FINNFARE November 2008

NOVEMBER 2008

Gold - Ben Ainslie • Silver - Zach Railey • Bronze - Guillaume Florent

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 20082

Follow the leader in a Devoti Finn

Dealer for England:Suntouched SailboatsRepresented by: Rodney CobbEmail: [email protected]: www.suntouched.co.uk

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FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2008 3

Opening shot: Second Olympic Finn Gold for Ben AinslieGold – Ben Ainslie (GBR)

The only one of the absolute favourites to win a medal, Ben Ainslie had almost secured the gold medal before the medal race, but then had to wait another day before receiving his fourth Olympic medal and his third consecutive gold medal – two of them in the Finn class. Widely expected to win, the gold was never really in doubt. After the disappointment of watching a sure win in race one evaporate in the closing stages, he answered back in typical Ainslie style and took the lead after race five, which he maintained until the thrilling medal races.

Silver – Zach Railey (USA)

Zach Railey was leading the regatta after day two and was the only sailor to count all single digit scores going into the medal race. After Ainslie took the overall lead, Railey kept his head to stay in second overall. A tactical decision to sail Guillaume Florent down the fleet in race eight left him with a comfortable points margin going into the medal race. However, nobody wanted to be in his boots knowing that Ainslie had his number, but the strong wind in the ‘medal race that did happen’ allowed him to sail his own race to secure the medal.

Bronze – Guillaume Florent (FRA)

As one of the few sailors in the regatta to have not to have sailed in Qingdao prior to the Olympics and having only returned to the class earlier this year, Florent was rated as an ouside chance of a medal, mainly based on his good peformance at this year’s Europeans, where he also finished third. Going into the medal race, silver was a long way off, but Florent rounded the top mark in second to finally finish fourth and won the bronze from his nearest rival Daniel Birgmark because of his better medal race result, as both sailors had the same final points.

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FINNFARECirculationFINNFARE is a non-profit publication that is distributed free of charge to all IFA members and to 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.

ContributionsArticles, race results, photographs and reports from countries are always welcome. Please include FINNFARE in your National Association for mailing newsletters, bulletins, press releases and race reports.

AdvertisementsAll advertisement enquiries should also be addressed to the Editor. Technical details and rates are available on request and on the IFA website www.finnclas.org

EmailPlease email photos as high resolution jpeg files. High resolution photos for the cover always needed. Most Mac compatible formats accepted.

Honorary TreasurerTim CarverTel: +44 7798 927971Email: [email protected] Skype: carvertChief MeasurerJüri SaraskinLossi 1A, Tallinn, EE0026, EstoniaTel: (W) +372 6726 777(H) +372 6726 222Mobile: + 372 501 1321Fax: +372 6726 778Email: [email protected] Marketing CommitteeRobert Deaves124 Heatherhayes, Ipswich. IP2 9SGEnglandMob: +44 (0)7932 047046Email: [email protected]: robert.deaves

Vice-President – Masters’ FleetFons van GentMoerbeilaan 196086 EC Neer, The NetherlandsTel: +31 475 592048Fax: +31 475 510112Email: [email protected]: fonsvangentwww.finnworldmaster.comExecutive DirectorCorinne McKenzie39 Rue du Portal d’Amont66370 Pezilla la Riviere, FranceMob: +33 670 10 18 13Tel/fax: +33 4 68 92 60 46Email: [email protected]: corinnerollandmckenzieChairman Technical CommitteeRichard Hart26 Lower Spinney, Warsash, Southamp-ton, Hants SO3 9NL, EnglandTel: +44 1489 575327Fax: +44 1489 576908Email: [email protected]: rhahart

Executive Committee of IFA 2008-09President of HonourGerardo SeeligerAnabel Segura 7, 28108 Arroyo de la VegaAlcobenda, SpainMob: +34 609 20 10 20Tel: +34 91 661 61 33Email: [email protected] Balazs HajduFurj u 25, H-1124 Budapest, HungaryMob: +36 30 332 7415Fax: +36 1 319 1680Email: [email protected]: bhajdu001Vice-President – SailingDaniel BirgmarkFöreningsgatan 16E411 27 Göteborg, SwedenEmail: [email protected] – DevelopmentZach RaileyTel: +1 727 439 5505 (cell)Email: [email protected]: zachrailey2008

FINNFARE EditorRobert Deaves, 124 Heatherhayes, Ipswich. IP2 9SG, EnglandMob: +44 (0)7932 047046Email: [email protected]

Cover photos: Main photo: Ben Ainslie flies the Union Jack after winning his second Olympic Gold in the Finn. Insets: Top - Medal Ceremony; Middle: Zach Railey; bottom: Guillaume Florent. Photos: Getty Images and François Richard

Next issue: April 2009

Back issues: These are available from the editor at GBP 0.50 each plus postage. Back issues stocks begin October 1997.

IFA WEB SITEwww.finnclass.org

FINNatics and FINNLOG: FINNatics iscurrenly out of print. Some of the originalFINNLOGs (from 1986) are still availablefor GBP 5 plus p&p from the IFA office.


is the official publication of theInternational Finn Association

High performanceLong term FINNFARE advertiser High Performance Wetsuits of Auckland, New Zealand is celebrating 20 years of manufacturing hiking pants with a new website, new products and a special offer. The company was originally established in 1988 by New Zealand dinghy sailor John Dowsett, the original inventor of hiking pants. In 2008 the company has changed hands with David Broadhead taking the reins. See the Waverunna ad on the opposite page for more details. David would like to talk to old HPW customers about their impressions of the product and to discuss some new ideas. He can be contacted via the website.

ISAF World CupThe first ISAF Sailing World Cup is set to launch at the end of 2008 bringing a new annual series of sailing to the international sports calendar. The World Cup will be open to the sailing events chosen for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Competitions. The first event will be Sail

Melbourne in its new slot in Deccember, followed by Rolex Miami OCR, Trofeo Princesa Sofia MAPFRE, Semaine Olympique Hyeres, Delta Lloyd Regattas, Kieler Woche and ending at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue, Weymouth.

All change at the Pata boatyardSuntouched and Pata Boats have decided to restructure their long term partnership. As a result Pata boats, masts and other Finn equipment will now be exclusively manufactured and distributed by Pata Boats Hungary. The company hopes to minimise any inconvenience that may be caused to its customers. Other news is that Pata Boats has extended its production to Brazil with the help of the IFA. Also, the company is donating a Pata B4 Finn and mast to the winner of the 2009 Junior Finn Worlds for one year. See the company’s website and the advertisement on the inside back cover of this issue of FINNFARE for more information.


President’s letter Dear Friends, fellow Finn sailors The Olympic Games are over and the international Finn community is getting ready for another Olympic quadrennium. This is indirectly also valid for the large numbers of club level junior and senior sailors as well as for our great Masters fleet.

2008 marks also the end of my first 4 years as IFA president. Looking back I feel proud to having the opportunity to lead this traditional, human but at the same time extremely modern and state-of-the-art sailboat class. At the same time I shall thank you sailors for showing fair play on water and fraternity on land. Please also let me thank the IFA Executive Committee, especially our Executive Director for their leadership and continuous support over the past years.

Thanks to you sailors and our association we have produced some significant results in a couple of fields of our activities. Thanks to the excellent boat, our manufacturers and equipment rules we have seen growing national fleets in almost all parts of the world. The Finn Masters fleet has been exceptionally competitive and large in numbers whilst we have also managed to expand the Finn international Development Support (FIDES) programme resulting in Cyprus, India and Venezuela participating in the Beijing Olympics.

I seriously believe that our momentum is going to continue in 2009 and wish you fair winds and a successful new year.

Best regards

Dr. Balazs Hajdu HUN-1 IFA President

Finn news

2009 will mark the 60th Anniversary since the Finn was designed by Rickard Sarby back in 1949 and plans are already being made to celebrate this occasion in style.

A special book is already under way to commemorate 60 years of Finn sailing. This will be a professionally produced glossy publication highlighting each year of the history of the Finn photographically. Over the years, the class has been home to some truly great sailors and some truly memorable moments. It is planned for the book to capture the essence of the class to provide a pictorial history along with interesting stories, results and quotes.

To enable this book to be completed and to make it as thorough as it should be, a lot of help is needed by the editor in collecting photographs, especially from the very early days of the class. If you have any photos that you would like to

contribute to this book please either send them to the editor or scan them at 300 dpi and send on CD or by email. All contributions will be credited.

It is hoped the book will be ready for the Gold Cup in Copenhagen and order details should be available by the spring 2009 issue of FINNFARE. It is expected there will be a limited print run so early ordering is recommended to avoid disappointment. Online ordering will be available and discounts will be available to National Finn Associations ordering in bulk.

Please send all contributions (or leads) to: Robert Deaves, 124 Heatherhayes, Ipswich, IP2 9SG, England, or email to [email protected]

60th AnniversaryFinn Book

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2008 Olympic Regatta – Qingdao, ChinaAs the story of the 2008 Olympic regatta in the Finn class unfolded, it soon became clear that Ben Ainslie was headed for his fourth Olympic medal, his third gold and his second consecutive Finn class gold. But for a change in the wind on the final leg in race one, he would have secured gold with a day to spare. As it turned out, those lost nine places in those frustrating 10 minutes delivered an absorbing medal race showdown that few could have predicted, not once but twice, and in vastly different conditions.

The regatta centre was described, by all those who took the time to describe it, as the greatest they had ever seen. Everything was five star, from the accommodation to the launching facilities, and from the initial welcome to the goodbyes.

On the water the racing was competitive but ‘gentlemanly’. As is usual in the Olympics, many of the pre-regatta favourites failed to perform. Some of the absolute favourites didn’t even make the medal race. Such were the expected conditions in Qingdao. Everyone expected them. Few expected they themselves would suffer more than others.

