Waiuku Finn Masters, Waiuku YC, Auckland. 29 - 31 March 2013

Thanks to the fellow Finnsters who supported the 2013 CRC Finn Masters. A little down on previous numbers, but the same outcome, a damn good hotly contested regatta. NZL 13 joining the fleet to make up a total of 13 Finns entered

Thanks to the regatta sponsors CRC and Doyles. The best prize table of any regatta I have seen all year. Everyone a winner.

Thanks to OOD Kevin McGee and his helpers for running a hassle free regatta. Good courses and smiling faces. To Shana and Rosel, thanks for the kitchen duties, and feeding the team. To Stoney and Duffy for the Sat night BBQ. Great feed.

The sailing saw a win to Ray Hall. A very consistent regatta with good all-round speed. 2nd place to the slippery, slimy, sly, smooth, sailor Dirch Andersen. Dirch is slowly getting the ex Dan Slater Finn firing on all cylinders, and finished with some good results. 3rd place went to Mark Perrow who added another good result to the Finn series this year. Mark once again pipped Dave Hoogenboom by one place. Dave trying to bet his old boat is becoming a real talking point. Hang in there Dave, the day will come. NZL23 finished 5th but for me it was the closeness of the sailing right though the fleet which was my highlight.

Justin Hurst, Geoff Letcher, Kevin Stone, Gerrit Bearda, John Duff, Jim Goodare, Peter Helps and the new apprentice winner Elliot Hurst all sailed competitively with some good finishes and moments though the regatta.

Ray, Dave, Carl, Josh, Matt, Ben, Andrew, Denise and Maurice are all heading overseas to compete in the Europe regattas. All the best for fare winds from the NZ Finn fleet.

National Finn Championships, Takapuna BC, Auckland. 8 - 10 February 2013

The NZL Finn fleet visited the proposed venue of the 2015 Gold Cup bid off the beaches of Takapuna. Much interest was generated in Auckland with former and current Finn stars visiting the fleet including Ralph Roberts , Clifton Webb, Dan Slater and Rafa Trujillo to name a few. The regatta was sailed directly in front on the beach creating a stunning sight of 17 finns racing hard in the light winds. The NZL fleets has grown and updated with 12 of the 17 starters in highly competitive Devotis. The fleet also welcomed 2 Dutch Sailors for this regatta Timo and Tijmen.

Day 1 was sailed in 5-8 knots of shifty sea breeze where positioning on the 1st beat won and lost the race. Matt and Josh continued their battles from Sail Auckland with Andrew , Karl, Timo and Ray all in the mix. Day's 2 and 3 saw the breeze shift to the south and fluctuate between 5-13 knots with Oscar only being seen in 1 race. All sailors picked up a big number during these days and its was vital to avoid corners as recovery was not easy. Matt Coutts dominated day 2 sailing flawlessly and he sailed solidly on day 3 to secure his first national title and the sail number NZL 1 for the next 12 months. Andrew Murdoch sailed consistently well and with good speed to pip Josh for 2nd.

The sailors were treated to great hospitality, relaxing each day on the decks overlooking the beach offering amazing views.

Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 1 - 5 February 2013 RAYC

The popularity of this ISAF Grade 1 event continues to grow with 10 quality sailors lining up to contest this 4 day regatta.

The first 2 days were sailed in 15knt easterlies in a confused seaway, the older finn sailors often dominating the first beat only to be run down by the highly athletic young guns of Josh Junior, Matt Coutts and Andrew Murdoch (twice Laser Olympic rep sailing his first Finn Regatta) in the free pumping conditions. Josh Junior dominated this area of racing running up a series of guns to take a clear lead into day 3.

Day three saw the weather turn sour with 25=30knts and big seas. The older heads mindful of body and gear failure 4 days out of the nationals stayed ashore. The young guns slogged out 3 races with honours shared between Matt Coutts and front runner Josh Junior.The final day promised 15knts and delivered 25-30knts with the Finn Fleet forced to navigate around broken lasers, as well as plucking out of the water the odd female crew abandoned during capsizes.

