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LIGHTNING FLEET 51
Mike Williams
Lightning Fleet - Crescent Sail Y. Club
276 Lake Shore Drive
Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
48236
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| CSYC - old harbor ------ click on above picture to go to CSYC web site
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Lightning Fleet 51 - Crescent Sail Yacht Club
Promoting Lightning Sailing at Crescent Sail Yacht Club on Lake Saint Clair, Michigan.
COME JOIN THE FUN!!!
The Lightning combines a perfect balance of sail / tuning adjustments with boat / crew size. At only 700 lbs., Lightning's are light enough to trailer and launch easily. They are also small enough to be sailed easily with 3 people. A Lightning planes downwind in moderate breeze, yet it is very solid feeling & controllable upwind. Lightning's can handle a wide range of sailing conditions well. They have the feel of a larger boat upwind, and a smaller boat downwind with an enormous spinnaker (300 sq./ft.).
The Lightning class is, consistently and by far, the largest multi-crew one design in the world in terms of number of fleets, active class members, and regatta participation. Lightning's are extremely technical & tactical to race due to a hard-chine hull and advanced sail plan. The Lightning class is, very arguably, the strongest level of competition in all of one design racing. This combination of comfortable size, depth of talent, and a technically challenging design has generated the premier one design racing platform in the World.
Sailing with the Lightning Fleet at Crescent is easy - we can tell you about how easy it is to join our club and, if you do not already have a boat, we can help you find one. Learn what we already know - Lightning sailing is great!!
Need Excitment in your Life?
Bursting though the waves on Lake Saint Clair (rough day)
Join the racing fun on Wednesday's and Sundays at Crescent. If you are interested, come on down and be our guest.
What to try it out?, we can find you a ride.
North Sails Tuning Guide
Click on above to link to North Sails tuning guide
2009 Michigan Districts
The 2009 Michigan Districts have received a proposal from Beijing China to host the event.
Although upon first blush this idea seemed incredibly insane, further investigation and several items provided by the Chinese, including some generous gifts, has the District pursuing this possibility. As this article is being written, by invitation of the Beijing "Hey Joe, you come - O.K.", committee - our District representatives are China bound for a fact finding mission. Our Chinese translator's reading of one line in the District's invitation was, "you will never-ever forget such a warm and happy ending!". We are unsure of exactly what this means.
The obvious worry concerning logistics was quickly countered by the Chinese site committee assuring that transportation of both crew and boats could easily be accommodated considering the cargo planes and ships arriving daily in the U.S. loaded with China's products and returning home empty.
Of concern was a request by the Chinese to certify their version of the Lightning (picture attached). The chinks say that since they are so bad at copying anything, or reproducing items designed by others, that they request a "one time exception" to allow their Lightning boats to sail. The Michigan District measurer has protested, and has scheduled a high level meeting with the Chinese fleet captain, who also happens to own a Geisha type establishment catering to designed comfort. We are certain that our measurer will maintain a "hard stance" regarding this topic.
Upon hearing of the recent incident involving an attack upon an American tourist, the District representatives have wisely chosen to employee a couple of Kwame's bodyguards. They have down time with the mayor either in jail or tethered at home. This will provide protection and also assure a Motown party with sealed lips!
Additional facts will be sent out soon.
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Some Lightning History
Appreciating Olin Stephens
At the 60th Anniversary regatta of the Lightning class, sailors were standing in the boat park studying a brand new example of this classic, first sailed in 1938.
Among the gathered sailors was Olin Stephens, a man associated—in the minds of many—with America's Cup defenders and high-end ocean racers. In the mindset of this group, however, Olin Stephens is The Genius Who Designed the Lightning.
Someone said, "Olin, you've been looking at the Lightning as long as anyone in the world. If you could design the boat all over again, what would you change?" There was a pause as he considered the question. After a long time he began to speak, "Do you think, (another pause) we really need that skeg?"
There was a round of laughter.
"You're supposed to know that," was the reply. Mr. Stephens just smiled, crouched under the boat, and ran his hand along the skeg, "Has anyone tried sailing without it?" he said.