However, the weather defied all the pundits. Only one day was completely lost through no wind, though most races were sailed in under 8 knots of wind and presented some challenging strategic options to the fleet of 26 Finns.

In the end, one man made history yet again, just as everyone had expected. He perhaps made it look too easy, but even Ainslie succumbed to the variable conditions on two occasions.

The sailorsOf all the 26 Finn sailors who went to Qingdao, only 12 had already tasted the Olympic arena. However 16 had won races at major championships, 18 had placed top ten in major regattas, and 11 had picked up a medal in the past four years either at the Finn Gold Cup, European Championship or Qingdao regattas. In addition, all except three of the top 20 in the world rankings were in Qingdao. It was expected to be one of the toughest Olympic Finn competitions of all time.

Day one – race oneThe early leader was Jonas Høgh-Christensen followed by Giorgio Poggi and Rafal Szukiel. Ainslie rounded in fifth and had the best of the downwind to lead through the gate from Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic. Meanwhile, Høgh-Christensen lost 17 places. Ainslie extended on the second upwind and had a useful 100 metre gap on the final leg when everything started to go wrong. Half way down the leg the wind went very light and then puffed in from the left. Emilios Papathanasiou went from eighth to first while Zach Railey moved from 15th to second and Szukiel from 14th to third. Ainslie’s lead evaporated in the slow motion finish and he ended up 10th.

Day one – race twoThe second race started in more or less the same wind with the right side clearly favoured again. Poggi again sailed a blistering first upwind to round the top mark just ahead of Szukiel and Tapio Nirkko. Ainslie rounded in a comfortable seventh place and again demolished everyone downwind to lead round the bottom gate. On the second upwind, Railey moved up to second while Rafael Trujillo climbed to fourth. This time Ainslie managed to maintain his lead on the final downwind to win race two by just 12 seconds.

Day two – race threeBuilding on his overnight celebrity status for being in second place, Railey lead round the top mark in race three and maintained it on the first downwind while Trujillo moved up to second. Trujillo took the lead on the

next downwind while Birgmark recovered to second. On the final upwind leg, Birgmark made a small gain to cross the finish line one second ahead of Railey, with Trujillo four seconds back in third. Ainslie maintained fourth place throughout the entire race.

Day two – race fourEduardo Couto led round the first mark and the first lap. Guillaume Florent rounded second with Haris Papadopolous in third. Ainslie was in fourth and Railey rounded eighth. Railey then sailed a perfect second upwind leg to move into the lead just ahead of Couto and Dan Slater. The final downwind to the finish was dramatic. In a reversal of fortunes, Ainslie found the best wind to take

the lead in the final three-quarters of the run to finish six seconds ahead of Railey while Florent moved up from 14th at the top mark to third at the finish.

Day three – race fiveStarting in about 10 knots, Couto maintained his first mark lead on the first downwind, rounding just ahead of Peng Zhang. Gasper Vincec made the best gains moving from 9th to third. On the final upwind, Couto extended his lead to 26 seconds with Vincec moving up to second, while coming up fast behind him was Ainslie. Ainslie continued his charge on the final downwind to the finish overhauling both Vincec and then Couto to take his third race win of the series so far and to move into the overall lead for the first time. Almost a photo finish, the first three boats finished in the space of one second.


FINAL RESULTS – OLYMPIC COMPETITION FINN CLASS 2008

Pos NOC Crew 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 MR Total1 GBR Ben Ainslie (10) 1 4 1 1 10 2 2 2 232 USA Zach Railey 2 5 2 2 7 8 7 (19) 12 453 FRA Guillaume Florent 5 8 20 3 4 6 4 (21) 8 584 SWE Daniel Birgmark 14 (17) 1 6 12 3 3 5 14 585 CAN Christopher Cook 8 3 7 10 (23) 5 15 3 16 676 DEN Jonas Hoegh-Christensen 16 6 12 16 (25) 4 5 7 4 707 SLO Gasper Vincec 9 11 6 5 3 (13) 8 10 20 728 CRO Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 7 10 10 8 (16) 9 1 13 18 769 ESP Rafa Trujillo Villar 12 4 3 14 20 20 OCS 1 6 8010 POL Rafal Szukiel 3 2 19 12 10 14 (22) 12 10 8211 ITA Giorgio Poggi 17 7 14 (21) 6 12 9 9 7412 NZL Dan Slater (21) 19 18 4 9 7 13 6 7613 BRA Eduardo Couto 6 16 DNF 7 2 17 14 OCS 8914 NED Pieter-Jan Postma 19 15 16 (22) 15 2 10 16 9315 GRE Emilios Papathanasiou 1 DNF 5 DNE 18 15 DNE 8 10116 AUS Anthony Nossiter 11 (22) 8 17 13 21 11 20 10117 RUS Eduard Skornyakov (24) 20 17 13 8 18 12 14 10218 FIN Tapio Nirkko 18 9 9 9 19 (22) 16 22 10219 NOR Peer Moberg 23 DSQ 11 19 22 1 DSQ 4 10720 TUR Ali Kemal Tufekci 20 (21) 13 18 14 19 6 17 10721 IRL Timothy Goodbody (22) 13 15 15 17 16 21 15 11222 CYP Haris Papadopoulos 13 18 21 11 24 11 17 OCS 11523 IND Nachhatar Singh Johal 4 (24) 23 24 11 24 18 24 12824 CHN Peng Zhang 25 23 24 20 5 (26) 23 11 13125 CZE Michael Maier 15 14 22 (25) 21 23 19 23 13726 VEN Johnny Bilbao (26) 12 25 23 26 25 20 18 149

© 2008 IOC. Official Results powered by Atos Origin. Timing and results management by Omega.

Day three – race sixRace six got underway in 7 knots. Pieter-Jan Postma led round the first mark just ahead of Nirkko and Cook. Moberg rounded in fourth place. By the leeward gate, Moberg was up to second and stayed there until the final downwind when he sneaked past Postma to take the race by just four seconds. Birgmark took third place after remaining in the top seven throughout. Some small chink was found in Ainslie’s armour as he could only manage to finish tenth in the race, just two places and two seconds behind his main rival Railey. Day four was a lay day

Day five – race sevenFor the first time on the Finn course, there was initially a significant delay in getting the first race underway because of too little wind, and then a cancellation of the second race as conditions deteriorated even further. Eduard Skornyakov made the best of the

first upwind to lead round the top mark followed by Kljakovic Gaspic and Papathanasiou. Kljakovic Gaspic took the lead at the bottom of the downwind with Ainslie jumping from seventh at the top mark to second at the gate. However Kljakovic Gaspic rounded clear of other boats and extended his lead to just over two minutes by the finish to take the race win. Ainslie held on to second, just ahead of Birgmark. By the end of the race, the wind had decreased to 4 knots.

On day six there was no racing because of lack of wind

Day seven – race eightAgain lack of wind caused a delay in the start and only one race was sailed. Although Trujillo won this race, a second place for Ainslie extended his lead at the top to 12 points. Ainslie led round the first mark for the first time in the series and extended his lead to 30 seconds by the leeward gate. Cook was second followed by Slater and Trujillo. Slater and Trujillo traded positions on the downwind and then on the final upwind leg, Trujillo took advantage of a large right hand shift. He overhauled the Brit to win the race and just make the cut for the medal race, to Poggi’s cost. Behind them, Railey was taking advantage of what would certainly be his discard to take his main threat Florent back through the fleet and increase the points gap going into the medal race.

Day eight – medal race take oneRailey was the only sailor who could take the gold medal from Ainslie going into the medal race. The battle for silver was mainly between Railey, Birgmark and Florent. The battle for bronze was wide open. The race was twice postponed in the closing seconds before the start gun, but the third


Gear used at Olympic regatta(Compiled by Jüri Saraskin)

Nation Hull Mast 1 Mast 2 Sail 1 Sail 2 Rudder (s)AUS Devoti HIT HIT North North DevotiBRA Devoti HIT Wilke Victory North DevotiCAN Devoti Wilke Wilke North North DevotiCHN Devoti Wilke Wilke North North DevotiCRO Devoti Wilke Pata Victory Victory DevotiCYP Devoti Wilke Wilke Victory WB Devoti, WilkeCZE Devoti HIT Pata North North Devoti, WilkeDEN Devoti Wilke Wilke North North DevotiESP Devoti HIT HIT North North DevotiFIN Devoti Wilke Wilke WB WB DevotiFRA Devoti (03) HIT HIT North North DevotiGBR Devoti (02) Wilke Wilke North UK North UK DevotiGRE Devoti (03) Pata Pata North Victory BloodaxeIND Devoti Wilke North North DevotiIRL Devoti Wilke Wilke North North DevotiITA Devoti HIT Wilke North North DevotiNED Devoti Wilke Wilke North Victory DevotiNOR Devoti Wilke Wilke North WB DevotiNZL Devoti Wilke Southern North NZ North NZ NZL Spars POL Devoti (03) Wilke Wilke North Victory DevotiRUS Devoti Wilke HIT North North DevotiSLO Devoti HIT HIT North North DevotiSWE Devoti Wilke Wilke WB WB Devoti, WilkeTUR Devoti HIT Victory North DevotiUSA Devoti Wilke Wilke North North DevotiVEN Devoti Pata North North Devoti

time the fleet got away in 7 knots of breeze. The big question everyone was asking before the race was would Railey bear the full brunt of Ainslie’s tactics. By the time the third start got underway, Railey had taken the battle to Ainslie and managed to escape a number of times but still Ainslie was able to execute his plan to perfection. At the first mark both boats trailed the fleet by some minutes. The gold looked like it was Ainslie’s. However the breeze was dropping and a little later racing was shelved for the day.

