FINNFARE November 2014

NOVEMBER 2014

PEDERSEN WINS SILVER CUP

REGIONAL ROUND UP

SCOTT IS WORLD CHAMPION

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2014

Opening shot – Egor Terpigorev has it all under control in Santander Dear Finn Sailors, Dear Friends of the International Finn Community, With the 2014 ISAF Worlds and first Olympic qualification regatta in Santander now over the focus of the Finn Class has shifted to the various Finn national championships around the world as well as to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi and the 2015 World Cup series.

President’s Letter

Congratulations to those already securing a spot for their country at the 2016 Rio Olympics and good luck for the rest of the international Finn fleet in their preparation for next year’s challenges. Weymouth showcased a great fight for Olympic Finn medals with Ben Ainslie becoming an Olympic legend in the Finn Class, however there are new heroes in the making further strengthening the reputation and traditions, as well as the liveliness, of our class.

With ISAF focusing more on the sustainability of Olympic sailing, and the Olympic classes now able to focus on class development in the longer term, the International Finn Association (IFA) will continue with the Finn International Development Support (Fides) programme with supported sailors currently being identified and determined for the 2015 sailing season. The Dinghy

Academy in Valencia has done a great job, in cooperation with IFA, to bring the training of young talent to a new level, and also strengthening the camaraderie and cohesion between young Finn sailors from around the world.

Class development has also its technical aspects in the field of which IFA will continue its pivotal role to guide technical gear evolution and enforce both pre-production tooling control and post-production equipment measurement.

All in all, in 2014 we saw the Finn in extremely good and healthy shape with large fleets sailing on every competition level from juniors to masters and from national championships to world cup events and major Finn championships.

Last but not least let me wish good luck to Rafa Trujillo, our long time Finn fellow, sailing currently on the Atlantic in one of the Volvo Ocean Race boats.

Dr. Balazs Hajdu HUN-1 IFA President

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2014

is the official publication of the International Finn Association

No. 148 • November 2014 FINNFARE is a non-profit publication that is distributed free of charge to all IFA members and interested parties connected to the International Finn Class around the world. For extra copies, or if you have addresses of people who you think should be receiving FINNFARE, please contact the IFA Office.

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Finn news Provence Winter Training Centre There is a great international training possibility for the winter in the Cote d’Azur, France, in Bandol, primarily for Finn sailors. It is supported by Pata Sailing Promotion with boats and masts.

FINNFARE Editor Robert Deaves, 2 Exeter Road, Ipswich IP3 8JL, UK Mob: +44 (0)7932 047046 Email: robertdeaves@yahoo.co.uk

Executive Committee of IFA 2014-15 President of Honour Gerardo Seeliger XCHANGING, Calendula, 93 28109 Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain Mob: +34 609 20 1020 • Tel: +34 91 7912900 Email: gerardo.seeliger@xchanging.com President Dr Balazs Hajdu Furj u 25, H-1124 Budapest, Hungary Mob: +36 30 332 7415 • Fax: +36 1 319 1680 Email: balazs.hajdu@t-online.hu Skype: bhajdu001 Vice-President – Sailing Tapio Nirkko Urheilukatu 32 a 5, 00250 Helsinki, Finland Tel: +358 44 0293293 Email: tapio.nirkko@purjehtjia.fi Vice-President – Development Jonathan Lobert Tel: +33 (0)6 18 80 68 42 Email: jonathan.lobert@gmail.com Vice-President – Masters’ Fleet Andy Denison 4 Wickfield Ave, Christchurch BH23 1JB, UK Tel: +44 (0)1202 484748 Mob +44 (0)7802 355 522 Email: andy@denisons.com www.finnworldmaster.com

Cover photo: Jonathan Lobert in Santander (Pic: Robert Deaves) Insets: Anders Pedersen, Swedish Nationals, Podium in Santander.

Next issue: March 2015 Back issues: Back issues are available through the Finnshop on the IFA website from GBP 5 each including postage.

Executive Director Corinne McKenzie 39 Rue du Portal d’Amont 66370 Pezilla la Riviere, France Mob: +33 670 10 18 13 Tel/fax: +33 4 68 92 60 46 Email: corinne.mckenzie@orange.fr Skype: corinnerollandmckenzie Chairman Technical Committee Richard Hart 26 Lower Spinney, Warsash Southampton, SO31 9NL, England Tel: +44 1489 575327 • Fax: +44 1489 576908 Email: Richard@Hart331.fsnet.co.uk Skype: rhahart Honorary Treasurer Tim Carver Tel: +44 7798 927971 Email: tim@timcarver.com, Skype: carvert Special projects Michele Marchesini Email: michele.marchesini@me.com Chief Measurer Jüri Saraskin Lossi 1A, Tallinn, EE0026, Estonia Tel: (W) +372 6726 777, (H) +372 6726 222 Mob: + 372 501 1321, Fax: +372 6726 778 Email: info@perimex.ee

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2014

New Chairman for the BFA John Heyes was recently elected as the new Chairman of the British Finn Association at the AGM during the National Championships. John takes over from Graham Brookes who served for two years. John has been involved in the Finn Class since the mid 1980s, when he was One Design Manager at North Sails UK and has sailed Finns since 2006.

Chairman Marketing Committee Robert Deaves 2 Exeter Road, Ipswich IP3 8JL, England Mob: +44 (0)7932 047046 Email: robertdeaves@yahoo.co.uk Skype: robert.deaves

IFA WEB SITE www.finnclass.org FINN SHOP www.finnclass.org/shop FINN MASTERS www.finnworldmasters.com THE FINN CHANNEL www.youtube.com/thefinnchannel

The Head Coach is Daniel Dahon - ex Finn France Olympic Team Coach.

Nicknamed ‘Le Chef’ Daniel Dahon has been a main feature in the Finn arena, coaching Philippe Presti and Xavier Rohart for many years before continuing with Rohart in the Star. Bandol is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, between Marseilles and Toulon. In Bandol the winter temperatures are moderated by the Mediterranean; days of frost are rare. The average daily low temperature even in December and January is close to 10°C. More info: irujak@gmail.com

First nations qualify for Rio The first 12 countries in Santander to qualify for a place at the Rio 2016 Olympics are: Great Britain, Croatia, France, New Zealand, Norway, USA, Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia, Australia, Hungary and Finland. The next chance to qualify is the 2015 Finn Gold Cup in Takapuna, New Zealand, next November.

Giles Scott nominated

Bernt Andersson honoured Before the start of the International Punch Cup at KKF in Karlstad, Sweden on October 13, the club paid tribute to one of its most successful sailors, Bernt Andersson. Bernt was part of the Swedish team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which had begun 50 years ago to the day. At 72, Bernt then donned his wetsuit and put in a good showing in the Punch Cup, placing third in his group before being knocked out during the semi-final. The photo shows Bernt (left) receiving a presentation from Torsten Jarnstam, President (again) of the Swedish Finn Association.

Giles Scott is one of the five male nominees ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2014 following a very successful season that included winning both the World and European titles. He picked up seven consecutive regatta victories and has been a formidable force in the Finn with no one able to match him on the race track. Scott looked untouchable in his build up to the Santander 2014 ISAF Worlds and with his eyes on the prize he delivered in the Spanish city with a cool, calm and collected performance to comfortably win his second Finn world title.

We all wish Giles all the best at the award ceremony during the ISAF conference in Palma in November.

Dinghy Academy is first ISAF Approved Training Centre

The Dinghy Academy, Valencia has successfully undergone a formal audit from ISAF and has become the first venue to become an ISAF Approved Training Centre. A full report can be found on the ISAF website.

Luca Devoti, Owner and Head Coach at the Dinghy Academy Valencia said of this approval, “Sailing is and has been my life. For the Dinghy Academy and for all those working, training and racing here, to be recognised by ISAF is a great honour. We will not only strongly promote the Olympic values in the athletes we train but also try to do our best to introduce as many young sailors as possible, from all over the world, to enjoy our beautiful sport.”

The overriding objectives of the training centres are: - To encourage and assist in the development of Olympic and/or Paralympic level Sail Training pathways for National Sailors and Coaches in all ISAF MNAs; - To increase the number of nations attending and regularly participating in ISAF events; - To assist all MNAs with developing ‘performance’ training programmes that will help give their National Sailors more of a chance to increase their skills and ultimately qualify to and attend the Sailing Competition of the Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.

ISAF Training and Development Manager Dan Jaspers said of this news, “I thank Luca Devoti for his vision and passion in helping promote sailing in all its forms. If we can point all of our MNAs towards Approved Training Centres such as the Dinghy Academy Valencia, in order for them to be able to choose the right programme that suits their needs, then we have made yet another development option available to those national sailing federations that would not otherwise know where to go to receive support in turning good sailors into great sailors and even potential Olympic athletes.”

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H

eld as part of the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander, Spain, the 2014 Finn Gold Cup was dominated by Giles Scott, with five race wins from the nine races sailed. With two days lost with no wind it was a challenging week, but as ever the best sailors rose to the top. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic rounded off a great season with the silver while Ed Wright picked up his fifth Finn Gold Cup podium in a row.

The 78 boat fleet was split into two fleets, which for the first day was based on the world rankings. This created two very uneven fleets, which then because of the disrupted schedule remained the same for the whole opening series of four races.

There were then six finals series races scheduled for gold and silver fleets before the medal race for just the top 10.

Giles Scott dominates Finn Gold Cup in Santander Monday – No wind Despite six hours on the water, the light breeze never stabilised for long enough to get a race away and the sailors came back empty handed.

Tuesday – One race and a long wait Yellow fleet was won by Oliver Tweddell who led the entire race from Deniss Karpak and Josip Olujic. The Blue fleet was stacked with big names but the returning Jonas Høgh-Christensen, the London 2012 Silver medalist, back after a two year lay-off, led round the top mark from London 2012 bronze medallist Jonathan Lobert. Giles Scott rounded in tenth and made gains throughout to pass Høgh-Christensen at the last mark to take the race win. The Dane crossed in second with Lobert third.

The fleet then waited afloat for another six hours with no further racing as the wind performed circles around the fleet. There was plenty of wind around, at one point 15-

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2014 Finn Gold Cup - Final Results

GBR 41 Giles Scott 1 CRO 524 Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 5 GBR 11 Edward Wright 9 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 3 NZL 24 Josh Junior 12 NZL 16 Andrew Murdoch 9 USA 6 Caleb Paine 18 NOR 1 Anders Pedersen 5 FRA 29 Thomas Le Breton 14 SWE 33 Max Salminen 10

1 1 3 (6) (dnf) 1 (25) 2 7 8 5 11 6 15 3 3 10 5 12 7

1 1 6 4 1 19 4 2 8 8 (24) 11 3 6 14 16 5 13 10 12

2 3 1 5 5 1 7 6 10 11 6 16 12 (19) (38) 7 4 9 9 (23)

(4) 6 8 19 (33) 2 5 13 (36) 11

8 2 6 18 4 12 10 14 16 20

18 32 50 61 68 72 75 75 76 91

20 came off the land in a very hot blast, but that only lasted 30 minutes before the fleet were left wallowing on the left over swell. By the time they were sent in the fleet had been on the water for more than eight hours.

Wednesday – Finally some wind Scott was in perfect form on day three, picking up three more bullets for a perfect opening series score after four races to lead from Jonathan Lobert and Ed Wright.

Scott was never really threatened in any race though Zsombor Berecz did steal a large lead on the opposite side to Scott in race 3, a lead that soon evaporated as the race progressed. The offshore wind proved taxing to sailors and race committee alike as they took nearly two hours to anchor the start boat due to the conditions. The day started with 25 knots and gradually reduced during the day until the final race where it all but died and then swung through 180 degrees in the closing stages.

Second placed Lobert recovered from a double capsize in the first race of the day to score 2, 4 and trail Scott by six points.

Wright was unable to sail the opening race after picking a black flag disqualification in Tuesday’s abandoned race but channelled his energies into the remaining two races to pick up two race wins and sit in third overall.

GOLD FLEET (cont) 11 DEN 2 Jonas Høgh-Christensen 12 SLO 573 Vasilij Zbogar 13 AUS 41 Jake Lilley 14 CRO 69 Milan Vujasinovic 15 HUN 40 Zsombor Berecz 16 FIN 218 Tapio Nirkko 17 GRE 77 Ioannis Mitakis 18 EST 2 Deniss Karpak 19 CAN 5 Gregory Douglas 20 ITA 146 Michele Paoletti 21 SWE 6 Björn Allansson 22 TUR 21 Alican Kaynar 23 AUS 261 Oliver Tweddell 24 ESP 8 Pablo Guitian Sarria 25 ESP 7 Alex Muscat 26 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 27 POR 5 Frederico Melo 28 DEN 4 Mads Bendix 29 CRO 1 Josip Olujic 30 ITA 123 Filippo Baldassari 31 URU 301 Alejandro Jose Foglia 32 GBR 29 Peter McCoy 33 POL 17 Piotr Kula 34 CRO 52 Nenad Bugarin 35 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 36 RUS 57 Egor Terpigorev 37 CZE 1 Michael Maier 38 BRA 109 Jorge João Zarif 39 GER 259 Phillip Kasueske

2 7 7 4 6 dnf 6 2 13 17 19 14 11 15 2 13 16 20 dsq 2 8 13 13 18 1 9 11 5 16 11 4 9 4 1 14 22 3 19 8 15 17 8 19 19 10 23 15 10 21 4 21 16 22 8 15 22 24 16

