Hans Fogh, with John Finch and Gordon DeVries, bested a small but competitive fleet to win the 2012 Soling Nationals. Using a full inventory of North Sails One Design's sails Fogh and his team sailed an incredibly consistent series after stumbling out of the gate with a 1st race 13th to beat runner-up Peter Galloway with crew Paul Steinborn and North Sails Ched Proctor by 8 points. Fogh and his team finished with a (13),5,1,2,3,1,3. The current Soling World Champion, Peter Hall, with Steve Lacey and Patrick Larkin, won the final race to take the final podium spot.
The event, hosted by Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis MD, drew a competitive 16 boat fleet. Early spring in Annapolis brought delightful weather as sunshine prevailed throughout the entire 3 day series. Chesapeake Bay dealt the sailors moderate to light wind conditions which tested all the teams and provided a very interesting 7 race series. On Friday the 48 sailors completed 3 races in a, reasonably steady, 6- 10 knot northeast breeze. Saturday morning the fleet was greeted with a light easterly wind that shifted to the south and built to a pleasant 12 knots as the day went on. This breeze enabled the SSA race committee to complete 3 more quality races. Sundays only race was run in a light southeasterly which Fogh and his team were able to master to snatch the win and the championship.
It was great to see so many teams who had to travel a considerable distance to compete. While the fleet may have been small in size it was deep in talent with current World Champion Peter Hall, Soling legend Stuart Walker and several top sailors from Canada and the Midwest joining the SSA fleet to make for some tight racing, close finishes and a very compressed final score sheet.
1st Hans Fogh - North Sails AP2 Main, V1 jib, PD-4 Spinnaker
2nd Peter Galloway - North Sails AP2 main, V1 jib, Monster Radial Spinnaker
3rd Peter Hall - North Sails* V1 jib*, PD-4 Spinnaker
Full results are posted at http://www.ussoling.com/results/ShowResults.asp?ID=771
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