Welcome to the Thistle Class Association

NEWS

• Midwinters West is underway at Mission Bay YC. Check out the scores.
• David Dellenbaugh, author of "SPEED & Smarts," has offered the Thistle community an abridged, free copy of the Thistle Nationals issue of "SPEED & Smarts" (issue #109). In this issue Dave gives a race by race recap of how he won the National Championship.
  
  To get your copy enter your name, email address, and the word "Thistle". If you like this free issue and wish to subscribe to "SPEED & Smarts," you will receive a the complete issue #109 as a part of your subscription.
• The February-March Bagpipe is on its way to your mail box. Enjoy reading the Top Ten Boat Specs from the 2009 Nationals
• Please scheule your fleet meeting ASAP. Fleet reports are due January 15. Dues for 2010 are due now.
• Congratulations to Scott and Nerissa Griffin for winning the 2009 Carolina Series. The series is made up of five regattas throughout the year held in North Carolina and South Carolina. The five regattas are the Carolina Districts, the Bottoms Up, the NC Governor's Cup, the Old Salty, and the Bloody Mary. Twenty-eight boats sailed at least one regatta but our numbers were down 1 or 2 boats in the individual regattas. John Norton sailed all five and was runner up. It's a pleasure sailing against Scott and all the competitors of the Carolina Series who know how to combine good competitive racing with sportsmanship and fun.
• Lloyd Kitchin ran away with the 2009 edition of the East Coast Fall Series, winning by an impressive five percentage points. Craig Smith finished a strong second, and Scott Latham took home the 3rd Place perpetual. A total of 88 skippers participated in the eight-regatta series. Click here for the complete ECFS results. And here for the last event at Red Dragon, won by Dave Hansen.
  
  On the crew side of the ledger, Brian Kitchin, Charlie Bailey and Drew Plominski (in that order) garnered the ECFS perpetual trophies for Top Crew. Click here for complete crew results.
  
  The new crew perpetual trophies by Don Moore of the Severn Sailing Association are fabulous. More on that later.

Lloyd Kitchin, 1st place skipper at the 2009 ECFS, and son Brian, 1st place crew, accept awards at the Kayaderosseras Kup at Saratoga (where they finished 3rd) with some of Thistledom's most accomplished practitioners looking on.
• 2009 Michiana District Regatta Series
  The Icebreaker at CSYC, on Oct 3-4th, saw the conclusion of the inauguralMichiana District Regatta Series. Champ Glover and crew Paul Nuechterlein finished strongly, to take home the trophy for 2009 - congratulations to them on a great season, including winning the District Championship in June.
• The Midwinters East NOR, registration form, and information are posted on the 2010 calendar.
• Nick Turney of North Sails wrote an informative article on Thistle Mast Setup called "The ABC's of Thistle Mast Set-up" for the The upcoming October/November issue of the Bagpipe.
• Join the TCA on Facebook.
• All three amendments passed at the annual meeting. The Constitution, By-laws, Rules, etc. are up to date.
• CMR 65 was revised at the Governing board meeting. Click to read the CMR 65 discusion points.
  

Burgee Exchange

















Mike Poltorak, Mission Bay Yacht Club and Charlie Kreitler, Cedar Point Yacht Club, exchange burgees.
• Welcome new Thistle Fleet 66 sailing out of Clinton Lake Sailing Association near Clinton, IL. Many thanks to fleet captain Gerry Christman and secretary Craig Rost for getting things organized.
• Fleet Challenge: One new boat per fleet in 2009.
  Place growth and promotion on the top of your fleet's agenda. One goal for 2009 is to have each fleet add one boat. If each fleet adds one boat in 2009, our class will be infinitely stronger. Not only do our numbers grow, but one new boat per fleet strengthens small fleets. It's an achievable goal. We'll keep score on the website.
• Join the class online by going to the Membership page.
• 2009 Nationals were outstanding. See 2009 Nationals for results and more.
  
• The Skipper Eligibility List is current as of August 18, 2009. The list includes junior, active, and family member's last names and boat registration information. Sailors and boats must be dues paid and registered to compete in chevron events. Sailors may join the class and pay the registration fee online under membership or via USPS. The measurement form is available online.
• Time to start planning for 2010. Submit NOR's, event information, and regatta results to the webmaster. All information will be posted on the Events page.
• Thistle Class Merchandise makes great gifts and trophies. Keep checking back as more items are added.
• Visit the TCA blog.

For upcoming events and regatta results please go to 2009 Events.