SILVER FLEET 40 ITA 117 Giorgio Poggi 41 CAN 110 Martin Robitaille 42 RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov 43 GBR 91 Ben Cornish 44 POL 1 Milosz Wojewski 45 CZE 85 Tomas Vika 46 RUS 7 Anatoliy Korshikov 47 CHN 1226 Lei Gong 48 ITA 66 Enrico Voltolini 49 DEN 31 Stig Steinfurth 50 RUS 9 Eduard Skornyakov 51 RUS 1 Alexey Selivanov 52 EST 11 Lauri Väinsalu 53 CHN 1225 He Chen 54 ITA 747 Simone Ferrarese 55 UKR 5 Andriy Gusenko 56 POL 13 Michal Jodlowski 57 ESP 500 Jose Alejandro Aran. Tormo 58 CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 59 FRA 177 Fabian Pic 60 GER 252 Eike Tjark Martens 61 GBR 18 James Hadden 62 FIN 99 Jesse Kylänpää 63 GBR 88 Mark Andrews 64 IRL 4 Ross Hamilton 65 CRO 6 Dan Lovrovic 66 TUR 211 Alican Basegmez 67 ESP 112 Fernando Ros 68 NED 972 Tobias Kirschbaum 69 POL 16 Mikołaj Lahn 70 GER 713 Lars Haverland 71 FRA 89 Benjamin Montagut 72 AUS 22 Joseph McMillan 73 BUL 13 Valentin Nedyalkov 74 ESP 24 Victor Gorostegui 75 TUN 1 Karim Esseghir 76 ESP 161 Miguel Fernandez Vasco 77 USA 69 John F Dane 78 USA 23 James Hunter

(25) 14 18 22 10 1 (32) 24 22 9 2 9 22 21 21 (27) 5 4 24 20 (33) 13 1 7 17 21 18 28 15 2 (31) 29 25 19 8 3 (27) 12 23 19 26 10 20 27 22 25 6 6 12 26 16 25 25 dnf (35) 23 17 31 21 15 29 18 (32) 28 17 20 (33) 17 24 20 11 11 25 25 9 (32) 9 5 (34) 26 30 21 7 24 20 30 (34) 21 14 12 26 (35) 19 23 18 22 31 11 34 26 3 21 27 28 23 (34) 12 14 7 34 31 23 30 8 18 24 21 18 13 26 (37) 32 20 29 20 17 28 27 27 (33) 27 13 (36) 28 26 33 16 16 28 6 28 27 4 27 26 (33) 32 30 19 25 34 34 30 ufd 29 19 (36) 31 28 30 23 23 ufd 31 35 29 24 18 (33) 33 31 32 32 28 32 30 33 (37) 22 32 23 35 (37) 36 28 30 30 29 29 35 34 dnf 29 32 (36) 34 33 31 (38) 37 35 35 31 29 23 36 dnf dnf dnf dnf 39 (ret) dnf dnf dnf dnf 30 (dnf) dnf dnf dnf dnf 35 (dnf) dnf dnc dnf dnf 37 (dnf) dnf dnc dnf dnf

9 17 10 16 5 4 8 8 4 7 2 7 24 6 12 3 4 2 3 9 6 20 10 15 7 22 14 14 (29) 26 ufd 18 17 24 16 16 13 12 15 5 12 12 13 15 25 10 11 31 27 11 26 2 20 13 14 11 19 17

20 17 2 (37) 74 10 19 (29) 9 75 15 13 12 22 77 (28) 25 14 16 79 14 15 (21) 10 80 18 20 (27) 3 83 5 3 (28) 24 88 17 8 (39) 34 89 7 (28) 18 23 90 3 18 36 21 92 27 (35) 13 7 94 9 14 15 (30) 94 (31) 31 4 25 99 (32) 26 8 28 106 22 23 17 1 116 26 22 25 14 118 30 (32) 22 20 118 23 11 (33) 18 120 25 21 32 (35) 125 29 29 (37) 26 127 (35) 34 30 15 128 21 16 26 (27) 129 (38) 30 20 12 130 37 (39) 10 31 145 36 24 24 (38) 147 (39) 33 38 17 153 (34) 27 34 29 153 24 37 31 dns 154 33 (36) 35 32 176 1 2 68 2 1 69 6 4 83 7 14 86 ufd 5 106 8 16 108 13 6 109 ufd 11 117 12 3 119 5 9 121 3 7 122 30 18 131 27 32 132 19 10 137 16 24 137 4 25 137 ufd 15 141 15 23 142 9 dnf 142 26 (27) 146 23 8 149 14 17 153 22 19 160 dnf dnf 160 18 13 163 10 12 168 11 22 168 21 21 179 20 20 196 17 30 196 24 28 204 28 26 211 29 29 217 25 31 223 dnf dnf 259 31 33 263 dnf dnf 270 dnf dnf 275 dnf dnf 277

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Top 6 in Santander: (clockwise from top left) - Giles Scott, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, Ed Wright, Andrew Murdoch, Josh Junior, Jonathan Lobert

Thursday – Scott extends lead Scott continued to extend his lead on the fourth day to build a 13 point lead after six races from Lobert and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic. It was another windy and shifty day with some big shifts mixing up the fleet.

The anchoring problems of Wednesday were gone with the course set further inshore in shallower water and a buoyed line used for the start and finish to keep things simple. There were some great downwind finishes as the wind rose and fell between 15 and 25 knots. Though three races had been scheduled by amendment, only two were sailed as the championship was not allowed to get ahead of schedule.

Now into gold and silver fleets after four races the early leader in race 5 was Ioannis Mitakis, who ended a great day after a 5, 3 in

eighth overall. Scott recovered from a midfleet first mark rounding to record his fifth race win of the championship from Lobert and Michele Paoletti, who had rounded the top mark in second.

Scott then looked to have a sixth race win all wrapped up, but Kljakovic Gaspic had other ideas and picked the right course on the final run to take advantage of a late surge in the wind and passed underneath Scott just metres from the finish line to deny the Brit a perfect scoreline. Mitakis crossed in third.

Friday – Leaders emerge Scott moved into, what turned out to be, a decisive 20 point lead on day 5. Kljakovic Gaspic moved up to second with Lobert dropping one to third. The day began windy again but soon moderated once racing was started to 15-18 knots. However with the

course set close to the land, it produced some very tricky and shifty conditions with large pressure changes and wind bands funnelling down the course causing more than a few upsets. There were a lot of high scores throughout the fleet and patience was a much needed quality as sailors rose and fell through the fleet.

Jonas Høgh-Christensen owned the pin end of the start line in race 7 and immediately tacked to cross the entire fleet. He only trailed Wright and Tweddell around the top mark and moved up to second on the run.

Wright extended down the run to hold the lead at the gate, but the Dane was never far behind and pushed all the way. Wright managed to hold on for his third race win, with Scott recovering from around tenth at the first mark to cross in third.

In race 8 Alex Muscat held a narrow lead at the top mark from Andrew Murdoch and Tapio Nirkko. To the delight of the locals Muscat managed to lead the fleet across the finish line after a very tricky race with some big pressure changes across the course. Murdoch crossed second with Nirkko third.

Despite his worst scoring day so far, Scott still had the best day on the water with a third and a fourth. His nearest rival Kljakovic Gaspic placed fifth and sixth, giving the Brit a crucial points cushion.

Saturday – Full circle The championships came full circle on Saturday with the last of the fleet racing series abandoned in almost identical conditions that led to the abandonment of Monday’s racing, six days before. After a four hour wait afloat the fleet was sent home.

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2014

Sunday – The Medal race The day started windless and racing was postponed, though a light sea breeze was expected later in the day. A light, fickle breeze duly arrived and the Finn medal race was characterised by big shifts and pressure changes across the course that ultimately decided the bronze medal.

Josh Junior led out of the right side of the start from Scott and rounded the top mark first. Scott took the lead on the first downwind, but on the second upwind the left side proved heavily favoured. Kljakovic Gaspic found the best route to take the lead and he never looked like relinquishing it.

Lobert just had to beat Wright to take the bronze, and led him through the gate.

However Wright chose the opposite gate and sailed straight into a pressure zone and moved from ninth to third, leaving Lobert stuck in less wind. From there Wright held on up the third beat while Lobert was helpless to recover.

Lobert finished fourth overall again and it still looking for his first major championship medal. Junior sailed a great race to finish second and moved up to fifth overall, passing his team mate Andrew Murdoch, who had been ahead going into the medal race.

Giles Scott’s only job was to finish the race cleanly to wrap up his second world title in the Finn. Fourth place gave him a winning margin of 14 points. He said, “It’s a been a great season for me and I can’t really think of a better way to round it off than with the world title. It’s been a great event and I am really pleased with the way I have sailed.

There’s always a lot to learn from it, but I’m over the moon about it. It’s a big milestone.

I try to stay realistic, but my big goal is in two years time. But this is a very big step towards that so I am really looking forward to the next two years.”

The silver medal for Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic is his best ever world championship result and proves he is on course for Rio. It concludes a great season for the double Olympian, who is arguably one of the best, and most successful,

Seventh to tenth: (clockwise from top left) - Caleb Paine, Anders Pedersen, Max Salminen, Thomas Le Breton

sailors in the fleet never to win an Olympic medal. This is clearly something he is planning to put right in Rio and this medal is a great boost at the half way stage in his campaign.

pretty happy I have succeeded in this and it makes me quite me quite confident and sure about the future.”

He said, “The week has been great for me, a really excellent performance. Today I knew I had to be relaxed and keep calm and I did exactly that and it put me right into the lead. Then I had really clear lanes through the race and really good moments.

I sailed pretty consistently today, as I did all week, and it turned out to be a winning combination for me.”

Wright’s bronze is his fifth successive world championship medal and perhaps an indication that Scott needs to keep pushing to maintain his advantage. He said, “On the second beat I got a gust on the left hand side and moved up to third and held that all the way. It was a nail biting race and I really enjoyed sailing in it. It means a lot to me to get a medal at the worlds and I needed this medal, so I’m really happy with that.”

On his consistent performance he said, “All my life I was always struggling in the breeze but this week was three days of pretty strong, shifty and breezy conditions which proved I can perform in any kind of wind. That’s what I have been focusing on the last couple of years, trying to get myself in shape to sail in all conditions. So I am

“It’s been a hard week after I had a OCS early on and I’ve been struggling a bit with that. But it was all to play for today and it was a real fun race to be part of. I now just need to wind it up a bit more and try to catch Giles. I am putting together some big winter plans, with training in Rio and then Miami, so it should be fun.”

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Anders Pedersen wins Silver Cup in Hoorn

T

he 16th Junior Finn World Championship - for the Jorge Bruder Silver Cup – was sailed in Hoorn, The Netherlands from 6-11 July. Despite getting off to a great start, the final three days were plagued by too strong or too light winds and no further races were possible. Anders Pedersen took his first major title in his last year as a junior.

Sunday – Pedersen gets best start Anders Pedersen had a nearly perfect start to Silver Cup after a win and second place on the Sunday. The forecast was for strong winds for most of the day. After launching in 18 to 20 knots the 32 young Finn sailors found a steep, short chop on the race course, but during the day a few rain clouds passed down the course and the wind decreased by the hour to 8-10 knots by the end of race 2.

Arkadiy Kistanov had the best of the first upwind to round ahead of Pedersen and local favourite Tobias Kirschbaum.

Kistanov and Pedersen sailed away into a comfortable lead and the Russian extended on the second upwind. However on the reaches he perhaps sailed too low early on and allowed Pedersen to close the gap and they rounded the wing mark side by side.

Pedersen clearly enjoyed the second reach as made his move to sail over Kistanov and then extended to win. Kistanov crossed in second. The battle for third was finally won

by Jakub Marciniak.

Race 2 was started very promptly in slightly less wind, with a double windward-leeward loop. Marciniak continued his good form and was the early leader rounding ahead from Pedersen. They separated at the gate which allowed Pedersen to be further inside the Pole as a major shift changed the landscape on the second upwind.

Marciniak tacked back early to get to the left but dropped through the fleet, eventually finishing 12th. Pedersen hung onto the middle and stayed in second, but the lead went to Mikolaj Lahn. Pedersen almost caught Lahn on the final downwind as the breeze faded to 8-10 knots. However it was Lahn who just crossed ahead with Fabian Pic gaining 12 or more places on the second upwind to cross in third.

Monday - Kistanov fights back Kistanov, the 2011 Finn Junior World Champion, took the lead on Monday, though only one race was possible as the

breeze faded during the race and eventually switched off after the first boats finished.

After a tricky first beat, Peter McCoy emerged from the middle left to round ahead from Dimitar Vangelov and Kistanov.

The wind dropped soon started to drop and the front group sailed away in more wind creating a large split in the fleet. After some yellow flags and wind changes, Vangelov emerged in the lead at the second upwind mark to lead down the final run as the wind eventually disappeared completely. Michael Kamp crossed in second with Lars Johan Brodtkorb in third.

Monday - Pedersen and Kistanov slug it out Pedersen and Kistanov engaged in a battle of wits on the third day with Kistanov narrowly missing out on all three race wins but the final score was one win for Pederden and two for Kistanov. This left Pedersen leading Kistanov by two points with Nenad Bugarin 23 points back in third.

The race team did a great job running three races in quick succession as a procession of dark clouds and rain kept everyone eager to keep the pace up. The three tough races brought the regatta back on schedule. Starting with 15-16 knots the offshore wind produced a range of conditions across the course making the racing very tactical and challenging.

Pedersen was the early leader in race 4 and though Kistanov got past him on the second beat, the Russian headed off down the reach rather than the run and Pedersen sneaked through to win from Kistanov and Martin Robitaille.

