Finns and all you need for sailing fast!

NOVEMBER 2003 

Gold Cup • AGM • Finn Clinic • Race reports

From Conception... 

...To Perfection 

Contacts 

Sales: Tel: + 33 (0)2 43 05 69 21 

Fax: + 33 (0)2 43 05 43 47 

Email: finn@suntouched.co.uk 

Manufacturing: Tel: + 36 27 538310 

Germany & Scandinavia 

Handelsagentur DREIPUNKT – André Budzien 

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Email: budzien@t-online.de 

Mobile: +49 (0178) 2184971 

North America 

Lemieux Boats 

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email: Lemieux@direct.com 

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is the official publication of the 

International Finn Association 

Executive Committee of IFA 2003-4 

President 

Philippe Rogge 

Koning Boudewijnstraat 11, B-9000, Gent 

Belgium 

Tel: +32 9 244 5188 

Fax: +32 1 683 4875 

Email: philippe@rogge.com 

President of Honour 

Gerardo Seeliger c/o ACNO 

21 rue d'Artois, Paris 75008 France 

Tel(W): +33 1 42 56 21 71 

Vice-President – Sailing 

Ali Enver Adakan 

Badstr. 46, 8590 Romanshorn, Switzerland 

Tel (Turkey): + 90 532 275 58 20 

Tel (Switzerland): +41 79 600 24 32 

Email: ae.adakan@gmx.ch 

Vice-President – Development 

Clifton Webb 

31 Gulf View Road, Murrays Bay 

North Shore, Auckland, New-Zealand 

Tel: +64 9479 3638 

Fax: +64 9 479 3687 

Email: Clifton_NZL27@compuserve.com 

Vice-President – Masters’ Fleet 

Rolf Lehnert 

Sonnenhalde 26 

D-88161, Lindenberg, Germany 

Tel: +49 838 17116 

Fax: +49 838 182614 

Email: Rolf.Lehnert@allgaeu.org 

IFA WEB SITE 

http://www.finnclass.org 

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2003 

Executive Director 

Corinne McKenzie 

3 Impasse de la Bousquette 

66370 Pezilla la Riviere, France 

Tel: +33 680 924 895 (m) 

Fax: +33 468 380913 

Email: ifinna@compuserve.com 

Honorary Treasurer 

Martijn van Muyden 

Honingerdijk 67 A, 3063 AK Rotterdam 

The Netherlands 

Email: mvmuyden@worldonline.nl 

Chairman Technical Committee 

Richard Hart 

26 Lower Spinney, Warsash, Southampton 

Hants SO3 9NL, England 

Tel: +44 1489 575327 

Fax: +44 1489 576908 

Email: Richard@Hart331.fsnet.co.uk 

IFA Chief Measurer 

Jüri Saraskin 

Lossi 1A, Tallinn, EE0026, Estonia 

Tel: (W) +372 6397041, (H) +372 672 6222 

Mobile: + 372 501 1321 

Fax: +372 639 7043 

Email: perimex@online.ee 

IFA Development Coach 

Michele Marchesini 

v.le Roma 17, 37018 Malcesine, Italy 

Tel: +39 45 7400077, Fax: +39 45 7400042 

Email: mmarchesini@infinito.it 

Chairman of the Marketing Committee and 

FINNFARE Editor 

Robert Deaves 

51 Heath Lane, Ipswich, IP4 5RS. England 

Mob: +44 (0)7932 047046 

Note: all previous numbers out of date 

Email: robert@deaves.com 

FINNFARE 

Circulation 

FINNFARE 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. 

Contributions 

Articles, race results, photographs and reports from 

countries are always welcome. Please include 

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newsletters, bulletins, press releases and race reports. 

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All advertisement enquiries should also be addressed 

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Electronic Mail 

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Cover photo: David Burrows (IRL) off Howth Head, 

Ireland, June 2003. Photo: David O’Brien/Ireland Afloat. 

Inset: Last race in Cádiz. Photo: Mundo Vela 

President’s Letter 

As we move into another Olympic year, the 

Finn will make its 14th appearance at the 

Olympic Games. The longevity of the 

classes survival at this level is a tribute not 

only to Sarby’s wonderful design, but also 

to the sailors that make up the class and 

the technical development that has 

continued unabated since 1952. 

For those of you who were not in Cádiz, it 

was a spectacle of epic proportions. The 

sheer size of the event and the number of 

sailors was awesome. I think a lot was 

learned by all parties there and although it 

was not the kind of Gold Cup we are all 

used too, it proved to be an exciting regatta 

nevertheless, with a thrilling final race. 

