Finn North American Championship at LCYC
LCYC hosted the Finn NAs over July 18-20, and despite near-heroic efforts by PRO Ernie Reuter and his talented RC, only two races were completed. On Friday, the fleet the fleet completed one race in the broad lake before severe afternoon thunderstorms prompted an early end to the day. On Saturday, the fleet spent the better part of five hours floating and swimming in the vicinity of Juniper Island, waiting for wind that never materialized. Ernie then wisely moved up the starting time for Sunday’s racing to a 9am start in hopes of gaining extra time for more races. Again, winds were light, but the fleet did complete one race before the rain arrived and completely shut off the wind.
The event drew 26 boats, with competitors from California, Maryland, Alabama, and Oregon, plus the New England states, along with a half-dozen from Canada and one from Australia. Within the fleet were Canada’s Olympic Finn representative in this summer’s games. Darrell Peck, from Oregon, who finished third in the US Olympic Finn Trials, won the event, followed by LCYC’s Dave Powlison, who pulled himself into the top group with a win in the second and final race. Matt Johnson, from Canada, finished third.
A special thanks goes to all who helped make this possible. That includes the NAs race committee that included PRO Ernie Reuter, John Harris, Bob DeSorbo, Bob Goodwin, Bob Schumacher, Al Russell, Peter and Jan Burtch, along with non-LCYC members Eric Schultz, Al Russell and Ray Cudney. Bob Manchester helped out with on-shore beverages, Lisa Powlison with food preparations, and the club Stewards pitched in whenever needed. The club as a whole received very positive feedback about the facilities and the hospitality.
