Thames River Finn Championship

By Dave Hemenway

Conditions on the Thames were ideal for sailing Classic Finns…and sailors of a certain vintage.

The 2024 Thames River Finn Championship was held on Saturday, October 5 at the Thames Yacht Club (TYC) in New London, CT. 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 racing former Olympic class singlehanders that were built half a century or more ago and recently rebuilt.

The TYC Classic Finn fleet has worked all summer long to get our 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, RI. 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.

Chris Buydos (000) and Bob Cullen (678)

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, providing 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 – he’s been the National Champion many times over the last fifty years. Bob 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

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 applause from the RC and my fellow Finn sailors. No Cents is appropriately named because she was given to me, and it makes no sense for an older guy to sail a high performance 14-footer. But I love sailing her in light winds, in which she’s a joy 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 place 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 time 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, and all participants were given a picture of themselves sailing their Finn in the regatta.

The author showed fine form upwind despite a hiking stick that broke before the first start…

…and earned accolades for executing three 360s in under a minute without capsizing…and an unforgettable docking for an encore.

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, and had a choice to make: either No Cents was going over with me or I was going overboard and hopefully she’d 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 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.

After sailing Classic Finns on a classic fall day, fast friends enjoy grillin’ and ‘gansetts on the TYC deck.

The Thames River Finn Championship Trophy is crafted from the base of a Classic Finn mast.

We all got our boats straightened out and back on shore in short order so we could enjoy Chris Buydos’ 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 hold weekly or biweekly races during the summer, attend a couple regional Finn regattas, and continue the Thames River Finn Championship.

We want to continue sailing our classic Finns in a collegial, Corinthian spirit – with no protests – and enjoy 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 TYC Finn fleet captain, and looks forward to expanding the New London classic Finn fleet while getting more youth involved in Finn sailing. ■

Dave Hemenway lives in Eastern Connecticut and sails out of Thames Yacht Club in New London. He’s been sailing and messing about in boats for his whole life and has recreationally sailed Finns on and off since the 1970s. His primary cruising boat is a Dickerson 36 yawl that he has maintained and improved for 35 years. Since his retirement from higher education, he has worked at Cappy’s Boat Shop where he reports to his dog, Cappy.

Dave founded the Classic Finn Organization (classicfinns.org), which supports sailing and repairing older Finns. Thames YC now has a fleet of four classic Finns that have weekly fun races and the TRFC each fall. He can be contacted at Dave@classicfinns.org.