10

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

NOR 1 RUS 6 CRO 52 POL 16 DEN 5 CAN 110 GBR 29 CAN 2 CZE 5 POL 111 ARG 1 GER 259 DEN 31 GER 595 ITA 214 NED 972 FRA 177 RUS 28 RUS 7 BUL 8 ITA 83 AUS 22 NED 963 RUS 27 GBR 28 HUN 11 CAN 99 POL 22 NOR 5 POL 7 ESP 117 ITA 53

2014 Finn Silver Cup - Final Results

Anders Pedersen 1 Arkadiy Kistanov 2 Nenad Bugarin 4 Mikolaj Lahn 15 Jacob Stachelhaus 9 Martin Robitaille 5 Peter McCoy 10 Kyle Martin 8 Ondrej Teply 12 Jakub Marciniak 3 Santiago Falasca 14 Philip Kasueske 7 Stig Steinfurth 11 Simon Gorgels 6 Riccardo Bevilacqua 17 Tobias Kirschbaum 13 Pic Fabian 19 Artur Kotlyarov 18 Anatoly Korshikov 20 Dimitar Vangelov (24) Matteo Savio 22 Joe McMillan 16 Michael Kamp (27) Denis Kotlyarov 21 Jack Arnell 25 Elemer Peter Haidekker (29) Riley Finch 23 Jeremi Zimny 26 Lars Johan Brodtkorb 28 Matthew Kobylinski (31) Carlos Ordonez (30) Leopold Starke 32

2 (4) 5 1 7 15 13 (19) 23 12 11 16 9 8 6 10 3 (32) 17 18 20 14 26 (29) 22 25 21 27 24 31 28 30

(22) 4 7 (17) 8 (bfd) 6 10 (24) (18) 12 16 (19) (21) (ret) 13 (bfd) 5 23 1 14 (25) 2 9 20 11 28 15 3 27 26 (bfd)

1 2 4 11 (14) 3 8 12 5 13 (16) 7 10 21 15 (18) 9 22 6 24 (26) 20 25 17 23 27 19 (31) (dnf) 28 30 29

2 1 (13) 4 6 5 (14) 8 3 9 11 (dsq) 12 7 10 17 dns 16 19 23 15 21 18 22 (ret) 26 25 20 dns 24 27 28

2 8 1 10 13 33 4 35 9 39 12 40 3 40 8 46 6 49 15 52 7 55 10 56 16 58 17 59 11 59 14 67 5 69 18 79 (ocs) 85 22 88 19 90 20 91 26 97 28 97 21 111 24 113 (30) 116 29 117 dns 121 23 133 27 138 25 144

Kistanov led at the top mark in race 5 from Ondrej Teply and Philip Kasueske. Kistanov still led at the gate but Pedersen took a long tack to the right and came back just ahead to lead down to the finish. However it wasn’t over and Kistanov eased through for a photo finish on the line to take the win from Pedersen. Teply crossed in third.

The wind decreased slightly for Race 6 and it was another tight race with Pedersen leading McCoy and Lahn round the top mark. Kistanov was up to third by the gate and the positions remained the same up the second beat. The final downwind with free pumping removed was a more sedate end to the day though the wind picked up again for the approach to the finish line. Kistanov used the wind to the best advantage to first move past McCoy and then Pedersen to claim his second win of the day, with another photo finish on the line.

Wednesday – too much wind No racing was possible on the fourth day as strong winds caused the abandonment of all racing. The fleet was sent out on time for the scheduled start at 12.00 but it soon became apparent that the wind was above sensible limits with many boats capsizing in the fierce gusts. After one postponement the race officer abandoned racing as the wind hit 31 knots and sent the fleet back to the harbour, where racing was eventually abandoned for the day later in the afternoon after the wind refused to moderate.

Thursday- not enough wind Another day was lost Thursday with not enough wind. The day was spent in sweltering temperatures and no wind, and while one race was started, it was abandoned at the windward mark as the wind vanished into the humid Dutch air.

Brodtkorp proved his ability in light wind to lead round the top mark from Bugarin and Matthew Koblinski, but by then the water was like glass and the race was abandoned shortly afterwards.

was expected later in the day, but by 16.00 nothing had developed and racing was abandoned for the day.

A light breeze filled in nearly an hour later, but the conditions were very humid with bad visibility to the east, and the wind didn’t stay. At 13.00 the race officer sent the fleet shore to wait, hoisting AP over 6, for a first possible start at 17.00. More wind

It was a day for ices, swimming and sunbathing but no racing. Everyone, well almost everyone, was willing it to happen, but it just wasn’t to be. The sailors launched for a start at 11.05, and that got away on time in 5-6 knots. At the first mark Brodtkorb

Friday - Pedersen is the Champion Anders Pedersen won his first ever Finn Silver Cup, and in his last year as a Junior, without any more races being held. Arkadiy Kistanov took the silver and Nenad Bugarin the bronze. For the third day in a row the 32 Finn sailors set out from Hoorn and came back with no more races sailed.

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again led at the top mark but it was soon clear the wind was going and the race was stopped at the gate. An hour and a half later, the racing was officially abandoned for the day and Pedersen declared the winner.

Pedersen said of his win, “It feels very good.

It’s my third try to get the Silver Cup, so it’s great. It means a lot to be Junior Champion in Norway. I had a bit of a tough fight today with the Russian. He had a really good series with no bad races, so for him it didn’t mean anything but for me I needed a good result. So he was giving me a hard time around the race course. I was glad when they abandoned it.”

Second placed Kistanov, the 2011 Junior World Champion, put on a great show today and had almost done enough to regain the title. “Today was a nice day but not very nice for sailing. We only raced three days, so I am a bit unhappy about that and Anders is a bit lucky, but that’s competition, so congratulations to him. I thought that I could be first here so I’m not happy to just get the silver. But I still have two more years to go so I will come to those Silver Cups and try to be better.”

The Bronze went to Nenad Bugarin. “I am very happy with this week. I sailed well all week so I am very happy with the bronze.

It could be a little bit better but in these circumstances I am very happy. I only started in the Finn in January this year, so I am not so long in the class. I will be back next year to try again.”

WSV Hoorn has an idyllic setting in a beautiful harbour, which was the starting point for many famous voyages and home to navigators in past centuries. The sailors enjoyed exploring the town with its varied buildings, canals and back streets. They left with prizes, memories and the desire to do better next time. For some it was their last chance at the Silver Cup as they are now too old, but for the younger sailors, they are inspired to train harder to come back faster and better.

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Statistical data of the sailors at the 2014 Silver Cup Average

4 3 2 1

170 174 178 182 186 190 194 198 202 (cm) Height distribution of Silver Cup competitors

Height range: 174-200 cm Average: 189 cm

Average

4 3 2 1

78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100 102 (kg) Weight distribution of Silver Cup competitors

Weight range: 78-101 kg Average: 92.5 kg

Average

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17

18

19

20

21

22

(Age)

Age distribution of Silver Cup competitors

Age range: 17-22 Average: 19.5

Technical review

W

e are continuing to work on checking that our various Plans, Coordinates and Templates all agree with each other. One of the Finn Sailors in my club (Andrew Wylam, GBR 22) is a design draughtsman and has been helping with various details on the digital drawings. What was good twenty years ago has to be carefully checked now, because the builders are now using CNC cutting for moulds and working nearer to the limits of our tolerances.

We have to be sure that our specifications for the boat and for the measurement equipment are adequate.

I have been reading the report from Andre Blasse, who served as Finn IM at the Santander Gold Cup/ISAF Sailing World Championships.

Our objective is “to establish a class of boats which is one-design in all matters that affect basic speed”. The good news is that there were few problems over whether each boat was a Finn: a couple of boats were slightly underweight because of alterations to toestraps, and in a couple of boats one corrector had come unstuck and gone walkabout inside the boat.

The bad news is that there were some masts, booms, rudders and centreboards without identification marks, and sometimes with the certification labels worn off. Even this is not all bad news: it seems that our equipment lasts longer than the equivalent in some other classes!

number of Measurement Certificates that had not been completed by the owner’s Certification Authority. We have tried to make things easier by allowing for this process to be done by Email. PLEASE folks, keep the paperwork and certification marks correct. In a similar situation a few years ago (in an Olympic Equipment selection year) we had an Equipment Inspector report to ISAF that 50% of the Finn fleet “didn’t measure”.

Several builders are producing new moulds, and some claims have been made about “longer waterline lengths” and “new designs”. Please be reassured: there is one design for the Finn!

The tolerances are small, and they have been exploited in a similar way for more than 50 years to my knowledge. I believe that our boats are more “one-design in all matters that affect basic speed” than almost any other large dinghy class, due to our measurement control and the Lamboley Swing Test.

We had hoped that my expected replacement Rory Barnes would be at Santander, but due to unforeseeable work requirements he had to miss the event. However we have arranged that he will attend the ISAF Annual Meeting in November at Palma, to help him get to know that part of the work.

Richard Hart Chairman of the Technical Committee

Many mast certification cards were missing, and copies had to be emailed by the manufacturer. Once again we were let down by the

Gear in 2014 2014 Finn Gold Cup

1 GBR 41 Giles Scott 2 CRO 524 Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 3 GBR 11 Edward Wright 4 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 5 NZL 24 Josh Junior 6 NZL 16 Andrew Murdoch 7 USA 6 Caleb Paine 8 NOR 1 Anders Pedersen 9 FRA 29 Thomas Le Breton 10 SWE 33 Max Salminen

Sail North North North WB North WB/Doyle North North WB WB

2014 European Championship

1 GBR 41 Giles Scott 2 SLO 573 Vasilij Zbogar 3 GBR 11 Edward Wright 4 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 5 CRO 524 Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 6 GBR 85 Andrew Mills 7 FRA 29 Thomas Le Breton 8 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 9 HUN 40 Zsombor Berecz 10 NZL 16 Andrew Murdoch

Foils DEM Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti DEM Devoti Devoti Devoti

Sails North/North North/WB North/North WB/WB North/North North/North WB/WB North/WB WB/North WB/North

Boom Needlespar Devoti Devoti Needlespar Needlespar Devoti Needlespar Needlespar MM MM

Hull Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti

Boat Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti Devoti

Mast Wilke Pata Concept/Hit Wilke Wilke Wilke Wilke Wilke Wilke Wilke

Masts Wilke/Wilke Concept/Concept Hit/Concept Heol/Heol Pata/Wilke Wilke/Wilke Wilke Hit/Hit Concept Wilke

Gear at Europeans in numbers Hulls: Devoti: 94; Wilke: 6; Sport Sail Centre: 1 Masts: Wilke 83; Hit: 36; Concept 17; Pata: 11; Heol: 2 Sails: North: 116; WB: 57; Doyle: 14; V-One: 6; Dieball: 2

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First test event in Rio

G

iles Scott once again proved to be almost unbeatable in the latest demonstration of his domination of the Finn class. At the Aquece Rio Olympic Test Event he won six out of the 11 races, and apart from a seventh in the opening race was never out of the top five all week. In what was generally thought to be quite shifty and tricky conditions, he wrapped up the week with another dominant race win in the medal race.

The week got underway on the Ponte course inside the harbour with local favourite, and current world champion, Jorge Zarif leading the field with a 1, 2. Scott was in third behind Ed Wright, but he had to wait two more days before being able to move up, with the second day of the competition lost to all classes because of the lack of wind.

Piotr Kula described the third day, when the fleet was outside the bay on the Niteroi race area. “Huge waves rolling downwind, plus some that bounced from the cliff made it physically demanding. From fully hiked to nose touching boom on upwind. Downwind was bit tricky. If you lost pressure once, so you couldn’t surf for a while, you lost a lot of distance. Our racing day started late due to postponement. Three races took about four hours. On the last downwind we had a sunset. The sun hid behind the Sugar Loaf mountain. When we got back ashore, it was already dark, but the beautiful view of the

Rio lights from seaside was relaxing after the exhausting races.”

Scott made the best of the conditions to move to the top to take the lead from Zarif, a lead he strengthened to 18 points the following day with two more race wins.

Behind him, Wright, Jonathan Lobert and Zarif were trading places each day to remain in the medal zone for the medal race. Scott took his fifth bullet on the final qualification day to win the regatta with a day to spare.

The medal race was then a formality for Scott, but crucial for the other two medals.

Lobert sailed well in the breezy conditions to finish third to snatch the silver, while Wright hung onto the bronze with a fifth. For a while Zarif was heading for a medal but a broken tiller extension put paid to that and he ended the week in fourth.

Scott said, “It’s been a windy week which was kind of unexpected in all honesty but the week’s gone great and we managed to complete a full series. For a lot of the sailors it’s been a bit of a surprise as to how good the breeze has been for the two weeks we have been here. We haven’t seen too much wind under 9 knots. The majority of the fleet came here expecting 7 knots tops. This week it wasn’t quite like that so I think in that regard, actually knowing what the wind speed is, is a big step for learning.”

He added, “The venue was actually quite good, but there is still a little way to go to get it to Games standard. The only thing that I can see being an issue is the lack of daylight with sunset at 5.30 and with no racing before 11 am, the window to get sailing if the sea breeze doesn’t come in until 2.00 to 2.30 is very small. Personally I think they may need to look at trying to race in the drainage breeze in the early morning, especially with the classes with more than one fleet on the one course.”

Wright summed up his week. “I am happy with my result. To medal in the Olympic venue is always a good sign. The most important thing was to spend time on the water and see what to expect during the Games. The race committee was good but need practice. They abandoned a race at the last mark to the finish, by accident and we sailed home in the pitch black one day, but that’s why it’s a test event.”

“I have spent some time in Rio in the past so I was ready for the good wind we had, although there was a little more on some of the days than I expected. The racing was shifty and very interesting on the harbour courses. I spent lots of time on the Menai straights when I was young (a very tidal venue) so this place was not such a shock tidally to me.”

Before the event the water quality was the biggest talking point, but it was not as bad as many expected. Wright said, “Sailors having to cope with the dirty, polluted water in Rio was in all the news before the racing began but I must admit it was not so bad.

Yes, it was not the cleanest but where we were racing there was a good flow of water flushing it out into the ocean. It needs improvement of course. The worst was after a couple of days rainstorms.”

Silver medalist Lobert added, “The water is not crystal clear for sure but there was no problem for racing. Inside we sometimes had to avoid some plastic bags but most of the time you can see it. I really think that the Rio

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Aquece Rio Olympic Test Event 2014 - Final Results

city is aware of the problem and is already trying to clean the bay. We saw some special boats collecting the trash on the water.”

He continued, “It was a great chance to be able to actually race on the different courses. When you train we don’t do such big races as in regatta so the tactics are always different. It’s also very different inside the bay or outside the bay.”

Has the perception that Rio will be a light airs venue changed after last week? “The

1 GBR 41 Giles Scott (7) 1 5 1 2 1 2 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 9 3 6 6 9 4 3 GBR 11 Edward Wright 2 4 7 10 (14) 2 4 BRA 109 Jorge Zarif 1 2 (13) 5 5 8 5 POL 17 Piotr Kula 3 6 11 8 11 5 6 NZL 16 Andrew Murdoch 10 12 8 4 3 3 7 ITA 117 Giorgio Poggi 13 10 4 2 4 7 8 FRA 29 Thomas le Breton 6 7 1 11 10 9 9 NZL 24 Josh Junior 5 16 (dsq) 3 1 6 10 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 11 (ocs) 3 9 6 10 11 SWE 33 Max Salminen 8 8 12 7 12 11 12 USA 6 Caleb Paine 14 5 (16) 15 8 16 13 FIN 218 Tapio Nirkko (15) 14 2 12 7 15 14 CHN 1226 Gong Lei 12 9 9 14 (ocs) 12 15 SWE 6 Björn Allansson 4 11 14 (17) 15 13 16 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 16 15 10 13 13 14 17 BRA 1 Bruno Prada (17) 13 15 16 16 17

wind was not as light as we were told it would be. But you know that we never can predict the conditions we will have for the Games. I think we were lucky to be able to race the full schedule of races in six days but for the next test event and the Games there will be rest days so if we face some lack of wind we will be able to race the day after.”

