Lake Erie Tartan Sailors (LETS) 50th Anniversary Tartan Rendezvous

LETS put on a bash to celebrate 50 years of Tartan.Located at the Huron, Ohio boat basin, 42 boats arrived from ports from Detroit, Michigan to Geneva, Ohio and several more owners arrived by land to enjoy a weekend of camaraderie with fellow Tartan owners. The weekend events included plenty of food and refreshments, starting with a cookout on Friday evening and finishing with a group breakfast on Sunday morning.

Saturday was an open boat day and with a wide array of Tartans ranging from an early Tartan 27 to a new Tartan 4300 and Tartan 3400, there was plenty to see and compare. My favorite dock included a line up that provided a walk through mid 30 foot Tartan history. The 60's and early 70's were well represented with several very nicely maintained T34C's including past LETS Commodore, Max Guzman's boat which will be featured in an upcoming issue of Good Old Boat. A couple of T33's a T33R and T34II represented the late 70's through the mid to late 80's. The T3500 was there with both deck configurations bridging the 90's to the 00's. Bringing us to the current models, a new T3400 sporting nice canvas, carbon mast, pocket boom and CCR Rig showcased Tartan's latest ideas in performance cruising.

One of the most interesting boats was a mid 60's Tartan 27. The owner, Bob Stompf enthusiastically gave the tour of his slightly modified 27 that has been equipped with most everything you can fit into 27 feet. Bob has enjoyed 31 summers, living aboard at Put-in-Bay, the past 7 years with his wife, Gina. She was good natured when I joked that she still married him, knowing that the summer program would include living aboard a 27 foot sailboat, in Lake Erie!

The fleet included a nice selection of T37C's, 3 T372's (that all went through the factory at the same time), a couple T31's, a beautiful green T40, and a couple of T4100's. It was great to see such a wide range of Tartan's and always impressive to see how well Tartan owners maintain their boats. A common theme was that Tartan owners love their boats and enjoyed the “labor of love” to keep them in top condition.

Saturday night featured a nice dinner at the Huron Yacht Club.Dinner was punctuated at the end with a raffle and a half model presentation to LETS Commodore Gene Iannucci and his wife Helen. Their hard work, enthusiasm and dedication has been instrumental in the growth of the LETS group over the years. Gene in turn gave me two very nice LETS/Tartan 50th Anniversary coffee mugs, which were greatly appreciated. Gene is a huge Tartan supporter and coined perhaps the best Tartan tee shirt slogan ever, “If you're lucky enough to sail a Tartan, you're lucky enough”. I wear mine proudly.

To the entire LETS organization, congratulations on a well run event and thank you for your continued enthusiasm for your Tartans, I look forward to seeing you again next year.

Tartan

Tim Jackett, President/Chief Designer