Year: 2020

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the class leadership with the support of our members made a decision to shift the U.S. National Championship to the Pass Christian YC, MS in the first half of November 2020 and the North American Championship to the Coconut Grove YC, FL 17-20 December 2020.

More details will be available at www.finnusa.org/event-calendar/ 

Hello Finnsters,

First,  Please be aware that after some discussion with Corpus Christie Yacht Club the decision was made to have the Nationals at Corpus Christie next year due to the pandemic. The people at Corpus Christie Yacht Club have been very professional and accommodating and a joy to work with.  Its unfortunate that dates in October didn’t work out.  We look forward to going there in 2021.  Below is a revised schedule and then a survey regarding Nationals.

We hope everyone is healthy and safe.  Here is the current status of regattas that USAFA is aware of:
·  Wickford Regatta June 6-7,  in Northeast- Cancelled
·  USA National Championship at Corpus Christi, June 25th-28th – Cancelled  (USAFA honoring commitment for CY2021), USA Nationals 2020, pending search of the location and time.**
·  ABYC  OCR- July 17th-19th – Still on, pandemic permitting
·  Great Lakes at North Cape in Michigan July 10th-11^th –  Still on, pandemic permitting
·  SDYC OCR – San Diego August 7th-9th – Still on, pandemic permitting
·  Cazenovia Regatta- New York, August 8th-9th – Still on, pandemic permitting
·  North American’s-CORK in Kingston Ontario-August 14th thru18th. Organizing authority didn’t officially cancel the event, however City of Kingston closed the harbor access pending pandemic development. Event will be highly hindered by the international travel requirements.  USAFA considering moving event to Florida in December and honoring our commitment to hold North American Championship in Canada in 2021.
·  Gulf Coasts- Mobile Alabama,  October 1-3  Still on
·  Masters- Austin Texas,  October 8-11- Still on
Rumor from Southern California is that many Finns are out sailing individually (I’m jealous) and some big boat sailors finding it much easier to “social distance” in a Finn.

** USA National Championship 2020 USA options:
1.     Buccaneer YC, AL combined with the Gulf Coast Championship October 1-3, 2020
2.     Past Christian YC, MS standalone event  1^st or 2^nd week of November, 2020.

Please vote at:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFlrOb2HSOdrsRQk_SfgbhKVxn9txfRlAW9AQVe5JiozGwig/viewform?usp=sf_link

Please respond by May 20th so we can get official announcements out.

Please let us know if you have any additional information on regatta status.  We will try to keep you informed as time progresses.  We are looking at alternatives for later in the year.

Thanks and Regards,
USAFA Leadership
secretary@finnusa.org
president@finnusa.org

With the COVID-19 situation rapidly evolving and Federal, State, and Municipal authorities banning large gatherings across different states, organizing authorities and USAFA cancelled following events:

1. 2020 Midwinters One Design, Sarasota, FL

From Organising Authority: “In the wake of President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency, restrictions on community gatherings have changed significantly. A careful review of both local and national guidance has led us to cancelling our One Design Midwinter’s Regatta. The health and well-being of our extended “family” at the squadron is dear to us. We thank you for your support and understanding. Our volunteer-based organization is heavily dependent upon income generated by our regatta program. If you would like to donate your entry fee to the Squadron, no further action is necessary. If you would like a refund, please contact our manager, Craig Bridges, at manager@ssssailing.com. We will process a partial refund (entry fees less processing expenses) through Regatta Network. Please note that Regatta Network has shared with us that it can take up to 30 days for a refund to appear on your credit card. Your friends at the Squadron wish all of you the best of health and a fun-filled summer of sailing.”

2. USAFA Gulf Coast Championship, Buccaneers YC, Mobile, AL.

Cancelled. Please send your request for the refund to rearcommodore@fairhopeyachtclub.com

3. Fairhope Finn Clinic.

Cancelled. Contact USAFA Secretary for more details.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. The USAFA did everything possible and worked with organizing authorities and alternate site locations to continue holding the events with the limited social interactions, however, local municipal and state orders trumped our eagerness to sail. We will keep you posted on when and where we will hold the GCC and the clinic. Be ready for other events to be cancelled on short notice and contact organizing authorities for more information.

USAFA Midwinters One Design

2020 One Design Midwinters is still a go. The on the water racing will proceed as planned. Sarasota Sailing Squadron will take actions to limit the group activities during the event and we will keep you informed of their decisions. For now, there are no restrictions in Florida! Please note further notices will come from Regatta Network and the Sarasota Sailing Squadron Facebook page.

USAFA Gulf Coast Championship and Clinic

Both events have shifted from the Fairhope to Buccaneers Yacht Club. This shift is not related to the COVID-19 outbreak and is done due to a scheduling conflict. Same as with the Midwinters, the group activities will be limited during the event. If you have concerns about traveling to the vent, please contact Organizing Authority.

The Wickford Regatta is a celebration of One-Design Fun. First held in 1972, the Wickford Regatta was one of the first Laser events in the world. In subsequent years 470s, 505s and Flying Dutchmen made the Wickford Regatta the premier springtime event on the East Coast for the balance of the 70’s.

Wickford Regatta 2020 will be held on June 6-7 and registration opens on March 1^st. Wicked Deal registration (only $70) will be in effect until April 1^st .