One man stands out head and shoulders 

above the rest. Ben Ainslie's performance 

this year was remarkable and it is going to 

be hard to predict who could out-perform 

him in Athens next year. Congratulations 

to Ben not only on winning both the 

Europeans and Worlds for the second year 

running but also for being the first Finn 

sailor to ever achieve this outstanding feat 

two years in a row. 

While Ben continues to make history in 

front of our eyes, it was great to see some 

different faces on the podium this year 

especially the local favourite in Spain, 

Rafael Trujilla and Ben's good friend Bart 

Simpson. It was also good to see great 

performances from other improving sailors 

including Jonas Hoegh-Christensen and 

Guilliame Florent. 

It would certainly be interesting to watch 

today’s stars compete against the stars of 

yesteryear in their heyday: Elvstrøm, 

Kuhweide, Nelis, Raudacshl, Bruder et all. 

Differences in gear aside, I would personally 

favour the sailors of today, many of them 

full time professionals who put so much 

into the sport and become icons for the 

rest of us to aspire to.

Rio and carnival time beckons for early 2004 and I am sure this will 

be an event to remember. Also based on their performances in Cadiz, 

both Joao Signorini and Alejandro Colla will be making a strong South 

American challenge and firmly laying down the gauntlet to would-be 

challengers. 

Beyond Rio, we have the Europeans in La Rochelle, which will be 

the final Olympic Qualification event, so the same quota rules as for 

Cádiz will apply. Then comes the Olympic Regatta and finally the allimportant 

ISAF Conference in Copenhagen when we hope the Finn 

will be reselected for 2008 in Beijing. 

Notwithstanding that, the AGM this year brought up many contentious 

issues that we have been, and will be, addressing in the coming 

months. One of the principal changes to the classes structure will be 

a contract between ISAF and IFA will could change the way the class 

operates. 

It just remains for me to wish you all season's greetings and a happy 

and prosperous new year. See you on the water in 2004. 

4 

Finn - Men’s Singlehanded Dinghy 

Issue date: October 1 2003 

Skipper Nation Previous Points 

1 Ben AINSLIE GBR 3 5011 

2 Mateusz KUSZNIEREWICZ POL 2 4888 

3 Sebastien GODEFROID BEL 1 4878 

4 Karlo KURET CRO 4 4584 

5 Michael FELLMANN GER 6 4526 

6 Rafael TRUJILLO VILLAR ESP 13 4515 

7 Andrew SIMPSON GBR 7 4465 

8 Guillaume FLORENT FRA 14 4464 

9 Jonas HOEGH CHRISTENSEN DEN 15 4453 

10 Emilios PAPATHANASIOU GRE 5 4356 

11 Soren HOLM DEN 12 4268 

12 Anthony NOSSITER AUS 10 4256 

13 Michael MAIER CZE 18 4206 

14 Charlie CUMBLEY GBR 8 4189 

15 Jaap ZIELHUIS NED 9 4137 

16 Nenad VIALI CRO 22 4104 

17 Marin MISURA CRO 19 4096 

18 Waclaw SZUKIEL POL 11 4091 

19 Ali Enver ADAKAN TUR 17 4010 

20 Kristian ADERMAN SWE 20 3950 

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International Finn Asociation www.finnclass.org 

ISAF www.sailing.org 

Belgian Finn Association www.geocities.com/finnbelgium/ 

British Finn Association www.finnuk.co.uk 

Canadian Finn Association www.finncanada.org 

Danish Finn Association www.finnjolle.dk 

Dutch Finn Association www.finn-sailing.nl 

French Finn Association www.finn-france.com 

German Finn Association www.finnwelle.de 

Hungarian Finn Association www.telnet.hu/finn 

Italian Finn Association 

New Zealand Finn Association mysite.xtra.co.nz/~NZFinnAssoc 

Swedish Finn Association www.finnejolle.nu 

Swiss Finn Association www.finn.ch 

USA Finn Association www.usfinnclass.org 

Devoti Sailing Ltd www.devotisailing.com 

Pata Willetts Marine www.suntouched.co.uk 

Lemieux Boats webhome.idirect.com/~lemieux 

North Sails UK www.northsails.co.uk/one-design/finn.htm 

North Sails USA www.northsailsod.com 

North Sails NZ www.nz.northsails.com 

Sea-nergy Sails www.sea-nergy.com 

Victory Sails www.victorysails.com, www.intervela.com 

Marina Dellas www.dellas.de 

High Performance Wetsuits NZ www.hikingpantsnz.com 

All major Finn gear suppliers will get a free listing. All advertisers will 

get one year’s inclusion on this list.

FINN NEWS – FINN NEWS – FINN NEWS 

Poland wants to organise the 2006 Masters World Championship. 

