The 2024 Thames River Finn Championship was held on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at the Thames Yacht Club (TYC) in New London. While the weather forecast was for mild winds in the 5 to 8 mph range, the actual conditions were even better with a fresh breeze of 10 to 15 mph- perfect for a bunch of mature sailors sailing boats that were built fifty or more years ago and recently rebuilt.  Our fleet has worked all summer long to get our classic boats into sailing condition. If it wasn’t one thing, it was always another on our good old boats. Such is life. We all got it together and had five Finns ready with three from TYC, one from Shennecossett YC, which is at the mouth of the Thames River, and one from Newport, Rhode Island. We agreed to try for six short races and one longer race under the watchful guidance of our Race Committee Chair- TYC Rear Commodore Dave Knecht, who has been very supportive of Force 5 and Finn sailing over the years.

 

Our first race was a short windward/leeward course. The start was uneventful except for the small problem of me breaking my aluminum hiking stick while preparing for the start. While this provided me with a great excuse to not hike in typical Finn style, it also limited my windward abilities, which provided me with another excuse for my sailing performance. We all had clean starts and finished within a couple minutes of each other, which was the pattern for the day. With a couple exceptions we followed Bob Cullen around the courses. His local knowledge and excellent sailing skills transferred well from Force 5 racing where he has been the national champion many times over the last fifty years. He sailed his 1960s Newport Finn that he completely rebuilt over the last year and did a great job of it. Bob enjoys sailing his restored Finn, is learning its idiosyncrasies, and looks forward to participating in more classic Finn regattas in the future.

 

Chris Baker sailed his 1970s French built Finn that I partially rebuilt and he completed over the winter. Chris Buydos sailed his 1980s Vanguard Finn that he has reworked over the last year. Chris enjoys sailing his Finn in addition to his family’s Olson 34 which he successfully sails in Off Soundings events. In the afternoon when Chris Baker’s mast collar split, Chris Buydos loaned him his boat since he wanted to prepare dinner for all of us on the TYC deck. When Chris Shelton damaged his Finn, he joined Dave Knecht on the race committee. We all worked together and had fun. I managed to keep good old No Cents upright although I kept losing control of the rudder in the stronger breeze. I proved that an old guy can do three 360s in one minute without tipping his Finn over.  This earned the applause of the race committee and my fellow Finn sailors. No Cents is appropriately named because I was given her and it makes no sense for an older guy to sail a high performance 14’ sailboat. But I love sailing her in light winds where she is a joy to sail and usually behaves herself.

 

While Bob Cullen’s consistent sailing allowed him to win the regatta, Chris Baker and Chris Buydos edged him out of first in two races. The difference between the first and last boat was never more than a couple minutes for any race. This showed we were all competitive and had a delightful day sailing our good old Finns on a beautiful Fall Day. Bob earned the Thames River Finn Championship trophy which is the base of an old wooden Brüder Finn mast from the 1960s.

 

For me, the most exciting part of the day was sailing No Cents to the floating dock with a tired body and where the wind was shifty. I made four attempts to land at the dock, but had to abort each of these landings because the wind shifted or No Cents was moving too fast. On the fifth attempt, there was another abrupt wind shift, but this time I was on the leeward side of the boat pinned down by the boom where I had a choice to make: either No Cents was going over with me or I was going overboard and hopefully No Cents would right herself with me out of the boat. I did a beautiful backwards roll into the water, No Cents righted herself, and I swam her back to the floating dock.  It was quite a momentous finish to a wonderful day of sailing. Of course, a friend captured the moment for all to enjoy.  You can barely see my pink hat on the port side of No Cents.

 

We all got our boats straightened out and back on shore in short order so we could enjoy Chris Buydos’s delicious grilled food, a salad, and a few liquid refreshments. We talked about the day’s events and what classic Finn activities we want to do in the future agreeing to continue having weekly or biweekly races during the summer, attending a couple regional Finn regattas, and continuing the Thames River Finn Championship. We want to continue sailing our classic Finns in a collegial, Corinthian spirit where there are no protests and to continue enjoying each other’s company while discussing the wonderful world of sailing good old boats that we have restored.  Chris Buydos was selected as next year’s fleet captain and looks forward to expanding the New London classic Finn fleet while getting more youth involved in Finn sailing.

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The entire fleet

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​Chris Buydos (000) and Bob Cullen (678)

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Chris Baker​​​

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Dave Hemenway sailing No Cents

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Dave Hemenway swimming while docking No Cents

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After sailing Classic Finns on a classic fall day, fast friends enjoy grilling and refreshments on the TYC deck

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The Thames River Finn Championship perpetual trophy

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