The regatta was deservedly won by Josh showing great technique and stamina, it was particularly pleasing to see Andrew ticking all the boxes in his induction to Finn's including smacking himself silly with the boom, attempting to amputate his elbow during a gybe with the same boom and capsizing.

Results from Sail Auckland 2-5 February 2013

Auckland Finn Championships, Manukau YMBC, Auckland. 1 - 2 December 2012

9 Finns contested a keenly fought Auckland Finn Champs on the Manukau harbour. While the numbers were lower than expected the quality was high as was demonstrated by the tightness of the racing.

The Manukau Yacht Club put on a well run highly enjoyable event for the sailor with Trevor Canute running the cutter as RO.

Day 1 was a day of 2 halves for the front runners. Starting in 10-12knts of steady SW breeze Ray Hall took a early lead and protected the favoured side of the course to take the gun from current National Champ Karl Purdie. Mark Perrow is clearly getting to know his Finn as showed solid speed as he collect the first of a series of top 3 places. Alan Dawson and Dirch Andersen in their new Devoti's renewed their regular tussle as did John Duff and Gerrit Bearda. Race 2 was tighter as the wind started in increase and Ray's light sail became less effective, the final downwind saw Karl and Ray free pumping side by side with Ray gaining a penalty on Karl so claiming race 2.

The wind increased slightly more for races 3 and 4 and Karl's sail choice paid dividends and he cleared away for easy wins. Mark had the Lemuiex rolling downwind and put the effort in to take Ray out in Race 4. The 4 race day started to take its toll on the boys and the fleet spread out.

Back on shore the boys relaxed in the sun and enjoyed significant litres of hospitality listening to Dawsy and Royce explain that their tactic of standing downwind while pumping was to avoid sitting again as their hamstrings had cramped up.

Day 2 promised 20 knots which unfortunately did not arrive but the fleet enjoyed 10-15knts of West/SW. There was current aplenty so tactics and boat speed were key today and hitting corners turned you from hero to zero in a flash. Ray played the centre right in the first 2 races wining the 1st beat in each race and covered well to win both races in comfort, Royce sailed his best race in race 5 showing much improved downwind speed. A premature start in race 2 set Karl back. Dave Hoogenboom fronted for day 2 and sailed well for a 2nd and 3rd showing good speed and playing the shifts well. Gerrit showed the bottom of the Orange Roughy in 1 downwind capsize but recovered well to compete hard all day.

The last race was a ripper, the wind swung to the NW and dropped to 10knts, there were mines, holes, back eddies and bullets and the 1st beat was a tough affair with pretty much everyone of the fleet leading at some stage. Dawsy rounded first with 4 boats hot on his tail. Karl snuck in front while Ray, Mark and Dave rounded overlapped 5 sec's later. Ray wriggled through up the beat and held Karl off downwind to take the gun but all boats were tightly packed at the finish.

Thoroughly enjoyable regatta with excellent host and race committee, a huge thanks to MYMBC.

North Island Finn Championships Thames Sailing Club 3 - 4 November 2012

The North Island Finn Champs weekend had everything, Good turnout, good wind, great racing, hard luck stories, fireworks displays, great hospitality, plenty of adult beverages and a little bit of controversy. Have to start by thanking the Thames Sailing Club team headed up by Sarah Deadman their commodore for the great hospitality we received. This is the 17th year this event has been run at Thames and a resounding show of hands at the prizegiving confirmed we'd be back next year.

Most sailors arrived on Friday evening starting with a pleasant meal at the local Workingmens Club then back to the Yacht Club rooms that would be home for the next 2 nights. After a few quiet rums (2 x 40oz Mount Gay bottles consumed) we settled down to sleep only to be woken at 1.00am when some very happy locals decided to celebrate our arrival with a monster fireworks display right in front of the clubhouse. Not too much thought went into setting up the display with the pyrotechnic specialist deciding it was just easier to throw the first lit firework back into the full box and standing back to see what would happen. The resulting display when on for the next 30 minutes until it finally settled down and allowed us to return to our beds.

