Pocket Dynamo joins Grundig Xena World record Challenge

by Ian Grant on 17 May 2001 Adrian Finglas has never allowed his slight physique to stand in the way of aiming at achieving some remarkable results in his personal sailing career.

The 67kilogram yachtsman who first won the Australian Sabot championship after learning to sail on Cabbage Tree Creek north of Brisbane will be one of three key helmsmen when Sean Langman's super modified open 60 Grundig Xena attempts to break the World 24 hour record on the Tasman Sea next week.

Finglas first made his mark on international sailing history as a teenager when he and Adam Beashel won the World Tasar title at Yeppoon on Queensland's central coast.

Since then he has shown his class as a sailing coach assisting American Lainee Butler to win the World Sailboard title in Australia and prepared Lisa Charlson and Sarah Roberts-Thompson to win the Volvo Youth Worlds in the 420 class at Simonstown South Africa.

Despite a small stature Finglas possesses a super human motivation to achieve the highest possible results and it was not surprising to see him named in the crew for the first ever 24 hour World record attempt in the Southern Hemisphere.

He will share the helming role with Sean Langman and David Witt who recently broke the 308 n/ml Brisbane-Gladstone race record with an average speed of 14.17 knots.

There is little doubt about the speed capability of Grundig Xena, which has the capability to sustain high speed having previously recorded 27.2knots in shy reach across Sydney-Harbour and peaked 30.9 knots when she led Shockwave, Nicorette, Brindabella and Wild Thing on above record pace in last years Telstra Sydney-Hobart race.

The Grundig Xena crew of 7 hyperactive sailors will head to sea out of Sydney Heads on Monday with the lightweight Queensland sailor realising his role could secure a team berth in the Volvo Around The World Challenge.

But first his determination skill and endurance will be totally focused on having the ride of his life on the high seas between Sydney and Noumea.

The projected path for Grundig Xena will be determined from the promising flow of strong wind fronts currently being plotted and analysed by Roger Badham.

Hopefully the cold autumn winds will sustain the grunt to propel the red hull Grundig Xena that resembles an 18ft skiff on steroids to the required 19.93 knot 24 hour average speed to break the 478-n/ml monohull record currently held by a French Open 60 crew.