Our very own Debbie Peterson Cycotte was featured in the latest issue of Scot N' Water - the Flying Scot official newsletter. Debbie was held up by Capitol District Governor Hans Noordanus as an example for Fleet Captains to follow.

Our very own Debbie Peterson Cycotte was featured in the latest issue of Scot N' Water - the Flying Scot official newsletter. Debbie was held up by Capitol District Governor Hans Noordanus as an example for Fleet Captains to follow.

I won't reprint the entire article here -- you'll have to ask a Flying Scot Sailing Association member for a copy -- but here are some of the highlights...

Debbie has been sailing Flying Scots since she and her dad bought FS1849 in 1971. Debbie was but a mear child! The boat was named "For Pete's Sake" in honor of her dad. Debbie and her dad were active racers and members of Fleet 27 at Kerr Lake, Fleet 108 at High Rock Yacht Club and Fleet 126 at Lake Townsend Yacht Club. She served as Captain of Fleet 27 and Fleet 108 many times and was Carolina's District Governor in 1980-1981.

In 1993 she moved to Deltaville and became a part of Fishing Bay's Flying Scot family in Fleet 103. While Debbie doesn't own a Flying Scot currently, she has always been an active member of the fleet and our most ardent cheerleader. John Beery was our Fleet Captain from 2000-2002 and Debbie took the helm for 2003-2004. From 2001 to 2004 the Flying Scot fleet at Fishing Bay doubled in size from 13-26 boats.

Quoting Hans now:
"Debbie's goal as Fleet Captain was to have good communication in the fleet. She kept the fleet well informed of news and upcoming events with an email fleet newsletter at the beginning of the week of an upcoming race day or special event. This served as a good reminder about attending. She also mentioned as many fleet members in these articles as possible -- the winners of the races, as well as the rest of the fleet. (Keeping your fleet roster up-to-date will make this task easier.) She issued these emails not only to the Scot fleet boat owners but also to their crews, to boat owners in the area who weren't fleet members, to other area fleet captains and the district governor, and to anyone who ever asked her any questions about the Flying Scot (she figured they could be the next new fleet members). In addition, she provided information to potential sailors about used boats that were available in the area."

"When a new Scot arrived in Debbie's fleet, she contacted the owner to welcome him/her into the fleet, to ask how she could help him and whether he had any questions she could answer about the boat and class, to tell him the benefits of joining the FSSA, to show him how to rig his boat, to encourage him to come out to fleet activities, etc. In short, she made the new member feel that he/she was part of the Flying Scot family."

Debbie has been very active in bringing Mr. Scot himself, Harry Carpenter to our area for seminars and to race. She's also brought Greg Fisher in for several seminars on sail trim. In 2004 she was instrumental in bringing the Capitol Districts to Fishing Bay and led the charge to bring the Atlantic Coast Championship here September 24-25, 2005.

I affectionately refer to Debbie as the Queen of Scots. We're proud of you Debbie and very happy to have you in our Fishing Bay family!! YOU GO GIRL!