standpoint.

A manageable group of nearly 30 sailors worked a rotation so that everyone could get some sailing in and participate in the drills set up in advance. If you wanted to match your speed and technique against some good sailors, this is the place as we had a number of champion-caliber participants in attendance.

In the past, we have set up these weekends so that on the Wednesday prior to the event we have a go/no-go call based on the weather. This past weekend's forecast wasn't ideal with winds forecasted to be light on Saturday and ultra-windy on Sunday. A few folks decided to not attend and unfortunately for them, that seemed to ensure that the weather was going to be perfect!!!! Thanks! ;-)

Saturday we had 7-12 knots and temperatures in the 80s. We all sailed in shorts and t-shirts and sailed until the sun went down. We all agreed that if we didn't sail on Sunday, the weekend would have been a success! It was a day that reminded us why we love this sport in the first place.

The drills were outlined in advance and were executed to near perfection. A few boats used the drills as opportunities to "explain" to crew the cause/effect of the maneuvers...truly a perfect time as opposed to the heat of the battle of a regatta.

Drill #1 - Straight line speed.















Drill #2 - Tack on the whistle.

Drill #3 - Gybe on the whistle.



















Drill #4 - Skewed windward/leeward (to practice down-speed roundings i.e. gybe sets & tacking around the leeward mark)










Drill #5 - Traditional Windward/Leeward courses (4-5 laps)















BREAK FOR LUNCH

Drill #6 - Skewed windward/leeward (to practice port layline sets)














Drill #7 - Downwind sprint














Drill #8 - Upwind Speed Testing - Race to the dock


We all tried hard not to make a big deal out of the epic conditions that we experienced, but it was tough not to. Many comments ranging from "the weather couldn't have been nicer" to "this was a perfect day" were heard throughout the drysail park at FYC. The day however, was only 1/2 over as we went to Paul Abdullah's house to recap.

We started by reviewing some of the data captured by our VELOCITEK devices. It was interesting to see the different "styles" of upwind sailing and how they affected overall gains. It was also cool to hear feedback from those that used the VELOCITEK devices. They would try different sail trim, crew weight placement, etc. and they were able to see how it affected speed. Very cool learning tools!!!






We then watched the video from the day and looked closely at set up, maneuvers and sail shapes. Skip Dieball was able to explain some of the difference in the various sails that are available and educate the crowd on "things to watch for" when they are setting their boats up.

The video was then replaced by digital still shots enhancing the same conversations.

Dinner was served while we had our debrief and it was a very cool, casual evening. Special thanks to Paul Abdullah, Pete Frissell and Dave Van Cleef for spear-heading the food and libations!

While we had the PC & Projector up, Greg Griffin fired up the Weather Radar. It was interesting to see the frontal passages that extended from Tampa through the Carolinas. Lots of Green and Red made the outlook for Sunday grim. We devised a plan to check in at 8:30 AM, get breakfast and then rally to see what we should do. The option of leaving early for many northerners was enticing, but after Saturday's fun, we all still wanted to sail!

Upon arrival to FYC, the wind built bigtime! A few low, dark clouds brought wind and rain, but there was some clearing on the radar, so we decided to hold for a 1/2 hour and then make a decision. That move paid off as we devised a plan to sail from the cove to the leeward shore and back. The deal was that it was going to be in 18-22 knots! Clearly close to being out of the range of which we'd normally sail, but we were all game to have some fun.

Greg Griffin made sure that we were all on the same page. Everyone was to wear PFDs, not venture out without the group and everyone looks out for one another. We had a rescue boat, without which this would never had happened.

What was the motive? Fun, for sure....but also to use the GPS's to see what a Thistle can do in those conditions. How about averaging 13 knots and topping out just shy of 16 knots with spinnaker and flogging mainsail!!! Not bad in just 18-22 knots of wind! Oh yeah, we tested the speeds with just Jib & Main on a blast reach....11-13 knots.

What more can be said other than it was the ending of a nearly perfect weekend. Yes there was a capsize. Yes there was some minor damage. But it was totally worth it. We'll be talking about this for a long time.

Want to join in the fun? Mark your calendars for February 2/3. The Florida Yacht Club is one of the best sites for this kind of thing! Thank you FYC!!

