The 2019 Finn North American Championship event was held August 23-25 in San Diego, CA. The championship was hosted by Mission Bay Yacht Club on the ocean venue off Mission Beach on the Pacific Ocean. Eight races were sailed over the three day regatta.
Thirty-three sailors from around the USA and Canada competed for the title of North American Champion as MBYC rolled out the red carpet. The conditions met the prediction of light pressure with winds not to exceed 10 knots for the most part.
The regatta started out on day one with light southerly breeze as the sailors made their way out to the ocean venue. Light winds at the opening day of the Finn North American Championship. Race wins went to Darrell Peck and David Alexander.
In the first race, with wind about 10 knots from the South, Darrell Peck and Rob Coutts went left and were first and second around the weather mark. David Alexander worked his way into second and Mike Dorgan had a great second beat finishing in third.
The second race saw wind about 8 to 10 knots at start dying off to around 6. David Alexander led the whole way around the course extending his lead the whole race. Quinton Gallon finished second and Darrel Peck third.
Third race on the first day had wind dying and shifting right. David Alexander led around the first mark with Peck in second, Mike Dorgan in third. Down the first run Peter Frissell worked his way into third. First half the second beat was a race to the left, but unfortunately David and Mike went slightly right. This put Peck in first (again) with Peter Frissell moving up thru the fleet. Darrell did an excellent job of protecting his position finishing in front of Peter by about 3 feet.
Day two of the event started light again, and turned into a bit of a drift fest. The race committee did a great job of being sensitive to the light breeze and managed to fit three more races in by shortening course when necessary.
The last day of racing saw typical glorious San Diego conditions with 8-12 knots of breeze. Two races completed the series of eight for the regatta. In the end, Darrel Peck (who has five Olympic campaigns under his belt, and now coaches) ran away with the championship, winning four races, and placing top four in the rest of the races.
Peck finished overall with 13 points, 10 points ahead of David Alexander, a local Mission Bay sailor. Rob Coutts, also from Mission Bay Yacht Club, rounded out the top three with 29 points.
Off the water, the Finn sailors enjoyed camaraderie with each other. Darrel Peck held an impromptu clinic as he wandered the boat yard and assisted other sailors with tuning and suggestions in his coaching style. Not only is the talent of the Finn sailors on the water, but they also showed their talent as the Finn Band entertained everyone at the regatta dinner overlooking Mission Bay.
The 2019 season for the North American Finns continues to rumble in Southern California as the San Diego Olympic Classes regatta will be held September 6-8 and the Finn Pacific Coast Championship September 14-15, both hosted by San Diego Yacht Club.
The next edition of the Finn North American Championship is in August 2020 in Kingston, ON
By Michael Dorgan. Repost from Scuttlebutt.
