Thistle (dinghy)
The Thistle is a high-performance one-design racing dinghy, also used for day sailing, popular in the United States. The Thistle was designed by Gordon K. Douglass who later designed the Highlander and Flying Scot. Starting in 1945, 4040+ boats have now been built. Their construction originally used molded plywood. The builders started using Glass-reinforced polyester or "fibreglass" in the late 1950s. The current hull configuration uses a glass-reinforced polyester molded boat with wooden rails, centre board trunk, thwart, fore grating, and aft grating. The spars were once made from spruce, but are now of entirely extruded aluminum construction.
The Thistle Class Association, with fleets across the United States, holds local, regional, and national regattas throughout the year. All Thistles are built to the same lines by authorized builders. Class rules limit innovations in rigging, restrict sail purchases, and prohibit electronic navigation gear. Old and new boats are evenly matched, with the owner of Thistle number 1 winning the national championship in 1990. Newer fibreglass hulls tend to "soften" over a period of 20 years, depending on use. "Softer" boats are still fast, but not competitive at the very highest level.
Thistle hulls are relatively light for their size; they have no decking or spray protection, which saves weight. The sail plan is large for a boat of this size, consisting of a marconi rig with a main, jib, and symmetrical spinnaker. The sail plan is larger for the boat’s weight than in many other dinghies, which makes Thistles perform extremely well in light wind. Their hulls have wide, rounded bottoms, allowing the boats to plane in winds as low as. It is not uncommon to see Thistles efficiently making their way, while other dinghys of similar design are becalmed.
Thistles are generally raced with a three-person crew: a skipper, a middle, and a forward person. The optimal total crew weight is generally depending on wind. The crew weight, however, is generally not the deciding factor in determining the outcome of the races. In fact, class rules do not limit crew weight. In all but the strongest winds, an experienced two-person crew can manage the boat. Hiking straps are permitted for either droop or straight leg hiking, but a trapeze is not. The class is generally family friendly, though experienced sailors will still be challenged at the higher levels of competition.
The Thistle is used as the baseline for the U.S. version of the Portsmouth yardstick system for handicapping small boats in mixed-class fleets.
National Championships
Source: Thistleclass.comYear | Carron 1st | Seneca Bowl 2nd | Fairhope 3rd | St Pete Trophy 4th | Richmond 5th |
1946 | Gordon Sandy Douglass | ||||
1947 | J. Lovett | ||||
1948 | Gordon Douglass | ||||
1949 | W. Lawson | ||||
1950 | F. Marquardt | ||||
1951 | Gordon Douglass | ||||
1952 | J. Hendricksen | ||||
1953 | R. Brainard | ||||
1954 | H. Boston | ||||
1955 | Gordon Douglass | ||||
1956 | Gordon Douglass | ||||
1957 | J. Hendricksen | Samuel Merrick | |||
1958 | J. Jennings | Howard W. Mead | |||
1959 | J. Jenkins | J. Jennings | Charles Morgan | W.D. Mangold | |
1960 | Bruce Goldsmith | Howard L. Boston | Jerry Jenkins | Ed Walsh | |
1961 | Ed Walsh | Bruce Goldsmith | James Hendricksen | John Proctor | |
1962 | P. Bordes | A. Walter Stubner | James Miller | Elmer Richards | Lee Sutton 510 |
1963 | E. Walsh | Jack Wanenmacher | Dennis Posey | Bob Duff | Jon Carriel 821 |
1964 | P. Bordes | Jon Carriel | Dennis Posey | Walt Stubner | Bruno Markeliunas 1234 |
1965 | P. Bordes | Dennis Posey | Nils Dailey | Jim Fairclough | John Proctor 1222 |
1966 | W. Stubner | Tom Wilson | Charles Wiley | P. Bordes | Nils Dailey 1399 |
1967 | P. Bordes | Bill Alexander | Tom Wilson | William Poole | Ed Fracker 1109 |
1968 | D. Clark | Ed Fracker | Tom Wilson | William Alexander | Chuck Steigerwald 1619 |
1969 | J. Miller | Bob White | Lewis Wake | Ned Lockwood | Dennis Clark |
1970 | K. Foster | Dennis Clark | Charles Steigerwald | Bob White | Charlie Pollak 1708 |
