FlashBlast - December 29, 2025
|
| Place your advertisement here! |
Single advertisements are available for each Flash Blast. For more information or to reserve your spot please contact Laura in the Class Office or at 727-942-7969.
|
|  | |
What’s Up with Radio Controlled Sailing? Racing these “toy” boats has a lot to offer the racing community, not the least of which is a big boat-load of FUN!
Imagine standing on the dock right next to your arch-rival as they tack away into a header – what a trash-talk opportunity!
Beyond the fun, there are some real benefits to this form of racing: no towing, no calling around for crew, no capsizing, and almost no wasted set-up time.
Ever wanted to skipper a 12M? There are several model yacht classes that are scaled versions of the 12M, some of which have full keels and sail remarkably like the original. In fact, there are over 30 model yacht classes sanctioned by the American Model Yachting Association (AMTA).
Whether you are looking for one to build from scratch, or one that comes ready to race out of the box, or you want one to compete internationally, or want one that looks just like the Laser you loved to sail, there is something that fits your needs.
And if you want to tune up your strategies and tactics off-season, imagine running 10 races with starts, mark roundings, gates, finishes, shifts… all in one morning with the local club.
Many current and former Lightning sailors are racing model sailboats. Ched Proctor is an active model boat racer and says “It may seem stupid - but it’s so much fun!”
Let us get you connected to your local club, or help you start one at The AMYA. | | 2025 South American Championship!
December 27-30, 2025
Cofradia Nautica del Pacifico
Algarrobo, Chile
19 Teams from ARG, BRA, COL, ECU, PER, USA and of course host CHI are all onsite! Racing was scheduled to begin yesterday, December 28th but no wind kept Teams ashore on both Day 1 AND 2. Hopeful for racing tomorrow!
Watch for more updates via social media! Good luck to all! | | | President's Message - David Starck
Season’s Greetings
This is the best time of the year. No question. The holiday season means time spent with family and friends, time to rejoice and be merry, and time to reflect on the year that was. When I think about my Lightning family, I think of you, the class membership. YOU are the reason WHY the International Lightning Class is so SPECIAL. It’s all about people, friendships, family and journeys.
From my family to yours, have a wonderful holiday, a Merry Christmas, and a joyous New Year. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you on the water and at a Lightning regatta in 2026. Until then, be safe and enjoy your family and friends.
Best Wishes,
Dave Starck, ILCA President
| Here is a fun video with Moira Padilla from Salinas, ECU. She is a freshman at Hobart & William Smith Colleges. She loves the intensity of sailing a Lightning and the amazing community that makes this class so special. Why do you love the Lightning Class? | | Notice of Series, NOR's, On-Line Registration, Mentor Program Links are all LIVE:
Winter Championship - March 14-18, 2026
Mentor Program with Nick Turney
Deep South Regatta - March 19-21, 2026
Call for Karl Smither Award Nominations and so much more! Click on the Southern Circuit Blog Link above. | | | |
12 boats are registered so far! This event will also serve as the Mid-Winter Championship. We are expecting 25+! Storage between Feb and March St Pete events is available. Please contact Laura Jeffers in the Class Office to reserve your space.
Open Call for 2026 Junior Teams
If you and your team are under 21 and interested in racing in any of the 2026 Regatta Series, Sailing World and Helly Hansen support teams at each event with complimentary entry fees, coaching, Helly Hansen gear and awards.
Email us to apply:regattas@sailingworld.com | | | 2026 Youth World Championship - June 22-26, 2026
Tuusulanjärven Purjehtijat, Lake Tuusula, Finland
The NOR is posted and on-line registration is open to those teams that have qualified through their country qualifier. Youth Worlds 2026 will provide sailors with a unique experience of the Nordic midsummer and the magic of the midnight sun.
One week prior to the World Championships event, the Finnish National and European Championships will take place at the same venue, from June 15 to 18, 2026. These events offer an excellent opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with the race area and local wind conditions ahead of the Worlds. The Finnish National and European Championships are open events. All are welcome to participate.
Important Deadlines:
Each Lightning National Class Association or National Authority shall inform the ILCA class office no later than March 1, 2026 of the number of boats that it would like to enter.
If a Lightning National Class Association or National Authority cannot fill its two-boat quota, those available slots will be reallocated to interested countries by March 15, 2026.
Each Lightning National Class Association or National Authority shall inform the ILCA class office no later than April 1, 2026 of the competitors that will represent their country.
Any questions on eligibility please contact the Class Office.
From the Document Governing All Sanctioned Lightning Class Championships - Youth World Championship
ENTRIES
1. (a) Every country with organized yachting activity shall be entitled to two (2) Entries for the World Youth Championship. The Host Country shall be entitled to two (2) Additional entries. The Executive Committee may allocate additional entries on an equal basis to all Countries to provide twenty entries.
