2019 USA Finn Class National Championship

Sarasota, FL – On March 14, 2019, the thirty-three boat fleet from the United States, Canada, and Norway arrived at Sarasota Sailing Squadron (SSS) to participate in the USA Finn Class National Championship. This was the first time SSS hosted the Finn regatta, and it proved to be the right choice for both the hosts and the Finn Class. The Finn Nationals were sailed in conjunction with One Design Midwinter Regatta. The organizers did a fabulous job separating the fleets and giving the starts in challenging conditions with the wind shifting forty to sixty degrees.

The growth of the Finn class in the U.S. is apparent; only three local Finn sailors registered for the competition, with most of the athletes traveling from as far away as Oregon, San Diego, Quebec Canada, and everywhere in-between. The first day of the regatta exceeded all expectations with wind ranging from 8 to 13 knots, despite the very light forecast. The fleet raced four 50-minute races proving the necessity of fitness in our beloved class. With the venue being inside the bay, we only had small wind waves to time our O flag pumps, but the good guys were surfing. The fleet behaved on the start line with only a couple individual recalls and no protests made it into the jury room.

Saturday started off with an on-shore postpone due to rain and lack of wind. After a couple of hours, we launched and waited for the wind to build. Unfortunately, the race committee had to postpone the racing for three hours; abandoning all the racing for the day right around 3 a.m. Once on shore, the fleet enjoyed the club sponsored beer and dinner. The US Finn AGM was held just after dinner.

Sunday was predicted to be a much better breeze, and everyone was excited to get out and race. The wind was shifty and unpredictable on the course. Once the race committee set the marks, the fleet pushed the starting line aggressively; as it was expected, the “U” flag was followed by the black flag, keeping everyone’s temperament down. The wind continued to build to a nice pressure making a good race. The second race of the day, the wind started dying and holes started forming. The race committee continued to do their best and change course marks to keep the national championship going. The finish time limit for the regatta was hit with only two races for the day and six races overall.

These were very tough racing conditions for all, but the best will remain the best. Quinton Gallon and Rodion Mazin were pushing it hard, but it was not enough to defeat Darell Peck, who remained to be unbeatable in his ability to leverage the wide range of wind conditions. After one OCS Darrel was able to keep the first place with 11 points. Quinton Gallon finished second with 15points and Rodion Mazin stole the third place from Derek Mess with 21 points.

The comradery of the Finn sailors is unmatched. Sunday afternoon was one of the things that we all love about the Finn Class. All the guys were helping each other to load the boats onto trailers, helping put on bottom covers, laughing at mistakes made on the course, and just being friends. This is a great group of guys that truly enjoy getting together, somewhere in the world, and being together. The problems on the course are handled on the water and they laugh about it back on shore. Finn will always be the premier single-handed dinghy in the world. We are looking to see more sailors joining the class and enjoying the hardcore Finn sailing!

Co-Authored by Joe Chinburg and Rodion Mazin

1. 91, Child’s play, Darrell Peck, BucYC, 3-[35/OCS]-1-5-1-1- ; 11
2. CAN 15, , Quinton Gallon, Britannia Yacht Club, 1-5-4/TIE-1-4-[8]- ; 15
3. USA 16, USCG, Rodion Mazin, USCG, 5-[35/OCS]-4/TIE-4-6-2- ; 21
4. USA 32, Kavala, Derek Mess, MITNA, 7-[35/OCS]-8-2-2-3- ; 22
5. 18, Daisey, Jeremy Pape, Lake Lanier Sailing Club, 2-[9]-9-7-7-4- ; 29T
6. USA 40, , Charles Rudinsky, Great bay marine, 4-7-[16]-6-5-7- ; 29T
7. USA 47, Ak 47, Robert Kinney, Nhyc, [13]-1-7-3-9-12- ; 32
8. USA12, AllUCanEat, Steve Landeau, SAYRA, 14-4-2-10-[20]-6- ; 36
9. usa117, Sherideath, michael mark, Buccaneer yacht club, 8-6-10-[11]-3-11- ; 38
10. USA 1138, Red Ferrari, Scott Griffiths, Missouri, 6-8-6-9-[12]-10- ; 39
11. NOR64, Clark Kent, Lars Petter Fjeld, Fredrikstad SF, 12-2-[35/DNS]-15-13-5- ; 47
12. 71, Racer X, Adrian Pereira, Lake Lanier Sailing Club/Buccaneer Yacht Club, 17-3-5-14-[35/BFD]-17- ; 56
13. CAN 7, RN Masters, Nikita Mazin, Drifter YC, 9-10-11-13-[21]-14- ; 57
14. USA 61, Caution!, Lee Hope, San Diego Yacht Club, 10-12-15-8-[35/BFD]-18- ; 63
15. 1201, , david brockbank, key west sailiing center, [20]-11-12-20-8-15- ; 66
16. USA 303, Fire Escape, Joe Chinburg, Union Sailing Club, 16-15-17-16-10-[26]- ; 74
17. US101, , peter frissell, NCYC, 11-17-23-[24]-11-16- ; 78
18. CAN1157, Finn, John Miller, Brockville Yacht Club, 15-[35/RET-BF]-18-22-17-13- ; 85
19. USA23, Damnifino, Jim Hunter, Buccaneer Yacht Club, 18-18-13-18-[19]-19- ; 86
20. RUS 1, COLLUSION, Charles Heimler, U.S. Sailing Center-Miami, 19-13-[22]-21-18-20- ; 91
21. 1011, , Valdek Kwasniewski, SSS, 22-19-[26]-26-23-9- ; 99
22. 111, D’s Olde Boat, Joseph Burke, Sarasota Sailing Squadron, [28]-20-14-17-22-28- ; 101
23. USA 88, Audacious, James Bland, Austin Yacht Club, 23-22-21-[27]-16-27- ; 109
24. USA 3, , Pat Healy, Outer Harbour Centreboard Club, Toronto, 25-16-19-[35/DNS]-26-25- ; 111
25. USA 24, Trogdor the Burninator, Will Libcke, Western Michigan University, 26-14-20-28-24-[35/DNS]- ; 112
26. 259, , Keith Beverly, Key West Community Sailing Center, 24-23-30-[35/DNS]-14-22- ; 113
27. 17, Cascade, Ernesto Bergeron, Warner Robins YC, 30-21-25-23-15-[35/DNS]- ; 114
28. USA 27, Finn Shui, Michael Entwistle, San Diego Yacht Club, 21-[35/OCS]-35/OCS-12-25-24- ; 117
29. USA 155 or, Lili III, Hans Claesson, TVSC, 32-25-24-25-[35/BFD]-23- ; 129
30. 688, Oranjeboot, Hamish Nicol, Union Sailing Club, Co., 29-[35/OCS]-28-19-35/BFD-21- ; 132
31. US 13, , Kay M Statz, Coconut Grove Sailing Club, 27-24-29-29-27-[35/DNS]- ; 136
32. USA 5, SeaFlight, Terry Greenfield, Buccaneer YC / Fairhope YC, 31-26-27-[35/DNS]-35/DNS-35/DNS- ; 154
33. 74, White, Henry Sprague, Kanto Yacht Club, [35/DNC]-35/DNC-35/DNC-35/DNC-35/DNS-35/DNS- ; 175T
34. USA 69, Candy Licker, John F Dane, Pcyc, [35/DNC]-35/DNC-35/DNC-35/DNC-35/DNS-35/DNS- ; 175T   

Full results are available here: http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/18024#_newsroom+results