Nicole Shedden 
What is the Thistle Clean Class Initiative? The Thistle Clean Class Initiative is a partnership between the Thistle Class and Sailors for the Sea. The goal is to register as many Thistle regattas as possible under the Sailors for the Sea Clean Regattas program. Formed in 2020, this is a pilot for Sailors for the … Read more
Part of the 2020 Thistle Nationals Roundtable Series was a webinar focused on crew work and downwind speed. Jeff Eiber, Greg Fisher, Sarah Paisley, Wayne Pignolet and Jesse Shedden discuss how to coordinate Thistle crew work and improve downwind speed. They also touch a bit on upwind speed to answer questions from the previous webinar. … Read more
Here’s an excerpt from the 2020 Thistle Nationals Roundtable Series. Listen to Greg Fisher describe where to put your centerboard when the boat is on a broad reach. Transcript: Greg Fisher: I’ll kick it off first by just saying we’re on a reach – broad reach – boat’s flat, helm’s neutral. In this situation we’re … Read more
Here’s an excerpt from the 2020 Thistle Nationals Roundtable Series led by Greg Fisher. Hear from Mike Ingham and Greg Griffin on how to trim your Thistle mainsail in very light air. Transcript: Greg Fisher (00:03): We talked a little bit about light air here, we’ve talked about where we trim the main upwind in … Read more
By Mike Ingham #3969 (This article originally appeared in the 2019 December/January issue of the Bagpipe.) The Thistle Midwinters West were held in the Pacific Ocean off of San Diego, and each morning, surfers were eagerly launching off of nearby Sunset Cliffs. Surf’s up! Great for them, challenging for us. We sailed two days of … Read more
By Mike Ingham #3969 (This article originally appeared in the 2020 June/July issue of the Bagpipe.) Breeze on! We sailed in overpowered conditions for the entire Thistle Midwinters East in St. Petersburg, FL. It was a lot of fun! Going fast was about hiking hard, steering for waves, playing the main to keep the boat … Read more
So you bought a Thistle that needs some work. Now what? If you’re trying to rebuild and rig a Thistle, we recommend asking for input at your fleet events and regattas. There are many, many Thistlers who have done this work before and are happy to share their insight. (Looking for a nearby fleet? Check … Read more
Thistle Builds and How He Got Here – An Interview with Alex Venegas By Nicole Shedden, Thistle 1784 Originally published in the 2021 October/November issue of the Bagpipe The first Thistle made by Beacon Composites, #4052, debuted at the 2021 Lake Erie Districts. “Alex made some great modifications to the GMW design. The woodwork is … Read more
Fleet 53 Constitution Amendment Proposal to clarify and revise Thistle Class Association jurisdiction and sanctioned event definition This is published by the Amendments Chair, Jack Finefrock, on behalf of Fleet 53. You can comment on the related forum post. Table of contents: Proposed changes to TCA Constitution (Please note strikeout text as proposed deletions and … Read more
The Thistle Class is known for its perpetual trophies. One of our most prestigious trophies is the Minton Trophy. It’s presented annually at the Nationals Banquet to the Thistler who has done the most for the Class during the past year. Minton Trophy Winners While the Nominating Committee chooses the recipient, their selection is a … Read more
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