We are happy to announce that the Finn Class will join for 2020. That’s a total of 11 classes!

The Wickford Regatta came out of hibernation in 2009 in spectacular fashion and this year will be better yet. Great sailing, a great party, lots of cool boats and the warmest hospitality you will ever experience. Come and have a blast! The racing is on the West Passage of Narragansett Bay with launching from the soft sands of Cold Spring Beach.

For more information and to register go to https://www.wickfordyc.org/

Great news for all the young folks out there who would like to try sailing Finn! USAFA will offer a free of charge clinic to all qualified athletes, that will take place at the Fairhope Yacht Club  25-27 March 2020. Clinic page: https://finnusa.org/fyc_clinic_2020/

Please submit your resume to: secretary@finnusa.org and president@finnusa.org

Resume should include the following:

1. Name
2. Age
3. Sailing Experience

March is promising to bring plenty of the Finn action down South.

The Registration is now open for the Miami Sailing Week, March 6-8. The Finn Class is on the roster! Find out more at https://theclubspot.com/regatta/XWWeBV4AfY  

The Sarasota Sailing Squadron will be hosting Finn Midwinters East, March 20-22. We expect somewhere between 20-25 boats on the starting line, sign up today at https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/20221#_home

Finn sailors from across San Diego sailed on an amazing Southern California weekend on January 18-19 hosted by SDYC. Our home playground of the Coronado Roads gave us nearly Champagne conditions for the Finn on Saturday with 10-14 knots and light chop. Mike Entwistle was strong throughout the day with a 2-2-1 for the lead, followed closely by S/C Reiter and James Buley just behind. Your scribe found some speed upwind and wants to share that it was the new-to-him technique of droop hiking – all balled up over the rail the entire time vs. straight leg hiking. Turns out the benefit to staying over the rail is that you don’t shake the wind out of the sail each time you come in, and the same goes for the foils in the water. When the boat stands up in the light stuff, you first dump the outhaul to power up the sail plan, and/or raise the traveler a bit. Finn North American champion Darrel Peck helped with the idea last fall and it paid off nicely as the wheels were trued better than ever before (at least upwind). It’s certainly harder, but you sure get the benefit of having heaps less weather helm. It’s definitely like being a Star crew (not that I’m an expert there…) dipping in the water once in a while, but seemed worth it for the speed and height VMG trade-off.

Saturday night was the first-in-recent-memory SD Finn Fleet awards banquet hosted by Fleet Captain S/C Mike Dorgan. The venue, F&B, and company were spot on as a whole mess of trophies were awarded including the Spring Series win to S/C Mike Dorgan, Summer Series to Lee Hope, and Fall events to S/C Dorgan and others. Mike capped off the year by winning the coolest trophy you’ll see in the case this year – a replica of the power source from the Iron Man movies worn by the lead character and designed & built by James Buley. It even lights up! Your 2019 Finn Iron Man was no surprise – our Pied Piper for the Finn fleet sailed more than anyone and dominated just about every event he entered to boot, Staff Commodore Mike Dorgan. In 2019, a total of 43 Finn sailors competed for the Ironman Trophy-a record in SoCal! Afterward, the all-Finn band of Gary Mitchell (lead & vocals), Lee Hope (mouth organs), Rich Wright (bass) and Jim Hecht (skins) wailed away with a wonderful set to both Finn sailors, concerned onlookers, and active passersby. Lisa Reiter reminded the band of their encore, and arguably tightest song, Folsom Prison Blues by Mr. Cash, and all went away merrily into the rest of their evening plans.

Sunday’s forecast was weak and it started out just that way with 0-5kts out of everywhere. PRO and Dr./Dir. Alli Bell quietly calmed things down and found us 6-8kts out of 190 and away we went. NHYC Finn stalwart Robert Kinney came to town for the day and led the most important leg – the last, and won race one. James Buley took a perfectly timed flyer to the left on race two, leg two and sailed his way back into the game as the breeze slowly died. It was enough to pull out the win, followed by Lee Hope with your author in third. This charging finish pulled James into the top spot for the weekend and a well deserved weekend win to take the lead in the Iron Man standings for 2020! S/C Reiter 2nd, Entwistle 3rd.

Thanks again to every competitor and RC volunteer who made the weekend possible, and of course to great leadership by S/C Dorgan for building and keeping the SDYC Finn Fleet vibrant! There are boats available for loan/charter/sale, so pull on your big boy jammies (ladies are welcome too) and come hike with us in 2020.”

S/C Reiter 

Finns sailing off Point Loma, San Diego, CA.

Photo by: Gary Adler

Miami, Fl. – A newly established Miami fleet had another installment of the Finn Miami Winter Series. 69 degrees, sunny, 71-degree water, gusty NE winds. 3 races of double windward-leeward courses. Great tee-shirts provided by Fuccillo 536 LLC and West Marine gift cards provided by SKYFREESHOP. Next in series is February 29 and Miami Sailing Week March 6-8. Registration is now open for the Miami Sailing Week at https://www.miamisailingweek.com/?fbclid=IwAR0-mlEeI_p0u3kevnax5yEJY3TyMD__JlwQS-2xnUVeQRPiKZjDhc6iBmc 

Check out a video of the Miami Winter series! Great time to escape from the cold north for a weekend.