(b) Skippers and crew in the World Youth Championship must be ILCA members.
(c) Skippers and crew must be no older than 20; to clarify Skippers and crew may not turn twenty-one (21) years old during the year of the Championship.
Teams bring their own sails and PFD's. Boats are provided by host and a damage deposit is required. A draw system determines boat rotation.
Qualification for the World Youth Championship shall be determined preferably based on the order of finish in a Junior or Area Championship as follows: for U.S. entries, by the International Lightning Class Association; for Canadian entries, by the Canadian International Lightning Association; for entries from countries other than the U.S. or Canada, by the District or by the member National Authority of the International Sailing Federation.
| Help us celebrate 20 years of the Lighting Boat Grant Program! Encourage a Team to apply!
Applications for 2026 Boat Grant Program are now being accepted. January 22 deadline
Over the past 20 years the most successful recipients that have stayed with the Class and purchased their own boats have been encouraged and supported by current Class Members. We need your help to continue this success.
Is there a young sailor in your area looking for an opportunity? We have just the opening for them in the Lightning Boat Grant Program. The Class provides a three-person team, the use of a top-notch boat, equipment, and financial help to attend regattas for the season.
The Lightning Grant has been an incredible opportunity for my team and me to continue racing at a high level after finishing college sailing. I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to race a brand new Lightning for the year and look forward to remaining part of the fleet in the future. While it was an amazing experience to race against such great competition, I would definitely say the best part of this grant was being embraced as a new member of the fleet. Everyone has been so welcoming and encouraging as we competed throughout the summer, experiencing both great racing results and our first capsize. I want to reiterate how grateful my team and I are for this experience. I highly recommend applying for the grant to anyone looking to race the Lightning who may not have the means to purchase a boat at this time. I would like to thank everyone who gave us this opportunity and everyone we met throughout this journey; we will undoubtedly stay in touch as we continue our Lightning sailing. ~Axel Stordahl - 2025 Recipient
We want to introduce future class members to the joy of competing in the Lightning Class. The application period for 2026 is now open. Deadline for application is January 22.
More information at:
| | 8 Bells...Townie Krawcheck
It is with sadness we share the passing of Townie Krawcheck. The Krawcheck's have been pillars of the SELD and Charleston Fleet 429 for a very long time!
If you look up Krawcheck in the older Flashes and Yearbooks you will see Townie's name next to Lenny's as champions in many regattas. According to Lenny, "she had a great feel for the boat." They were a great team both on and off the water. Townie's face would light up when talking about sailing or Lenny! Our Lightning family is one less, but our memories of Townie will always be in our hearts.
| | | | LOYALS Update: Project Chart
Since our inception in April of 2024, the LOYALS have taken on a variety of projects aimed at helping “fill in the gaps” of resources for the Executive Committee and the Class. A core group meets every two weeks to review actions taken and discuss new projects, aided by additional volunteers as available. One project ends, and another begins – we note our progress, and keep on moving. | | | Given some travel time going to and from the Wrightsville Beach North Americans, I took the time to stop and put together a project chart of what we’ve done, and what we’re working on. I will admit to being somewhat surprised by, and quite proud of, all that we’ve accomplished over the past year and half. We rarely take the time to pause and pat ourselves on the back, but now is that time!
Our projects have ranged from big (assist with the redesign of the website, update each and every fleet captain and District commodore and then create a forum to keep them advised/engaged, create a searchable index for all 79 years of Flashes) to small (website tricks & tips, 50-50 raffles, etc.). And there are projects aplenty ahead of us. But our progress has been pretty remarkable, and we wanted to share that with all of you. The full Project Chart can be found at LOYALS Project Chart.
It's never too late to join, or to volunteer for a project – or even to suggest a project you think would be worthwhile. Call (412-439-4543) or send an email to bertie.werley@gmail.com, and we’ll get you signed up as a card-carrying LOYALS. We’d love to have you! | | Fuel The Flash 2030 - every spark counts
Please help support the Lightning Class Donate Now
Thank you for your support of the Fuel The Flash 2030 campaign through 2025. Your support has been phenomenal, both in terms of donations and future pledges. | | | We met the Denton Family Foundation $25,000 Match; we have donations in hand in excess of $150,000; pledges through 2026 of an additional $257,000; and additional pledges beyond. (as of Dec 13th email). We’ll give a full update in January, along with plans for investment in concrete programs to build the Class in all our Focus Areas.
