CRC NZ Masters title the Summer Series decider in Finns

by Ray Hall on 22 Apr 2014 Three days of great sailing treated a smaller than usual group of 11 Finn Sailors for the 2014 CRC NZ Finn Masters.

New sailors and old boats along with the latest and greatest in Devoti’s , masts and sails were on show as was the Oscar Flag for Free pumping in all races.

Day 1 saw a NE wind of 12-14 knots with major shifts causing pain if you were out of phase with them. Race 1 started well for Ray Hall who took a solid lead into the second WL , Dave Hoogenboom however sailed the shifts far smarter and sailed through Hall in the final upwind and held out for the gun.

Mark Perrow took out races 2 and 3 with extremely well executed beats overcoming Hall and Hoogenbooms slight boat speed advantage. Perrow (along with Hoogenboom) commencing his OK Worlds campaign was sharp throughout the regatta.
Day 2 and the wind had shifted to the NW and while still a little twitchy was a much more honest wind direction. Hall had shaken off the rust in day 1 and took 3 bullets with superior boatspeed , solid tactics and an improved downwind free pumping technique. Perrow chased hard all day and made the third race tight. Alan Dawson, celebrating his 43rd year of sailing Finns had his Devoti wound up he along with the other 3 front runners cleared out on the fleet at this point in the regatta. The wind direction set up for a 1 way track in race 2 & 3 so boat speed was king.

The final day saw the fleet split to Gold and Silver, a new innovation this year, which was a resounding success. Both silver fleet races were hotly contested and it was great to see Mark Gardyne, Illia, Geoff and Gerrit chase Jim Goodyear for the guns.

Meanwhile the top 4 went at it big time in the Gold Fleet race and in particular the double points Medal race. Hall took both guns but had to battle very hard in the medal as all four boats rounded the last top mark together and it was a lung busting pump off to the bottom mark. Hoogenboom had his best day with seconds in both races fighting hard to wire in the medal race.

Hall retained the NZ Finn Masters Trophy and sealed the Craig Monk Finn Trophy with his win to take out the 2013/2014 summer series.

Another enjoyable and well run regatta by Race Officer Kevin Magee.

Ray heads to Europe for the World Finn Masters in Poland 6-13 June while Karl Purdie joins Josh Junior and Andrew Murdoch in La Rochelle, France for the Finn Europeans. Follow their exploits on www.nzfinnsailors2013.wordpress.com


Place Sail No Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Medal Total Nett
1 NZL2 Ray Hall (2) 2 2 1 1 1 1G 1G 12 10
2 NZL4 Mark Perrow 3 1 1 2 2 2 (4)G 3G 21 17
3 NZL10 David Hoogenboom 1 3 3 3 (4) 3 2G 2G 23 19
4 NZL23 Alan Dawson 5 (6) 4 4 3 4 3G 4G 37 31
5 NZL227 Jim Goodare (8) 7 7 6 5 5 1S 1S 41 33
6 NZL193 Gerrit Bearda 7 5 6 7 7 (8) 2S 2S 46 36
7 NZL229 Mark Gardyne (11) 8 9 7 6 7 4S 4S 60 49
8 NZL17 Illia Ovsiiko 9 9 (10) 8 8 6 3S 5S 63 53
9 NZL230 Justin Hurst 4 4 5 5 (12(DNS)) 12(DNC) 12(DNC)S 6(DNC)S 66 54
10 NZL244 Geoff Letcher 6 10 8 ((12(DNC)) 12(DNC) 12(DNC) 5S 3S 71 59
11 NZL232 Glenn Berry 10 ((12(DNF)) 12(DNS) 9 12(DNF) 12(DNS) 12(DNC)S 6(DNC)S 91 81