Results for Finn Tiger Cup 2024
Dear Finn sailors and friends,
The Finn Tiger Cup regatta on the 9th and 10th of November:
The 2024 Tiger Cup was a special event, and needs to be recorded.
Just for interest, the Tiger Cup trophy was presented to the club in the 1970’s by “Tiger Treads” (now “Tiger Wheel and Tyre”). The regatta was revived in 2012, and the entries have been as follows:
2012 – 16
2013 – 18
2014 – 9
2015 – 15
2016 – 26 (plus Provincials)
2017 – 21
2018 – 18
2019 – 18
2020 – cancelled
2021 – cancelled
2022 – 12
2023 – 10
2024 – 17
The results sheets from the early regattas make rather interesting reading, especially if you were sailing a Finn at the time. Let me know if you would like to see them.
It was really good to see new faces in the fleet. There were three “Novices” (sailing in their first Finn regatta), including a very keen junior member; welcome to Marius, Selwin and Patrick. There were also two FD sailors trying their hands at Finn sailing; Murray and Giel, we hope you enjoyed the experience!
The “Classics” continue to make their comeback, and were the biggest sub-class with 8 boats on the water. There were also 4 Super-Classics, and 5 New Generation boats. The attached results sheet shows how close the racing was, especially in the middle of the fleet, and how well some of the Classics have been performing in recent months.
The main talking point of the regatta was the performance of Terence Grossmith in his restored Classic (from the 1960’s). His overall third place was not only the result of excellent sailing; he seems to have developed a knack of seeking out all the lifting puffs before anyone else. In Highveld conditions (light to medium wind, and flat water), that skill wins races regardless of the type of boat you are sailing! In this particular case, we broke our rule of “one prize only”, and Terence received the awards for third overall, first Classic and (by consensus of the class) he was also awarded the Super Classic trophy.
The conditions during the weekend were very good for Finn sailing. On Saturday, we had to wait for an hour or so before the wind made an appearance. At around 1pm a light breeze from the NWW direction came through, and our Race Officer (Pat Mitchell) had everyone on the water in double-quick time. The wind gradually increased, and we completed three excellent Olympic-type races, using buoys 1, 8 and 6, and then 1, 6 and 4. These courses include good, long beats, reaches and runs which are just the right length for boats like Finns.
On Sunday it was fully overcast, with a fresh 8-12 knot northerly breeze, and a threat of rain squalls. Once again, Pat had us on the water smartly for Race 4 just after 9am. This time, unfortunately, the wind was blowing from the north, across the narrowest section of the dam. The first leg of Course 14 is a very short beat between 7 and 2, and the shape of the northern shoreline causes lifting gusts to curve in on both the “far left” and the “far right” of the beat, and very little happens in the middle! Rather like the recent Americas Cup races, you have to choose the perfect spot on the start line, and hope that your initial choice of left or right works out; if you get it wrong, there is very little time or space to recover. As a result, the racing on Sunday was even more competitive, with close encounters, nail-biting roundings, and a few near misses. It was actually typical Finn racing, with tight covering battles, luffing matches, and noisy hailing for right of way. The wind was mostly light to medium, but whenever the darker clouds came over there were planing-strength gusts, some of which had capsize potential. I am pleased to say that the two expertly-manned support craft had very little work to do other than mark-laying – all the Finns came through the day unscathed.
It was wonderful to have Randolph Verheij sailing with us once more, at his original home club. Apparently there are no Finns at St Maarten (in the Caribbean), and as a result he has been suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Randolph has always been one of our top sailors, and duly provided us with some spectacular racing. During the weekend, he and I had several ferocious tacking duels, with no quarter given or expected, and all of those races could have gone either way. It was déjà vu in many ways – Randolph and I have had this kind of “friendly rivalry” for as long as I can remember, and I think the average score must be about 2:1 in his favour.
Leon Ferreira was suffering from a bit of ‘flu after his recent adventures in South America, but still challenged the leaders on many occasions. He ended up tied for third place, but sadly the tie-break went against him. As always, he kept reminding everyone, on and off the water, about the lighter and most enjoyable aspects of sailing.
Selwin Roon was out in his newly acquired Pata Finn, and showed his potential on several occasions. David White is just one wind-shift away from winning races. David Humphrey made a cameo appearance on Saturday, picking up a second and third, but was not able to compete in all the races. Chris Oosthuyse could only sail on Sunday, but was not far off the pace. Murray Hofmeyr was his usual enthusiastic self, and picked up an excellent 5th place. Axel von Gruenewaldt completed five of the seven races, and received the special Legend’s award. Ian Brown is always out there sailing, and always has a smile on his face. And where would we be without Gavin Athienides, highly competitive, and bubbling with infectious enthusiasm!
Many thanks to:
- The Bridge crew (Pat and Amy),
- The rescue crews (Leon, Carey and Emuel),
- Amy, for recording, scoring and photos,
- Gavin, for firing up the fleet to come sailing,
- Shirley, for all kinds of support (galley, bar, prizes and awards, etc, etc),
- Everyone else who assisted in the arrangements for the regatta
It was a most enjoyable event – PSC Finn sailing at its best
See you all soon,
Tim