4 1 1 4 3 2 (13) 8 5 5 8 3 6 9 3 6 8 5 (ret) 9 1 10 4 (14) 12 8 5 (16) (16) 3 2 15 7 16 7 1 2 13 14 7 (15) 7 10 5 9 6 12 2 10 11 9 13 11 15 6 10 13 12 15 12 14 (dnc) 16 17 17 14 11 11

2 6 10 18 8 20 12 14 16 4 -- -- -- -- -- -- --

22 56 56 63 74 75 77 78 78 79 80 87 93 98 109 128 130

for now we are still learning and collecting information. I don’t know yet what would be the best gear set up yet.”

But, “To be successful in Rio you will have to be a very complete sailor, you never know what condition you will get day after day.”

“So I think it’s a still a very open question, I don’t know yet what to say. For this regatta the Finns were able to race in good breeze most of the time but for some other classes it was not the case. So for now maybe we still have to wait and see.”

How will he develop gear for the widely different conditions? “Across the courses, the range of sailing conditions is very large,

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Focus on youth - six stories from juniors

D

uring the year we have spoken to a large number of juniors. The strength of the junior fleet was highlighted by both the super competitive Silver Cup in Hoorn in July, and in Santander, with the Junior World Champion Anders Pedersen finishing in eighth in the most competitive senior fleet of the year. Here are some of the stories we covered this year.

Lars Johan Brodtkorb - NOR Lars Johan Brodtkorb (below) came to the Silver Cup as the current Europe class European champion. He was also awarded the ‘Sailor of the Year’ by the Norwegian Sailing Federation for his strong performance last season in the Europe dinghy. “I started in the Finn in the Norwegian National Championship last year, and then I didn’t sail again until Spring this year. I am enjoying the Finn very much. I am used to sailing the Europe, and they are very similar. The Finn is fun to sail, just a bit bigger. Right now I am not so fast in the heavy winds. I really like sailing downwind, very equal to the Europe which is no surprise, but surfing is always fun.”

While he struggled in the breeze in Hoorn, in the two light wind races, that were later abandoned, he was the clear leader. “The knowledge is the same; usually I am one of the heavier sailors but now I am the lightest, so it is different because my sailing trim is a bit different as I now have to depower more.

I have to do what I am telling the lighter sailors in the Europe to do.”

On his future plans, “I am going to try and get a new boat and sail the Finn more. After

this regatta I will sail the Europe worlds, and after that I will probably order a new boat and then we’ll see. I haven’t had that much time to train so far.”

Martin Robitaille - CAN The 2012 Junior World Champion, Martin Robitaille (right) sailed his final junior regatta in Hoorn. He described how Finn sailing is progressing in Canada. “We are three junior Canadians training together. We had some awesome training this spring. Two of the guys have only joined this year and they have made huge improvements and I’m really glad to be there to give them some advice on the Finn, but so far I’m pretty happy for them where they are.”

“Kyle Martin and Riley Finch are still in High School, but they are both showing great potential. In training they are both a similar speed to me. They are both from the Laser, just 19 and 20, so both young, but still very big. We eat well in Canada.”

Before Santander he said, “I have made some huge improvements over the few months so the fight for Rio is going to be tight, but I just need to do some more racing I think. That’s why I am happy to come back to Europe and to train with more Finn sailors. I’ve already been in Valencia at the Dinghy Academy with Luca Devoti. Luca is great. He has a really good gig going for all the athletes. I have a lot of gratitude for what he does for all the athletes. It’s really good.”

Santiago Falasca - ARG Santiago Falasca, aged 18, only started sailing the Finn in March at the Dinghy Academy in Valencia. “I started because I knew some Argentinian and Uruguayan guys were sailing in Valencia so I thought it was a good opportunity to have some progress in my sailing.”

Falasca (right) gets some help through the Finn class development programme, FIDeS. “The Finn Class is giving me help through Luca, accommodation in Valencia, a boat to train in, and some financial help to come to the regattas. It’s a big help for me to do this and sail the Finn in Europe.”

“I have been sailing the Laser since I was 14 and now I have just turned 18.” What attracted him? “The challenge of the Finn,

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the opportunity to do an Olympic campaign.

The fact that coming to Europe and sailing the Finn was much easier for training every day with good guys. That wasn’t so possible in the Laser in Argentina. I am training every day in Valencia with Vasilij Zbogar, with Zsombor Berecz, and with many great guys who know how to sail properly, so that’s a really great way to improve my sailing.”

“Hopefully I will be able to go to Takapuna (for the second Olympic qualifier in 2015) because now with the continental spots I might have a good chance, so I would like to take that chance. That’s why I am training so hard in Valencia every day.”

What does Falasca most like about the Finn, “I like many things about the Finn. At first when I started I wasn’t very fit and didn’t like the free pumping but now I am starting to like it a lot. If you put in proper effort you

“I really enjoy reaching at good speed with the water in your face. It’s an incredible feeling and I really love those moments.”

Anatoly Korshikov – RUS Team Fantastica also took on Anatoly Korshikov (left) late in 2013. “I started in Fantastica last year in November. I met with Lanfranco Cirillo in Gelendzhik, near Sochi on the Black Sea and he asked whether I would like to start training with his team. I go to Gelendzhik to train with Lanfranco and then I went to Palma to start sailing with the team.”

can overtake many boats. I like the upwind much more than in the Laser even though it is harder, because I really like the way the boat moves through the waves.”

“In the Finn I have learned more about sailing than in all the other years I have been sailing. In these six months I have learned more than in all my previous sailing career because the Finn is a very complete boat, from rigging the boat, to materials, everything is very complete for sailing.”

Riccardo Bevilacqua – ITA Riccardo Bevilacqua started sailing Finn last year, with his first major event at the 2013 Silver Cup in Malcesine. “I started in Optimist and then in Laser 4.7, Radial and Standard. Later I became too big for these and I didn’t know what to sail until one day I met Lanfranco Cirillo and he suggested I try the Finn. That was just perfect and once I sailed one, it was a beautiful experience.”

At the 2013 Silver Cup, “I was invited to be part of Team Fantastica. I already used one of their boats in Anzio. Then Lanfranco invited me to join the team after we had a conversation about my sailing and my life and everything.”

“Now I can race without any problems.

Before I would have to think about where is the accommodation, and who can help me to do this or that. But now we have perfect coaches who can help me with this and Fantastica organises this for me. I need only to think about the racing and this is much better for me to improve my sailing.”

“I started in the Finn last year in May. I sailed in the Russian Cup and then went to the Silver Cup on Garda. That was my first big completion.”

“A normal day for me is one session on the water of two hours, some time in the gym, or about two hours on my bike. We do a lot of our training in Torbole, on Garda, with Michele and Bambi, but I still live in Russia.”

He described the benefits of being with an established team. “The team gives me everything. When I joined the team I didn’t have a good boat, or a good sail or mast, and they gave me this and much more. It provides me a lot of help.”

He says he has always been fast upwind in strong winds. “But now I am getting better downwind. I used to lose a lot of positions on the downwind but I am getting better.

Now I started training with Fantastica with some good guys, every time I go out I get a bit better, day by day.”

“I like sailing every time I go, every day. I like the adrenaline in strong winds, upwind and downwind in nice waves. I like being around and on the water.”

Hoorn and then exceeded all expectations by not only qualifying Norway for a place in Rio, but also finishing top 10 at the Finn Gold Cup in Santander.

“It was my third try to get the Silver Cup, so it’s great. It means a lot to be Junior Champion in Norway.”

“My dream goal was to qualify Norway for the Olympics, though I didn’t really dare to say it out loud. But it was a good week and it turned out well for me.”

“I’d known for the previous few months that I had really good speed so I was just trying to use that and follow the good guys and use simple tactics and hang with the group. Getting into the medal race was just a real bonus.”

“There is not a lot of funding in Norway, especially for the Finn, so now I hope I get the right openings and get some funding that will allow me to train a bit easier than it has been.”

Anders Pedersen – NOR Anders Pedersen (above right) has had an amazing year. He capped off his final year as a junior by winning the Silver Cup in

“My coaches are teaching me everything. I need to learn how to sail in every condition, and they teach me everything about the Finn. I started from zero and slowly I will arrive at some good results.”

“For me downwind in light winds are good at the moment, but what I really need to work on is my starting. I need to train with more and more people and do some more starts and improve to get better, to try and arrive better at the first mark. But in one year I feel I have improved a lot in all conditions. I am very good at physical preparation, on a bike and in the gym. But in the summer my focus is sailing training.”

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Finn sailing from across the world AUSTRIA Austrian Nationals 2014 An international fleet of 75 Finn sailors from six nations gathered on Lake Wolfgangsee.

The conditons proved very difficult with unstable winds ranging from 5 to 25 knots.

Florian Raudaschl used his knowledge of his home waters and won the regatta from Jürgen Eiermann, who was the fastest sailor upwind by far.

1 AUT 3 2 GER 8 3 AUT 111 4 CZE 33 5 AUT 11 6 AUT 333 7 GER 39 8 CZE 70 9 AUT 7 10 GER 206

2014 Austrian National - Final Results Florian Raudaschl Jürgen Eiermann Michael Luschan Ivan Rames Bernd Moser Gerhard Weinreich Karl-Heinz Erich Vaclav Cintl Michael Gubi Klaus Reffelmann

11 GER 82 12 AUT 303 13 ITA 83 14 GER 157 15 AUT 9 16 CZE 67 17 CZE 318 18 AUT 18 19 GER 145 20 CZE 7 21 AUT 5 22 GER 164 23 CZE 8 24 AUT 288 25 AUT 273 26 CZE 75 27 GER 701 28 AUT 511 29 AUT 8 30 AUT 2 31 GER 3

[bfd] [12] 2 5 1 8 4 [34] 14 [27]

2 4 1 3 16 6 4 11 [14] 1 12 9 7 2 6 5 5 17 11 19

Alfons Huber 55 Gerd Wayrethmayr 60 Matteo Savio 64 Frank Dinnebier 73 Gerhard Vellusig 77 Josef Jochovic 80 Martin Plecity 83 Lukas Höllwerth 83 Kai-Uwe Göldenitz 92 Vaclav Cintl 104 Nikolaus Lehner 113 Claus Wimmer 122 Jiri Outrata 125 Hannes Blaschke 127 Markus Schneeberger 128 Vladimir Skalicky 129 Klaus-Dieter Götz 139 Gerhard Schwendt 142 Hartwig Gfreiner 145 Wolfgang Zeiner 145 Walter Mai 156

BRAZIL Copa Zarif Colin Reed writes: Regatta for the late Jorge Zarif Sr. Antonio Carvalho Moreira is very fast and still young and one to be watched for the future.

1 2 3 4 5

18

BRA BRA 16 BRA 15 BRA 33 BRA 35

Antonio Carvalho Moreira 3 Arnaldo C 6 Mario Soerensen 9 Ricardo 14 Colin Reed 16

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5 1 8 3 [19] 5 12 2 10 11 [15] 4 [29] 13 17 6 2 7 1 9

1 2 4 [bfd] 12 3 15 8 [bfd] 13

32 AUT 36 33 AUT 302 34 GER 114 35 AUT 72 36 AUT 6 37 AUT 400 38 GER 55 39 SUI 63 40 RSA 539 41 AUT 307 42 ITA 53 43 GER 162 44 AUT 382 45 AUT 17 46 AUT 19 47 ITA 93 48 AUT 7361 49 GER 5 50 GER 62 51 GER 12 52 GER 248

13 17 33 34 35 36 41 42 45 53

Helmuth Gubi 156 Alfred Braumüller 158 Jacek Kalinski 163 Georg Schöfegger 164 Bernd Rohlfs 165 Bernhard Klingler 182 Herbert Sondermann 183 Thomas Gautschi 185 Klaus Weixelbaumer 185 Georg Pommer 193 Leopold Starke 202 Gerd Hübner 204 Emanuel Braumüller 204 Andreas Moosgassner 204 Gerald Raschke 206 Nikolaus Mair 210 Helmut Mayr 217 Herbert Straub 221 Uwe Barthel 222 David Guminski 223 Eckehard Zülow 227

53 AUT 110 54 GER 179 55 GER 63 56 AUT 21 57 AUT 10 58 GER 19 59 SUI 1 60 GER 36 61 GER 3228 62 AUT 272 63 AUT 244 64 GER 91 65 GER 131 66 AUT 295 67 CZE 58 68 AUT 318 69 ITA 57 70 GER 49 71 AUT 320 72 AUT 286

Klaus Schiller 230 Helmut Lömker 237 Michael Pandler 244 Erich J Scherzer 255 Engelbert Prutsch 260 Andreas Bollongino 261 Hans Fatzer 264 Dr. Adalbert Wiest 267 Anton Steinberger 269 Andreas Polanka 280 Andreas Poell 286 Nadine Zülow 296 Horst Schlick 298 Johann Raudaschl 303 Jirí Silhavý 306 Bernard Embacher 308 Fritz Starke 312 Horst 318 Csaba Gal 327 Wolfgang Kronsteiner 328

Denmark Christian Qvist writes: Since the last issue of Finnfare, things have been nice and easy in Denmark. We had the Open Danish Championships in Kerteminde, with 48 participants from six nations; DEN, SWE, FIN, NOR, GER and NED. The series had everything from no wind, to postponement on land due to heavy wind.

Normally when the Dutch arrive at a Danish Championship they are pretty confident of winning, and normally we have to nicely applaud when they receive their prices.

This year however, that was not the case.

