Project Scopes for TCA Strategic Projects

TCA strategic initiatives: From ideas to actionable projects The Executive Committee came up with a list of high-priority projects during our strategy session in November 2022. Since that group has insight into the conversations that surrounded these projects, we have worked on turning these ideas from bullet points into official project scopes. The goal of … Read more

Thistle Clean Class Initiative

Several members of the Thistle Clean Class Initiative holding up a Sailors for the Sea flag

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

Webinar on Crew Work and Downwind Tips

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

Where to Put the Centerboard on a Reach

Skipper and middle crew sailing a Thistle downwind with waves surging on the boat.

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

How to Trim the Main in Super Light Air

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

Sailing in Ocean Swells

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

Going Fast in a Breeze

Mike Ingham and crew sailing upwind in a white Thistle and hiking hard in big breeze

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

2021 Amendment: Jurisdiction and Sanctioned Events

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

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