1971 | R. Meissner | James Miller | Ted Fontelieu | Charlie Pollak | Gene Wood 3003 |
1972 | Charles Steigerwald | Bob White | Dennis Clark | Rod Glover | Fuller Moore 3152 |
1973 | J. Foster | Christopher Pollak | Mark Gilliland | James Miller | Ron Meissner 3170 |
1974 | T. Dykstra | Ron Rostofer | Chris Pollak | Fuller Moore | Steve Klotz 1 |
1975 | T. Dykstra | Cliff Seigh | Walt Stubner | Ron Rostorfer | Jerry Pignolet 2830 |
1976 | Mark Gilliland | Larry Klein | Andy Barnes | Jack Bauer | Bob White 124 |
1977 | Rorbert White | Mark Gilliland | Jack Bauer | Jim Moyer | Dave Ullman 3485 |
1978 | Andy Barnes | Champ Clover | Mark Gilliland | Jack F. Bauer | Mark Laura |
1979 | Christopher Pollak | Brent Barbehenn | Greg Fisher | Sandy Rapp | Mark Gilliland 2995 |
1980 | Dave Ullman | Larry Klein | Greg Fisher | Mark Laura | Ken Van Wagnen 3574 |
1981 | Christopher Pollak | Andy Fox | Brent Barbehenn | Sandy Rapp | Ched Proctor 3428 |
1982 | Brent Barbehenn | Andy Fox | Ched Proctor | Larry Klein | Greg Fisher 3748 |
1983 | Greg Fisher | Mark Gilliland | Champ Glover | Fred Hunger | Brent Barbehenn 3731 |
1984 | Brent Barbehenn | Greg Fisher | Chris Pollak | Jack Bauer | Ched Proctor 1049 |
1985 | David Dellenbaugh | Wayne Pignolet | Chris Klotz | Bill Ehrhorn | Jack Bauer 3743 |
1986 | B. Ehrhorn | Greg Fisher | Chris Klotz | Chris Pollak | John Lovett 3608 |
1987 | Greg Fisher | David Dellenbaugh | John Lovett | Fred Hunger | Brent Barbehenn |
1988 | Greg Fisher | John Lovett | Mark Laura | Kelson Elam | Fred Hunger |
1989 | David Dellenbaugh | Ched Proctor | Annie MacLean | Brent Barbehenn | John Wallace |
1990 | Chris Klotz | Brent Barbehenn | Chris Pollak | Greg Fisher | Dave Dellenbaugh |
1991 | David Dellenbaugh | Ched Proctor | Chris Klotz | Peter Bream | Chris Pollak |
1992 | David Dellenbaugh | Alex Smigelski | Chris Klotz | Bill Draheim | Fred Hunger |
1993 | Bill Draheim | Bill Wilson | Dave Dellenbaugh | Marty Seelig | Alex Smigelski |
1994 | David Dellenbaugh | Ched Proctor | Marty Seelig | Sjoerd-Jan Vanderhorst | Chirs Klotz |
1995 | Jack Franco | Bryce Dryden | Bill Draheim | John Lovett | Chirs Klotz |
1996 | David Dellenbaugh | Mike Ingham | Bryce Dryden | Ched Proctor | Brad Thompson |
1997 | Mike Ingham | Ched Proctor | George Szabo | Skip Dieball | Chris Klotz |
1998 | Bryce Dryden | Mike Ingham | Joe Burcar | Ched Proctor | Eric Gesner |
1999 | Bryce Dryden | Brad Thomson | Jack Finefrock | Terry Lettenmaier | Eric Gesner |
2000 | Mike Ingham | Doug Kaukeinen | Bruce King | Eric Gesner | Bryce Dryden |
2001 | Bruce King | Mike Ingham | Chris Murphy | Jack Finefrock | Erik Goethert |
2002 | Mike Ingham | Bruce King | Blair Dryden | Eric Gesner | Terry Lettenmaier |
2003 | Brent Barbehenn | Mike Ingham | Eric Gesner | Blair Dryden | Craig Koschalk |
2004 | Eric Gesner | Bruce King | Skip Dieball | Mike Ingham | Craig Koschalk |
2005 | Mike Ingham | Bruce King | D. Dellenbaugh | C. Koschalk | Paul Abdullah |
2006 | Greg Fisher | Skip Dieball | Paul Abdullah | Kyle Finefrock | Chris Murphy |
2007 | Mike Ingham | Scott Griffin | Terry Lettenmaier | Greg Fisher | Lloyd Kitchin |
2008 | Greg Fisher | Mike Ingham | Paul Abdullah | Brad Thompson | Greg Griffin |
2009 | Dave Dellenbaugh | Brain Kitchen | Mike Ingham | Brent Barbehenn | Charles Kreitler |
2010 | Mike Ingham | Greg Griffin | Greg Fisher | Brent Barbehenn | Greg Griffin |
2011 | Skip Dieball | Mike Ingham | Allan Terhune | Chris Murphy | Paul Abdullah |
2012 | Allan Terhune | Skip Dieball | Mike Ingham | David Tillson | Brent Barbehenn |
2013 | Allan Terhune | Skip Dieball | Steve White | Chris Murphy | Sam Ingham |
2014 | Lloyd Kitchin | John Baker | Skip Dieball | Mike Ingham | Scott Griffin |
2015 | Mike Ingham | Paul Abdullah | Sam Ingham | Greg Griffin | John Baker |
2016 | Mike Ingham | Paul Abdullah | Kyle Finefrock | John Baker | Mike Gillum |
2017 | Mike Ingham | Paul Abdullah | Brent Barbehenn | Ben France | Samuel Ingham |
2018 | Brad Russell | Dave Dellenbaugh | Dan Hesse | Paul Abdullah | Matt Fisher |
2019 | Greg Griffin | Scott Meyer | Paul Abdullah | Jesse Shedden | Doug Kaukeinen |
2020 | Possibly Covid-19 |