2025 Finn Toilet Bowl/East Region Championship

The 57^th Annual Toilet Bowl regatta was held August 14-16 at Willow Bank Yacht Club it was also the North East Regional Championship. We had 15 Finns that showed up from all across the eastern seaboard, one true Canadian, one Massachusetts Canadian as well as a Midwesterner.

First day wind was northerly ranging from 0-10 knots with shifts of 5-20 degrees from right to left. Derek Mess (using the class Devoti)  lead from the start in the first race and never let Rodi get by. Second race was won by Stephen Smeulders in his first regatta since breaking his leg/ankle surgery last fall. Great to see him back and still sailing fast. Rodi hit his form in the third race and lead from wire to wire.  Awesome fish fry that night with club members, with a bunch of great conversations.

Second day was a touch warmer, with many competitors swimming to stay cool between races.  Wind was all over the place ranging from 0-18 knots. The race committee pulled off three races before the wind shut down completely. Shorter courses and a few shortening of courses helped that. First race went to Chuck Rudinsky.  The wind shifted 180 degrees and the down wind became up wind with Chuck picking up a nice shift on the left hand side leaving the fleet I the dust. Second race, a squall line came through in the middle of the race, making the course more of a reach/reach situation, but the rain and planing conditions were fun.  Rodi was fast and had a pretty good lead at the finish. The third race was light air and streaky; you really had to get to the puff to make gains.  Rodi was on

    fire finishing first. On the last downwind leg, Gus Miller sailed by a majority of the fleet and finished third, proving that age is just a number. Rodi had a quick set up clinic after racing giving the competitors his secrets. Dinner was at a local restaurant which had amazing food, with great discussions about the Finn amongst the fleet.

Third day was started early with very little breeze from the west with prediction it was going to go more northerly and build as the day went on. First race was shortened due to lack of wind with Luke Buxton taking the gun. Second race was more the same but with a right hand shift making the second leg a one, maybe two tack beat. Luke Buxton repeated as winner. As it usually goes, the wind picked up just as we were finishing for the day.

Awards were held after sailing Sunday and most people were on the road by 2-3. It was nice to get home at 7:30 rather then midnight.

Overall it was a fun regatta, Bill Smith and the team at Willow Bank yacht club did a great job running and hosting the event. For those who haven’t gone to this regatta should get it on their schedule for next season. The town/restaurants/hotels are walking distance to the club and the club had a great family vibe to it.

Some observations:

-Ken Legler (past Tufts coach) always said count to ten before tacking on a lake, several times a puff would hit and it would seem to be a header but after about 5 seconds it was back to course or lifted.

-Sail to the puff, The puffs were not traveling fast so you had to get to them to take advantage, Chuck did that in the third race and I did that in race 7/8, I let three boats cross to get to it.

-Set the boat up at base and pulled the mast shims to let the mast rake back further, Rodi wasn’t too concerned with tension, but said to rake the mast back. I was at my aft most setting of 30mm

-Don’t be afraid to tack/jibe close to the marks, a slight shift can pick up boat length here/there. If the roll is done properly you can also increase speed coming out of the tack/jibe.

Any body else want to chime in here please do so, the more comments the better.

 

Luke Buxton