Thanks too to the particpants: Paul Abdullah, Ben Mercer, Ashley Saylor, Mike Stark, Caiti Dust, Rick Rothebuhler, Greg Griffin, Josh Putnam, Nick Turney, Matias Heinrich, Becca Heinrich, Denny Griffin, Peter Frissell, Scott Frissell, Scott McCormick, John Fewell, Johnny Fewell, Skip Dieball, David Van Cleef, Emily Pulos, Patrick Wilson! A truly talented group of sailors making this a totally worthwhile event!

Summer is OVER....

Wow, it has been a while since I've written to the "Q Toledo" Blog. It doesn't feel like it has been that long?!?

Over the next week I'm going to post stories from this past summer. The Quantum Toledo crew has been literally all over the world sailing, having fun and supporting our customers. Every weekend of every month we were somewhere sailing and/or supporting.

Even to this day, it is hard for me to think that the sailing season has come and gone....we'll post some cool stories and pictures from our travels in an effort to relive and prepare for another great season!

Skip Dieball

All Work and No Play????

Early Summer Report
Quantum Sails Toledo


THISTLE GREAT LAKES CHAMPIONSHIPS

John Lovett, with crew super crew Jeff Eiber and Kathleen Duckworth took home a victory at the 2007 Thistle Great Lakes this past weekend, held at the Vermilion Boat Club. Lovett, sailing woody #1055 (The Sled) won convincingly, beating out the second place finisher, Jack Finefrock, by 14 points. John took delivery of his new Quantum sails 2 weeks ago at the Lake Erie Thistle Districts and has been pleased with their performance ever
since.


SANDUSKY INTERLAKE REGATTA

Surge Vanderhorst from Hoover won a predominately light air event at Sandusky Sailing Club. Looking for redemption from a sub-par outing at Hoover the weekend before, Surge (sailing with wife Kathy) sailed an amazingly consistent series to win the event over Bryan Parker from Lorain.


INDIAN LAKE HIGHLANDER REGATTA

John Bauer, with a brother Steve and father Harold won the Indian Lake Highlander Regatta this past weekend. Using their Quantum sails for the first time, they edged out Ed Spengeman and Jamey Carey (powered by Quantum) in a regatta that came down to the last leg of the last race as all boats finished within boat lengths of each other. Steve, who bought the sails for
his father and brother as a gift, remarked that the sails "definitely performed well," and they "couldn’t be happier with the customer support." Congratulations to all competitors this past weekend. Without the strong support of these One Design class, spectacular sailing like this past
weekend would not be possible.


CLEVELAND RACE WEEK - ONE DESIGN

Nick Turney from Quantum Toledo delivered a large number of new sails to the CRW-OD event on June 23/24. Among the sails were many new T10 sails. The feedback has been incredible. Our latest shapes are the standard in the sport with Chris Carroll having won the NAs last year, Ted Pinkerton wining Detroit NOOD this spring and now with Chuck Simon & Bill Buckels, the Cleveland Race Week regatta.

The report from Team I-Ball's co-owner, Scott Irwin, was that many were using CRW as a tune up for the NAs. If the results were any indication, the Quantum T10 sails are the shapes to have over all conditions!

In other action at CRW, Quantum customer Chris Carroll piloted his J22 to an impressive win taking the largest class w/27 boats (Chris won by 10 points!). Additionally, Marion Zaugg won the Jet 14 division of CRW. Marion has been working with Quantum Toledo for a few months on our latest Jet designs. Congrats to both Chris and Marion for a great weekend!


FLYING SCOT NORTH AMERICANS

Travis Weislander & Ernie Dieball won 2 of the 6 races at the incredibly large FS North Americans and finished an impressive 6th out of over 100 entries. Quantum has been in the FS class for many years, but we've overhauled the designs and they sails look great and are fast. Look for Quantum Toledo to be even more active the FS class in the days to come!


LIGHTNING OHIO DISTRICTS

Team Git R Dun consisting of Ryan Ruhlman, Nick Turney and Matty Schon won the Ohio Districts this past weekend with impressive scores over a variety of conditions. Using the event as a practice for the World Championship in Greece this team is peaking at the right time! Congrats to Ryan & team for a great event and for their continued support of Quantum Sails!


