On September 17 & 18, San Diego Yacht Club hosted the 2016 Finn Pacific Coast Championship (PCC) for the third year. With 18 Finns competing this year, the Finn PCC has become one of the premiere Finn regattas on the West Coast and in the United States according to Mike Dorgan, Finn sailor, regatta chairman and SDYC’s Rear Commodore.
The conditions varied tremendously between the two days. On Saturday, wind speeds were between 8 and 14 knots in Coronado Roads where racing was taking place. Sunday was a different story, with light and shifty winds between 3 and 7 knots. Both days were sunny and mid-70s.
Racing was competitive at the top of the fleet between Henry Sprague and Scott Hoffman. Sprague won three races on Saturday and with one second place finish while Hoffman had a better second day with two bullets and one second place finish. Sprague ultimately ended up winning the tie breaker and regatta over Hoffman.
Sprague has been sailing Finns for over 50 years and competed in many National and International Finn regattas all over the world, including winning the prestigious Finn Gold Cup (World Championships). He grew up sailing with several accomplished SDYC sailors including Olympian Lowell North and America’s Cup winner Dennis Conner.
Hoffman, who had not sailed Finns in over a year, credited his success on Sunday to sailing downwind well and drawing inspiration from the Olympics. “Considering I've been out of the boat for a year and a half, it was nice to get back in the groove this weekend. The Finn is my favorite boat. I grew up sailing with Caleb Paine, so it was fun watching him win bronze in the Olympics and represent the Finn class.”
This year’s Finn PCC had two teenagers racing Finns for the first time. One of those teenagers, Ryan Schack, a 17-year-old who normally sails Lasers, recounted overcoming obstacles in his last race. “The last race I was late to the start, but I was able to make my way upwind and was second around the first mark. Going downwind, I split from the fleet and was still second around the bottom mark. I eventually finished the race in 5th, but I was proud of how I progressed after starting late.”
On Saturday evening Finn sailors, some of whom drove all the way from Oregon or flew in from Chicago, and guests enjoyed a hosted dinner party in the SDYC Staff Commodore’s room which included a comedy act by a professional comedian, Andy Kern, who happens to be a Finn sailor.
The top five finishers were: 1) Henry Sprague 2) Scott Hoffman 3) Darrell Peck 4) Mike Dorgan and 5) Rob Coutts.
Dorgan thanks the competitors, SDYC staff and especially Race Committee for doing a great job and running all 7 scheduled races throughout the weekend. The PCCs was warm up event for the Finn Masters North American Championship taking place at Mission Bay Yacht Club on September 23-25.