Flying Scot: Let the good times roll

The annual Flying Scot Midwinter Regatta will be held March 17-21, hosted by Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, LA. Organizers are expecting approximately 40 boats to come from as far away as Massachusetts and Florida for the five-day event.

A one-day, 3-race warm-up regatta benefitting the Leukemia Cup will be held Monday, March 17. In addition, a racing clinic, hosted by several nationally ranked sailors and sail makers, will be held following the warm-up regatta. Later that evening a welcome reception and competitors’ meeting will also be held.

“The Midwinters in New Orleans is all about great food, warm temperatures and friendly competition,” said class president Frank Gerry. “We fully embrace the New Orleans motto, ‘laissez les bons temps rouler’.”

Racing starts at noon on Tuesday and ends Friday afternoon, with a maximum of eight races scheduled for the regatta. Trophies will be presented following the completion of racing on Friday, along with a cookout.

This will be the first event at which it will be legal for the race committee to use VHF radios to call when a boat is over the line early or when the entire fleet false starts. The class membership voted to approve this change in February.

First built in 1958, the Flying Scot is one of the oldest and largest one-design sailboat classes in the world. Designed and built by the late Sandy Douglass, the Flying Scot was inducted in the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1998.

Event website: http://www.fssa.com/content/2014-fssa-midwinter-championship-regatta-0

Report by Deb Aronson. Video by Eric Bussell and Chris Tesdal.