Day nine – medal race take twoIt was all change. Raining hard and with winds in excess of 20 knots the medal race that happened provided a complete contrast to the rest of the regatta. Though the Ynglings got their race in first, the Finns were sent back to shore as the weather and visibility rapidly deteriorated. The frustration

of the sailors, matched by the frustration of journalists and viewers worldwide, was almost palpable. But the weather improved and the AP finally came down again at 15.45 local time for a fifth attempt at a start.

Ainslie waited until the last moment before attacking and slid under Railey with about 30 seconds to go. Railey tacked off and started in last place, but in clear air. After a few tacks being exchanged out of the start, Ainslie was ahead but clearly keeping Railey in his sights.

Favouring the right hand side of the course Ainslie rounded the top mark ahead, with Florent rounding in second from the left. Positions at the first mark were: GBR, FRA, DEN, CAN, ESP, SLO, USA, SWE, POL and CRO. Railey was still in silver and Florent had moved up to bronze.

Perfect Finn sailing conditions enabled the sailors to finally enjoy the downwind with Florent and Hoegh-Christensen gaining slightly on Ainslie, while Railey moved up one to sixth. Most of the fleet favoured the left hand side of the final upwind leg with Ainslie extending. There were few changes on the final leg. Railey was still holding onto silver while Florent was comfortably in the bronze. The only real drama was Florent dropping to fourth and Birgmark moving up to seventh right at the finish. In terms of points this meant that Florent took the bronze medal off Birgmark on the result on the medal race, both sailors finishing on 58 points.

If anyone needs a masterclass in how to demoralise the opposition, then Ben Ainslie is the perfect tutor, having won the gold medal in extremely tricky conditions by 22 points. In four out of the nine races sailed, he turned a middle or low top ten result into a race winning position on the downwind legs. In the first race he was unlucky, dropping from first to tenth in the closing stages, but his counting scoreline of four race wins, two seconds, a fourth and a 10th is a graphic indication of why he was the favourite to take the gold medal again.

For many more reports including day by day quotes, daily photo galleries, interviews and much more go to www.finnclass.org.


Qingdao,

China, 2008

Photos by François Richard and Getty Images


Ben AinslieWhat was going through your head after the first race turned from a sure win into a 10th?From the sailing we had done I knew the conditions were

going to be tough and that at some stage there would be disappointments, I guess I just didn’t expect it to come that quickly. All the Games I have done I have had a bad start so this was no different.

What was your coach saying to keep you focussed in the medal race with delay after delay?Jez and I have a really good relationship. He was really just reminding me of what was happening with the tide and the wind forecasts as well as being good company.

When you got sent in from the medal race on Sunday in the squall was there a thought in your head ‘this isn’t going to happen?’Yes. I couldn’t believe it when we were sent home. When they called us back out I have never run to my boat so quickly, I just couldn’t wait to get the race over with.

Why do you think so many favourites had really off regattas?The Olympics does that, it happens every time. I think we saw this more in China because of the difficult conditions.

When will we see you in a Finn again?I don’t know. Right now my obligations are to my sponsors and to Team Origin. Once we know where and when the next America’s Cup will be then I can make a plan for 2012.

What did you do after the racing ended?Well every day I would go back down to support the sailors still racing and another Brit would win a medal. It was awesome to be a part of such a successful team.

What class do you hope to sail in 2012?Either the Finn or the Star.

What are your immediate sailing plans?Ijust competed in the Maxi World Championships with Neville Chricton on Alfa Romeo the super Maxi. I’m doing the Bermuda Gold Cup in October with the Origin match racing team and I guess the focus will now switch to match racing for a bit.

Did the Olympics live up to your expectations?It was really how I expected it to be. The conditions were really very hard and the Chinese did an amazing job in running the Games and being so hospitable to all the foreign teams and sailors.

Sum up your Olympic experience.It was a very demanding, yet rewarding experience.

Zach Railey

Was there a time when you thought you’d lose a medal completely? It was hard to tell. I think that given the level of competition and the conditions we were racing in the whole week the medal was not a guarantee until it was all over. I think that what was on my mind most was to do the best I could in each race and allow the results to fall where they went.

How did you deal with that mentally?I really just tried to stay calm and not allow my emotions to effect my decision making. There were times when things did not go as planned and I just made sure I tried to make the best out of each situation.

How much help was your coach in keeping you relaxed?Kenneth has always played a huge role in my mental preparation and focus. We go in with a goal at each event and he keeps me level headed and focused on what our goals are for each race and each day. He tells me what I need to hear and I trust him which is very important.

Did you have words with Ben overnight and what was said?Ben and I spoke almost everyday. Going into the last day we understood what each

others goals were. I think there was a mutual respect between us, that each of us had to execute what we thought was necessary to achieve those goals.

Going into the event, did you realistically expect to come away with a medal?Yes. I think that the fleet had about 10 guys who could have been on the podium and I really thought that I was in that group of 10 sailors. I am also very honest in knowing that if the regatta started again tomorrow I could just as easily have finished 8th. I had a great week and that was what it was going to take from any of the sailors that had podium aspirations. I am happy that my week happened to fall during the Olympics.

What does this mean in terms of the home fleet in the US?I think that the fleet is energized not only by


Guillaume Florent

Last year we were told you’d stopped sailing Finns and then you reappeared in Melbourne. Why did you start your campaign for 2008 so late in the day?I expected another America’s Cup cycle to start but nothing happened. After some talks, my federation and sponsor Pantaenius agreed to support me for another Olympic campaign since that was the most interesting challenge at the time.

What has been the response in France?Amazing.

Going in to the regatta, did you realistically expect to come away with a medal?I lost a lot of weight between the Europeans and the Games but I did not know if that was going to be sufficient to be competitive in Qingdao. I knew I had a chance since the place was tricky but I thought my preparation in Qingdao had been too short so I came with the goal to do my best.

What was your plan going into the medal race?Get the medal! Seriously, to hit a corner since there were too many (very good) sailors fighting for the bronze to win it sailing a conservative race. I was lucky to have the conditions I like for the medal race too.

What about the racing in general?Pretty much better conditions than what was expected.

Do you think not sailing in the test regattas helped or hindered you?I do not know.

What did you do the week after the medal race?Party. Stay with the team to support them. Go to Beijing and then back home.

What are your immediate sailing plans?I am currently trying to find an answer to this question.

Did the Olympics live up to your expectations?They definitely exceeded my expectations since I could enjoy a medal ceremony for the first time in three attempts. Also, our team was very united and there was always the right word at the right time.

Will we see you in a Finn again soon?Maybe next year but nothing is sure.

Sum up your Olympic experience.Did all that really happen? Or was it just a dream?

the result but just in participation. I am hoping that this will showcase the boat a bit more in the USA and get more people involved in the class, especially youth sailors.

What are your immediate sailing plans?I have taken a bit of a break and have been working on some business stuff outside of sailing for the last few weeks. I am hoping to look into some bigger boat series racing and also will start my 2012 Olympic Campaign at the USA Nationals this October. I am currently working on sponsors and other support areas to help with the 2012 Campaign.

What did you do the week after the medal race?I went into Beijing and enjoyed the Olympics and watched the other sports that were still competing, which was really a lot of fun. I

also went out and had some fun and enjoyed celebrating the event with my friends of whom many are my competitors, so that was a lot of fun. Once I got home I enjoyed some time with my family and friends in the USA and then started to concentrate on the future.

Were you pleased to be able to sail the medal race again even though if the positions had stayed the same in the abandoned race you’d still get the silver?Yes, I was really pleased because I was able to learn a lot from that experience and think that I am a better sailor from those situations. Even though those races were very stressful and tactical, it was the most fun I have had sailing. Being able to put myself in that situation was a lifelong dream and before each race Kenneth told me to go and enjoy the experience and I really did do just that.

Did the Olympics live up to your expectations?It did live up to my expectations and so much more. My attitude going into the event was to enjoy it and take it all in because it was what I have dreamed about doing since I have been very young. Many past Olympians told me to go out and take in the experience of being there and I think that having that attitude helped my result. I knew that whether or not I stood on the podium and reached my goal for 2008 of winning a medal, I was going to leave the Olympics with a positive feeling and a drive to come back in 2012.

Sum up your Olympic experience.Unforgettable.

Medalists have their saySoon after the end of the

Olympic regatta, FINNFARE caught up with each

of the three medallists and asked them to reflect on

their time in China.Here’s what they said...


Finn sailing from across the world

DEN

MA

RK Danish Championship 2008

Roskilde Sejlklub, 8-10 AugustThe Danish Championship returned to Roskilde after 10 years. Everything looked good with 43 entries, but the organisers had forgotten to arrange good weather to say the least. It was raining, lots of wind, and also cold for the season.

This mixture gave quite a lot of crew and boat fatigue, and several boats pulled out of the race on the second day. However, we have a new Champion, and that is not normal in Denmark, were we are known to use the same Champions again and again when we need somebody to hang a medal on.

Bjørn Allansson from Sweden won the International Danish Championship, and Kaspar Andersen became the Danish Champion.