Not because the Dutch performance overall was worse than previous years, but because the next generation of Danish Finn sailors are a really tough crowd to handle. The first four places were Danish. Defending his title Mads Bendix won again, followed by Stig Steinfurth and Jørgen Svendsen in third. In fourth place was André Højen, who more than tripled his amount of hours in the Finn during the series, coming from four hours to more than 12 hours.

The bay of Kerteminde and the facilities are some of the best you can get in Denmark, however due to the heavy wind on the last day of the series only 5 races were completed.

Aarhus Festugestævne 2014 30-31 August Next up was the all-time favourite Aarhus Sailing Week. 12 Finns and several hundred in other classes met for two days of sailing. In the Finn fleet eight high quality races were completed. Aarhus also hosted its annual week of mid-town festivities so the Finnsters went all-in on Saturday night and hit the town. After some beers we all headed back to the marina, where Aarhus Sailing Club had arranged boats for us to sleep in. Nice.

1 DEN 31 2 DEN 5 3 DEN 2 4 DEN 231 5 DEN 80 6 DEN 249 7 DEN 1 8 GER 231 9 DEN 211 10 DEN 14 11 DEN 33 12 GER 26

Stig Steinfurth 60 Jacob Stachelhaus 130 André Højen Christiansen 130 Kenneth Bøggild 210 Michael Staal 290 Svend Vogt Andersen 350 Frank Hansen 380 Denny Jeschull 390 Christian Qvist 530 Jan Verner Nielsen 560 Christian Poulsen 610 Willi Meister 710

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

DEN 4 DEN 31 DEN 3 DEN 2 NOR 1 DEN 7 NED 41 NED 80 FIN 5 DEN 9

11 DEN 5 12 NED 7 13 SWE 14 14 NED 29 15 FIN 225 16 DEN 21 17 DEN 23 18 NED 31 19 DEN 231 20 DEN 22 21 DEN 20 22 DEN 80 23 NOR 64 24 NED 27 25 DEN 112 26 DEN 140 27 DEN 211 28 DEN 11 29 DEN 201 30 DEN 17 31 DEN 220 32 NED 18 33 DEN 1 34 DEN 183

2014 Danish Championship - Final Results

Mads Bendix Stig Steinfurth Jørgen Svendsen André Højen Anders Pedersen Frederik Mads Svendsen Karel van Hellemond Sander Willems Robert Nyberg Thomas Mørup-Petersen Jacob Stachelhaus 42 Cees Scheurwater 49 Stefan Nordström 52 Bas de Waal 55 MIkael Hyrylainen 59 Otto Strandvig 59 Martin Boidin 66 Jan Willem Kok 67 Kenneth Bøggild 72 Jens Chr. Jurlander 78 Stefan Myralf 80 Michael Staal 87 Pette Fjeld 89 Paul Kamphorst 94 Jesper Bonnesen 94 Michael Bæk 99 Christian Qvist 101 Jens Makholm 103 Nikolai Ratzlaff 103 Lars Juel Christensen 104 Michael Nielsen 109 Johan van Stralen 111 Frank Hansen 116 Jens Kristian Andersen 126

1 (9) 4 2 3 (19) 5 (25) (20) 10

(10) 4 2 6 1 7 3 8 15 (12)

35 DEN 33 36 DEN 246 37 GER 26 38 DEN 14 39 NED 126 40 DEN 18 41 DEN 250 42 DEN 249 43 SWE 100 44 DEN 13 45 DEN 277 46 DEN 8 47 DEN 69 48 DEN 192

1 7 (12) 8 (15) 2 (25) 6 11 9

1 2 3 (12) 5 7 10 8 4 6

2 3 7 1 9 4 8 5 6 12

5 16 16 17 18 20 26 27 36 37

Christian Poulsen 126 Johnny Aagesen 129 Willi Meister 129 Jan Verner Nielsen 130 Maarten Godschalx 130 Richard Berg-Larsen 132 Jacob Nielsen 134 Svend Andersen 138 Petter Hartman 158 Lars Tjørnvig 160 William Millard 167 Peter Malm 172 Gunnar Gudmundsson 176 Ole Blichfeldt Madsen 176

Photos: Right: Danish Championships; left:

Frederik Svendsen, Stig Steinfurth and André Højen ‘Scouting for wind’;

top: Stig Steinfurth in training

The last regatta before the deadline was the traditional Dragør Mesterskab, first weekend of October. Again 12 Finns competed on this beautiful fall day, with perfect sailing conditions in Dragør. Dragør is well known for the strange currents dominating the race area. Maybe they are not strange, but let’s just say that local knowledge isn’t to your disadvantage.

Case in point, the first two places were taken by locals Frank Hansen and Michael Staal, followed by Svend Andersen.

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20

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GREAT BRITAIN British Nationals 2014 West Kirby Sailing Club, July 10–13. 2014 Martin Hughes writes: Twenty three Finns contested the 2014 British Finn Association National Championships, held at West Kirby Sailing Club over a long weekend July 10–13. The venue of West Kirby was a new and exciting venture for the class, who were not disappointed.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

GBR 720 GBR 2 GBR 567 GBR 5 GBR 635 GBR 11 GBR 59 GBR 65 GBR 20 GBR 37

2014 British National Championship - Final Results

Julian Smith Allen Burrell Martin Hughes John Greenwood Simon Percival Colin Leonard Pete Ashworth Dave Potter Andy Denison Steve Hayles

1 4 5 2 (15) 6 9 12 (21) 13

Friday morning dawned with the forecast light south-westerly and a vast expanse of sand at the end of the slipway to greet competitors. The sand was rapidly replaced by fast moving water as the tide raced in, filling the Dee estuary and allowing the Finns to launch and sail to the race area.

Early leaders in race one, John Greenwood and Neil Robinson, were soon overwhelmed on the run by Julian Smith who then stretched out his lead as the tide began to slacken. In race two Martin Hughes tacked onto port early and took full advantage of the stronger ebb tide on the right and extend over the next two legs to win the shortened race. Afternoon sailing continued on the marine lake with six boats making the most of the opportunity of close quarters racing with a competitive upwind downwind series of races. West Kirby Sailing Club hosted a fantastic barbecue for the sailors on Friday evening.

Saturday’s forecast for a 5-6 knot breeze from the south-east ensured the wind against

Julian Smith, Finn National Champion receives the Sunday Times Gold Cup from Commodore David Taylor and organiser Catherine Hartley

tide situation required use of the black flag.

Simon Percival rounded the windward mark first followed by Pete Ashworth, both bore away onto a run towards the leeward mark.

Smith and Hughes took a higher line to get into the shallower water and weaker tidal stream and rolled over the other sailors to establish a commanding lead by the leeward mark. Race four commenced in barely 6 knots of breeze with Allen Burrell taking line honours followed by Greenwood and Smith.

The overnight rain cleared Sunday morning to reveal a bright and breezy day with 14-20 knots blowing straight into the Dee estuary.

Hughes and Greenwood looked best placed to round first but the strong tide favoured those who stood inshore longest, allowing Percival to lead around the mark. The race was won by Burrell with Percival in second and Smith again in third.

Matteo Savio, who has just turned 18 and is on his second year in the Finn, took the second place just a single point away from the Trophy. He is fast improving and is for sure one of the future hopes for the Italian

1 3 2 5 4 (12) 6 7 9 8

2 1 (10) 3 9 5 (12) 14 6 4

11 GBR 61 12 GBR 52 13 GBR 80 14 GBR 672 15 GBR 78 16 GBR 595 17 GBR 27 18 GBR 617 19 GBR 679 20 GBR 99 21 GBR 533 22 GBR 682 23 GBR 727

(3) 1 4 5 2 7 8 6 9 (dnf)

3 1 5 2 8 4 6 (ocs) 7 12

John Heyes Will Patten Ray New Daniel Farrimond Robert Temple Edward Thorburn Jourdon Swindon Jean-Louis Simons Neil Robinson John Torrance Guy Cokill Ted Mount Paul Smith

9 10 17 17 27 31 36 42 45 49 51 64 65 66 70 77 77 78 83 85 91 98 100

Race six started with a flurry of activity especially at the pin end of the line with the young ebb pushing the fleet over the line. Greenwood and Burrell rounded the windward mark first and began the sleigh ride downwind. The wind had increased to over 20 knots and the waves were beginning to increase in size providing a great opportunity to surf and really get up speed. Colin Leonard took fourth, Smith third, Greenwood second and Burrell first. All that was needed was time for the results to be computed. The final reach home was exhilarating with wonderful rolling waves and plenty of wind.

Ashore the sailors were treated to yet another slap up feed before the prizegiving. Julian Smith took a well-deserved first place followed

by Allen Burrell and Martin Hughes.

Lago, Azienda agricola Valpanera, Hotel Piccolo Malcesine.

ITALY Coppa Italia 2014 The final event of Coppa Italia Finn took place in Malcesine, Lake Garda, the first weekend of October. Before the start, the top three in the provisional results were within three points, with Enrico Passoni leading with just one point on the Junior Matteo Savio and two more points on Giacomo Giovanelli. They all fought hard in Malcesine, but Enrico had a very strong and consistent series, keeping his competitors behind and managed to gain his second consecutive victory in Coppa Italia. Enrico was one of the best Italian Finn sailors in the International circuit in the early 90s and has been back in the Finn for a few years.

2 (11) 1 (13) 4 9 7 3 14 12

Finn class. Giacomo Giovanelli in third is also on his second year on the Finn and is very fast and consistent.

1 ITA 6 2 ITA 83 3 ITA 202 4 ITA 2 5 ITA 52 6 ITA 67 7 ITA 11 8 ITA 55 9 ITA 4 10 ITA 1022

Enrico Passoni Matteo Savio Giacomo Giovannelli Marco Buglielli Franco Martinelli Gino Bucciarelli Paolo Cisbani Walter Riosa Francesco Faggiani Filippo Petella

369 368 355 344 279 273 240 220 207 202

In 2014 18 races were sailed in Coppa Italia during five weekends and 86 Italian sailors plus many foreign friends participated in the event. Coppa Italia is supported by a pool of sponsors which offer their products for the final prizegiving: KevLove Bags, Grappa Bertagnolli, Quantum Sail Design Group, 3FL Saildesign, HitechSailing. com, Gill-Tomasoni Fittings, Bertacca Sail Equipment, Essemarine, Residence Ca’ del

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Malcesine International Finn Cup 47 Finns from nine countries gathered in Malcesine at the beginning of October for the traditional International Finn Cup - Andrea Menoni Trophy. The weather was warm and a nice wind allowed all the scheduled races to be completed in the three day event.

Three tough and long races were sailed on the first day with a 10-12 knots Ora and Giorgio Poggi showed his intentions with two bullets and a third place, with Enrico Voltolini winning the second race. On the second day the fight between Giorgio and Enrico continued and they shared victories in the two races of the day. Again a nice Ora which picked at 14 knots allowed perfect sailing conditions and free pumping in almost all downwind legs.

On the last day only one race was left and the Race Committee decided to wake everybody up early, with a start at 8.30 in order to make the most of the Northerly Peler. A good race was sailed but the wind was not as strong as usual in the morning, blowing only at 7-8 knots. Again Giorgio and Enrico were neck and neck all the race, with Giorgio Poggi going to win the race and the series. Second place went of course to Enrico Voltolini, while third was the Russian Vladimir Krutskikh, coach of Lanfranco Cirillo’s Fantastica Sailing Team and former Olympian in Athens. The Austrian Florian

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

22

NOR 5 NOR 64 SWE 59 NOR 11 NOR 7 SWE 725 NOR 6 NOR 739

Lars Johan Brodtkorb Petter Fjeld Lars Edwall Jens Makholm Paal HH Lindenskov Jan-Erik Floren Zelimir Saljic Tom Bråthen

6 13 16 20 28 42 46 54

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The organisation put in place by Fraglia Vela Malcesine was perfect as usual, with plenty of space and facilities, pasta party every day and nice gadgets for all the sailors. The Andrea Menoni Trophy was awarded to Giorgio Poggi as first Italian in the leaderboard.

1 ITA 117 2 ITA 66 3 RUS 7 4 AUT 3 5 SUI 7 6 CZE 3 7 CZE 1 8 ITA 14 9 ITA 6 10 ITA 83

Giorgio Poggi Enrico Voltolini Vladimir Krutskikh Florian Raudaschl Christoph Burger Rudolf Lidarik Michael Maier Yury Tokovoy Enrico Passoni Matteo Savio

6 10 21 23 23 33 35 38 38 54

won the Europeans in the Europe dinghy.

This year he competitor in the Europeans in Finn, Kiel week as well as the juniors Worlds.

NORWAY Zelimir Saljic writes: From our last report in November 2013, our Norwegian sailors were very active in various international events.

At home we had successfully organised an open National championship in 2014 at the Fredrikstad Sailing Club. The championship took place between the 30-31 of August at the same venue as last year, in front of the beautiful island of Hankoe. During the two days of the competition, there were nice winds, from 5 to 15 m/s and warm weather.

The pleasant social atmosphere in the historical clubhouse, located in old wooden boat shipyard, made this event unforgettable.

Raudaschl followed in fourth and Christoph Burger from Switzerland was fifth.

Behind the brilliant juniors, older sailors were also active internationally. Petter Fjeld, NOR 64, sailed in Australian Finn Championship in Brisbane. In Cannes, beside Anders, was Jens Makholm; At Finn Masters in Poland Norway was represented by 3 sailors.

In June this year Norwegian Finn sailors participated in the Norwegian Cup organised

by Norwegian Sailing Federation for dinghies in Asker Sailing Club. In the two days of sailing five Finns sailed with another 150 boats and demonstrated the advantages and excitement of Finn sailing to younger sailors and others from the dingy world.

We would like to mention young Anders Pedersen (NOR 1) who continues to improve his international World Cup rankings. After sailing in the Europeans and Kiel Week he won the juniors World Master. This year Anders greatest success was the Gold Cup where he finished in eighth place, qualifying Norway for the Olympics in the Finn. This was the last year that Anders sailed as a junior and we hope that he will continue with the good results in the future. Our new star is another Norwegian junior: Lars Johan Brodtkorb who joined Finn in 2013 after he

The plan for next year is to hold the three events in home waters. The Norwegian Championship will be on west side of the Oslo fjord, organised by the Sandefjord Sailing Club. Two other regattas are planned to be within the Norwegian Dinghy Cup. Lastly, an interesting curiosity; this year the Norwegian Finn Association was joined by a new member whose Finn (new Devoti) is, probably, the most northeast located Finn in the world. His name is Robert Rahn (NOR 10) and he sails his Finn in areas north from city of Trondheim in small place named Frosta. (63°34’22.27”N; 10°44’40.17”E). It will be interesting if we can discover through Finnfare, if this really the most northerly located Finn.

