The Finn Class has launched a survey for its sailors. Please click the link and complete the questionnaire. It will give the IFA Executive useful information to plan for the future. It should take no more than five minutes of your time!
Press here to enter the survey.
Thank you!
Caleb Paine (USA 6) in the lead before the medal race, with Kyle Martin (CAN 2) and Luke Muller (USA 91) 20 points behind. Juan Perez Soltero (MEX 1) moved into the 8th place with 58 points securing a spot at the Olympic Games or Mexico.
Photos by Robert Stevens
Registration is open for 2020 One Design Midwinters that will also combine Florida State Championship. USA Finn Association has located a perpetual trophy for the Finn Florida State Championship. We will put the trophy to good use and will be waiting for the next Champion’s name to be engraved on it in March!
Register today to promote attendance and do not forget to share among your Finn friends.
Registration page: https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/20221
The World Sailing Cup Miami started today with a moderate breeze and small chop. Caleb Paine (USA 6) scored two bullets in two races and is on the way to secure an Olympic spot over Luke Muller (USA 91). Caleb is followed by Georgii Paches (UKR 573) and Kyle Martin (CAN 2). Tomorrow forecasting 14 to 18 knots from NNW.
Pictures by Robert Stevens
San Diego, Cal – Nine Finns signed up for the SDYC New Years Day Race with sunny skies treating the fleet that shook off the New Years’ Eve cobwebs and made it out on beautiful San Diego bay. Even though the line was quite long to accommodate some of the 75+ larger yachts including 12 meter El Moro, and many other big, racing boats, all the Finns fought it out at the heavily favored, pin end of the starting line.
Lee Hope timed things perfectly and popped out to an early lead. The first leg presented a generally backing wind with plenty of holes to make things interesting. Lee kept things together to round the first windward mark with a good lead. Mike Entwistle moved into second w/Gary Mitchell recovering from sailing into a hole after the start to move into third.
On the long downwind leg, Commodore Mike Dorgan showed off his ‘off-wind’ skills, passing 4 boats and moving into the lead by the leeward mark. On the final long upwind Mike Entwistle tried to challenge Dorgan but couldn’t get close enough. Dorgan finished in first place comfortably with Entwistle a few boat lengths back.
SDYC’s current Commodore, Brian Thomas sailed clean and smart, consistently moving up all day and taking third overall. Gary Mitchell, Lee Hope, and James Lawson rounded out the top five with everyone finishing within about 5 minutes of each other after a nice tour of San Diego Bay, making for a fun race.
It was a great start to the New Year and the new decade. The Finn Fleet at SDYC and Southern California continues to be growing, strong, competitive and especially fun…..!
By Michael Entwistle USA 27
Photo by Gary Adler
On behalf of the USA Finn Association (USAFA) I wanted to thank you for your continued support of our organization. We hit some record numbers in 2019, with over 90 members, and over 30 boats on the starting line at USA National and North American Championships.
A quick recap of 2019:
Plans for 2020:
Class initiatives success and class growth depend on your financial support! Please pay your dues in a timely manner through https://finnusa.org/join-the-class/
Sail numbers expiration dates and membership status can be found at https://finnusa.org/usafa-documents/
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. Looking forward to seeing you on the race course!
Very respectfully,
Rodion Mazin
USAFA Secretary
secretary@finnusa.org
https://www.facebook.com/NAFinnclass/
The Miami Finn fleet, based at Coconut Grove Sailing Club on Biscayne Bay, started its new winter series on January 4, on a day that recorded record heat, 88 degrees, with a 12-14 knot breeze. Three double windward-leeward courses were run in beautiful Miami sailing conditions. The next winter series event is January 18, when it is expected many of the Olympic-level aspirants in town for the World Sailing Cup Miami will join the fun.
Bermuda’s Rockal Evans, who arrived early in Miami to prepare to qualify both his country and himself for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, won all the races, assisted by his coach, World Champion and European Champion Ed Wright of the British Sailing Team.
Awards for podium finishes were gift certificates to West Marine, provided by SKYFREESHOP, world-wide duty free stores in the best airports. Coconut Grove Sailing Club volunteers did a superb job setting the courses and opening up the club for margaritas and quesadillas after sailing.
CGSC will be hosting the Finns monthly throughout the year. Those dates are on the Coconut Grove Sailing Club website.
The Miami Sail Week (Finn East Coast Championship) March 6, 7, 8 will be a three-day event that is part of this iconic Miami regatta series with Coconut Grove Sailing Club, one of the most dinghy-focused clubs in the world, hosting the Finns.
The Miami Sail Weekend three-day regatta is a great prelude to the Finn Midwinters in Sarasota (4-hour interstate drive from Miami) scheduled for March 13,14, 15.
There are plenty of lodging opportunities in Coconut Grove within walking or biking distance from the club. There are also several places to store your boat before, between, and after the regatta days. Contact charlesheimler@yahoo.com for details.
With the Miami Winter Finn Series and the Finn Midwinters in Sarasota, Florida warm water sailing is now a special opportunity for Finnsters to experience summer sailing conditions in Northern Hemisphere winter.
By Charles Heimler
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sail a Finn while climbing a mountain? Well, I’m sure someone has; but now that I mention it you want to try it, don’t you? We have a place for you. Sailing Lake Dillon at 9200 feet of elevation is beautiful. There is a consistent wind that fills in over the dam and the views of the Breckenridge ski area, Keystone resort, and the Continental Divide make for an amazing sail. We hold the Rocky Mountain Championship every year in late August when the water is warming up. You can brag that you have sailed the highest Finn regatta in the world, and not just because it is legal in Colorado. We have camping areas and hotels close to Dillon Yacht Club with plenty of family activities to keep everyone busy while you are on the water. It is a fantastic destination regatta for all. They even sell bottles of oxygen for you, sea level guys, that are spoiled by all that extra air you keep down there. Where else can you sail in the summer while looking at snow-covered peaks?
We also sail every Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon just north of Denver. We have 8 Finns sitting at Union Sailing Club. We have a loaner Finn for anyone that is in the area and would like to join us. Please “like” our FB page: Finn Rocky Mountain. We have a couple of guys that travel to several national Finn regattas and train as often as we can, so there is some good competition and some challenging conditions. If you will be in the Denver metro area and would like to sail with us, please let us know at rockymountain@finnusa.org