1 SWE 6 Björn Allansson 172 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 173 DEN 46 Kaspar Andresen 254 DEN 9 Thomas Mørup-Petersen 295 NED 29 Bas de Waal 296 DEN 208 Jørgen Lindhardtsen 46

7 DEN 231 Kenneth Bøgild 508 SWE 739 Olof Lundqvist 649 DEN 218 Bo Teglers 7110 DEN 6 Lars Hall 73 11 DEN 3 Jørgen Svendsen 7912 DEN 248 Ole Vorm 9113 GER 150 Günter O. Hoffmann 9914 NED 11 Henk De Jager 11315 DEN 22 Søren Svare 11516 DEN 19 Johnny Aagesen 13017 DEN 201 Nikolai Ratzlaff 13218 DEN 1 Frank Hansen 13719 DEN 5 Søren Oster 14720 DEN 224 Henrik Thomsen 15021 DEN 140 Michael Bæk 15422 DEN 258 Christian Qvist 15523 NED 860 Loek Kruyer 170

24 NED18 Johan van Straalen 17125 DEN 226 Birger Sund Nielsen 17326 SWE 740 Sverker Härd 183

27 ITA 96 Alessandro Turchetto 18728 ITA 43 Pietro Piram 19129 SWE 713 David Berg 21330 DEN 177 Malte Pedersen 21631 GER 209 Steffen Fölsing 21732 DEN 17 Lars Juel Christensen 22533 DEN 246 Hasting Molich 22534 DEN 172 Ole Blichfeldt Madsen 22635 DEN 174 Jan Verner Nielsen 23136 DEN 229 Jan Rasmussen 25037 GER 26 Willi Meister 25038 DEN 190 Torben Sandø 25139 NED 781 Boudewijn Fehres 26040 DEN 20 Jens Bloch 26841 DEN 205 Mogens Petersson 27542 DEN 210 Finn Andersen 29143 DEN 178 Ane Zielinski 293 Næstved Finn Cup 2008Næstved Sejlklub, 6 SeptemberNæstved was next on the 6th of September, and they really know how to arrange weather. The first race with 6 to 7 meters, and thereafter 1 meter less for each race. Perfect for keeping the whole fleet on the water. This race was sailed for third year in a row, and the two first ones blew away, so this is a good sign as Næstved will host the Nationals next summer.

This was the first qualifier for next years worlds which will be held in Denmark. Thomas took a first with Jørgen, Kenneth and Kaspar somewhat behind.

1 DEN 9 Thomas Mørup-Petersen 82 DEN 208 Jørgen Lindhardtsen 153 DEN 231 Kenneth Bøggild 194 DEN 46 Kaspar Andresen 215 DEN 3 Jørgen Svendsen 216 DEN 11 Gunter Arndt 33

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A Julian Gazaria wrote to FINNFARE from Argentina. Currently there is a very active fleet in Argentina but only 8 boats. In August they raced the Marcelo Tufarolo Campeón del XXVIII Gran Prix Luis A Cerrato. Eight races were scheduled but only six were sailed because of lack of wind. Marcelo Tufarolo dominated the event winning five races. Results were: 1 Marcelo Tufarolo, 2 Julian Gazari, 3 Ricardo Reyes (Master), 4 Antonio Carosella (Master), 5 Martin Beraou.

They also have a new website which is: www.finnclassargentina.blogspot.com which describes the events and the developments of the class.

Mid-year Championships6-7 September 2008 A fleet of five South Australians and three Victorians competed in the inaugural Finn Class Mid Year Championships hosted by the Adelaide Sailing Club. Despite trying conditions, the sailing was extremely close with Aaron Heritage and James Paterson each claiming a victory in races 1 and 2 and Warwick Hill claiming victories in the remaining two races of the day. Day two was always going to be interesting. The conditions again proved to be difficult. As rarely seems to be the case these days, the top three places went down to the final race of the regatta; with Hill leading Paterson by a solitary point.

However with Paterson winning the final race, both he and Warwick finished on equal points and with an equal number of 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. However, with Peterson’s win in the last race, victory and the inaugural Mid Year Championship trophy (a magnificent trophy kindly donated by Paul Brooks) was his.

1 223 James Paterson 142 243 Warwick Hill 143 204 Aaron Heritage 294 234 Mark Roberts 305 228 Dirk Seret 406 244 Andrew Pollard 437 203 Darren Hocking 588 211 Neville Wild 60


7 DEN 19 Johnny Aagesen 418 DEN 201 Nikolai Ratzlaff 459 DEN 246 Hasting Molich 5010 DEN 22 Søren Svare 5111 DEN 249 Svend V. Andersen 5612 DEN 43 Kim Siestø 5913 DEN 18 Richard Berg-Larsen 6514 DEN 226 Birger Sund-Nielsen 7115 NED 63 Kristoffer Svarrer 7616 DEN 174 Jan Verner Nielsen 7717 DEN 21 Peter Nielsen 8818 DEN 20 Jens Bloch 9219 DEN 172 Ole Blichfeldt Madsen 9220 DEN 178 Ane Zielinski 9521 DEN 190 Torben Sandø 10122 DEN 255 Henrik Christoffersen 11223 DEN 5 Søren Oster Thygesen 11524 DEN 6 Lars Hall 115

Ofelia CupSnekkersten Skotterup SejlklubThe Ofelia Cup in Snekkersten was sailed the following weekend as the second qualifier. We had made a mistake on the dates as this regatta was sailed on the same day as an OK Dinghy Qualifier, and some sailors had to choose between the races.

Ofelia Cup had very strong wind and current, with several capsized boats. However, Thomas won again, with Kaspar a close second, and that should more or less wrap it up for those two. Kenneth is the national secretary, so he will not take a place away from anybody even though he is up there.The last two qualifiers are Kastrup Cup in the Spring plus the Holland regatta.

1 DEN 9 Thomas Mørup-Petersen 72 DEN 46 Kasper Andersen 113 DEN 3 Jørgen Svendsen 114 DEN 2 Michael Staal 205 DEN 6 Lars Hall 206 DEN 258 Christian Qvist 337 DEN 43 Kim Siestø 358 DEN 19 Johnny Aagesen 379 DEN 249 Svend Vogt 4310 DEN 226 Birger Sund 4911 DEN 15 Lars Erting 5612 DEN 172 Ole Blichfeldt 6313 DEN 190 Torben Sandø 6414 DEN 201 Nikolai Ratstaff 6815 DEN 246 Hasting Molich 7316 DEN 174 Jan Verner 7917 DEN 21 Peter Nielsen 8918 DEN 5 Søren Oster 10518 DEN 22 Søren Svare 10518 DEN 178 Ane Zielinski 10518 DEN 229 Jan Rasmussen 105

Saint Pierre QuiberonBrittany, 13-17th JulyReport by John Heyes

54 Finns travelled to the beautiful Baie de Quiberon for the French National Championship, including 14 visitors from the UK. A high-pressure system provided sun and light airs for almost all the four days of racing with some very shifty and unpredictable winds.

Jonathan Lobert made clear his intentions by taking first place in both of Monday’s opening races in a variable 6-8 knots south-westerly. France’s light airs expert, Laurent Hay claimed second in race one but slipped to seventh in the second as many lost ground in the sudden and localised shifts. The race officer did well to squeeze in a third race that day, starting at 6pm. Neil Robinson, won the race from Allen Burrell and Hay in third, pushing Lobert back to fourth.

Tuesday dawned hot and sunny with the now customary wait for the breeze to arrive at 1pm. David Potter read it right to win from Adrian Brunton and Marc Allain Des Beauvais who had worked hard at his pre-race weather strategy. In the second race another GBR sail number was first around the windward mark as John Heyes led for most of the race before finally being overhauled by Lobert who just managed to gain the inside overlap at the last mark as the wind built to 12 knots.

Races 6 to 8 again produced numerous general recalls as the race committee struggled to find a period when the wind was stable enough to lay an unbiased line. With a major pin end bias, Henry Bagnall the previous years champion nailed the start to lead at the windward mark and was never headed. The consistent Lobert, runner up in the French Olympic trials followed in second ahead of Vincent Lesage in third.

1 Jonathan Lobert 1-1-4-4-1-2-2-1-5-2 142 Laurent Hay 2-7-3-13-6-4-4-2-2-8 30 3 Henry Bagnall 3-2-15-5-8-1-3-8-12-1 31 4 Allen Burrell 7-3-2-6-4-9-1-3-21-5 31 5 Robinson Neil 5-11-1-14-21-27-6-6-1-4 48 6 Marc Allain D. Beauvais 4-5-5-3-7-13-5-dsq-13-6 48 7 John Heyes 6-38-7-9-2-11-16-4-10-9 58 8 Adrian Brunton 18-18-8-2-3-7-7-11-4-bfd 60 9 Stephane Alexis 10-4-24-7-12-5-8-ocs-7-20 73 10 Jean Paul Gaston 8-17-23-8-9-10-9-9-11-10 74

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E11 Pierre Mondeteguy 79 12 David Potter 81 13 Christophe Jean 104 14 Pascal Tetard 107 15 Benjamin Montagut 108 16 Philippe Lobert 121 17 Alan Tucker 124 18 Remy Arnaud 130 19 Vincent Lesage 139 20 Bertrand Meheut 143 21 Howard Sellars 150 22 ChristopheDeseilligny 154 23 John Mackie 163 24 Gilles Henaff 167 25 Daniel Chedeville 171 26 John Torrance 187 27 Jean Paul Groussard 187 28 Graeme Macdonald 189 29 Joel Godefroy 190 30 Matthew Walker 212 31 Renaud De St Mars 212 32 Patrick Moore 212

33 Henry De Maublanc 215 34 Jean Marc Albert 228 35 Mike Till 267 36 Henri Roumaillac 267 37 Philippe Le Frapper 269 38 Didier Poissant 274 39 Eric Bognar 277 40 Jacques Raguet 278 41 Anthony Walker 288 42 Marc Herail 310 43 Alexandre Lesage 323 44 Yann Le Paul 328 45 Philippe Lamballe 328 46 Francois Limare 329 47 Romain Labbe 341 48 Jean Liguet 358 49 Bruno Rossignol 361 50 Bernard Michal 361 51 Philippe Bacon 374 52 Yves Beaulande 391 53 Michel Carsoule 402 54 Jacques Lalanne 425

French National Championship 2008

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Reichenau 10-14 September

Matthias Bohn writes: The German Championship this year was sailed in great conditions and on Lake Constance there were 90 boats from eight nations at the start. Unfortunately no Olympic starters were present. So the favorites were the junior European champion Jan Kurfeld from Wismar and the winner of the Olympic national ticket Matthias Bohn from Rostock.

