That scene will be a sight for sore eyes for people who witnessed the effects of hail and high winds at last year's championships in Marblehead, Mass.

"The devastation was unbelievable," recalled Sharon Bauer, a Fishing Bay member who was there. "Boats overturned all over the harbor. Keel boats in the parking lot overturned off of their trailers.

"Amazingly, not a single person sustained even a scratch during the storm."

More than two-thirds of the 64 boats, including hers, were badly damaged.

"Many were a total loss," she said.

That storm - believed to be a microburst tornado - ended the 2006 championships early. So it's no surprise that competitors are flocking to Deltaville in record numbers this year. Sailing in the junior and women's divisions begins today; championship and challenger crews start competing tomorrow.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the design of the Flying Scot, and the first Flying Scot ever built is registered to race, marking its first competition in North America.

The championship schedule is abbreviated this year, Clinard said, because many aficionados plan to attend an anniversary regatta beginning Thursday in Deep Creek Lake, Md., near the home of Flying Scot Inc.

Designed by Gordon K. "Sandy" Douglass, the 19-foot day-sailer has gained such a following since 1957 that it has been awarded a place in the American Sailing Hall of Fame. It's proved a popular family boat, capable of carrying up to eight people, and a fun racing vessel, sporting crews of two or three.

Even racing has family appeal. The junior division, which has nine entrants this year, is for competitors younger than 17 but can include any relative of the youth.

"There are a lot of son-father crews in the junior event," Clinard said.

The women's division, for all-female crews, will have six boats.

The main events will be the championship and challenger divisions, and about 100 Flying Scots will sail tomorrow through Wednesday in pursuit of trophies and glory.

One of the captains to beat will be Texan Marc Eagan, hailed by Sailing World magazine as "perhaps the greatest Flying Scot sailor of all time." Eagan usually sails with his son, Marcus, but this week Eagan is racing with Greg Fisher on Fisher's boat.

"They are going to be formidable," Clinard said.

On the home front, Fishing Bay's Travis Weisleder also looms as a contender. He recently won the championship division of the Great 48 Regatta on Lake Norman, N.C.

All depends on the weather, as last year's event proved. Despite the destruction, two pluses emerged:

·  The surviving boats showed the safety value of bow flotation devices.

·  Bonds also were forged among those who had to pick up the pieces.

"The organizers mailed out 'I survived' T-shirts a few weeks after we all got home," Bauer said.

Contact Lee Graves at (804) 649-6579 or outdoors@timesdispatch.com.