Photos: Markus Wenk, Antonio Costantini, Marisa Bruckner, Ernst Bruns

ITALY (cont.)

NETHERLANDS Ronald Ruiter writes: Dear fellow Finn sailors. Here some stories about the Dutch Finn sailing this summer. And what a summer it was. We probably had more hours of sun than Italy, Spain and France together. And rumours are that the next Les Voiles de Saint Tropez will be held in Scheveningen, because the weather and the terraces are so much better.

But seriously; we had a busy schedule this summer. With more than 10 national regattas between June and October, our wives, families and friends became strangers, but it was worth it. And after all, we still have each other…We made a small selection of these races, because we don’t want to take all of Robert’s space in this beautiful magazine.

At the Vrijbuiter weekend in Loosdrecht there were a lot of competitors from the area, and in Loosdrecht that means trouble.

As one of our most honest sailing guys said, if the stakes are lower, the worst the rules are followed. And at the end, it was the battle between long international experience and local talent. Bob Heineke won from Martijn van Muyden and Eric Bakker.

Top 10 from 28 entries 1 NED 17 Bob Heineke 2 NED 42 Martijn van Muyden 3 NED 703 Eric Bakker 4 NED 60 Luuk Kuijper 5 NED 29 Bas de Waal 6 NED 49 Jan Mark Meeuwisse 7 NED 881 Thierry van Vierssen 8 NED 4 Albert Kroon 9 NED 101 Chris Frijdal 10 NED 7 Cees Scheurwater

9 11 16 19 19 24 26 31 35 37

And then we went to Friesland, land of ice-skating, beautiful blond women and Beerenburg. Peter Aukema had challenged everyone to compete on the famous Sneekermeer for the Summerraces.

Although the racing was great, the party and BBQ afterward are even a better reason to join next year. With wind shifts of 60 degrees and more, it was difficult, but in the end, always the best sailor wins. And so Nanno Schuttrups won his third event of the year (after Nijkerk and Steinhude) just ahead of locals Peter Aukema and Bart Brijder.

Top 10 from 24 entries 1 NED 787 Nanno Schuttrups 2 NED 40 Peter Aukema 3 NED 57 Bart Brijder 4 NED 101 Chris Frijdal 5 NED 64 Wietze Zetzema 6 NED 45 Bas Weijman 7 NED 67 Ronald Ruiter 8 NED 76 Klaas Bood 9 NED 10 Nanne Boot 10 NED 112 Michel Miltenburg

6 12 16 16 18 23 24 26 27 29

And than to the real gig on the Sneekermeer: the Sneekweek. This is really a survival of the fittest. The combination of Frisian women, booze, beer and a 10.00 start make it one of

1 NED 41 2 NED 80 3 NED 62 4 NED 927 5 NED 17 6 NED 787 7 GER 799 8 NED 54 9 NED 29 10 NED 101

Dutch Nationals 2014 - Final Results

Karel van Hellemond Sander Willems Gert van der Heijden Douwe Broekens Bob Heineke Nanno Schuttrups Cornelius Schollmayer Joos Bos Bas De Waal Chris Frijdal

2 5 4 6 15 1 3 9 12 10

9 (21) (43) 1 8 4 (15) 8 1 (20) 18 3 (27) 2 2 9 11 6 14 (29)

2 6 4 3 9 2 10 4 6 7 (dns) 16 15 9 8 (25) (bfd) 11 16 14

2 2 5 11 (dns) 4 3 3 9 8 4 7 6 14 25 15 10 24 12 9

23 29 31 34 46 49 49 68 74 75

the toughest races in the world. Even getting to the start is an ordeal. So after a long week, Tijmen van Rootselaar was definitely the best from Ronald Ruiter and local Bart Brijder.

Top 10 from 19 entries 1 NED 94 Tijmen van Rootselaar 2 NED 67 Ronald Ruiter 3 NED 57 Bart Brijder 4 NED 62 Tim Van Rootselaar 5 NED 76 Klaas Bood 6 NED 112 Michel Miltenburg 7 NED 982 Maarten Russchen 8 AUS 8 Dirk Seret 9 NED 43 Ronald Van Klooster 10 NED 6 Rob De Cocq

9 20 23 25 28 29 37 48 52 53

One of the best hosted regattas of the year is the Randmeerrace. Not only on the water, but definitely on shore it is worth joining next year. After six beautiful races, Karel van Hellemond proved to be in great shape for our nationals and he won. Tobias Kirchbaum came in second, from Bas de Waal.

Top 20 from 52 entries 1 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 2 NED 972 Tobias Kirschbaum 3 NED 29 Bas de Waal 4 NED 94 Tijmen van Rootselaar 5 NED 881 Thierry van Vierssen 6 NED 69 Jelte Baerends 7 NED 67 Ronald Ruiter 8 NED 40 Peter Aukema 9 NED 55 Eddy Huisman 10 NED 999 Dennis de Ruiter

7 17 18 23 23 33 34 35 48 52

And than to the main event of 2014, our National Championships. And we think we have to apologise to our German and Swedish friends who came from far, but experienced an event, that was not always worth being called a National Championship.

We invite you for next year and we promise to host you the best event ever.

And despite the starting times, the fog, the green soup at the ramp and the unnecessary missing of a few starts, it was a great event. Especially the well known traditional Finnborrel (boozing with friend) was perfect. And all the frustration of the first two days were forgotten after a beautiful last day with three races between 16 and 26 knots of wind.

Karel van Hellemond is our National Champion (masters and young heroes). Sander Willems lost the victory in the last race with more than bad luck. Gert van der Heijden had a great Finn comeback with a third place.

11 SWE 825 12 NED 94 13 NED 841 14 NED 965 15 NED 66 16 NED 60 17 NED 7 18 NED 67 19 NED 770 20 NED 88 21 NED 100 22 NED 86 23 AUS 8 24 NED 966 25 SWE 59 26 NED 27 27 NED 902 28 NED 43 29 NED 922 30 NED 50 31 NED 35 32 NED 22 33 NED 2 34 NED 704 35 GER 202 36 NED 126 37 GER 62 38 NED 18 39 NED 924 40 NED 82 41 NED 31 42 NED 58 43 NED 8 44 NED 931 45 NED 823 46 GER 707 47 NED 112 48 GER 52 49 NED 963 50 GER 45 51 NED 982 52 GER 165 53 NED 32 54 GER 751

Olof Lundqvist Tijmen Rootselaar Hein van Egmond Robert Thole Ewout Meijer Luuk Kuijper Cees Scheurwater Ronald Ruiter Hein Bloemers Chiel Barends Arend Arendvandersluis Stefan Marechal Dirk Seret Sander Jorissen Lars Edwall Paul Kamphorst Pieter Risseeuw Ronald van Klooster Roel van Olst Jan Zetzema Bas Proper Peter Hubregtsen Wouter Molenaar Erik Verboom Rolf Elsaesser Maarten Godschalx Uwe Barthel Johan Van Straalen Fred van Arkel Roel Lubberts Hans Zuurendonk Maxim Berrens Rodrick Casander Hessel Hoekstra Nico Van Wirdum Uli Breuer Michel Miltenburg Reinhold Gross Paul Douze Dirk Sundermann Maarten Russchen Dirk Meid Peter Verhoef Benedikt Jost

81 83 87 88 88 94 112 114 121 122 126 131 134 136 149 154 164 166 169 177 178 181 182 184 190 205 206 210 214 221 223 228 236 239 246 257 263 263 272 273 277 280 290 308

So now we prepare for the Boerenkoolcup and Fons van Gents’ Roermond. And than we will join the winter series in Hellevoetsluis or Nijkerk. We hope and expect to have more summer days this winter.

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RUSSIA Finn Russian Cup Vasiliy Kravchenko writes: The Finn Russian Cup is organised by the Russian Finn Association and consists of several stages held in almost all Russian regions where the Finn is present. In 2014 it consisted of stages in Gelendzhik, Sochi, Taganrog, Togliatti, Krasnoyarsk and Moscow. Thanks to this, more athletes have the opportunity to take part, which promotes the further development of Finn class in these regions.

1- Gelendzhik, 11-14 April 14 athletes from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Italy took part in the competition.

Splendid weather with variable strong and medium winds, with good waves, allowed eight races in three days. Borisov from Sevastopol, won five races. Andre Gusenko from Dnepropetrovsk was second.

Alexander Kulyukin from Togliatti won the final race and came third. At the same time a joint meeting of the Russian and Ukrainian Finn Associations was held. Plans were discussed for joint activities and confirmed plans to hold the CIS Open Championship for Finn Masters in Sevastopol in October.

2 - Alexander Novikov regatta Alexander Novikov joined the Russian Finn Association almost since its foundation and made a great contribution to its development and the training of young sailors. On July 10, 2013, Alexander was killed in a car accident. After that the Finn Association decided to hold an annual regatta dedicated

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to his memory, in Taganrog. This year there were 14 sailors from seven regions. The first day was lost because of the lack of wind. On the second day the organisers carried out six races. But there were tricky lake conditions with wind streaks, shifts and other surprises. Dmitry Petrov won, with second place taken by a girl, Svetlana Shnitko, having shown others how to go downwind. Alexander Kulyukin was third.

3 - Sochi The competition attracted 14 participants.

Egor Terpigorev confidently won ahead of his opponent from the national team Alexei Selivanov. The duel for the third place was between juniors Arkady Kistanov and Anatoly Korshikov and only the final race decided the destiny of the bronze medal. Kistanov did his best, used all his skills in match-races and gave no chance to Anatoly.

4 - Volga River, Konakovo, June 19-22 This is for the second time that the rapidly developing resort Konakovo River Club has hosted a Finn competition. The club provides motor boats and comfortable accommodation for the competitors.

This year there were eight athletes, who received a fantastic welcome. On the first day the gusty wind reached 25 knots, then became more moderate. There were 12 well organised races. Felix Denikaev confidently won from Alexander Kravchenko who had good results on the final day. Alexey Borovyak was third, one point ahead of Vasiliy Kravchenko.

5 - Povolzhye regatta Povolzhye regatta is one of the most famous Russian sailing competitions. The history of this event began in 1937. Then, in Kuibyshev on the initiative of the legendary pilot Valery Chkalov, the first Povolzhye regatta started. In 1967 the regatta moved to Stavropol-on-Volga (Togliatti at present time). And since then this place has become a permanent base for the competition. Ivan

Izmestev was first, Alexander Kulyukin took second and Dmitry Petrov was third.

6 - Crystal Cup, Moscow, 12-13 July The competition attracted 21 sailors from Moscow and the Moscow region. The weather favoured the sailors and the organizers with two sunny and windy days. Eight races were carried out, all held in a friendly atmosphere.

It was an exciting fight with each sailor from the top 10 leading a race at least once. Felix Denikaev won from Alexander Kasatov and Alexander Kravchenko.

7 - Siberian Cup, Krasnoyarsk, 8-10 Aug. The races took place at the Krasnoyarsk water basin in the Shumiha river bay. The Admiral eco-park hosts the competition, which attracted 16 Finn sailors. The fight was tough so that it was difficult to know who would be at the top until the final race.

Alexander Makogonov won and retained the title from Vladimir Kovalenko, a winner of international competitions in kite surfing, and Eugene Vertohvostov.

8 - Open Russian, Moscow, 26-31 Aug. The Open Russian is one of the most popular Russian Finn regattas. It started in 2007 and regularly attracts 50 to 80 sailors from Russia and abroad. Traditionally it includes the Russian Finn Masters and Russian Championship in the Finn.

Open Russian 2014 - Final Results

This year despite the difficult economic and political situation 61 sailors from 15 regions of Russia, Ukraine and Italy arrived in Moscow. The first racing day was rainy and the sky was gloomy. However, despite this the opening ceremony was held in a festive and friendly atmosphere. On the first day Felix Denikaev, the winner of Moscow Championship, led after two races, with Denis Kotliarov and Victor Pilgunov breathing down his neck. Arkadiy Kistanov had picked up an OCS. On the second day of the regatta there was good weather with a little more wind. After five races Kistanov took the lead with another junior, a newcomer to the Finn class, Victor Pilgunov in second. Anatoly Korshikov was third. On the third day Kistanov had bad luck again and did not finish the first race after his false start. Korshikov had great results and took the lead.

The weather decided to test the sailors on the fourth day with rain and wind up to 20 knots. In four hours the Race Committee carried out three races and Kistanov re-took the lead. The gap in points between the top three was small, and each one was hoping for the medal race to improve his position. Out of top ten, six were under 22 years of age.

Everybody was ready to see the medal race battle, but the weather was nearly exhausted, and there wasn’t enough wind. However a start was made for the Team Fantastica prize. The race attracted top sailors including Victor Potapov, Luca Devoti and Viktor Kozlov and was exciting and unpredictable. The great Finn sailors showed their high skill level using unexpected techniques, sometimes leaving the young sailors behind. By the end of the race the junior Denis Kotlyarov confidently led, but he made a mistake rounding the last mark, and the race win and prize (a new sail) eventually went to Borisov.