MORE THISTLE REGATTAS

It is always great to get feedback from customers, particularly those that spend time racing at the club level and then venture off or participate in a competitive holiday series. George Allen from Berlin Yacht Club finished 2nd at Pymatuning's 4th of July Regatta this past weekend! In a series that featured many of the class's best, George showed great consistency finishing only behind Quantum Customer Kyle Finefrock. Congrats George!

John Church from Hoover sent us a great note from this weekend's Hoover Holiday Series. John finished 2nd to Steve Lavendar and mentioned, "I am happy to report sailing to 2nd place behind Steve Lavender at the Hoover Holiday Series races this past weekend using my Quantum main and jib. We started out slowly in very light shifty wind on Saturday with a 5-3-3 out of seven Thistles (Thistle fleet also had RC duty). Conditions improved to largely 8-15 on Sunday and we sailed a consistent 2-2-2, edging Howard Hill (who won the last race) for 2nd overall by a point." Congrats to John!

There is still plenty of racing before our crazy summer of championships starts. Quantum Toledo Representatives plan to be at Jr. Bay, Interlake Nationals, Highlander Nationals, Thistle Nationals, T10 North Americans, Jet 14 Nationals and Lightning North Americans all before an intense fall of clinics and coaching leading up to the US Olympic Trials.

Stay tuned for the latest!

2007 Finn Nationals - Gull Lake, Michigan

The weekend was wonderful with the exception of the wind...which was pretty non-existant throughout the Midwest. But this is Pleasantville, USA and you don't necessarily need the wind in order to have fun.

Jon Vandermolen and his team at GLYC did a great job of making sure everything that he could take care of was handled with precision, including the fully stocked bar they set up to greet the sailors upon arrival of Saturday's racing!

In the end, Andy Casey won the Nationals showing amazing consistency in very trying winds. Second went to Geoff Ewenson, with Don Jesberg 3rd, Andy Kern 4th and Tad Springer 5th. Winning 2 of the 4 races was Darrell Peck who had to carry a DNF from race 2.

I am sure the Finn sailors will be back. The hospitality of Jon and his team have made this event legendary!

Finn US Nationals
Gull Lake, Michigan
Skip Dieball

Pleasantville, USA....that's what Gull Lake is!! It is always great to come back and see our friends from Star sailing and what a treat to have them host the Finn Nationals!

I'm back coaching Geoff Ewenson. He's been jet-setting all over the world sailing his Finn and doing great. We are hoping that he continues progress here at Gull Lake as he eyes up the Olympic Trials in October.

The racing starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday. Today is a practice day and I hope to post some observations, but the wind is incredibly light (none), so we are waiting to see what happens.

Stay tuned for stories....at least we'll report shore-side antics.

Lake Erie Districts - 2007
Cleveland Yachting Club

The Lake Erie District as some really cool spots to sail, CYC being one of them. Situated on a small island in the middle of the Rocky River, it is easy to get in/out to Lake Erie for some great sailing.

For the Quantum Team, this years event provided the perfect "test" to getting 1049 up to speed and we used every opportunity to tune and fine-tune.

The racing on Saturday started out perfect. Nice waves, nice wind and a good "open water" speed test with small-ish wind shifts. Throughout the day, however, the breeze tapered off and the light and lump set in.

Kyle Finefrock was on fire. He didn't make many mistakes and took advantage of some good opportunities and capitalized. Kyle had Ben Mercer and Sarah Paisley on board to help him....they sailed great! Ernie Dieball made his LE District debut in 3995 with Mike Stark and Rick Rothenbuhler and finished an impressive 2nd. Their speed was a good benchmark for my team (Karl Felger and Ryanne Gallangher) to test 1049.

We had our ups and downs, but used this great event to learn. And learn we did.

We found out that we were on pace when the wind was up and mast loaded. When the wind died down below 10 knots, we felt good on port tack, but really bad on starboard tack. As the day progressed our observations were heightened.

We got back on to the dock with a 6, 17, 10, which wasn't what we had planned on. The 17 was due mainly to a main halyard problem at the start (main was down in the boat at the gun!) and the 10 was probably better than we deserved due to the misfortunes of many rounding the wrong mark.

