SAN DIEGO, Calif. – What a better way to start the New Year with a sail and race around San Diego Bay!? This is exactly what the Finn fleet did head out in beautiful weather, sunny skies, and warm mild temperatures along with some 80 other sailboats of various types and sizes. The Finn fleet was the largest fleet represented Finns ready for the breeze to fill in and get started. SDYC Race Committee once again did a stellar job of waiting for the right amount of wind at just the right time to get a race off for the eager sailors. For the Finn start, like all others before our fleet, the out-going huge tide and current presented a bit of a challenge, especially if you were over the line early and had to sail back up stream (current) to re-start could be the end of your day. Dr. Dave Ryan timed the start perfectly and nailed the line with speed towards the leeward end, leading the fleet South in the ebbing current. Several Finn sailors including Mike Dorgan, Lee Hope, and James Buley were OCS and had to re-start, no easy feat. Halfway up the first beat, the fleet turned inside-out with the pre-mature starters able to not only catch the fleet but sail around them and lead around the first mark of the course. Randy Benton, sailing ’Thin Blue Line’ who has been sailing Finns now in the SDYC fleet for about 3 years and always a fast sailor did a great job of always keeping his boat moving in the lighter, fickle breeze. Throughout the race, he managed to stay near the front of the race, looking for opportunities to sail around the large patches of no wind zones, keeping his air clean and sailing fast. As fate would have it, Randy sailed just fast enough to finish the race within one minute of the 1600 time limit cutoff, finishing just before the RC pulled up anchor to head in, winning the Finn Fleet New Years Day race! Another notable sailing report was from new-to-Finn sailing and new Finn fleet member Chris Smith, having a good day on the water and if time/breeze permitted, would have finished in 3rd place overall. Welcome aboard Chris!
https://sdyc.org/calendar/event/new-years-day-race21/new_years_day_race