1 RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov (J) (ocs) 4 1 4 5 2 RUS 7 Anatoliy Korshikov (J) 6 (29) 3 1 9 3 RUS 1 Aleksey Borisov (26) 1 (bfd) 5 6 4 RUS 27 Denis Kotlyarov (J) 2 5 4 (29) (42) 5 RUS 111 Dmitriy Petrov (20) (18) 2 13 1 6 RUS 707 Viktor Pil’gunov (J) 1 8 9 2 4 7 RUS 29 Artur Kotlyarov (J) 10 7 (22) 3 7 8 RUS 91 Kirill Luzan (J) 12 (23) 7 8 3 9 RUS 41 Feliks Denikaev 4 2 15 6 (17) 10 RUS 32 Aleksey Zhivotovskiy 11 17 6 (26) 15 11 RUS 21 12 RUS 161 13 RUS 3 14 RUS 171 15 RUS 23 16 RUS 57 17 RUS 25 18 RUS 34 19 RUS 205 20 RUS 17 21 RUS 51 22 RUS 13 23 RUS 16 24 RUS 5 25 RUS 311 26 RUS 711 27 RUS 414 28 RUS 142 29 RUS 524 30 RUS 163 31 RUS 46 32 RUS 69 33 RUS 14 34 RUS 87 35 RUS 1117 36 RUS 212

Vladimir Butenko Aleksandr Kulyukin Aleksey Borovyak Aleksandr Kravchenko Sergey Akulinichev Anton Sadchikov Anatoliy Voshhenikov Aleksandr Kasatov Sergey Stepanov Vasiliy Kravchenko Mihail Petriga Lev Shnyr’ Oleg Hudyakov Sergey Zabotin Evgeniy Deev Yakov Rusin Daniil Vostorgov Yuriy Polovinkin Petr Oleynikov Vitaliy Kuvaev Aleksey Moskalev Denis Haritonov Sergey Bezruk Pavel Selivanov Andrey Bill Lanfranco Cirillo

109 111 123 124 138 148 159 160 168 175 175 190 190 192 200 208 218 226 227 230 230 241 249 261 263 263

rdg 4 (6) 1 1 1 3 (14) 4 3 5 2 7 6 1 9 6 2 4 3 (ocs) 11 12 4 3 9 13 10 12 (zfp) 15 7 13 10 16 13 14 5 (23) 12

37 RUS 55 38 RUS 83 39 RUS 4 40 RUS 77 41 RUS 88 42 RUS 54 43 RUS 75 44 RUS 74 45 RUS 28 46 RUS 739 47 RUS 45 48 RUS 131 49 RUS 118 50 RUS 20 51 RUS 9 52 RUS 63 53 RUS 96 54 RUS 97 55 RUS 18 56 RUS 11 57 RUS 61 58 UKR 17 59 RUS 37 60 RUS 81 61 RUS b/n

2 8 4 1 17 3 10 9 (26) 14

6 4 8 11 1 (40) (33) 2 14 3

Ivan Zabotin Kirill Mel’nikov Sergey Kovalenko Egor Abramov Mihail Yacun Vladimir Kovalenko Ivan Potapov Yan Mahanek Viktor Kozlov Mihail Korchagin Artem Kalganov Aleksandr Lauhtin Vladimir Volodin Sergey Bolotin Aleksandr Anan’ev Yuliy Cheremisov Boris Razuvalov Maksim Gromov Evgeniy Dzhura Valentin Danilov Dmitriy Volovik Valeriy Krupenin Aleksey Aleksandrov Gleb Slobodov Nikolay Gil’bert

32 36 38 46 49 54 72 75 93 97

274 285 309 312 322 322 332 345 362 367 368 370 372 379 385 401 432 458 479 485 499 558 558 558 558

their high potential and professionalism especially in Moscow waters. Last winter for a long time Kistanov trained in Valencia.

His determination amazes me. Let’s wait for a few years; I’m sure he will show himself at a new level.”

Other results include: Legends: Viktor Kozlov; Grand Grand Masters: Yuri Polovinkin; Grand Masters: Felix Denikaev; Masters: Dmitry Petrov; Junior: Arkady Kistanov.

The Open Russian prize giving ceremony was held near the house of the Race Officials in CSP Khlebnikovo. The atmosphere at the ceremony was festive and friendly. As usual, at Open Russian there were no losers, each participant received a souvenir and an issue of the annual magazine.

Andrey Balashov Cup Besides the overall results of the regatta, the results of Andrey Balashov Cup were summed up. This year Andrey Balashov Cup attracted 130 athletes. This year the most active and accomplished sailors at home competitions were Alexander Kasatov (third), Alexey Borovyak (second) and the winner Felix Denikaev (first).

Luca Devoti visited Open Russian as a guest. He said: “Open Russian is a unique event. Such a massed regatta allows any athlete racing in a big fleet. It’s nice that if you cannot win the regatta overall, it is possible to win in the age category. As far as I can see the youths from the beginning showed that they would not yield to the adults. The juniors Korshikov and Kistanov were first and their main victories in the Olympic yachting are yet to come. They raced well in different weather conditions, which shows me, an experienced sailor,

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Björn Allansson was the man to beat but the fact remains, no other sailor in the fleet stood a chance. Ranked number two in the world Björn showed the reason for it and in the strong winds and high seas he took the gun in both races. His boat handling skills and free pumping technique paid off and it was with quite a margin he finished first.

SWEDEN Swedish Masters 2014 September 13-14, 2014 KKF Twenty-five Finns rigged up on the banks of Lake Vänern at Karlstad KF on Saturday, 13 September for the 2014 Swedish Masters and Open event ‘Sola Cup’. The weekend forecast was for light winds and sunny weather.

The first race on Saturday was sailed in a north-easterly at 6-10 knots, together with sunshine. On the first run Stefan Fagerlund found a good course and pulled out a solid lead to go on to win from Lars Edwall and Henrik Rydell. For the second race there were similar conditions at the start but the wind dropped a bit and got patchy. Round the first mark it was quite crowded with Martin Pluto in the lead.

Pluto was overtaken by Edwall just before the bottom mark and the battle was really on going up the second beat. Pluto played the shifts perfectly to retake the lead and then showed good nerves to cross the line first followed by Fagerlund and Stefan Nordström who climbed a few places thanks to good downwind speed.

For the last race of the day the wind was becoming a bit unstable which divided the fleet into two groups, one heading right and one left. On the first beat it looked good on both sides but half way up it was settled when a big shift gave the eft side a huge advantage.

Leading the pack was Svante Collvin just ahead of Per Friberg. One meter before the finishing line Friberg was overtaken by Christofer Finnsgård who made his comeback to the class after a long break.

On Saturday evening the fleet enjoyed a very good meal in the clubhouse of Karlstad SS with a chance to share stories and prevarications from the day’s event.

As usual a very nice social event amongst good sailing friends.

Sunday morning was as sunny as the day before but unfortunately the forecast predicted even lighter winds for the day. The entire fleet was launched and headed out to the race area to find all the fears regarding the wind come true. After almost three hours of waiting the race committee decided to abandon racing and send the fleet ashore leaving the overall standings unchanged.

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On day two the fleet was reduced due to the strong winds and even higher waves but there were still around 20 boats heading for the racing area. Again Björn dominated the scene and took all three victories of the day.

The prize giving crowned, for the second consecutive year, Stefan Fagerlund as first Swedish Master, Svante Collvin as first Grand Master, Jens Makholm as first Great Grand Master and Jan-Erik Florén as first Legend.

Yet another well organised regatta in Karlstad ended the 2014 season and the Swedish Finn fleet will return next year to this nice sailing venue to battle for glory and fame at the 2015 Swedish Masters and Open event Sola Cup. 1 SWE 22 2 SWE 2 3 SWE 14 4 SWE 59 5 SWE 60 6 SWE 8 7 SWE 3 8 SWE 91 9 SWE 6 10 SWE 16 11 SWE 68 12 DEN 11 13 SWE 800 14 SWE 66 15 SWE 688 16 SWE 698 17 SWE 111 18 SWE 0 19 SWE 52 20 SWE 44 21 SWE 88 22 SWE 9 23 SWE 702 24 SWE 725 25 SWE 35 26 SWE 75

Stefan Fagerlund - M Svante Collvin - GM Stefan Nordström - GM Lars Edwall - GM Martin Pluto Christofer Finnsgård Christian Finnsgård - M Pär Friberg - GM Olof Lundqvist - M Henrik Rydell - GM Jesper Åberg Jens Makholm - GGM Erik Åberg Ulf Bjureus - GM Håkan Stööd - GGM Peter Bernstein - GGM Torsten Jarnstam -GGM Gunnar Åberg - GGM Johan Forsman - GM Bengt Strömberg - GGM Hans Gustavsson - GM Veine Jutmar - GGM Gert Pluto - GM Jan-Erik Florén - L Christer Jakobsson - GGM Johan Wijk - M

11 11 11 15 17 19 23 25 28 32 35 36 38 43 48 49 50 52 52 54 56 61 67 70 74 81

Swedish Championship 2014 Lerkils BS on the west coast of Sweden, south of Gothenburg, organised the 2014 Swedish Championship. The fleet of 24 gathered on Thursday and prepared for the coming three days of sailing. On Friday morning the forecast predicted winds around 20 knots.

The regatta dinner on Saturday evening was held at a local restaurant where good food and drinks was served to a quite tired bunch of Finn sailors. There were a lot of discussions around, for several sailors, the death-defying downwind legs accompanied by thoughts about the coming conditions for the last day of sailing.

Sunday morning was like the previous days.

A lot of wind and even higher waves made it impossible for the organisers to anchor the starting vessel and the marks. With gusts hitting 30 knots some of the sailors started to pack the boats and eventually the race committee decide to abandon sailing and the overall standings remained unchanged.

As an indisputable winner, Björn Allansson took the gold medal and was crowned Swedish Finn Champion 2014 with Olof Lundqvist winning silver (third overall) and Stefan Fagerlund bronze (fourth overall).

Martin Boidin from Denmark made a very good regatta to finish second overall.

Yet another windy regatta was closed and everyone left the venue with aching muscles but also very good memories from Lerkil. Good facilities, racing area close to the harbour and a very friendly atmosphere makes it very likely that the Finns will come back. Thanks to Lerkils BS for this year’s Swedish Championship.

Next year the Swedish Championship is celebrating its 60th anniversary and will be

sailed on Lake Runn in Falun. All sailors are welcome to join the event and hopefully it will attract participants from all over Europe.

1 SWE 6 2 DEN 23 3 SWE 825 4 SWE 22 5 SWE 14 6 SWE 59 7 SWE 16 8 SWE 60 9 SWE 800 10 SWE 91 11 DEN 210 12 SWE 3 13 SWE 726 14 DEN 7 15 SWE 66 16 SWE 68 17 SWE 2 18 SWE 88 19 DEN 14 20 SWE 44 21 SWE 111 22 SWE 725 23 SWE 7 24 SWE 52 25 SWE 827

Björn Allansson Martin Boiden Olaf Lundqvist Stefan Fagerlund Stefan Nordström Lars Edwall Henrik Rydell Martin Pluto Erik Åberg Pär Friberg Oscar Johansson Christian Finnsgård Håkan Olsson Frederick Svendsen Ulf Bjureus Adam Svärd Svante Collvin Hans Gustavsson Jans Verner Bengt Strömberg Torsten Jarnstam Jan-Erik Florén Hans Wiberg Johan Forsman Thomas Dansk

4 8 12 17 23 24 31 33 39 40 43 43 44 48 49 60 60 64 82 85 90 97 104 104 104

Sverigecupen 2014 (Swedish Cup 2014) The annual Swedish regatta series was started with the Olympic Class Regatta in Gothenburg, followed by USS-Regattan in Uppsala, the birth place of the Finn dinghy, Swedish Championships in Lerkil and finally the Sola Cup in Karlstad.

Throughout this year Stefan Fagerlund has been in the driving seat with eight race wins to take the regatta victory in Gothenburg, third place at the Swedish Championships and finally ending the season with another regatta victory at Sola Cup. Runner up was Christian Finnsgård who turned 40 this year and began the celebration by purchasing a new mast and sail (on the advice of his wife!) to finish 19th at the Finn World Masters in Sopot, Poland. Struggling a bit in the Swedish waters the newly found speed and height was enough for silver.

1 SWE 22 2 SWE 3 3 SWE 52 4 SWE 60 5 SWE 16 6 SWE 800 7 SWE 14 8 SWE 825 9 SWE 89 10 SWE 111

Stefan Fagerlund Christian Finnsgård Johan Forsman Martin Pluto Henrik Rydell Erik Åberg Stefan Nordström Olof Lundqvist Lars Edwall Torsten Jarnstam

71 133 163 284 286 309 352 362 372 385

was won by team GBR. David Potter, Robert Deaves, John Greenwood and Lawrence Crispin all easily won their heats, setting down a clear marker for the Swedes to respond in kind. The three semi-finals were then won by Greenwood, Deaves and much to relief of the Swedes, Nyrén. Local hope was rising that the Swedes could finally keep the coveted trophy in its homeland.

Punch (C)Up at the KKF 13 October, Karlstad Tonny Nyrén took out the prestigious invitation only 2014 International Punch Cup for the fifth time at the KKF in Karlstad, Sweden with an emphatic win in the winner takes all final after benefiting from both the reduced wind speed as well as confused team leadership from the five strong British team that had dominated the racing all day, but scored an own goal right at the end.

The unique format for the Punch Cup involves a series of round robins followed by knock out stages for a winner takes all final. It is sailed in previous generation Finns and in recent years this has been 10 pre1990 Vanguard built hulls with Dacron sails all loaned by club members. KKF has the largest Finn fleet in Sweden with upwards of 30 boats in recent years.

There were 31 sailors entered, including five from the UK, two from Norway and one from Denmark for perhaps the most competitive fleet in the 33 year history of the event. It was pointed out at the briefing that even Fredrik Lööf had tried and failed to win, however the trophy had been won by British sailors for the past two years. Though the trophy is diminutive in size, it is far from it in stature. Both Lawrence Crispin and John Greenwood had overcome the Swedish home advantage to lift the trophy in the last two years and the Swedes wanted it back.

Badly. So badly it actually hurt.

The round robins seeded the sailors for the semi-final. Each of the four round robins

In the B-Fleet final, Stefan Nordström, host to the British team, streaked ahead in the lighter winds, with the 2012 winner Crispin knocked out in a shock result that left team GBR outnumbered in the 10 boat final.

After a tactical delay for the wind to die even more, the boats set out for the final battle in barely a breath of wind. Nyrén relished these conditions and sailed away for a big win. As for the British challengers, the defeat was deeply felt though they had no one to blame but themselves. It is not called the Punch Cup for nothing and perhaps through inexperience or following Greenwood’s misplaced and unauthorised ‘team orders’ and enforcing the ‘bottoms up’ rule, the imbication went too far. Deaves was in contention for a while, rounding the downwind mark second but it all fell to pieces on the final leg with some unplanned acrobatics, aggressive enemy action against Fredrik Tegnhed and ultimately penalty turns. It was all over for the British hat-trick. Deaves finally ended fourth behind a full podium of Swedes.

