March 2025 | Issue #51
- Mark B
- Apr 6
- 4 min read
In this issue:
Rankings
President
Sec-Treas
Editor
Midwinter Results
Harbor Island and AYC
Who’s number 1
Newsletter archives
Rankings
Josh Putnam wins the 2025 Y-Flyer Midwinter Championship Regatta
March 14 – 16, the Atlanta Yacht Club (AYC) and Y-Flyer Fleet #1 hosted the 2025 American Y-Flyer Yacht Racing Association’s Midwinter Championship Regatta. Thirty-six competitors travelled from 13 states and Canada to sail in this annual event that also celebrated 75 years of Y-Flyer Sailing at the Atlanta Yacht Club.
Four races were sailed. Saturday morning saw two races completed with temperatures reaching the low 70’s with shifty wind conditions from the south-southwest at 12 to 22 mph. Racing was cancelled Saturday afternoon due to much higher winds with 80 degree shifts in the puffs as the start of a strong thunderstorm front began to move into the area. Sunday morning saw two races completed with winds from 8 to 12 mph. PRO Troy Davis and his race committee team laid out square courses and did an outstanding job on the water and a great call to not sail
Saturday afternoon due to safety concerns.
Josh Putnam with crew Stanton Bost from Augusta, Georgia (Augusta Sailing Club) took home gold fleet honors. Reigning National Champion David Loring and crew Margaret Bost from Charleston, SC finished second, just three points back. Third place honors went to defending champion Bryce Dryden and Jen Irish (AYC). John Milligan and Emory Williams from Charleston (Charleston Yacht Club) and Clint and Rae Hodges from Atlanta (AYC) rounded out the top five finishers.
Gregg Andrews and Sully Madewell (AYC) won the blue fleet championship with Joe Hanson and David rose finishing second in a tie breaker with John Smith and Dirk Neiuwdorp (Saratoga, NY) who took home third place honors.
Doug Kinzer, Bloomington, IN took home the Merril Callen award for the highest placing skipper over 50 years of age who did not finish in the silver. Amanda Hodges won the Viking Spirit Award for the highest placing female skipper. The Noah Benton Award was presented to Leif Carlson as the top placing junior.
By Nile Hatcher
From The president
I am writing this the night before I leave for AYC for the Midwinters. I am excited about the opportunity to see everyone. For a lot of folks it has been since last June and a long time since I have been in my boat. I have been anxious about the rain, but things are looking up. Including the wind! I also have to remind my subconscious that our events are fun no matter what happens with the weather. The opportunity to see old friends from all over the US, year after year, is such a good thing. Our ability to make connections with others is what makes us special. These days we really need our connections more than ever. To quote Drew Daugherty “I have never driven home from a regatta and been sorry that I attended”.
Our executive committee met this past month, and things are going well for the class. Nile Hatcher has been upgrading our financial and roster recording systems. We are working to ensure that we drive viewers to our website. Posting the Flyer there will help us with that. If you see an issue with the website, please let Mark Buchanan know asap. Looking for more posts and updates on our Facebook site – so please share what’s happening in your neck of the woods. Will Hanckel & team are working hard to make Nationals fun and economical – so get your registrations in! We are looking for a site for the 2026 Nationals so if you know of someplace that would like to host, let me know.
I read this in Carol Cronin’s post this month, an interview with Robbie Doyle.
When I ask for his favorite sailing experience the surprising answer takes us all the way back to the Finn. ‘I just love the whole rhythm of it. I love the simplicity of it. Literally you roll your boat in the water and you go sailing. You’re sailing every moment. No crew meetings and all that sort of stuff.’ On bigger boats, of course, there’s no way around crew meetings. ‘You’ve got to get a team working together. But it just takes up so much time! In the Finn you just go sailing – and I knew everybody in the class.’ He has fond memories of cooking burgers around an open fire, chatting with competitors; a stark contrast to superyacht regattas where ‘you hardly ever meet the other people because you all go straight back to eat in your villas or hotels. I guess the younger guys get to see each other a little, at the same bars. But it’s not quite the same…’
This is also what makes the Y-Flyer class great. I hope to see everyone at a regatta this year.
Regards,
Tracy Sykes
Cell: 501.765.8115
AYC Open Regatta | April 26-27
Information and Registration: Atlanta Yacht Club - AYC Open Regatta
OL Shultz Alive Regatta | April 26-27
Harbor Island Yacht Club, Nashville, TN
Information and Registration: The OL Shultz Alive Hospice Open Regatta 2025
Y-Flyer Nationals | Jun 16-20
Carolina Yacht Club, Charleston , SC
From Regatta Chair, Will Hanckel: We hope that everyone will join us for the 2025 Y-Flyer Junior and Senior National Championships on beautiful Charleston Harbor, hosted by the Carolina Yacht Club, this coming June 16-20. There will also be the James Island Yacht Club Open Regatta the weekend before, June 14 and 15, for those wishing to get some extra practice in before nationals. If you would like to sail James Island, we will make room in the boat yard at Carolina Yacht Club so you can launch from one location for the two regattas.  if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Click here:
Link to membership on the Y-Website: Y-Store | Y-Flyer Sailing
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