Nevertheless Christoph Christen and Bernd Moser got the best start on the Tuesday in very little wind. However on the second day the wind arrived and four races were sailed in about 14 knots. Bohn and Kurfeld sailed a great series and ended up level. Behind them another young talent 20-year-old Sebastian Kaule from Schwerin took three third places. The deciding day was Saturday. Kurfeld sailed the best of the day with a 1st and 2nd while Bohn placed five and six.

Therefore Jan had an eight points lead before the Medal Race on Sunday. Sebastian Kaule remained in third place. The final race was raced in light winds with hundreds of people following the race from the shore.

At the end Jan Kurfeld won in front of Matthias Bohn and Sebastian Kaule. This was a great result for Germany. The Finn Foundation Team Germany celebrated with first and third places. Moreover another junior Anian Schreiber placed sixth. Hope grows which one we can send in 2012 to finally again have a German sailor at the Olympic Games in London.

11 GER 3 Walter Mai 25112 GER 217 Carsten Niehusen 25413 GER 39 Karl-Heinz Erich 26914 GER 500 Philipe Fischer 27315 GER 772 Ulli Kurfeld 27816 GER 188 Michael Klügel 28317 GER 179 Helmut Loemker 28718 GER 35 Hans-Günther Ehlers 28919 GER 111 Rainer Haaks 29320 GER 27 Matthias Wolff 29421 GER 150 Günter Hoffmann 30022 GER 146 Friedrich Müller 32523 GER 262 Uwe Barthel 33124 GER 240 Jürgen Paffrath 33825 GER 7 Reiner Heinings 33826 SUI 11 Hans Fatzer 34427 GER 202 Rolf Elsaesser 34728 GER 31 Horst Wühn 35029 GER 82 Alfons Huber 35430 GER 19 Andreas Bollongino 35631 GER 2068 Jürgen Greis 37132 GER 56 Eckhard Klages 39033 FRA 55 Arnaud Baudin 39234 GER 157 Frank Dinnebier 40035 SWE 65 Anders Nordin 40736 GER 57 Heinz Wendel 41037 ITA 43 Pietro Piram 41238 GER 300 Eggo Zopfs 41339 GER 175 Michael Möckel 41840 GER 155 Gast Edwin 41941 GER 84 Michael Hüllenkremer 42842 HUN 212 Richard Hirschler 42943 GER 55 Herbert Sondermann 43444 GER 119 Peter Bronke 43745 GER 12 David Guminski 44446 GER 114 Jacek Kalinski 45147 FRA 800 Yves Zoccola 45548 FRA 865 Joseph Rochet 45549 GER 244 Felix Paffrath 45650 GER 89 Günter Kellermann 45851 GER 222 Ulf-Peter Pestel 460

52 GER 42 Jürgen Kraft 46153 GER 34 Dieter Borges 47254 GER 92 Detlev Guminski 47555 GER 16 Uwe Hand 47556 GER 32 Felix Spring 47957 GER 477 Harald Leissner 49258 SUI 70 Andreas Fuerer 49359 GER 852 Rüdiger Stelzel 49760 GER 911 Patrick Frind 49961 GER 811 Michael Knoll 50162 GER 109 Manfred Tomaszewski 50763 GER 63 Michael Pandler 51364 GER 130 Alfred Blum 51665 GER 432 Michael Köstner 52066 GER 131 Horst Schlick 53167 GER 186 Detlef Blaschkowski 53968 GER 69 Thomas Huber 54069 GER 161 Ralf Kratz 55470 GER 26 Willi Meister 56071 FRA 6 Francois Limare 56272 GER 118 Oliver Bronke 56673 GER 102 Siegfried Boehl 56674 GER 154 Roland Wenz 57075 GER 30 Ralf Heim 57876 LUX 35 Jean-Paul Goedert 57878 GER 99 Ulrich Rudolph 58179 GER 249 Georg Feurer 60480 GER 134 Stefan Magirus 61181 SUI 64 Hans-Ruedi Osterwalder 63982 GER 144 Jens Ott 63983 GER 666 Volker Wingsch 64384 GER 187 Werner Orth 64985 GER 168 Jack Larsen 65286 FRA 37 Alain Guillou 69787 HUN 128 Peter Haidekker 72788 HUN 16 Gyorgy Vas 72789 CZE 21 Jan Cajcik 72790 CZE 1 Michael Maier 72791 AUT 293 Florian Urban 727

1 GER 771 Jan Kurfeld 4 3 1 [OCS] 1 2 1 1 142 GER 174 Matthias Bohn [29] 1 2 4 2 6 5 2 243 GER 717 Sebastian Kaule 3 [12] 3 3 3 12 2 3 324 GER 22 Martin Mitterer [20] 2 4 1 8 15 14 5 545 GER 108 Sebastian Munck [19] 15 7 2 5 7 8 7 586 GER 21 Anian Schreiber [22] 9 6 7 6 5 13 8 627 GER 165 Dirk Meid 10 [16] 5 9 10 14 9 4 658 SUI 5 Christoph Christen 1 6 14 11 11 [29] 19 6 749 AUT 11 Bernd Moser 2 11 13 5 15 20 [39] 9 8410 GER 8 Jürgen Eiermann 9 10 18 6 9 [24] 11 DNS 84

Then Burrell took race 7 from Lobert and cemented it with a third in the final race of the day to lie second overnight ahead of Bagnall and Hay.

In the first race on the final day, Robinson, Hay, Adrian Brunton and Heyes were first around the mark with a sizeable lead on the rest and all came from the pin end with those on the right anticipating the sea breeze left frustrated. Even Lobert had been tempted off to the right and despite his great downwind speed could only pull up to fifth. Robinson sailed well and managed to hold the lead despite the big shifts and localised pressure differences that were impossible to avoid at times.

With the championship now in the bag for Lobert, the final race in the long awaited stronger sea breeze produced some tough battles for the other podium places with boats from 2nd to 9th all very close on points and with much to play for. With Bagnall, Burrell and Hay all within a point it was winner take all for the silver position. Hay tailed Burrell closely in the pre-start with the British boat forced to tack and head off to the un-favoured committee boat end to start. Burrell soon burned off the French ex-Olympian as the breeze freshened to around 14 knots but could do little to catch the leaders who again came in from the left hand side of the course. Bagnall, having won the battle for the pin sailed away with a big lead to round first, followed by

Potter, Robinson and Heyes. Lobert and Burrell soon pulled through downwind and with Hay in a photo finish with Heyes and amazing veteran Pierre Mondeteguy on the line no one knew their final positions until the results came out ashore.

In the end, Laurent Hay somehow won the photo to edge out Bagnall and Burrell by a single point and Robinson’s race win put him above Marc Allain des Beauvais with both on 48 points.

It was a great week’s racing in a beautiful venue and with next years event planned for La Rochelle even more visitors will no-doubt be putting it in their diaries.

>> continued from page 13


Hungarian Championship 2008Tihany, 1-6 JulyBy Marton Beliczay

The 52nd Hungarian Finn Championship took place in Tihany with 43 participants, including 11 juniors and 4 friends from Serbia as well as Gasper Vincec from Slovenia. The championship was combined with all Olympic classes, but the Finn Class was allocated a separate venue, race area and organizing committee.

The first start was scheduled for 12:00, but unfortunately all the wind disappeared as the fleet got out to the starting area. After 2 hours of waiting the organisers decided to postpone ashore, but no wind came

The second day continued where the first day was ended. Just after midday some wind came from the south, so the fleet went out to the starting area, which was quite close to the race area of the Finn Europeans last year. There was a force 2-3 wind blowing with quite big, but periodic shifts.

The first start favoured the pin end, so those who could came out there could get a nice lead, but nothing was decided until the finish on the upwind-downwind course with two

laps. The first race was won by Balazs Hajduwith Gaszton Pál close to him 2nd and Márton Beliczay 3rd. The wind for the second and third race of the day was very similar, although in race 3 the wind became a bit shiftier. The second race was won by Gaszton followed by Márton and George Vas. Balazs had his discard in this race, but he won the third race with Géza Huszár second and Gaszton third.

Next day, we woke to heavy winds from the north-west, and due to a lake authority safety regulation (which meanwhile has been put out of effect) there was no racing all day; only some brave ones went out for some training.

On the fourth day, the storm signal was turned off, so we went out in a force 3-4 from the north-west, which was even shiftier than from the south and we had some nice waves.

Race 4 was working well for Géza, with Balázs second and Gaszton third. For the fifth race the wind got stronger blowing around force 5 with gusts up to 6 and the organisers raised the O flag for free pumping. The equation was nearly the same and Tibor Pallay won with Balazs second and Marton

third after a big gain on the last downwind.For the sixth race the organisers decided to set a triangular course and after 2 laps they decided to shorten the race, because the wind got stronger and the course would have been too long for a third lap. The race was comfortably won by Balazs, with Ákos Lukats second and Gaszton third.

We didn’t know it then, that this was the end of the regatta, because on the last day the wind was not enough to have a race, so the series was concluded with six races over two days.