The Swedes are making the most of their first victory in three years as they know the Brits will be back in 2015, stronger, and more focused than ever before.

Results (top 10 from 31) 1 SWE Tonny Nyrén (below) 2 SWE Fredrik Tegnhed 3 SWE Svante Collvin 4 GBR Robert Deaves 5 GBR Tim Tavinor 6 SWE Stefan Nordström 7 SWE Adam Svärd 8 GBR John Greenwood 9 GBR David Potter 10 SWE Christofer Finnsgård

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SWITZERLAND Swiss Nationals 2014 Words and pictures by François Richard Central Europe Finn sailors are seldom seen at major events apart from Finn Masters and other regional events located in south of France or south Germany and Garda Lake.

Swiss sailors meet at their many lakes and race most times in light conditions, including their yearly Finn nationals. Over 10 years ago they already organised their Nationals at Port Camargue, on the Med coast, in the true south of Rhone valley.

The historical site (home port of crusades) offers a large bay, most days sunny conditions but also, often, very heavy winds from south-east, west (Tramontana) and possibly north (Mistral). This is a long way from Swiss conditions. Anyhow the organisers of Swiss Finn Association kept nice memories of their previous event and decided to do their 2014 nationals, off Port Camargue. Being only 4 hours away from Swiss border this huge marina hosts numerous Swiss yachts and their owners could help with the organisation.

With almost 40 entrants the event was a success including mainly the best Swiss of several generations, two UK sailors, several German and six French.

Marc Allain des Beauvais as well as Thomas Morel could foresee the event as an easy challenge, if the conditions were windy.

The first two days turned this way with a wild south-easterly wind, often above 25 knots. In these conditions only 14 Finns left the modern marina to enter two races.

As expected, the best French fought well ahead in the fleet but they found a serious dominating opposition. Christoph Burger,

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Swiss Nationals 2014 - Final Results

1 SUI 7 2 SUI 67 3 FRA 114 4 SUI 5 5 FRA 99 6 SUI 83 7 SUI 25 8 SUI 63 9 GER 19 10 GBR 61

Christoph Burger Peter Theurer Thomas Morel Christoph Christen Marc Allain des Beauvais Beat Steffen Till Klammer Thomas Gautschi Andreas Bollongino John Heyes

11 SUI 12 12 SUI 1 13 FRA 55 14 SUI 13 15 FRA 214 16 GER 7 17 SUI 32 18 SUI 3 19 GBR 46 20 GER 161 21 SUI 94 22 SUI 18

Franz Buergi Hans Fatzer Arnaud Baudin Peter Kilchenmann Franck Morel Reiner Heinings Urs Huber Carlo Lazzari Patrick Moore Ralf Kratz Andreas Friderich Peter RĂ­sti

1 2 3 4 (6) 5 (14) 8 11 9

52 57 66 70 79 129 99 108 110 151 116 122

one of the Swiss North Sails experts won race 1 ahead of Peter Theurer, the last Swiss Olympic rep at 2000 Olympics.

Despite lack of practice, Theurer won race 2 followed by Christoph Christen, well known for his top results at Masters worlds.

All three are tall, talented and heavy around 100 kg.

Behind the Swiss trio, French Thomas Morel and Marc Allain des Beauvais were the most consistent, often fighting neck and neck with Beat Steffen and the other top three Swiss.

On day two, the breeze was a bit easier around 20 knots and most entrants sailed out. The same top six leaders kept wins and top scores. The promising young French sailor Morel achieved three second places that day while Burger was gaining three more bullets.

Race 5 was a fierce fight between Burger and Allain des Beauvais who held the lead after the second upwind. He then mistakenly sailed directly to the finish line, while there was still another lap to do. He thus gave an easy lead to Christoph Burger who won his fourth race.

3 1 1 3 (5) 2 2 (5) 4 4 6 (8) 10 6 8 9 9 12 (dnc) 7

23 FRA 800 24 SUI 69 25 FRA 50 26 SUI 29 27 SUI 100 28 FRA 74 29 SUI 4 30 SUI 23 31 SUI 60 32 FRA 40 33 SUI 2 34 SUI 99

1 3 2 5 4 6 8 11 9 7

1 4 2 3 5 6 8 14 9 7

(5) (7) 4 1 2 8 11 (25) (29) 21

Yves Zoccola Jean-Pierre Weber Michel Baudin Hans Althaus Alan Kennedy Jean Louis Duret Jiri Huracek Rolf Megert John Ulbrich Joseph Rochet Helmut Klammer Kathrin Wagner

7 13 13 15 19 31 43 50 50 51 169 135 142 146 154 156 158 160 163 164 166 175

Day 3 was very light and only one late race could be completed after a long wait out on the bay. While most top guys started at pin end of line and played left side, Christen was right to set his strategy a bit more central upwind. He cleared top mark with a sufficient lead to keep Allain des Beauvais second while Franz Buergi, a lighter sailor took third on finish line.

The wind was almost gone on day 4 and no more races could be done. Together with Jiri Huracek, and before ending 14th overall, Swiss class vice president Peter Kilchenmann was the key man around the event. He convinced his mates to opt for this location, he worked a lot to set the

organising team, get numerous gifts from several sponsors and every evening did a friendly daily prizegiving and lottery. The French class and its sponsors also helped to make the event possible and fun.

Christoph Burger is now 38. Twice in 2004 and 2008 he was set to become the Swiss rep at the Olympics...but Swiss Olympic Committee decided not to send a Finn.

Apart from Finns, as known partner of North Sails, he races on various classes like Stars, GC 32, and just the week after Finns, he became 5.5 JI meters world champion as tactician for Flavio Marrazi.

Being busy with family and career concerns Peter Theurer, now 45, has for long left Finn international meetings. He still races the Finn he raced at Sydney Olympics 2000 and does most of his racing from Bien Lake, in central Switzerland. At the 2014 nationals he did it all on experience and strength and ended second despite total lack of pre practice.

John Heyes, current Finn GBR president was at Port Camargue to compete; at his light/medium weight, he did well against the heavy weight leaders. He was DNC in the very windy race 2 but remained very consistent between 7 and 9th in most races.

Surprisingly he only missed the right tacks (or speed) during final light weather race to end 21st. Patrick Moore the other GBR entrant lives in central France and often meets French sailors here and there. With certainly less practice than many he managed to end 19th despite missing the first two races.

Among its now, more than 100 members, The Swiss Finn class has 60 active sailors and 20 well known at international events.

The ever enthusiastic Thomas Gautschi is probably the most seen at ISAF events and Finn Gold Cups for many years. Next to all these males, there was one female sailor, Kathrin Wagner. At just 48 kg she only raced the light weather final days.

Bärgluftwoche, June 9-13 Franz Buergi writes: The Finn fleet on Lake Biel shows an impressive growth and prosperous activities. Nine Finns participated at the Bärgluftwoche, a series of evening races during a whole week.

The local Finn gang even organised the two Finns of the Swiss Finn association in order get two more local sailors out on the lake. Five races were sailed in variable conditions with Peter Theurer as the clear winner followed by Philipp Grünig and Jan Fischer. In 2015 Lake Biel will host the national championship.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SUI 67 SUI 13 SUI 80 SUI 54 SUI 88 SUI SUI 541 SUI 3

Peter Theurer Philipp Grünig Jan Fischer Eddy Röthlisberger Daniel Müller Markus Römer Konrad Schüpbach Ueli Appenzeller

4 10 19 24 31 37 39 52

Niederhornkanne, July 11-13 2014 Thirty Finn men and two Finn ladies from five countries met for the traditional Niederhornkanne on Lake Thun. Once again the regatta was part of the Alpencup with events in Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Though the weather forecast didn’t look too promising a light westerly wind allowed two races on the first day. Rolf Megert secured his first race win ever. Day two brought similar conditions with three more races. The tricky conditions brought a bad race for most of the top sailors. In the evening the sailors were invited to a tour of the Wilke shipyard followed by an excellent dinner in the boat hall. The last day started with a longer waiting period out on the water.

Shortly before the time limit another nice race could be sailed in a light southerly wind.

Christoph Christen was the clear dominator of the long weekend followed by a small pack with Peter Kilchenmann in second and Andreas Friderich in third place.

1 SUI 5 2 SUI 13 3 SUI 94 4 SUI 71 5 AUT 333 6 FRA 817 7 SUI 3 8 AUS 8 9 ITA 89 10 SUI 1 11 SUI 12 12 SUI 63 13 SUI 80

Christoph Christen Peter Kilchenmann Andreas Friderich Philipp Grünig Gerhard Weinreich Bertrand Baumann Carlo Lazzari Dirk Seret Florian Demetz Hans Fatzer Franz Bürgi Thomas Gautschi Jan Fischer

10 32 33 33 37 41 41 42 48 50 51 52 56

14 SUI 441 15 FRA 40 16 SUI 60 17 SUI 23 18 SUI 57 19 SUI 18 20 AUT 18 21 SUI 30 22 SUI 50 23 ITA 93 24 SUI 2 25 SUI 9 26 SUI 29 27 SUI 4 28 SUI 99 29 SUI 10 30 SUI 82 31 ITA 91 32 AUT 22

Ruedi Christen Rochet Joseph John Ulbrich Rolf Megert Ruedi Baumann Peter Rösti Christian Scheinecker Urs Wenger Gérard Birbaum Nikolaus Mair Helmut Klammer Andrea Roost Hans Althaus Jiri Huracek Kathrin Wagner Roland Schneider Lukas Schenk Hubert Sparer Tina Sperl

56 57 64 65 73 73 79 86 95 96 99 100 119 120 125 133 135 140 151

Steckborn, August 29-30 2014 Only eight boats made it to Steckborn despite the good weather forecast promising westerly winds. Saturday started with nice and warm weather and an increasing westerly breeze.

Four nice races could be sailed. A completely different picture on Sunday with cold and rainy weather and a strong breeze ended in a stormy last race. With a total of eight races it was a perfect sailing weekend with great hospitality from the organising club. Piet Eckert was in a class of his own winning five races. With quite a distance in points Hans Fatzer finished in second place and Thomas Gautschi in third.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SUI 86 SUI 1 SUI 63 FRA 40 SUI 32 SUI 82 SUI 61 SUI 564

Piet Eckert Hans Fatzer Thomas Gautschi Joseph Rochet Urs Huber Lukas Schenk Andreas Küenzli Thorsten Koch

10 21 23 23 38 48 50 57

Briefing for Bart’s Bash at Port Camarque

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USA Peter Conally writes: The USA Finn class continues to grow with the San Diego fleet leading the charge. San Diego Yacht Club will host the 2015 nationals in September. They hosted the Pacific Coast Championships earlier this year won by Phil Toth. Mike Dorgan was second with Jim Hecht third.

The state championships were hosted by Mission Bay Yacht Club in San Diego with 21 Finns on the starting line. Caleb Paine won the regatta followed by Phil Toth and Eric Lidecis. Good inside the bay sailing.

Labor Day regatta in Long beach was won

by Henry Sprague followed by Toth and Robert Kinney.

The 2014 Toilet Bowl Regatta consisted of 20 boats and five races. Darrell Peck, won, just 5 points in front of Josh Revkin in second, with Chuck Rudinski third and top Grand Master. Gus Miller was top Legend pictured right of top rookie Eric Anderson, and Darrell Peck.

Vanguard Finn, which had never been in the water, Needlespar mast and T3+B sail out of the lobby of his factory and raced it in the regatta. The gear looked beautiful and did well on the flat water in moderate wind. The only thing that betrayed him was his body as evidenced in double tacks, interesting gybes and bloody knees. It was not the first time one of Peter’s outdoor sports had left him bloody.

Good thing he is married to an MD.

Above: Sailmaker Eric Wilson

reminding Peter how to rig a Finn

Below: Launching the 1984 Finn for the first time

The regatta of eight races in three days was won by Kiwi / American Indian Rob Coutts from Oklahoma and original sailing educator of brother Russell.

Picture is of Peter and Olaf Harken who were the principals of Harken/Vanguard, Charlie Miller of North Sails Midwest, Art Diefendorf President of USAFA, Pat Healy Secretary of USAFA, Olympic Committee Finn Rep Tony Herrmann who is also the Finn Class Faith Healer but here without his masks, feathers and rattles, and Gus Miller, Finn Coach.

Good tight racing enjoyed by all.

Much training is taking place in Southern California. Also many new younger sailors are coming aboard through the US Finn development programme.

2014 NA Finn Masters Pewaukee YC Gus Miller writes: 19 Master Finn sailors from the Midwest, Rocky Mountains and the East, Gulf and West Coasts of North America came to Pewaukee, Wisconsin for the 2014 Finn Master Championship. It was a pilgrimage as Pewaukee is the home base of the Harkens which built Vanguard Finns and started the 1974 revolution that put North American Finn gear and sailors at the top of the world for a decade.

Peter Harken, who had not raced a Finn in 40 years took the 1984 Olympic model

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

NZL 9 USA 33 USA 117 USA 3 USA 40 EST 11 CAN 11 USA 23 USA 31

Rob Coutts John Marshall Mickael Mark Bob Biwer Chuck Rudinsky Scott Griffiths Jim Cameron Jim Hunter Peter Frissell

11 30 32 35 40 42 50 51 62

Rob Coutts on his way to winning the NA Masters

10 USA 975 11 USA 140 12 USA 1129 13 USA 15 14 USA 303 15 USA 22 16 USA 401 17 USA 22 18 USA 7 19 CAN 5

Gus Miller David Jackson Eric Wilson Pat Healy Joe Chinburg Mitch Moylan Craig Johnson Terry Greenfield Peter Harken Joerg Kemnade

73 73 75 76 79 80 80 104 119 127

Above: Pat Healy, Peter Harken, Olaf Harken, Tony Herrmann, Gus Miller, Art Diefendorf, Charlie Miller Below: Ruth, Edit, Peter and Olaf Harken outside the Detroit YC after being inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame class of 2014

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