Many times, our Sailstice attention is drawn to the cruisers, racers, and bigger boats out on the water. But this year, and historically, Summer Sailstice draws out many dinghy sailors. Brian Lasley, who's homeport is up in Washington State, will be in Southeast Idaho in June! Brian is planning to go dinghy sailing on American Falls Reservoir!
Sailstice represents many types of dinghy sailboats!
In 2020, Eastport Yacht Club in hosted the Viper Sailstice Scorch. The Annapolis Viper 640 Fleet met up at the mouth of Spa Creek to "blast about in company." The Viper 640 is a trailerable one-design dinghy - looks fun!
Essex Yacht Club in Connecticut host a dinghy raft up in years past, "From First Timer to Old Salt" anyone is welcome to try cruising! Read about their Annual Summer Sailstice Gam.
Another class of dinghy, the 8' Sabot, is sailed single handed around the world. Variations on the design include the daggerboard-equipped El Toro from the Richmond Yacht Club in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Newport Harbor Sailstice Celebration in Souther California includes a fleet of Sabot dinghies!
Way back in 2009, Summer Sailstice heard about a unique dinghy created by members of Crescent Yacht Club in Chaumont, NY : the Shellback dinghy. 15 were made originally to a design developed by the late Joel White of Brooklyn Boat Yard. The 2009 Shellback Nationals sounds like a success: "We had a total of fourteen Shellbacks racing on Eggemoggin Reach on Saturday and in spite of fog, drizzle, light winds and temperatures in the fifties, we completed eight races. Chris Johnston of CYC was the overall winner of the regatta, but we all had a great time. Our boats were easily picked out from the fleet as we all have red sails made by Somerset Sails of Barker, NY."