Results1 Balazs Hajdu 72 Gaszton Pal 123 Marton Beliczay 234 Tibor Pallay 255 Peter Lovas 266 Antal Szekely 27

Antal Szekely also won the masters title ahead of Péter Haidekker and Lajos Varga. A tough fight was going on between the juniors, where the top three had equal points (108) and with tie broken in favor of Gabor Büki, he became the champion, with Richard Hirschler of Lake Neusiedl second and Egon Kain Pay’r third.

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2008 Skandia Sail for Gold RegattaWeymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

The 2008 Junior World Champion Giles Scott won the Sail for Gold Regatta at the 2012 Olympic venue in style by winning six of the nine qualifying races as well as the medal race itself. Other race wins went to Ed Wright and Andrew Mills.

1 GBR 41 Giles SCOTT 12.0 2 GBR 634 Andrew MILLS 33.0 3 GBR 88 Mark ANDREWS 35.0 4 GBR 99 Henry BAGNALL 47.0 5 GER 24 Thomas REGER 55.0 6 SWE 6 Björn ALLANSSON 57.0 7 GBR 631 Richard HART 77.0 8 GBR 595 Edward THORBURN 83.0 9 GBR 111 Edward WRIGHT 45.0 10 GBR 68 John MACKIE 97.0

British National Championship 2008Thorpe Bay YC

30 Finns gathered for this years’ National Championship, sponsored by JM Finn & Co. and were greeted by sunshine and a 6 knot breeze for Friday’s first race.

Giles Scott (left) soon mastered the fitful breeze, beating against the tide to secure the first win after Jonathan Lobert had led for most of the race before making an error at the bottom leeward gate and had to unwind himself. Thankfully the breeze built throughout the second race, peaking at a steady 10-12 knots. This time Lobert made no mistake and lead Scott around the course by quite a margin.

Saturday dawned dry but with a strong 18-20 knot southerly breeze that was only going to build with the incoming tide along with the famous short chop. Starting at the committee boat, Scott led from the start with a very impressive display of downwind sailing. Andrew Mills also seemed to like the breezier stuff, passing Lobert to claim second. Just behind, John Tremlett was having a tough battle with UK Masters Champion Allen Burrell. Burrell just lost out in the final race when Adrian Brunton got between him and Tremlett who finished the day one point ahead in 5th overall.

Sunday morning arrived with a howling 25 knot wind that rapidly built through the morning, killing any chance of sailing. Every entrant went away with a prize, thanks to the generosity of class supporters North Sails,

Hi-Tech shoes, DEM Foils who generously donated a rudder blade and Yachts & Yachting which supplied the trophies.

Giles Scott retained his title by just one point from Jonathan Lobert from Nantes. Third overall and winner of the final race was the ever improving Andrew Mills.

1 GBR 41 Giles Scott 62 FRA 69 Jonathan Lobert 73 GBR 634 Andrew Mills 104 GBR 88 Mark Andrews 135 GBR 642 John Tremlett 226 GBR 2 Allen Burrell 237 GBR 669 Adrian Brunton 278 GBR 672 David Potter 389 GBR 635 Simon Percival 4210 FRA 99 Marc Allain D. Beauvais 4411 GBR 33 Graham Page 5012 GBR 625 Martin Binnendijk 5613 GBR 19 Simon Hoult 5714 GBR 20 Andy Denison 5715 GBR 77 Howard Sellars 5816 GBR 61 John Heyes 5817 GBR 631 Richard Hart 5918 GBR 553 Greg Shaw 6319 GBR 68 John Mackie 6420 GBR 1 Sander kooji 7021 GBR 636 Merrick Gill 7122 GBR 573 Simon Pettit 7223 GBR 54 Keith Fedi 7524 GBR 595 Edward Thorburn 7925 GBR 24 Rory Barnes 8026 GBR 664 John Torrance 8727 GBR 493 Mark Petty Mayor 9328 GBR 611 Tony Lock 9629 GBR 679 Neil Robinson 9830 GBR 612 Lawrence Maudsley 100

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Italian Championship 2008Venezia, June

The Italian Open Championship was held in Venezia at the beginning of June. The site of the championship was chosen by the Italian Federation because of the light winds, in order to have possibly similar conditions to that expected in Qingdao at the Olympics.

And Venezia maintained its reputation, with 4 days of light winds which however allowed all the 8 scheduled races to be sailed. The fight for the Italian title was apparently restricted to Giorgio Poggi and Riccardo Cordovani, with Marko Kolic as a possible surprise. Riccardo was very consistent in the first three days and was always at the top of the leaderboard, while Giorgio had a couple of bad placings in his score.

The last day of racing anyway both Riccardo and Giorgio had a bad day: Riccardo had a OCS in the first race, while Giorgio had a second yellow flag and had to retire. Giorgio chose not to start in the last race, leaving Riccardo almost sure of the title. It was anyway the Italian secretary Marco Buglielli, very at ease in his favoured light conditions, who had another good race and almost managed to grab the title from Riccardo,

finishing on equal points. Riccardo anyway well deserved his first Italian title, after a long series of podium places.

Marco Buglielli was more than happy with his second place and Marko Kolic was third as in 2006. Fourth place went to the 18 years old Carlo Recchi from Garda lake, and fifth to the veteran Roberto Bosetti.

1 ITA 101 Riccardo Cordovani 192 ITA 2 Marco Buglielli 193 ITA 40 Marko Kolic 224 ITA 97 Carlo Recchi 385 ITA 82 Roberto Bosetti 466 ITA 117 Giorgio Poggi 557 ITA 84 Pierluigi Pinzan 608 ITA 37 Paolo Visona 619 ITA 89 Florian Demetz 7110 ITA 111 Bruno Catalan 71

COPPA ITALIA 2008In 2008 the Coppa Italia Finn improved again. This series is growing year by year, and is now formed by 8 events in the weekends between March and October in different locations around Italy. At the moment of writing 23 races have been sailed and there are still two events to complete the series, in Torbole and Malcesine. More than 95 Italian Finn sailors have participated till now and the pool of supporting sponsors is also growing.

The sponsors this year are: North Sails Italia, HiTech Sailing, Bertacca Sail Equipment, Grappa Bertagnolli, Devoti Sailing, Essemarine, Harken, Tomasoni, Nordstudio and Residence Ca’ del Lago.

The leaderboard is currently dominated by Riccardo Cordovani, who has more than 70 points over the second placed Simone Mancini. Third placed is Francesco Lubrano, followed by Marco Buglielli, Carlo Recchi and Mauro Merlini.

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LYItalian Finn Masters32 Italian Masters gathered in July in Caldaro Lake for the third edition of the Italian Finn Master Championship, perfectly organised by the local sailing Club, where a big Finn fleet is always very active.

Five races were sailed during the first two days of the event, while the last day the wind unfortunately didn’t show up. It would have been a great fight, as the first three were all within 5 points.

The final victory went to the local Martin Atzwanger, who won by only one point from Francesco Faggiani from Trieste. Third place went to Florian Demetz, followed by Pierluigi Pinzan (winner of the Grand Master trophy), Andrea Sandini and Heini Unterhauser (first Great Grand Masters). The hospitality in Caldaro was as usual perfect and everybody had fun and enjoyed the wonderful surroundings.

1 ITA 80 Atzwanger Martin 82 ITA 4 Faggiani Francesco 93 ITA 89 Demetz Florian 134 ITA 84 Pinzan Pierluigi 195 ITA 99 Sandini Andrea 216 ITA 1 Unterhauser Heini 227 ITA 60 De Sangro Riccardo 228 ITA 103 Merlini Mauro 239 ITA 96 Turchetto Alessandro 2610 ITA 17 Kusstatscher Martin 34

Photo credits: Marina Prinzivalli, Tosca Zambra and Antonio Costantini.


Finalle 2008by Rutger Rozemuller Everyone was received with a warm welcome by Jan and Trees Zetzema, but with only 27 boats on the line, a little disappointing for such a nice event. The first start was in a Force 2 shifty and gusty. So one had to sit in his boat while his opponent 20 metres away had to hike hard to stay up. Wietze Zeetzema had three race wins out of five races to secure the event. Sander Willems was convinced of a victory in the second race but eventually lost it. On Sunday the wind was better and more consistent with a nice duel between Dennis and Bas, the latter ending up second overall.

1 NED 64 Wietze Zetzema 72 NED 29 Bas de Waal 133 NED 80 Sander Willems 144 NED 69 Jelte Baerends 165 NED 45 Dennis de Ruiter 176 NED 66 Ewout Meijer 177 NED 100 Han Bergsma 228 NED 849 Arjen de Bruin 239 NED 8 Rodrick Casander 3310 NED 67 Rutger Rozemuller 41

Vrijbuiter Weekend 2008 by Wouter Molenaar

On the site of the Vrijbuiter it promised to be a nice event with good weather and a promising number of c o m p e t i t o r s .

Four races were sailed with 24 starters and each one was won by Karel van Hellemond. Saturday brought a sunny force. Although Ewout Meijer tried fiercely he ended second. Saturday afternoon produced a hard beat (both sides of two islands) a group of six boats but Karel and Nanno raced away from the other leading group with Karel winning in the end over Nanno. Time for a cool beer and some discussion about the races. On Sunday morning the wind was 3 and expected to build to 5/6. Nanno and Karel again led the races. Another long course on was selected Sunday afternoon but different to keep every one focused. In summary, long courses and surprising shifts. Of course there were personal dramas but they wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

1 41 Karel van Hellemond 42 787 Nanno Schuttrups 9 3 11 Henk de Jager 19 4 777 Albert Kroon 23 5 66 Ewout Meijer 246 77 Jan-Jaap Lamme 277 2 Wouter Molenaar 278 43 Jack van Hellemond 359 47 Auke Woerdeman 3610 897 Ed van der Steene 39

Benelux Championship, 16-17 Augustby Peter Verseveldt17 Finns gathered at Scharedijke at my first event in the Finn. On shore advice was given and the mast is set. The first start in light wind, shows that I have to work on my boat speed and handling, but every start is difficult. Sander Willems and Luuk Kuiper lead the race, with Sander winning the shortened race. The second start was again in little wind and again it was shortened. Luuk Kuiper won this time. The third race was postponed till Sunday. Then the wind was a constant 4. Jan Willem Kok won this race. Sander second and Luuk third. In race 4, Sander won again with Jan Willem second and Hero Mulder third. In the last race Sander had the series already and took a long tack on port, finding a fine lift and left everyone behind. Jan Willem again second and Paul third.