Once on shore, we check all settings. Our rake was spot on with the tuning numbers, but we noticed that the boom was much higher. So we raked back 2". We measured diamonds and found that one side was much tighter than the other....odd because when I tuned the mast in the comfort of the sail loft, it seemed symmetric. So, we popped off all the diamonds and the mast was bent slightly in a reverse "C". This all correlated with our on-the-water observations. Fortunately for us CYC has a few trees that have been used for many-a-mast. It took us 10 minutes to get it straight, tuned and back on the boat.

Interestingly too, we found that our mast step was higher in one corner than the other, forcing the mast to "load" differently from one tack to the other. We filed the mast step and got it right.

Sunday brought great speed and better scores for 1049. Still not perfect, but again great opportunities to test, tune and experiment against many of the best sailors in the class.

We had an amazing weekend of fun and learning at CYC. Thanks to them and to the LE District sailors for their hard work in making Districts a good time.

Thistle 1049

June 2nd marked the end of Project #1, which is Thistle 1049. I sailed it in the Cattail Regatta at Jolly Roger Sailing Club and the boat set up really nice. To help, my brother sailed 3995 in the same event. We had a bit of time to do some straight lining and the boats were pretty equal, which made me happy. Happier still, Karl Felger and I won the Cattail with a 1,1,2. Successful first outing.

This coming weekend is the Lake Erie Districts. I hope to be able to produce some "sailing" pictures to round out this Blog.

"We all need the Clowns to make us smile..."

Bruce Goldsmith

1936-2007

Bruce Goldsmith
1936-2007

Sailors all over the world lost a friend yesterday with the Passing of Bruce Goldsmith. How do you describe the indescribable? Somehow, "You had to be there" comes closest.

Bruce won World Championships, North American Championships, National Championships and 2 Pan American Games Gold medals. He was second in the 1972 Olympic Trials to Buddy Melges.

His legend far exceeds the time he spent in sailing alone. But in a sport where sailors spend many an evening around boat parks discussing the greatest ever, Bruce stands in a very small group.

Those who have a heavy heart today, might want to train your mind's eye and fill in the blank:
Bruce is:___________

Two-time Lightning World Champion.
1960 Thistle Class National Champion.
Winning the Soling practice race at the 1972 Olympics by 5 minutes.
Late.
Missing a third crew.
Almost a leg ahead.
Sailing another blue boat called Snoopy.
Winning a North American title while not considering pouring out the case of beer someone hid under his foredeck.
Crossing the fleet on Port from the pin.
Setting up the model boat races.
Giving away 9 used jibs on the lawn.
Reinforcing a broken mast with a butter knife.
Winning another Pan American Games Medal.
Launched.

Yesterday, I tried to describe Bruce to my wife, who isn't an active sailor. I told her that you could take the 5 best sailors in the world in any era, put them on a starting line and he could (after leaving his boat in the water the three previous nights) beat any of them. She said, "Wow…and you were friends with him?" I paused awhile, considering how terrible simply changing one word from 'are' feels right now. "We all were" I said.

We all were.

Because he encouraged us. He hung out with us. He helped us get faster. He asked us to come along. He came along when we asked him. He finished in front of us but he made sure we never felt beaten.

He was the Bruin.

And today is just the first day of the forever when he'll be remembered.

by: Bill Faude

You Can Go Home Again

This past weekend I had the pleasure of coaching in a Clinic held by Berlin Yacht Club. Berlin is located on a small lake in Eastern Ohio about an hour south of Cleveland. They club consisted of a varying assortment of members that range anywhere in age and sailing aptitude. While they’ve had their share of national champions sail out of the club, Berlin’s strongest membership comes from beginning to intermediate sailors. This weekend was geared towards getting the most out of each individual sailor and begin to prepare them for the great summer season that is at hand.

Sailing boats that would make Sandy Douglass proud (Highlanders, Thistles and Flying Scots) the Clinic consisted of 9 boats and numerous crews and skippers. I had the opportunity of both video taping, instructing and sailing with some great individuals. On Saturday with winds in the 20 knot range, we focused on starts and their importance in sailboat racing. We preformed over 15 starts and came away some valuable lessons as each sailor improved their skill set vastly.

--Try to develop a plan early
--Don’t be afraid to be close to the line
--Speed off the line is paramount
--Getting a start that allows you to implement your game plan is critical

Sunday was quite calmer breeze wise and we worked out our downwind approach. We focused on sets, douses, gybes and crew work. Once again getting great video and instruction was key as we were able to dissect each individuals work on a specific boat and point out what they needed to work on; and more importantly what they were doing properly. As with Saturday each sailor came away with some important keys to downwind sailing.

