Flying Scot | |
Insignia: | File:Flying Scot dinghy sail badge.png |
Insignia Size: | 102px |
Image Boat: | File:Flying Scot dinghy regatta.jpg |
Designer: | Sandy Douglass |
Location: | United States |
Year: | 1958 |
No Built: | 5,300 |
Builder: | Tanzer Industries Douglass & McLeod Customflex Lofland Sail-craft Flying Scot, Inc. |
Role: | One-design racer |
Crew: | three |
Draft: | 4feet with centerboard down |
Displacement: | 8500NaN0 |
Hull Type: | monohull |
Construction: | fiberglass |
Loa: | 19feet |
Lwl: | 18.5feet |
Beam: | 6.75feet |
Keel Type: | centerboard |
Rudder Type: | transom-mounted rudder |
Rig Type: | Bermuda rig |
Sailplan: | fractional rigged sloop |
Sailarea Main: | 138square feet |
Sailarea Headsail: | 53square feet |
Sailarea Spin: | 200square feet |
Sailarea Total: | 191square feet |
D-Pn: | 90.3 |
The Flying Scot is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Sandy Douglass as a one-design racer and first built in 1958.[1] [2] [3]
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.[1] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
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 1050NaN0 and is raised with a 6:1 mechanical advantage assist. The boat displaces 8500NaN0 and has foam flotation under the seats for safety.[1] [3]
The hulls are all one-design and built from the same molds.[3]
The boat has a draft of 4feet with the centerboard extended and 8inches with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer.[1]
For sailing the design is equipped with a spinnaker of 200square feet. 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.[3]
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.[3]
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.[9] [10]
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."[3]
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."[11]
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!"[12]