Saturday dawned with a forecast 20 knots from the north filling in quickly. Early tides so an early 9.30am start to the 3 back to back races in the building breeze. The stories start from there with steady attrition thru the fleet and only 4 or the 13 boats finishing all 3 races. Capsizes, broken gear, broken bodies and strategic decisions to use the 3rd race as their drop made for a busy time for the race management and rescue boats throughout the day.

On the racing side Josh led after the first day with a 1,3,1 result from Karl with 2,1,2 followed by Dave H in 3rd with 5,2,3 and a steady performance from Mark Perrow with 4,4,4. After a 3rd in Race 1 Ray missed race 2 while he changed sails then proceeded to lead around the top mark in the 3rd race only to capsize spectacularly as he eased into the reach and ultimately not finishing so having to carry 2 x maximum point races for the day. Apart from Josh, the remainder of the fleet sailed back to the clubhouse to hear stories from all about their misadventures during the day. Josh was seen sailing over the horizon towards Kaiaua on a training sail. When he returned he described it as the best sail he'd had in the Finn ever and included a screaming reach that had his boat airborne off waves and included one capsize. Oh to be young again.

Saturday night was much more subdued after a barbeque meal described to us as a "light" dinner by the Thames hosts. Royce joined us that night and introduced us to his favourite drink, Vodka Lime and soda's from his personal supply.

Sunday confirmed the forecast change to the Southwest with a breeze that built to 20 knots at times and plenty of shifts. The first race of the day had a heavily biased line with all but 3 boats over and although a General Recall was called no-one returned for the restart. The Race Officer had no option but to throw the race out which meant no discard for the resulting 5 race series.

Josh proceeded to show a clean transom for the 2 remaining races of the day with Ray working hard to erase the previous days problems and recover a respectable series fighting hard against Karl while both chased Josh around the track. Many tired but happy sailors returned to the club after racing most to hear the news of the decision to throw out the race and showing a lot of interest in the final results as they were put up on the board to see how they fared. Overall a very deserving winner and a very successful weekend.

Finally thanks to Kevin McGee who came over from Waiuku especially as race officer and his team of willing helpers. A well run regatta under trying circumstances at times.

Wellington Hurricane Classic Worser Bay Boating Club 20 - 21 October 2012

The long range forecast for Wellington over Labour Weekend 21-22 October was always interesting reading. The closer to the weekend we got the more interesting it became. Never mind, committed now so off we go.

The Wellington Hurricane Classic was the first of the 2012-13 Summer Series and a new date on the Finn Calendar being run in conjunction with the OK Dinghy's. 4 boats travelled from Auckland to spend the weekend being hosted by the 2 new(ish) Finn sailors in the fleet Karl and Josh. Although Matt Butterfield delivered a virtuoso petulant child performance for his partner he still wasn't allowed to come out to play so missed the weekend. Without him the fleet was exclusively Devoti's.

Saturday dawned fine and clear with a building NW breeze. The forecast was not good so the decision was made to run 4 races back to back. With a lot of westerly in the wind direction the 15-20 Knot breeze proved to be very shifty and gusty with the locals Karl and Josh showing the way in the first race trailed by Matt. Josh continued to show a clean pair of heals and if he hadn't had gear failure in Race 3 would have made a clean sweep of the days races. Matt slowly got his head around the shifty conditions relying on good downwind technique to restore order at times and held off Karl when required. With Josh's DNF in race 3 Karl pounced on the opportunity and took the gun for a well deserved win. Ray had good speed upwind being well positioned at each top mark rounding but acknowledged his downwind technique failed him, being overhauled by the colts each time. Dave and Alan tussled with each other all day alway s being close to the lead 4 at the top mark but losing it downwind as well.

