Blockheads Boat Tour: TOUR A FINN with Olympic Sailor Luke Muller

Like most Finn sailors, Luke Muller is a tinkerer and a hard worker. The athlete representing the US Sailing Team in the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics brought Blockheads along for a virtual tour of his boat.
Watch the video to find out what the Finn feels like to sail, why he’s sailed with over 15 different masts, and MOST IMPORTANTLY (...?) what he named his boat.
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[@carbonarne675]

Would love to see more Finn stuff!

[@jb-lu4vo]

Very Interesting to know about this Finn model, which is somewhat different from the Spanish Roca model that I used in 1977-1980. It was always a sailing class that I really liked sailing and participating in regattas in those years. Thanks for the video and good luck.

[@paul-xi8po]

Another equipment design note that may be of interest: I believe the lever vang was first designed and introduced by Louis Nady and Ed Bennett, who sailed with me out of the Saint Francis Yacht Club around the same time. The first version was a single hand-made lever on one side of the boom, controlled by a four-to-one purchase that ran through the mast step, to the base of the mast, and then back to the cockpit. The levers were cut by hand from aluminum stock with a jig saw, and then bolted through the boom. A major improvement in the power and strength of the setup came when a second lever was added on the other side of the boom. Prior to this invention the vang was a simple rope purchase, which lacked sufficient power to fully control the boom.

[@paul-xi8po]

I believe the JC strap was invented by a Finn sailor named John Christenson sometime in the 1960's, when I was actively racing. If I recall correctly, John was from Wisconsin or Michigan and raced on the Great Lakes. He was in his 50's or 60's at the time, but always a dangerous competitor in lighter airs.

[@abt5440]

Excellent stuff

[@jb-lu4vo]

There are no videos about the differences and their Finn Class regulations through the years. I guess you have to be into the Finn class and competition to be up to date with new developments. Of all the sailing classes I sailed as a youngster, this Finn Class was the one that attracted me the most. Thanks for the video and take care.

[@yachtclubofevil4648]

You guessed right, Luke! JC strap courtesy of John Christians. Good luck in Enoshima!

[@HarryLevinson]

It’s too bad that the name of the inventor of the JC strap doesn’t persist as common knowledge in the class. Nice video though.

[@julianlevash3581]

I always knew it as the Jibe Control strap

[@JB-rt4mx]

John Christionson...invented it 🤓

[@couttsylives]

interested in how the inhaul and downhaul operate at the mast - can see what looks like the downhaul threaded inside the gooseneck then terminated on a carabiner on a short yellow strop....(is it threaded via the mast collar up thru the gooseneck then to the cunningham cringle and back down to the carabiner?) but can't see how the inhaul terminates to provide a direct purchase (so yeah up thru the collar, thru a block attached to the mast, thru the tack of the sail....then ....where?

[@will9093]

there are blocks lashed to either side of the mast so the inhaul comes up through the mast collar, block, lower tack grommet, block, then terminated at the mast collar (not sure if on the same carabiner or somewhere else)