--Develop a game plan (see a theme?)
--Communication amongst crew members is critical
--Speed (i.e. sailing in pressure) is king

This past weekend was a brainchild of Harold Bauer and Team. It couldn’t have been pulled off without the help to the Finefrock family (though we missed Jesse), the Diffley’s, Rick Banning, Ben Chauffeur, Ben Craig, and world famous Sarah Paisley. Also, as always the kitchen crew was fantastic and is a major reason for such a great turn out.

I cannot stress enough how important club functions and your support are. Sailing is a sport we can ill afford not to pledge our support to, especially at the local club level. Event like these are a positive sign for a strong future.

Karl D. Felger
Quantum Sail Design Group
Toledo, OH 43611

Thistle Jibs - Skip Dieball

Lately there has been a lot of talk about Thistle Jibs, their longevity and potential solutions to what many feel is a problem.

For starters, let me take you through what we've learned in the past 20 months being affiliated with Quantum Sails. In the fall of 2005 we started to analyze cloth that could be used in all Thistle Sails. Most cloth available for One Design applications comes in a variety of "finishes" both in resin and in weave. We knew we wanted a durable cloth for the jib as it gets bent around the forestay, crushed into the bow tank, jabbed by spreaders, etc. The Dimension/Polyant line of Square Weave HTP Plus cloth has been known for its ability to perform and withstand punishment.

Initially we built sails out of 165, which is 3.8 oz. The cloth is very nice, but we found (as you will see in the pictures below) that it broke down early, which went against one of our primary goals. We briefly tested 180, which is 4.2oz and it clearly performed as good and held up well. At the 2006 MWE we delivered all jibs in the 180 flavor. To this day we still offer this cloth in our jib and we are happy with the balance between durability and performance (sailmakers call it price/performance). Greg Griffin talks about his impression of how durable our sails were in the January Insite News on Destination One Design:


http://www.destinationonedesign.com/community/get_article.aspx?article=4e970382-305c-49ee-a4a0-e430a3ce772b


Through our testing in Jacksonville this winter, we have built a variety of jibs out of slightly different cloth from Contender (Polykote). It is amazing stuff, if you never had to bend it around the mast. We use "PK" in our Lightning, Scot, Highlander sails and it works great. The primary difference between the Thistle and these boats.....decks and somewhat less overlap (LP) on the headsail.

Now in April 2007 the question has been placed to the class via List Serve. What should we do with our jib durability issues? Of course that question brought on a lot of generalizations from folks that suggested that sailmakers don't care, they don't sail because "they know" what sailing does to the sails, we are concerned only about making a profit. Let me try to help set the record straight....we care immensely! If we at Quantum are viewed as the "durability" experts, or if our sails are seen as the durable option, that puts us at a HUGE competitive advantage. It is a great motivator and those involved in our product development know that this is always a top consideration.

Back to the List Serve. I enjoy listening to "ideas" on various topics. The problem is that too many times ideas get shot down. Sometimes its logic, but many times it is just a stalwart that suggests "its always been this way", which I can truly appreciate history and legacy, but we also can't squelch those trying to help by making suggestions.

One such suggestion was whether the class, which has an acquisition limit, should allow a 2nd jib. I think it is an potential solution to the current problem, assuming the class does nothing with its rules. A jib is about $450 retail, but, as was pointed out, the sails will be worth more in the very vibrant 2nd hand market.

Another suggestion, which Greg Fisher and I talk about often, is split weighting the cloth. By that the sailmakers would be free to place some different styles and weights in the problem areas (which you can see in the pictures below). The problem, it isn't allowed by the class.

Another suggestion is to address the corner detailing. This is allowed (to a certain degree) and something we have done in our 2007 sails. The clew corners are much bigger to cover the problem areas. Another reinforcement point could be a spreader patch....

In order for the class and sailmakers to conquer this problem, there has to be recognition that there is a problem. I truly believe the lack of a deck, low spreaders and the LP (overlap) of the sail AND no minimum weight point to the fact that there is a problem.

Solutions?