With 4 races under our belts the boy's returned to the beach and welcome showers and Voltaren for some. That night the wind really kicked in building to 50 knot gusts and made for a very interesting night for the happy campers holed up in the Scout Hall.

With the experience of these high overnight winds Ray, Alan and David decided to pull the plug on Sunday racing and packed up. This left Matt, Josh and Karl to go out and face the 20-25 gusting 30 knot winds and sailed 3 further races to complete the series. Matt got the bit between his teeth each race and posted 3 win's to take the series on countback.

A great weekend and enjoyable Wellington company with the OK Dinghy fleet

This summer is shaping up to be the busiest yet for the NZ Finn fleet with 10 regattas planned for both the North and South Islands including the addition of the Hurricane Classic in Wellington. This increase in activity is a reflection of the continued growth in the Finn Fleet here. 7 New Devoti's have been imported into NZ and new sailors have joined the class from various sources creating a very competitive landscape.

The Waiuku Winter Championships over the weekend 1-2 September was the first of these regattas and the 13 boats that turned out for the event so early in the season is evidence of this growth in numbers and interest. The event started with a Bacon and Egg breakfast prepared by newly appointed Waiuku YC Commodore Peter Hull and wife Margaret ably helped by Alan's wife Shana.

Peter and Margaret being the multi-talented individuals they are then jumped into the patrol boat and proceeded to run the 3 races for the day. Margaret, the experienced race officer, was then heard giving Peter instruction throughout the whole day on the water.

Being the first regatta there was always going to be some rustiness from those who hadn't sailed for some time and the strongest breezes we've experienced through the winter also caught out others who'd forgotten how to hike.

Saturday provided a 12-15 knot north easterly with shifts of up to 40 degrees and gusts punishing those not paying attention. Welcome to new Finn Sailor Matt Butterfield who learnt quickly the kicker is important downwind with his first capsize. A mention also needs to be made to David H who still needs trainer wheels on his new Devoti while he practises the new downwind pumping techniques now made legal in the Finn.

We had the pleasure of hosting Matt Coutts for the 2 days also and his 3 years of full time Finn racing including extensive European regattas certainly reinforced his reputation as NZ's best Finn sailor currently (Now that Dan's in retirement). Matt is back in NZ for the summer to rest and rebuild finances and complete his Degree at Massey University.

His downwind technique learnt from the best was impressive which led to a comment from another Finn sailor that being an unfit desk bound Queen Street accountant he felt well worked over by a professional athlete downwind in the second race.

Day one didn't go all Matt's way with a 1,1,2 result. The 2nd in race 3 was inflicted by Ray Hall who established a good lead up the first beat and continued to build on this to secure a good win. Ray continues to be the form horse in the fleet in Auckland.

Tired bodies returned to the clubhouse after day one for a well deserved drink and meal put on again by Peter, Margaret and Shana.

Day 2 dawned with the forecast stiffening 20-25 knot north easterly with gusts approaching 30 Knots at times. North easterly in Waiuku is probably the least favourable wind direction creating large shifts and gusts that had most of the fleet struggling.

Some sailors decided not to venture on to the water. Jim Goodare took over start boat duties allowing Margaret to stay warm and dry on shore. Stu Shadgett was also a welcome addition to patrol boat duty being kept busy all day assisting capsized boats especially at the wing mark.

The first race sorted the fleet out quickly with a number returning to shore after capsizing plus Mark Perrow having the rig in his boat fail and needing to be towed home. A job for Royce to repair deck and hull and a discussion to be had with Bushy about the robustness of the mast Mark had just taken delivery of.

Matt proceeded to show a clean transom to the fleet winning all 3 races. Ray nipped at his heals to keep him honest and the remainder of the depleted fleet tried valiantly to keep up. David H won the weekends prize for most capsizes (1 Saturday and 3 Sunday) receiving the valuable prize of 4 empty Coke cans (Denoting the 4 "cans" for the weekend) at the prize giving.

Results as follows;