1 80 Sander E Willems 52 780 Jan Willem Kok 83 888 Luuk Kuijper 124 30 Hero Mulder 135 27 Paul Kamphorst 176 895 J. van der Meulen 267 849 Arjan de Bruin 288 748 Fons van Gent 299 896 Ad Hermus 3410 781 Boudewijn Fehrer 42

Dutch Finn Masters en Randmeerrace22 - 24 Augustus 2008, by Eddie HuismanThe annual Randmeerrace and Dutch Masters was again sailed at the Flevostrand of Harderwijk. Due to construction activities the organisation was based at the beach nearby. So it was called the Dutch Beach Masters, with 48 entries also competitors from Germany. Seven races were sailed in all wind conditions. Karel van Hellemond was most consistent and won the last three races. Han Bergsma was the successor of last year’s winner Bas de Waal, and became Dutch Master Champion 2008. Rookie Timo Hagoort performed very well with a third overall.

1 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 17 2 NED 100 Han Bergsma 22 3 NED 839 Timo Hagoort 34 4 NED 45 Dennis de Ruiter 37 5 NED 54 Joos Bos 51 6 GER 150 Günter O. Hoffmann 52 7 NED 29 Bas de Waal 53 8 NED 2 Wouter Molenaar 55 9 GER 165 Dirk Meid 59 10 NED 81 Gerko Visser 63

Dutch Open Medemblik by Cees ScheurwaterWith Pieter-Jan Postma winning the Open Dutch with 8 wins in a row, no one has more right to the title at this moment. Given these facts the event was about places 2 to 37. Wietze Zetzema ending second overall just before Karel van Hellemond. Hero Mulder sailed a full series, which doesn’t happen often. Luuk Kuiper had too much time for a new mast, doubt about the numbers and colour of the groove. He missed the right tacks taking Bas de Waal back with him in a bad series. The competitors from Harderwijk were in the top ten with Han Bergsma, followed by Dennis de Ruiter. Gert van der Heijden drew attention as first reserve for the Volvo-ocean race. Arwin Karsemeijer was very fast on the beat, lucky for us he doesn’t always take the right tack.

1 NED 842 Pieter Jan Postma 7 2 NED 64 Wietze Zetzema 23 3 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 30 4 GBR 99 Henry Bagnall 34 5 NED 787 Nanno Schuttrups 44 6 NED 100 Han Bergsma 51 7 NED 45 Dennis de Ruiter 57 8 NED 839 Timo Hagoort 59 9 NED 904 Cees Scheurwater 67 10 NED 80 Sander Willems 78 11 NED 888 Luuk Kuijper 84 12 NED 1 Simon Tienpont 87 13 NED 30 Hero Mulder 88 14 NED 25 Arwin Karssemeijer 96 15 NED 29 Bas De Waal 102 16 NED 844 Gert van der Heijden 105 17 NED 81 Gerko Visser 122 18 NED 66 Ewout Meijer 124 19 NED 780 Jan Willem Kok 129 20 NED 27 Paul Kamphorst 133 21 NED 18 Johan van Straalen 135 22 NED 69 Jelte Baerends 135 23 NED 50 Jan Zetzema 148 24 NED 747 Thierry van Vierssen 157 25 NED 55 Eddy Huisman 160 26 NED 10 Nanne Boot 165 27 NED 54 Joos Bos 172 28 NED 8 Rodrick Casander 177 29 NED 722 Siebe Ekels 178 30 NED 11 Henk de Jager 185 31 NED 6 Rob Huisman 187 32 NED 748 Fons van Gent 191 33 NED 765 Jacco Sweep 194 34 NED 72 Lacus-jan Groenhout 197 35 NED 788 Peter Verseveldt 214 36 NED 835 Jaap Goede 244 37 NED 58 Pieter de Gooijer 247

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Moscow Sailing School kindly provided modern boats and masts for most of participants, so nobody felt behind by speed, and it was the real competition of sailors.

During the five racing days the Racing Committee managed to carry out 11 races and one Masters race. The weather rewarded the sportsmen by good and various wind conditions from very light up to 8-10 knots. So the competitors could check themselves in different circumstances with many shifts and tough wind pattern in the lake conditions. Fortunately, there was no rain through whole regatta but it was a little bit cold (6-10°C).

The regatta was dominated by Eduard Skornyakov (above), Ukrainian Olexiy Borisov (right) and one of Russian strongest Laser sailors – Maxim Semerkhanov (far right).

Skornyakov made a good start in the regatta and was a leader after the first races, but

he skipped races 8 and 9, and was harshly treated by nearest young competitors during the next race, and lost his chances of winning the regatta. Finally Olexiy Borysov took the championship, followed by Maxim Semerkhanov by just one point. Third in the championship was a strong junior from Chelyabinsk – Konstantin Besputin. He won the Russian Junior Championship 2008, followed by Sergey Komissarov (Bronze at Silver Cup 2007) and Egor Larionov. 2008 has been great for Russian Finnsters since the Moscow Finn Association has established Open Russian Masters Cup this year. Mikhail Apukhtin, who has won many prizes in international regattas in the Finn and was Russian Champion in 1992 and 1993, became the first winner of the Open Russian Masters Cup. First place in Grand-Masters was Sergey Zabotin, while Victor Potapov (Bronze in 1972 Olympic Games) won in Grand-Grand-Masters grade.

In order to let Masters to compete without any hesitation to agitate young sailors fighting for a place in the national team, a special separate Masters race was arranged, where young sportsmen were not allowed to participate. This race was won by Felix Denikaev from the Moscow Finn Association.

In general the championship was organised at a high level with strong jury, measurement

control by a certified international Finn measurer and even with total doping control, which was applied to masters as well. Everything was done for participants and guests to feel the unique atmosphere of a Finn community: everybody have received a booklet with history of Finn class in the World and in Russia, there were organised special seminars, devoted to World Masters 2008, Europeans 2008 and Olympic Games. All active and famous Finnsters were awarded by special prizes with their names on them.

Finally the championship has shown a real strong and good competition and has become a very good promotional event for Finn class in Russia as well. We do hope to continue this good tradition and invite everybody to join the Open Russian next year! Regatta website www.finnclass.ru / Moscow Finn Association www.moscow-finnclass.ru

OPEN RUSSIAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 - FINAL RESULTS

1 UKR 1 Aleksej Borysov 2 1 3 4 2 (28) 1 10 (ocs) 1 3 272 73 Maxim Semerhanov 5 (7) 2 1 4 1 7 1 1 6 (15) 283 Konstantin Besputin 6 3 8 5 6 5 2 6 5 (dnf) (14) 464 707 Sergej Komissarov 9 4 (13) 6 8 3 8 2 2 (dsq) 9 515 114 Dmitrij Tereshkin 4 13 4 19 (23) (22) 6 4 4 4 4 626 9 Eduard Skornyakov 1 2 1 3 10 2 12 (dnf) (dnc) 32 1 647 8 Evgenij Chernov (dsq) 5 10 13 3 9 13 15 11 (27) 10 898 49 Egor Larionov 24 14 (29) (30) 1 7 5 7 26 3 5 929 55 Aleksej Selivanov 10 10 (19) (20) 11 4 11 16 15 7 8 9210 57 Egor Terpigorev 12 6 9 (18) 5 17 14 18 3 12 (19) 96

Borysov takes Open Russian National Finn ChampionshipSeptember 13-19, 2008By Vasiliy KravchenkoPhotos by Masha Novoselova

This now traditional regatta attracted 44 Finnsters from 12 regions of Russia as well as guests from Ukraine, and included 11 Juniors and 19 Masters. Such famous Russian Finn sailors as Oleg Khoperski, Viktor Potapov, Victor Kozlov and other strong Finnsters of previous times kindly joined us and have shown their master class to other sportsmen during the tough struggle for this year’s Russian Masters Cup.R

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11 17 Vasiliy Kravchenko 10012 4 Mihail Apuhtin 10313 77 Igor Horoshilov 10514 91 Vyacheslav Sivenkov 13015 21 Vladimir Butenko 13316 7 Vitalij Rozhkov 14317 41 Feliks Denikaev 14318 5 Sergej Zabotin 15419 496 Nikolaj Laktionov 15920 770 Sergej Shherbakov 16221 18 Viktor Potapov 16222 UKR 21 Anton Sadchikov 17123 UKR 2 Il’ya Efremov 17224 6 Arkadij Kistanov 17425 3 Aleksej Borovyak 17426 22 Viktor Maksimov 17927 701 Evgenij Kuhtenkov 18028 28 Viktor Kozlov 18629 411 Aleksandr Ban’ko 21530 771 Andrej Poltanov 22131 33 Igor Rozhkov 24332 11 Valentin Danilov 26633 1111 A Martem’yanov 27234 2 Vadim Mehanikov 27435 31 Igor Frolov 28636 117 Aleksandr Kravchenko 29537 777 Anton Shhegel’skij 29838 95 Vladimir Udarcev 31939 71 Leonid Klyajman 32440 48 Roman Kotlyarov 33341 16 Evgenij Ivanov 35642 74 Jurij Avdeev 35743 58 Aleksandr Shutovskij 36644 14 Oleg Khoperski 405

USA

Toilet Bowl 2008The 40th annual edition of the Toilet Bowl Regatta at Cazenovias Willow Bank Yacht Club commenced at 10:00, on Saturday, August 16. The price of gas and other regattas in the Northeast contributed to a somewhat more muted enrolment, this year, but 19 stalwarts competed.

