Flying Scot (dinghy)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox sailboat specifications
The Flying Scot is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Sandy Douglass as a one-design racer and first built in 1958.<ref name="Data">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Sherwood">Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 100-101. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Template:ISBN</ref>
ProductionEdit
The design has been previously built by Tanzer Industries, Douglass & McLeod, Customflex and Lofland Sail-craft. Today it is built by Flying Scot, Inc. in Deer Park, Maryland, United States. A total of 5,300 boats have been completed.<ref name="Data"/><ref name="Sherwood"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DesignEdit
The Flying Scot is a recreational sailboat, built predominantly of fiberglass with a balsa core. It has a fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars. The hull has a raked stem, a plumb transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable centerboard that weighs Template:Convert and is raised with a 6:1 mechanical advantage assist. The boat displaces Template:Convert and has foam flotation under the seats for safety.<ref name="Data"/><ref name="Sherwood"/>
The hulls are all one-design and built from the same molds.<ref name="Sherwood"/>
The boat has a draft of Template:Convert with the centerboard extended and Template:Convert with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.<ref name="Data"/>
For sailing the design is equipped with a spinnaker of Template:Convert. A boom vang and mainsail roller furling are permitted under class rules. The rules also prohibit the use of hiking straps, trapezes, leech cords, Barber haulers, twings or self-bailers. Mast adjustment is also not allowed while racing.<ref name="Sherwood"/>
The design has a Portsmouth Yardstick racing average handicap of 90.3 and is normally raced with a crew of three sailors, although the boat can accommodate as many as eight people.<ref name="Sherwood"/>
Operational historyEdit
The boat is supported by an active class association, the Flying Scot Sailing Association, which controls the boat's design and organizes racing regattas. By 2020, the club had 118 fleets racing the boat.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Fleets">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "a big, fast centerboard boat, the Flying Scot has an unusual reverse sheer. Capacity is eight adults. With hard bilges and a slightly tunneled hull, stability is good. Rigging is relatively simple, and the class rules discourage complexity."<ref name="Sherwood"/>
The design was inducted into the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1998. The citation says in part: "a hotshot small boat sailor with a penchant for planing, designer Gordon "Sandy" Douglass was already famous in 1957 for high speed creations: the 17-foot Thistle and 20-foot Highlander. For his new design, he reined in his desire for all-out performance to produce a moderate boat that could still sail well, but be managed easily by a couple. This meant reducing sail area and letting the hull form swell for stability: then simplifying the rigging and deck layout, installing spacious and comfortable seats, and building it on the heavier, more durable side, Douglass found the rest of the formula."<ref name="HOF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In a 2017 review in Soundings, Joni Palmer, manager of the US Naval Academy’s sailing program said, "It’s not a high-performance boat, so anybody can get into the boat. You can’t tweak everything. It’s hard to gain an edge. You have to concentrate on tactics and speed. It’s just a solid boat. But these boats do plane!"<ref name="Soundings">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Douglass & McLeod Template:Tanzer sailboats Template:Sailing dinghies and skiffs