His listeners were stunned. Fifteen thousand Lightnings into the run, the boat's designer was still open to a possible design improvement. Maybe that's what made Olin Stephens the giant of his generation. The guy's still looking for the next performance improvement. He can't turn it off. And that's why at age 95 he always seems like the youngest person in the room. At that moment, if anyone had produced a saw, we would gladly have hacked off a skeg and gone out for two-boat testing.
As a tribute to Mr. Stephens and everyone who's ever loved the Lightning, the International Lightning Class Association has recently purchased Lightning Hull #1. The Association is raising funds for a full restoration, and when it is complete, the boat will be displayed at historic Mystic Seaport Museum, where it will join Laser #1 and a first-generation Star. Due to its fragility, Lightning #1 has not been on view for over 10 years.
Mystic will display the boat mast-up, with original cotton sails. But, the boat won't be locked away all the time. Provisions have been made for Lightning #1 to make the pilgrimage to upstate New York for the 70th Anniversary regatta and the 80th and beyond.
Close examination of Lightning #1 reveals the beautiful inconsistencies consistent with a prototype—even one that went on to become a legend. The cockpit coaming on one side is three-fourths of an inch deeper than on the other. Floorboards have notches cut in them, as if they were made out of remnants from some other project. But one look at the boat and it's obvious that every boat sailing in over 300 active fleets in more than 14 countries traces its DNA to the boat waiting in Mystic.
Pictures from the original brochure don't seem to show it, and the original plans include one, but previous owners' accounts indicate that when it was built in 1938, #1 had no skeg. Hmmm . . .
Postscript: The 60th reunion took place in 1998 at Skaneateles Lake in New York's finger lakes region—the home of Lightning Fleet #1 and the waters where Hull #1 first set sail in 1938. The class reunion, held every ten years, routinely draws 200+ boats. For decades, Mr. Stephens has attended these reunions (despite the way that he puts people at ease, it's hard to imagine calling him anything other than "Mr. Stephens"). So what's it like to meet a legend? Imagine meeting Henry Ford in the flesh at a Summer Mustang Rally, and you're close.
By Bill Faude
But why Olin, designing the Lightning?
At an Americas Cup fund-raiser at the Columbia Rope Company, in neighboring Auburn, New York, John and George Barnes, owners of the Skaneateles Boats Company, had met naval architects Rod and Olin Stephens, of Sparkman and Stephens, and discussed the idea of a completely new boat. This boat would be 19' long, providing room for a family; it would incorporate the hard chine of the Comet, allowing simplified construction; and it would provide the high performance required of a one-design class racer.
By late 1935, Olin Stephens II had completed the plans for the Lightning. Over the next two years, the Skaneateles and Sparkman & Stephens teams consulted with each other on the construction of the boat that would become the Lightning. Hull #1 was launched in October 1938 at the Skaneateles Country Club and used as a test bed for the Lightning development program. In the winter of 1938, the Barnes' took Lightning #1 to the New York City boat show, and were rewarded with numerous orders. It seemed the Barnes' had a successful design on their hands.
Olin Stephens and the Barnes' recognized the unique contribution that the boat could offer to one-design sailing and decided to treat the Lightning with unprecedented generosity. Rather than retaining exclusive rights to the design, they donated the rights to the then brand new Lightning Class Association. This contribution ensured that anyone who wanted to could build a Lightning, and all design royalties would contribute to the strength of the class association.
John Barnes became the first national champion in 1939.
Skaneateles Lightnings
Red Boat Debate
Red Boats have always raised a stir at CSYC.
We found this picture and thought that it was either Eng or Drew, but were not sure. It is rumored that this picture was taken in a fly over by Maynard Rupp and that shortly after this shot, the prop turbulence caused the boat to capsize.
Another consideration in the photo analysis was the possibility that it might be the infamous 950 pound Allen once raced (we use this term loosely) by Williams, however by closer examination, the spinnaker did not have enough rip-stop repairs.
Any other ideas?
Nickels Boat Works
click on above to go to the Nickels site
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