The Flying Scot is an American
sailing dinghy
Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:
* the sails
* the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth)
* the trim (forward/rear angle o ...
that was designed by
Sandy Douglass
Gordon K. "Sandy" Douglass (October 22, 1904 – February 12, 1992) was an American Sailing (sport), racer, Naval architect, designer, and boat building, builder of dinghy racing, sailing dinghies. Two of his designs, the Thistle (dinghy), Thist ...
as a
one-design racer and first built in 1958.
[Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 100-101. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ]
Production
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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. A total of 5,300 boats have been completed.
Design
The Flying Scot is a recreational
sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminolo ...
, built predominantly of
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
with a
balsa
''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...
core. It has a
fractional sloop rig with
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
spars. The hull has a
raked stem
The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively.
Description
The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...
, a plumb
transom, a transom-hung
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
controlled by a
tiller
A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...
and a retractable
centerboard that weighs and is raised with a 6:1
mechanical advantage
Mechanical advantage is a measure of the force amplification achieved by using a tool, mechanical device or machine system. The device trades off input forces against movement to obtain a desired amplification in the output force. The model for ...
assist. The boat displaces and has foam flotation under the seats for safety.
The hulls are all one-design and built from the same molds.
The boat has a
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of with the centerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing
beaching or ground transportation on a
trailer.
For sailing the design is equipped with a
spinnaker of . A
boom vang
A boom vang (US) or kicking strap (UK) (often shortened to "vang" or "kicker") is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail.
The Collins English Dictionary defines it ...
and
mainsail
A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel.
* On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast.
* On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot i ...
roller furling
Roller furling is a method of furling (i.e. reefing) a yacht's staysail by rolling the sail around a stay. Roller furling is typically used for foresails such as jibs or genoas.
A mainsail may also be furled by a similar system, whereby the ...
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.
The design has a
Portsmouth Yardstick
The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing.
The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...
racing average handicap of 90.3 and is normally raced with a crew of three
sailor
A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship.
The profession of the s ...
s, although the boat can accommodate as many as eight people.
Operational history
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.
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."
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."
In a 2017 review in ''Soundings'', Joni Palmer, manager of the
US Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is ...
’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!"
See also
*
List of sailing boat types
References
External links
*
{{Sailing dinghies and skiffs
Dinghies
1950s sailboat type designs
Sailboat type designs by Sandy Douglass
Sailboat types built by Tanzer Industries
Sailboat types built by Customflex
Sailboat types built by Lofland Sail-craft
Sailboat types built by Flying Scot, Inc.
Sailboat types built by Douglass & McLeod