May 1949

The Thistle Class Association Lake Erie District Championship will be held July 23-24, 1949 in Sandusky, Ohio, hosted by Thistle Fleet #3. The event features three races and excellent facilities for participants.

The 4th Annual Regatta of the Ohio Inter-Club Yachting Association will be held June 18-19, 1949 at Mohican Sailing Club in Mansfield, Ohio. Thistles are heavily involved in organizing the event, and the Governor Tom Herbert Cup will be raced for by the Thistle Class.

George Geil is the local chairman for the 1949 National Championship Series to be held in Baltimore August 26-28. The committee is being assembled and the program is in development, with a proposal to change from three races to five races for the championship format.

The Shreveport, Louisiana Annual Spring Regatta and Shreveport Y.C. Open Regatta features four Thistle entries from Shreveport Y.C., one from Painesville, Ohio, and two from Houston, Texas. The competition is described as hospitable and worth attending.

At Mission Bay Y.C. in San Diego, California, a Skimmer-Thistle skipper competition was held over two weekends with boats drawn randomly. The Skimmer skippers finished 10 points ahead of the Thistle skippers.

The Balboa Y.C. Easter Regatta saw Thistle racers finish with H. Sinnhoffer first in PEDRO #223, F. & F. Hanratty second in PANCHO #209, and W. Eckwirth third in BLENNY #261. Notes on other participants and activities from the Newport, California event are included.

Fleet #1 of Cleveland Y.C. is fully recovered from their fall haulout and ready for a busy season. The fleet has planned numerous races including the Club Championship, Williams Trophy races, and will compete in the Bagatelie Cup at the Cleveland Yacht Club Annual Regatta.

Edwin L. Dudley will be skippering Thistle #397 at Port-Au-Prince, Haiti to promote Thistle sailing in that region.

The Central New York Yacht Racing Association is planning its big annual event at Skaneatlas Lake, with representatives from member clubs meeting on May 21st at Canandaigua Y.C.

Nancy Wilson will serve as skipper in charge of Thistle #117 (THISTLEDOWN) at Cleveland as her father, Commodore Wilson, returns to racing his recently acquired 52-foot auxiliary.

Floyd French of Fleet #1 will convert his Thistle to a Rafter this year in order to better preserve the bright finish on his boat, TRIPLER #283.

A brief note requesting news about Ray McLeod's efforts to solve a problem with keeping plaid material on his boat from fraying.

Fairhaven Yacht Club in Fairhaven, New York is home to Thistle Fleet #25, established through the efforts of Bill Brewster and charter members Edward Plank, Dwight Murphy, and others. The author celebrates this and other new fleet charters as signs of a healthy organization.

Flossie Hanratty won third prize for bizarre millinery design at the Easter Regatta at Balboa Yacht Club with an elaborate Easter hat featuring a tall bunny sitting in a plate surrounded by flowers, candy eggs, and other colorful decorations.

Sandusky Sailing Club members engage in various maintenance activities on their boats, including the annual dress-up of Jim Hendrickson's BLACK JAC #21 and polishing of Harvey Bennett's GREAT SCOTT #263. Fleet #3 maintains a demanding race schedule including 16 Sunday morning races and other events.

Stuart L. Munro has purchased Thistle #176 from J.C. Rockwell and is now actively promoting Thistle sailing in Manila, Philippines.

The Potomac River Sailing Association started its Spring Series on May 1st with races continuing for six Sundays. Six Thistles participated in the first two races with more expected for remaining races. Frank Greenman's GARTHA #335 leads narrowly over Frank Marquardt's WHITE SHADOW #336 and Prentice Edrington's NOEL #337.

Fleet #10 is wondering if new fleet member R.L. Jenner is purposely giving special attention to George Bridgman, while other boats are in the water following normal procedures.

Advertisement for a custom-built 9 x 6 dumb float with rollers for easier hauling out, priced around $100, and an offer of Thistle emblems made of lucite for license plate decoration at $1.50 each. Editor's notice regarding the Bagpipe magazine.