In honor of Saint Patrick's Day - A chance to "wet your Thistle"

Okay, maybe a Thistle is Scottish, but I use what I have to work with. Regardless, fresh on Craigslist is a 1966 Douglas McLeod built Thistle. She appears to be well-cared for, and for being nearly 50 years old, is still being enjoyed on the water. Nearly 4000 Thistles have been built since 1945 and the Thistle class is an active one. Thistles have an LOA of 17', a displacement of 515 lbs and generally have a racing crew of 3. What are some other Celtic-themed classes : Highlander, Flying Scot, Tartan . . . . . .

Name That Class (#1)

As we approach the winter months, we are lunching a new feature call "Name That Class".  For each new contest, we will provide a small, incomplete, photograph of a one-design class which is sailed in Michigan. In addition, we will provide a few random pieces of information. In the future there may be "fabulous prizes" for best guesses, but for now let's see who is the first to correctly guess the class.

Other clues:

• Designer - Carl Alberg
• Lakes on which Michigan fleets sail - Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan
• Last year that class nationals were held in Michgian - 2012
• Year boat was first built - 1962
• Number of hulls - Approximately 2020

If you think you know the class, indicate it in the comments below. If you sail this boat, also leave one fact everyone should know about this boat/class and/or one bit of advice.

Should there be an official "State" Sailboat Class?

There is a Michigan state flower, wildflower, tree, stone, gem, bird, mammal, reptile, fish, and even soil, so why not a state One-Design Class? The state of Maryland does indeed have a state boat, the Skipjack, so the precedence has been set, although one may argue that the Mackinac double-ender should fill that bill for Michigan. But from the standpoint of increasing recreational sailing in the state, would a representative one-design be of some interest and assistance?

While performing research for the SailMichigan.org website, I have uncovered over 73 yacht/sail clubs in the state. Many of these clubs (especially inland clubs) promote one or more one-design classes either through their sailing schools or through their racing series and events. This lead me to wonder as to which one-design class is the most popular, or most-supported, in the state of Michigan. Now, this is not an easy question because it depends on your point of view. Does one look from the point of view of boat registration, manufacture and sales within the state, the state heritage of the designer, or participation numbers in yacht/sail clubs?

Because data are not available from the state regarding sailboat model registration numbers (without a hefty fee), I will financially be unable to investigate this particular perspective. From the standpoint of manufacture, 5 classes of one-designs (Rebel, Lightning, Mutineer, Buccaneer and JY15) are indeed being produced within the state (through Nickels Boat Works of Flint, MI). Historically however, many one-designs have been produced, at one time, within the state (including the Crescent and S2).

An unofficial  survey of  73 yacht/sail club websites revealed that 19 actually do not mention a specific one-design class and 7 only refer to Portsmouth Handicap-based fleets. Of the clubs which actually mention one-design classes used in either instruction or racing, the most represented classes were Lasers (14), MC Scows (11), Sunfish (9) and Lightning (9). With regards to Lasers and Sunfish, due to the sheer numbers of these boats produced, this may be an underrepresentation of their actual use. The next tier of popularity goes to the following classes: Flying Scot (6), Butterfly (6), Optimist (6), and Snipe (6). Of these classes, the Optimist is likely underrepresented given its popularity as a junior sailor trainer. The third tier of class popularity includes the  E scow (4), Interlake (4), and M-17 (4). Many other remaining classes are represented at <4 clubs.

Admittedly, these rankings are biased towards the small, high production classes, and not towards the larger one-design keelboat classes. When looking at the June 2011 boat registration statistics for Michigan, 82% of registered sailboats were less than 26' in length, and over half of these (56%) were less than 16' in length. In addition, when looking from the standpoint of enticing new participants into the sport, it is these centerboard/daggarboard classes which would likely serve as an intiation boat, either through a sailing program or through an initial purchase.

So, back to the original question, which one-design class should qualify as the official "state" boat? If we consider only current production boats, I will nominate the Lightning. My nomination is based on its popularity and its local production. But this is just one opinion, what do you think?

                                          Photo courtesy of Syracuse.com