The Press of Manorville & the Moriches Online Edition

For showcasing the pure craft and skill it takes to be a good sailor, there is no better boat than the Flying Scot.

The 19-foot, one-design sailboat has many positive attributes, including its suitability as a family craft as well as its relative affordability—but its function in leveling the playing field, so to speak, due to its uniform design makes it an ideal racing vessel.

A total of 31 Flying Scot sailboats took to the waters off the Westhampton Yacht Squadron on Saturday afternoon to compete in the Flying Scot Greater New York District Championship. Three races were contested, and in the end, Paul-Jon Patin of the Sayville Yacht Club finished first, taking fourth in the first race, 10th in the second race, and first in the final race for lowest overall score of 15. Wayne Hulse of Moriches Yacht Club was second with 17 points, while Ken Frankman of Westhampton Yacht Squadron was third with 25 points.

There are more than 5,000 Flying Scot sailboats worldwide, and boats competing in the United States are categorized geographically by district. The Greater New York District includes Flying Scot sailors from Long Island, southeastern New York, northern New Jersey and Connecticut. On Saturday, eight yacht clubs were represented, including the WYS, MYC, Cedar Point YC in Connecticut, Sayville YC, Wet Pants Sailing Association in Sayville, Hempstead Bay YC, Babylon YC, and Sprite Island YC in Connecticut.

While the majority of the sailors on Saturday had their sights set on the district championship, there were other championship titles at stake. Saturday’s races also served as the final leg of the Long Island Flying Scot Championship, a series of three regattas for Flying Scot boats from Long Island. The first regatta was held at Wet Pants on July 17 and the second at Moriches on August 7 before the final leg at Westhampton on Saturday. A total of 44 boats representing nine clubs competed in the series, a total of nine races, with Westhampton taking home club championship honors with 142 points, while Sayville and Moriches tied for second with 185 points each.

Frank Castellano, with crew member Bill Donaldson, of Moriches YC won the individual title with the best cumulative score of 49 points over the series. Norm Wentworth and crew member Ed Surgan of Westhampton YS finished second with 64 points, while Patin and crew members Felicity Ryan and Victor DeLeon of Sayville were third with 75 points.

For several years, the WYS and Moriches have fostered a two-club rivalry, determined by the best total score over two days of racing. Results from two of the three races in the Long Island Championship qualifier were added together to determine the winner. This year, Westhampton came out on top with 58 points, while Moriches accumulated 68 points. Westhampton was awarded the Moriches Bay Trophy for beating its rival this year.

Sailors on Saturday enjoyed picture-perfect weather conditions and clear skies. The winds were light at 5 to 10 knots from the north/northwest, with occasional gusts, as well as moments of no wind at all. The three races were conducted on windward leeward courses, with each course consisting of five legs with a windward start, a gate at the leeward mark, and a full windward leg to finish. In the second race, a 180-degree wind shift from north to south made things interesting at the end, as boats near the lead were caught in a dead zone, while other boats were able to come from behind and challenge for the lead.

While Patin, Hulse and Frankman had the most consistent success and claimed the top three spots, respectively, three sailors from Cedar Point took the next three spots: Rob Cohen was fourth with 28 points, Hank Sykes was fifth with 30 points, and Josh Goldman was sixth with 30 points. Vin Sweeney of the WYS was seventh with 31 points, John Zambriski of the WYS was eighth with 32 points, and Castellano of Moriches was ninth with 33 points. John Callis of Wet Pants was 10th with 33 points, and Wentworth was 11th with 35 points. Ira Cohen of Hempstead Bay was 12th with 35 points, Hampton Smith of the WYS was 13th with 37 points, John Lubrano of Wet Pants was 14th with 39 points, Marvin Poefsky of Cedar Point was 15th with 43 points, Arnie Riback of the WYS was 16th with 49 points, Tony Di Resta of Moriches was 17th with 51 points, and Ken Mockridge of Moriches was 18th, with an OCS (on the course side) in one race while also finishing 16th and fifth in the other races. Melanie Dunham of Cedar Point was 19th with 53 points, and Joe Mulle of Babylon YC rounded out the top 20 with 55 points.

The first race was won by Sykes, Lubrano won the second race, and Patin won the final race.

Summer Series Champs

Saturday was also the final day of racing in the WYS Summer Series. In the Flying Scot Division, a total of 33 races were contested over 11 Saturdays from June 19 through August 28. Wentworth and Surgan were the champions with 48 points, followed by Smith and Peter Fenner with 76 points, and Frankman and Peter Craz with 116 points. In the Sunfish division, which included 33 races over 10 Saturdays, Nick Purpura was first with 53 points, followed by Jim Rothwell with 55 points, and Sundy Schermeyer with 56 points.

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