In the meantime, we’d like to share part of Sandra Peterson More’s recent testimonial – we found it moving and quite inspirational. You can find her full testimonial at Sandra More Testimonial or by clicking the link below.
|  | | The G.O.T. Flashes Challenge is sitting stable at 1,550 days logged. Given the weather in North America lately it's entirely possible the season is beginning to wind down. Here in Annapolis where I am, for example, the temperature has been below freezing for most of a week, and whenever I walk around the house humming "Oh, the weather outside is frightful, My Lightning's so delightful, I'd love to sail in the snow, let it blow, let it blow, let it blow", my wife reminds me it's blowing 30 and tells me to shut up and sit down. Possibly, she's the smart one in this household. | | | I ran the numbers, and out of 1,550 days logged, we had 1,259 different boats registered, which strongly hints that Lightnings left the dock over a thousand times this year. We know the G.O.T. Flashes Challenge underestimates actual days sailed (anyone believe David Starck only went out 6 times? Not me!), and we know the method we used to record data was clunkly and somewhat underwhelming to use, which acted to depress results.
The good news is that emerging Lightning Legend John Ring stepped up and built a new, dedicated app that will go live on Jan 2, 2026 for the 2026 G.O.T. Flashes Challenge. With the new app, you will be able to easily login to record your time, check your sailing days on a calendar, log multiple days at the same time, and look at Leaderboards for the whole Class, your District or Fleet any time you wish. It's fantastic and greatly improves the G.O.T. Flashes Challenge experience. John Ring is a Lightning giant! Look for information on how to log into the new app soon (hint - the Class website page for the G.O.T. Flashes Challenge will be one of the primary gateways).
If you are sitting on some unlogged days, you have until Dec 31 to get them in, as the old method will go dark with the new year. I will run the numbers one last time in early January, so you still have a chance, but the window is beginning to close.
Along with John Ring, the G.O.T. Flashes Challenge has come to us all through wonderful work by Carly Stark, who did the graphics, Pauli Kaiser who processed the awards, and the entire LOYALS Team who have supported its development all year, especially Bob Bush, Bob Shapiro, and Bertie Werley. To you, and everyone else that lent a hand, thank you very much.
What boat sailed the most? The data shows Lightning 15112, 'Barometer Soup', sailed by David & Jonette Werley, was mentioned 125 times in our data in 2025. Interestingly enough, hull #313, only 14,799 boats older, was knocking on the door of the Top 10. Clearly age means nothing when it comes to the joys of sailing a Lightning. Ken Brown from the Kansas City area was the first person to get to 50, sailing locally for the joy of it, followed almost immediately by people that had literally traveled the globe to find a great Lightning race.
It's been a great year, and 2026 is looking even better. I hope that everyone has a fantastic holiday season and a happy new year. See you on the water in 2026!
Bill Cabrall
Lightning LOYALS | |
Please be sure to submit your results with CREW NAMES to the Class Office via EMAIL office@lightningclass.org . If you have a short summary and a few photos even better!
If your regatta isn't listed - be sure to add the event to the ILCA Event Calendar and send in results after the regatta! | Upcoming Regattas:
Click on the event for more info or
If you need help listing your events please contact Laura in the Class Office. | Upcoming Events
3 Days of Racing in St Pete - now the Mid-Winter Championship- leave your boat in the area and you will be ready for the St Pete Winter Champs in March!
Includes a Master's Winter Championship and first Part of the Southern Circuit.
Nick Turney is back! Highlight of the Southern Circuit! You can't beat this deal!
Final stop of the 2026 Southern Circuit!
A weekend of Boat Maintenance, Learning, and Social activities for the benefit of Lightning owners & enthusiasts.
Save the Date! Don't miss this FUN in Annapolis!
Excellent regatta to kick-off the season! Cool breeze, warm friendships and hot competition. Low entry fee, adult beverages served all weekend! Too much fun to miss!
All are welcome to Columbia Sailing Club on Lake Murray!
Save the Date! NEW LIGHTNING Start!!
Come and experience Midsummer Nights in Finland!
Lake Carlyle Welcomes All!
Youth Worlds rotate to Finland!
Racing in Marblehead! NOTE Corrected Date from initial posting.
Come and explore Milwaukee and race on beautiful Lake Michigan!
SAVE THE DATE! Get ready for some great racing in Sheboygan, WI! You'll have your fill of cheese, beer, brats, and FUN!
Come sail on Bow Lake in Strafford, NH where the sounds of the loons were recorded for the movie On Golden Pond. Great food, great racing, great fun and tons of social time, including the famous Bow Lake Taco Bar!
| | Major Championship Regattas |
Includes a Master's Winter Championship and first Part of the Southern Circuit.
Final stop of the 2026 Southern Circuit!
Come and experience Midsummer Nights in Finland!
Youth Worlds rotate to Finland!
Come and explore Milwaukee and race on beautiful Lake Michigan!
SAVE THE DATE! Get ready for some great racing in Sheboygan, WI! You'll have your fill of cheese, beer, brats, and FUN!
| International Lightning Class Association
Laura Jeffers, Executive Secretary
(727) 942-7969 | |