-Specify a minimum weight of 4.0oz
-Allow split weight
-Loosen up on the corner detailing

Check out these pictures and notes below....they show the exact problem area and the above solutions could address this problem....
****************************************

2005 Quantum Thistle Jib (165sq HTP). This sail has approximately 250 sailing hours on it.














These four pictures show one of our first 2005 series jibs that has been retired to practice. Notice that there will be a common theme of where these sails breakdown and it is about 2' above the clew (ironically where the sail makes its transition from the deck grating to the bow tank area).















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2006 Test Jib - 180sq with standard corner detailing. The weight difference of this jib vs. the above pics is 3.8oz to 4.2oz. The sail has about 50 sailing hours on it.
















Though it has a smaller corner, the initial breakdown is evident in the #2 seam, just behind the window detailing. This is the area that gets worked into the grating if the jib is pushed down into the bow. This is also where the sail "hinges" if it is backwinded or "boxed".

Greg Griffin reported that he got 16 regattas = 70 races out of his 2006 jib sailing throughout the Southeast.




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Test 07 - This sail is identical to the sail above in that it is built out of 180sq. The difference is the corner detailing. This sail has approximately the same number of hours (50) as the sail above.


















Notice the transition point between the sail and the corner detailing. It is easy to see where the Thistle Jib breaks down initially.









*********************************************
3995's 2007 Jib. Built out of 180sq and larger corner detailing. This sail is the result of the above testing. This jib has MWE & Orange Peel which equates to about 56 hours +/- in some of the toughest conditions. Proof Positive?








The corner transition is not as pronounced and although this sail doesn't have a full season, I am very confident that we'll be doing battle with this sail throughout the summer of 2007!

Sailors Are Responsible People.

Located in Athens, Ohio the Ohio University Sailing Team hosted the 4th Annual BYOB@OHIO Regatta. Battling big breeze, volatile wind shifts and the bitter cold; 6 teams competed at Lake Snowden, just outside campus.

A small clinic held by Karl Felger of Quantum Sails Toledo was scheduled for Friday where a feel teams were to participate in on the water drills covering maneuvering and boat handling, “chalk talks” discussing strategy vs. tactics, and general discussions on boat/sail maintenance and running a good regatta/team. Unfortunately due to unseasonable weather teams were delayed in arriving. Rest assured that while unable to execute the on the water activities there were still some lively discussions on all things sailboat racing.

Saturday morning we awoke to a pancake breakfast hosted by Caroline Sundman. The first race was delayed until 10:45 in hopes that the wind would subside and the temperatures would rise (it was 27 degrees when we woke up) This unfortunately did not happen… as we sailed through two snow squalls. Four races were completed and racing was called for the day due to numerous capsizes, an eminent snow storm, and a desire to remain alive. Saturday evening we were treated to good food and tasty beverages at Lucky’s Sports Tavern and BW3’s. After dinner some sailors retired back to their provided housing, while others stayed uptown to check out the night life and support Athen’s local businesses (if you knew OU is the #6 party school in the country you’ll catch my drift.)

Sunday morning was an exact duplicate of Saturday. Bitter cold temperatures and volatile conditions provided for some exciting racing. Four more races were sailed Sunday morning before the cutoff time of 12:30. Ohio State ended up winning the regatta by one point. They were followed by Miami University (Ohio), Wittenberg College, Owens Community College, Ohio University and Denison. The top 4 teams were separated by a total of 4 points when it was all said and done.

Prizes for the top three teams were provided by Quantum Sails Toledo, along with a give-aways. OU Sailing Team Commodore, Kyle Gifford was quoted as saying “thanks to all the teams that showed up and made this a great regatta and a special thanks to OU Alumni Karl Felger and Quantum Sails for all of their support. We can’t wait until next year!”

Karl D. Felger
Quantum Sails Design Group
Toledo, OH

*Photos by Caroline Sundman

Thistle 1049 - Getting Closer!

While I was down south playing at all the fun regattas in Florida, The King (Denny Dieball) was putting his talented hands to hard work on my wooden Thistle project(s)!

The Interior (w/exception of Grates & Twart) is DONE! The rails, seats and trunk were all done "bright" and came out great. 1049 had a painted interior and the plan all along was to keep it painted, which saves time and keeps the boat sealed and solid. Check out some of the pics from the progress.