After winning the 2026 Flying Scot Midwinters in dramatic fashion last March, David Ames (Miami, FL) continues to dominate the Flying Scot class by winning this year’s National Championship. Rush Creek (TX) Yacht Club hosted the three-day event June 11-13.
As is the case with many regattas, the Texas weather didn’t cooperate as the organizers would have liked last weekend. Day 1 started out by getting in only one heavy-air race before the conditions exceeded the Class guidelines and the boats were sent to shore with only one race in the books. Day 2 was light and shifty but nearby lightning strikes sent the fleet ashore again after only one race. Hoping for better conditions…and receiving them…the fleet sailed two solid races on Day 3, Sunday, before that pesky NoR Time Limit brought the championship to an end.
In the end, it was David Ames and Ryan Minth atop the Championship Division leaderboard with strong 1-3-2-3 scoreline and a 9-point total, 10 points ahead of Brent Barbehenn from Riverton (NJ) Yacht Club, Mary Hughes, and Jay Lauri in second with 19 points. In third were Dave Rink and Sling Blade from Lake Norman (NC) Yacht Club with 26 points.
David Ames and Ryan Minth celebrate their big win at the 2026 Flying Scot National Championships. Photo © Scuttlebutt Sailing News.
The Flying Scot class allows owners to purchase a single set of sails each year. As such, Ames used the same suit of UK Sailmakers one design sails to win this championship as he did in March. When we interviewed him after his Midwinters win, Ames explained that in preparation for the 2026 season, he had some ideas on how to improve Flying Scot sails.
They started by analyzing drone footage of their sails with particular interest to the leech of the jib and the slot between the jib and the mainsail. “We believed the jib had too much return on the leech – which is not good for pointing. We talked with Mike Considine at UK Sailmakers Chicago about opening up the jib leech and some other tweaks that allowed us to more effectively adjust the balance between the two sails’ shapes. This elimination of leech return has allowed us more control and ease as we shift between steering modes as conditions change. This new, more open jib shape has given us a wider range of trim options.”
Left: Fred Soward and Oliver “Buddy” Byington finished in 7th place in the Championship Division. Right: Richard Shellow and Tim Banks finished 10th place in the Championship Division. Photos courtesy of Heidi Gough.
Mike Considine and his brother Pat worked on Scot sail profiles using FSI (Fluid-Structure Interaction) analyses. The result was sails that allowed David to sail higher and faster than his competitors. Following that lead, two other UK Sailmakers customers, Fred Soward (Corpus Christi Yacht Club) finished 7th and Richard Shellow (Miami) finished 10th. Throughout the championship, sailors were making note that UK Sailmakers sails consistently were in the mix.
Full results available here.
