An interview with Kevin Sheehan on the 2023 Bottoms Up and Carolina Districts Thistle Regatta

Thistle racing action on the waters of North Carolina's Jordan Lake © Kevin Sheehan

American sailor and designer Sandy Douglas was on to a great thing in 1945 when he first designed and built a Thistle. The now One Design class of racing dinghy carries 17 feet on the waterline, six feet of beam, and it draws four-and-a-half feet with its centerboard lowered. The first boats were built out of cold-molded plywood, but more contemporary builds employ GRP construction. The three-person boat carries a full main, fractional headsail, and a symmetrical kite. To date, some 4,000 Thistles have been built, and the now-venerable design continues to deliver great racing.

Take, for example, the Bottoms Up and Carolina Districts Thistle Regatta (April 29-30, 2023), which is being hosted by the Carolina Sailing Club, and which will unfurl on the waters of Jordan Lake, in Pittsboro, North Carolina's Vista Point State Park.

I checked in with Kevin Sheehan, race chair of the 2023 Bottoms Up and Carolina Districts Thistle Regatta, via email, to learn more about this exciting One Design event.

Thistle racing action on the waters of North Carolina's Jordan Lake - photo © Kevin Sheehan

Can you please tell us a bit about the Bottoms Up Regatta's history, culture, and the origins of its colorful name?

The Bottoms Up is a one-design regatta for Thistle Sailboats. I have been participating in the regatta for nearly 20 years, and the regatta has been around for much longer than that.

For the last 5-7 years, the regatta has been hosted by Thistle Fleet 155 and the Carolina Sailing Club on Jordan Lake in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Prior to the Bottoms Up [regatta] being hosted at Jordan Lake, it was held at Lake Murray in Columbia, SC.

Unfortunately, the Thistle fleet at Lake Murray started to suffer from a shrinking membership, and the Lake Murray fleet members and our fleet district governors asked Fleet 155 if [they] would be interested in hosting the event, and the rest is history.

This year we [already] have 29 boats pre-registered. And this is a new record!

The [regatta] is always held in the early months of spring and has a reputation of boasting some beautiful sunshine, and breezy conditions.

Near as we can tell, the name originates from the tendency of at least one sailor to show off the "bottom" of their boat after a knock down or capsize. And in addition to giving out trophies to the Top 5 boats in the regatta, we also give out an award for the sailor that had a knack for putting the bottom of their boat [out of] the water. I recall some years where there [wasn't] much breeze but we were still able to give the award to someone that suffered an embarrassing moment.

Can you please tell us a bit more about the current state of the Thistle class in your region? How are fleet numbers looking, compared to recent years?

Fleet 155 is in a state of growing and has about 16 active boats.

It is worth noting that Fleet 155 sails out of state parks where we are not permitted to leave our boats for more than a weekend. So, although our fleet is comprised of some very experienced racers, and we sail on a beautiful lake, we pay for that with the lack of convenience.

So we are a tenacious and well-traveled bunch that attends regattas across the eastern seaboard on a regular basis with several of our fleet member heading to Montana for the National Championship this summer.

How would you describe the competition levels at the Bottoms Up Regatta? Are we talking about Olympic hopefuls, or moms and dads sailing with their kids? Or, maybe a blend of all talent levels?

Level of competition is very high at this regatta. This year's competition will include three recent national champions, several multi-generational family boats, and relatives sailing against one another on different boats on the course.

We [also] have some skippers in their early twenties and several female skippers as well.

How many boats, in total, are you expecting? Also, are you seeing certain geographic hot spots, or are most entrants locals?

We should have more than 30 boats in the regatta, which will be a record for the current location of the regatta.

The majority of boats are from the south eastern U.S., but we currently have boats pre-registered from as far away as upstate New York and California.

Generally speaking, what kinds of conditions can sailors expect on the waters of Jordan Lake in late-April?

Generally we have 60-70 degrees and 10-14 knots of breeze, which is fantastic for the Thistle Class.

Jordan Lake is a deep man-made lake that is controlled by the Army Corp of Engineers, and there are no homes permitted on the lake shore. And during April, there are not many ski boats and other pleasure craft on the lake other than the interruption from Bald Eagles and Ospreys.

I realize that these are still early days, but do you have any entries that you're eyeing for podium finishes? What about any dark horses who you think could prove to be fast, once the starting guns begin sounding?

With three recent national champions already pre-registered, it is hard to imagine not seeing at least one of them on the podium, but I know that we are all planning on giving it our best.

What kind of onshore entertainment can sailors look forward to once the finishing guns have gone silent each day?

The regatta consists of maximum of five races, which usually means three races on Saturday and two [races] on Sunday morning.

Saturday night is the big social night, which will feature some delicious barbeque and cold drinks at our sponsor the Crosswinds Boating Center.

Can you please tell us about any efforts that the club has made to green-up the regatta and generally lower its environmental wake?

We are partnering with Sailors for the Sea, and [we are] doing our best to make this a green, or clean regatta. [For example, we are employing] electronic registration, avoiding single-use plastics, [and we are leveraging] refillable water bottles, etc.

Is there anything else that you'd like to add about the event, for the record?

This year the regatta also includes a sailing clinic on Friday afternoon, [which is] sponsored by our friends at Evolution Sails. This will include on-shore tuning and go-fast tips, as well as on-the-water coaching.

I would also like to thank our Flying Scot fleet for giving us some world-class Race Committee support!