Light to medium and shifty winds on Saturday limited the group to only four races. Ian Cook took the day with two bullets and two deuces over last year’s front runners Chuck Rudinsky and Kirk Reynolds. Local sailor Federico Meira sailed a perfect third race to gain a first.

Saturday night provided the usual festivities, replete with beer, lies, grilled tenderloin, great hors d’oevres, salads, veggies, desserts, more beer and more lies. Much credit was owed to the Finn wives who made certain no one went hungry, and, as always, to Steve Burrell who manned the grill. The usually taciturn Art Diefendorf gave a brief talk on the history of the Thunder Mug, recalling winners and notables in the past that included several National, North American and Olympic medal winners.

Sunday morning brought better, if not less shifty, air allowing for an additional three good races, which allowed Cook to solidify his grip on first. Rudinsky, 2nd, edged Reynolds, 3rd, (as he did last year).

Rear Commodore Rich Hartt took home the Master’s medal; John Miller won Grand Master; Federico Meira, Great Grand Master; and Gus Miller took home the Legend medal (appropriately adorned with a black ribbon). Special medals were awarded to the Race Committee for many years of service, and to Vice Commodore Alix Shaw, who gamely raced a Finn for the first time, and who was the only woman Finnster on the course.

1 9 Ian Cook 92 40 Chuck Rudinsky 163 1063 Kirk Reynolds 18

4 7 Adam Nicholson 215 1157 John Miller 336 3 Ian Bostock 367 1026 Federico Meira 378 1095 Gus Miller 489 1146 Steve Burrell 5110 111 Art Diefendorf 52

North American ChampionshipLake Champlain Yacht Club1 USA 81 Darrell Peck (below) 3 5 8

2 USA 98 Dave Powlison 10 1 11 3 CAN 141 Matt Johnson 4 7 11 4 CAN Chris Cook 1 11 12 5 CAN 115 Derek Mess 7 6 13 6 USA 55 Andrew Casey 2 12 14 7 AUS 14 Brendan Casey 11 3 14 8 DEN 2 Mike Milner 6 9 15 9 CAN 1 John Romanko 14 2 16 10 USA 7 Bill Upthegrove 9 10 19 11 USA 1140 Bryan Boyd 5 18 23 12 USA 14 Andy Pimental 16 8 24 13 USA 30 Forrest Gay 24 4 28 14 USA 9 Ian Cook 15 13 28 15 USA 2 Ken Luczynski 8 21 29 16 USA 40 Chuck Rudinsky 13 19 32 17 CAN 1157 John Miller 12 22 34 18 USA 29 Josh Matteson 22 14 36 19 USA 150 Lou Nady 23 15 38 20 USA 1146 Steve Burrell 25 16 41 21 CAN 7 Adam Nicholson 17 24 41 22 USA 140 RJ Cooper 18 23 41 23 CAN 1115 Josh Revkin 21 20 41 24 USA 48 Jim Hunter 26 17 43 25 USA 60 Ian Woodworth 19 27 46 26 CAN 3 Ian Bostock 20 27 47

2008 Finn Eastern ChampionshipLake Champlain Yacht Club1 USA 81 Darrell Peck 182 USA 55 Andrew Casey 233 USA 9 Ian Cook 264 USA 1140 Bryan Boyd 305 CAN 115 Derek Mess 406 USA 2 Ken Luczynski 487 CAN 7 Adam Nicholson 618 USA 98 Dave Powlison 639 CAN 1157 John Miller 6710 USA 150 Lou Nady 7011 1171 Bill Upthegrove 7212 USA 111 Jim Hunter 10013 USA 1146 Steve Burrell 10014 USA 975 Gus Miller 10115 40 Chuck Rudzinsky 11016 USA 60 Ian Woodworth 121

Photos: Ray Cudney


Major Finn regattas 2008-2009

As the FINNFARE press deadline goes past, the Rule Changes required by our AGM have not yet been passed by ISAF. They have concerns that the changes need all the boats to be re-weighed and re-swung, and that we are desperately short of qualified measurers equipped to do the work. Richard Hart reports.

ISAF are working on a way around the problem. When the situation is resolved, we will let everybody know immediately.

What are the practical changes submitted?• Allowing (one only of) the simpler sort of Digital Compass. The magnetic compass is weighed with the hull, but not the digital compass: it is light and easily removed (by you or by the ungodly).• Allowing a weight reduction of 3kg. The compass change will account for 1 – 1.4kg, the rest can come from the correctors. The changes must come under proper supervision of a measurer, and be recorded on the Certificate. • The Rules won’t require a bailer any more, or a paddle (to my dismay!)• If you don’t have a halyard lock near the top of the mast, then there must be a stop to prevent the sail going too high (a blob of Resin in the track).

14-16/11/2008 Cup Opatija Croatia28-30/12/2008 Go for Gold Regatta Australia5-9/12/2008 Canarian Sailing Olympic Week Spain13-16/12/2008 Sydney International Regatta Australia17-22/12/2008 Christmas Race Spain9-11/1/2009 Corbeta Patagon Argentina25-31/1/2009 Rolex Miami OCR USA5-8/2/2009 Sail Auckland New Zealand13-15/2/2009 Finn Midwinter Championship USA17-20/2/2009 Semaine Internationale Cannes France4-8/3/2009 Split Olympic Sailing Week Croatia22-27/3/2009 Athens Eurolymp Week Greece4-10/4/2009 HRH Princess Sofia Trophy Spain4-10/4/2009 Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE Spain18-24/4/2009 Semaine Olympique Francaise France5-9/5/2009 Expert Olympic Garda Italy8-10/5/2009 Palavska Regatta Czech Republic8-10/5/2009 GKSS Regatta Sweden27-31/5/2009 Delta Lloyd Regatta Netherlands30/5-5/6/2009 FINN WORLD MASTERS France http://finn.france.free.fr/masters2009.html20-29/6/2009 Kieler Woche Germany

1-4/7/2009 Intervela Italy3-11/7/2009 FINN GOLD CUP Denmark www.fgc-2009.com4-12/7/2009 Warnemunder Woche Germany4-8/7/2009 Flanders Regatta Belgium17-21/7/2009 Travemunder Woche Germany20-23/8/2009 North American Championship Canada21-29/8/2009 FINN EUROPEANS Bulgaria27-30/8/2009 Djerdapa Cup Serbia2-7/9/2009 Balkan Sailing Championships Serbia3-6/9/2007 Lipno Regatta Czech Republic11-13/9/2009 Finn US Nationals USA14-19/9/2009 Skandia Sail For Gold Regatta Great Britain20-22/11/2009 Cup Opatija Croatia26-29/11/2009 Sail Brisbane Australia4-8/12/2009 Canarian Sailing Olympic Week Spain5-9/12/2009 Sydney International Regatta Australia14-19/12/2009 Sail Melbourne Australia17-22/12/2009 Christmas Race Spain

More details can be found on www.sailing.org or on www.finnclass.org

From the technical side

When do the changes come into force?We have asked for November 17th, the day after the ISAF Conference ends. The idea is to let people get sorted before the Christmas Regattas in the Southern Hemisphere, and to give everybody as much time as possible in the Northern Hemisphere.

What if I can’t get to a Measurer to re-swing my boat?We are hoping that ISAF will allow us to remove and reposition the correctors by calculations. If this is allowed, we will need to know exactly what weight has been removed with the compass, correctors etc AND from where! Please wait to see whether ISAF will approve the procedure. You will still need to see a measurer and re-weigh, if you want to take lead out. Please don’t just heave out 1.6kg of lead without proper authorisation!

The Class has made changes like these before, when we decided to swing the Hulls together with the Centreboard, and when we reduced the weight by 5kg some years ago. In those times, few boats were on the Radius of Gyration limit, and the task was easier. This time, nearly all boats are on the minimum. We have a class where the boats have normally come measured (and optimised) from the builder. ISAF are worried that, the change will result in us having many boats that are lightened without being properly checked.

If we end up with a lot of boats that are wrong (even in the paperwork), it will destroy the good reputation that we have earned over the last twenty years or so in such matters. We are all conscious of the need to get re-selected as Olympic Equipment in 2012 for 2016, so please do your bit to show that we are a responsible, mature class: make sure your boat is right and make sure the paperwork and certification marks are right.

Editorial – looking forwardWell another four years is over and many dreams have been realised or broken. But the future beckons and the class can look forward to an exciting period ahead with several interesting regattas venues over the coming years, an ongoing development programme both regionally and internationally and a far reaching marketing plan that will see the Finn promoted as the only reasonable choice for the discerning heavyweight athlete.

In 2009 the Finn Gold Cup returns to Denmark for the first time since 1959, when Paul Elvstrøm won the second of his two Gold

Cups. The Europeans travels to a new country for the Finn class, Bulgaria, with the championship being sailed at Varna on the Black Sea. And the Masters will be looking to beat the 229 boats at this year’s event by heading south to Maubisson in south-western France, while the Juniors are heading back to Balaton with a major prize at stake. It’s also the Finn’s 60th anniversary too, so it’s going to be a great year for the class with lots going on. See you out there.

Robert


Documents

FINNFARE November 2008