Big Fleet contests Annual Finn Event - CRC Finn Masters

by Ray Hall on 13 Feb 2012
18 Finns and great sailing conditions greeted the competitors at the 2012 CRC Waiuku Finn Masters on the weekend. Entrants came from Auckland, Christchurch, New Plymouth and Thames for this annual regatta which always provides tight and keen racing combined with an excellent social atmosphere.

Day 1 saw 4 races in SW breezes of 10-12knts. It was clear the standard in the fleet continues to improve with pre-regatta favourites getting buried in the pack in race 1. Ray Hall dominated the first 3 races for comfortable wins with Dave Hoogenboom and Royce Hawkins sharing the main placings. It was extremely tight at the mark roundings with often 10-15 finns rounding within seconds, marks being run over and skippers falling out of boats.

Race 4 saw Dave pick a favourable shift off the start line and he sailed well to protect his lead holding Ray off to take the gun. Alan Dawson got back into his stride with a third and fourth in the last 2 races of the day to get back into the mix.

A shifty NE breeze of 10-12 knots appeared in day 2, with the start line heavily pin biased several general recalls were required as the sailors pushed hard for position. Justin Hurst had a strong day with a second and other good placings. Race 3 saw the Oscar Flag raised for free pumping so the boys could have some fun.

The race committee lengthened the courses and this spread a fleet a little more allowing Ray to make clean breaks and take 3 guns, Royce sailed a quality second day to take second place overall a point ahead of Dave.

It was excellent to the competition between sailors throughout the fleet whose friendly rivalries added much to the regatta.

CRC have been a great partner for the Masters and their continued support is much appreciated.

Next stop for the Finn’s is the South Islands and Nationals in Christchurch 11-18 March. See www.finnclass.org.nz for details

Results of the CRC Masters

Sail No R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Total
Ray Hall NZL 2 1 1 1 (2) 1 1 1 6
Royce Hawkins NZL233 (9) 3 2 3 5 5 2 20
Dave Hoogenboom NZL10 2 2 7 1 3 6 (8) 21
Alan Dawson NZL23 12 (12) 3 4 4 3 4 30
Dirch Anderson NZL22 3 8 5 5 9 (9) 3 33
Brian Saundersen NZL236 6 6 4 7 6 (7) 5 34
Justin Hurst NZL230 8 5 (9) 8 2 4 7 34
Geoff Letcher NZL244 5 4 10 9 10 2 (13) 40
Jim Goodyear NZL227 7 7 13 (13) 7 11 6 51
John Duff NZL55 4 13 11 6 11 10 (15) 55
Kevin Stone NZL235 (13) 10 6 12 12 8 14 61
Chris Wells NZL245 10 9 8 10 (13) 13 10 62
Gerrit Bearda NZL193 (13) 9 12 11 8 12 12 64
John Simmons NZL8 11 (17) 14 14 15 16 11 81
Stu Munro NZL93 15 14 15 (16) 16 14 9 83
Peter Hull NZL179 16 15 16 (17) 14 17 16 94
Peter Atkinson NZL32 17 16 17 15 17 15 (DNS) 97
Sarah Deadman NZL1193 18 18 18 18 18 (18) 17 107