Sudden Extreme Weather Terminates Flying Scot North American Chapionships in Marblehead, Mass.
on Wednesday July 12, 2006 10:43AM
Sudden extreme weather, including hail and a twister, possibly a tornado, abrubtly ended the 2006 Flying Scot North American Championships in Marblehead, Mass., yesterday afternoon. At the end of two days of qualifying races in which Len Guenther was in the low twenties out of sixty-some boats, John Hubbard was around thirtieth with the Bauers close behind, a hail storm brought the fleet off the water and drove them into the clubhouse. This fortunate sequence prevented personal injury from the following twister, but left the fleet rafted up and exposed on the Corinthian waterfront. Numerous Scots, perhaps a dozen, were lifted from the water, dismasted and overturned. Hubbard's boat was saved by what had been thought a disfavored mooring bouy at the mouth of the harbor well out of the twister's path. But Guenther's boat was dismasted and the Bauer boat "365" was dismasted, overturned and suffered fiberglass damage. The water front at Corinthian Yacht Club was in disarray. A fleet of Solings on jacks were upended and strewn across the single launching ramp, delaying removal of the boats from the water. Nearby Eastern Point Yacht Club, at which not even the pool furniture was moved, offered its hoists and recovery facilites to the fleet. The Corinthian Clubhouse was untouched but those inside said their ears popped with the passing storm. All racing was cancelled for the remainder of the event, but the diehard Scot racers will enjoy the annual dinner in the undamaged Corinthian Clubhouse. Today, the FBYC Scot sailors are helping each other pack up the damaged boats and assisting Corinthian and the other fleeet members with recovery and cleanup. Tomorrow, they'll limp home to Virginia. This story is based solely on two calls from John Hubbard to Noel Clinard who missed the event due to conflicts.