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FLYING SCOT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
2007 Flying Scot NAC's
(news pending)
2006 Flying Scot NAC's!!!!!
Attending any of the Flying Scot National events is always a great learning experience -- BUT the 2006 NAC's was an experience in the power of Mother Nature that most sailors would prefer not to have seen!! An extremely powerful storm -- Thunder, Lightning, Hail, and High Winds -- was forecast for "later in the day" and the Crew of "Hi-Noone" decided to go sightseeing on land and not sail that day! Unfortunately, the storm was much more severe that anyone could have predicted, and a "Micro Burst" (or Mini-Tornado), accompanied by 3 inch hail, swept across Marblehead harbor -- fortunately, after all of the sailors had returned to the Corinthian Yacht Club and nobody was hurt.
The Club docks were severely damaged and 12 Scots which were rafted to the docks were lifted from the water and deposited in a heap -- mixed with some Optimists and R/C boats!! Some of these Scots were lifted at least 8 feet in the air and over a Rack of Optimists installed on the dock. The devastation at the dock was the worst of the damage. Several other boats -- Etchells, Sonars, etc, which were stored on the Club driveway were also badly damaged after being thrown from their trailers.
In the Harbor, about 40 other Scots were flipped like leaves in the wind and all ended upside down!!! Fortunately, all remained firmly attached to their very strong mooring pennants. Those who were fortunate enough to be moored in deep water -- "Hi-Noone" was one of the lucky few -- received the least damage, and were eventually righted by a extremely hard-working team of volunteers lead by Harry Carpenter, the builder of the Scot, and his son Jimmy. They righted "Hi-Noone" just before dark (!!) and the Corinthian Launch pumped enough water out to stabilize the boat overnight!!!
Most of the other boats suffered broken masts as they impacted the rocky bottom of the harbor, and many boats lost sails, booms, rudders, and other loose sailing gear. Only about 15 boats, which were moored near the mouth of the Harbor, remained "vertical" after the storm. Several power boats, and one sizeable trawler, sank in the Harbor. The larger keel boats rolled and heeled at their moorings but righted themselves as expected.
The usual cooperative and friendly spirit of Flying Scot Sailors was evident throughout the ordeal -- and particularly in the aftermath as boats were righted and retrieved from the harbor.
The NAC Regatta was obviously canceled immediately.
There had been three "Qualifying Races" -- designed to determine the "Championship" and "Challenger" Divisions -- before the storm hit. The Noone's already qualified for the "Seniors" Division and were set to go for the five races that were scheduled, but were never held!!
The FSSA decided to hand out Regatta Trophies based on the results of the Qualifying Races and none of the Official NAC Perpetual Trophies could, of course, be awarded.
Since we missed one of the qualifying races, we ended up being scored 7th in the Seniors Division -- better than the 8th in the 2003 NAC's but slow progress!!!
Marblehead was, and is a great place to sail, and the Corinthian Yacht Club, and the nearby Eastern Yacht Club, did a fantastic job in support of the Scot Sailors despite having just experienced the "storm of a lifetime" and incurring severe damage to their own facilities.
You will, no doubt, see much more about this event in the sailing publications in the future