Last August, Poland has officially applied for the organisation of the 

2006 Master World Championship. The Race Sailing Association in 

Gdynia wants to be the organiser of this event. They have ample 

experience in organising several European and World Championships 

and the international ISAF World Championship: IDEA Gdynia Sailing 

Days. The Race Sailing Association is known as a professional 

organisation with an experienced race committee and an extensive 

and varied social program. One of the best known international sailing 

centres of the Baltic Sea with a renovated and modernised Marina 

Gdynia is located in the centre of the city and would be ideal to host 

the Finn Masters in 2006. The first preliminary meetings with large 

national and international sponsors have already taken place. The 

Polish Race Sailing Association has confirmed to support this 

candidature. 

www.classefinn.it 

New British Secretary 

After 10 years service, Robert Deaves stepped down as British Finn 

Secretary at this year’s Nationals. He was replaced by Phil Laycock. 

Phil can be contacted at 23 Bluebell Close, Biggleswade, Beds, SG18 

8SL, England. Mobile: 07739 727826. Tel/ Fax: 01767 314182. Email: 

phil.laycock@lineone.net 

Masters 2004 

The 2004 Masters will be held Sunday May 30 to Friday June 6, 

2004, in Cannes. You can go to ‘Masters 2004’ right now on www.finnfrance.com 

where you will find information about weather, 

accommodation, maps and contacts. Sailors are advised to start 

looking for hotel accmodation now. For any information about the 

Masters 2004, you can send emails to masters2004@finn-france.com. 

Rio Gold Cup update 

New additions to the website include a map of Rio covering the vicinity 

of the hosting yacht club with main neighbourhoods and hotels. The 

organisers are also at your disposal to supply any information you 

might need concerning the 2004 Gold Cup, as well as questions 

regarding accommodation and logistics that are not covered on the 

website. They will also be picking up the skippers at the airport, so 

please supply them with the dates and times of arrival and flight 

numbers. For those who are coming to the 2004 Finn Gold Cup in 

Rio, please visit the official website at http://www.atividade.com.br/finn 

to find the entry form. 

IFA Clinics 

Further to the success of a Finn Clinic held before the Gold Cup in 

Cádiz, IFA is hoping to organise one clinic before Rio and one before 

La Rochelle. Any sailor interested in this should contact the IFA office. 


ISAF Sailor 

Earlier this summer, ISAF 

announced the introduction of 

the ISAF Sailor logo. Since its 

introduction in March 2002, the 

ISAF Sailor registration 

scheme has attracted more 

than 15,000 individual sailors. 

“ISAF is extremely proud of the support given to ISAF Sailor and 

the growth it has achieved,” said Paul Henderson, ISAF President 

“This logo is intended to appeal to sailors around the world. The 

logo will be available for use by national sailing authorities, event 

organisers, classes and sailors and will provide instant recognition 

of their support and use of ISAF Sailor,” commented Paul 

Henderson. 

Through ISAF Sailor, ISAF has utilised its unique ability and 

position to develop a vital resource of information, with the ISAF 

Sailor Biography being considered the central element. The 

biographies contain campaign and general information, images 

and results. For those sailors who are on the ISAF World Rankings, 

their biography will automatically draw in their current world ranking 

and all historic event results. ISAF Sailor enables sailors to upload 

images and sponsor logos, and manage their biography information 

on a day to day basis. 

The 2003 ISAF World Championship in Cadiz, saw every sailor 

participating at the event registered to ISAF Sailor, with links direct 

from the online results to the individual sailor's online ISAF Sailor 

Biography. 

Sailors registered to ISAF Sailor will also be able to use the ISAF 

Sailor logo on their campaign websites, thus reinforcing their 

relationship with the sport and ISAF, and their use of ISAF Sailor. 

ISAF Sailor is a complimentary service providing a portfolio of 

products to sailors and other users. Complementing the ISAF 

Sailor Biography are: Email News – offering both a subscription 

service to users and a distribution service for MNAs, Classes and 

events; ISAF Sailor Classification – applicable for those events 

which limit the number of professionals on board, Sailor 

Classification distinguishes between amateur and professional; 

Sailors’ Forum – providing media for open 

debate on the current issues affecting our 

sport. 

Source: ISAF 

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2003

With Ben Ainslie looking to retain his title, 

Mateusz Kusznierewicz looking for his third 

and Sebastien Godefroid looking for a second, 

the racing was always going to be close, 

especially with so many others chasing at 

their heels. Along with the regulars were some 

new faces and some old ones. Paul 

McKenzie, Richard Clarke and Jörgen 

Lindhardtsen were back for more and it was 

also pleasing so see entries from many 

developing Finn nations. 

Day one 

After a postponment until 13.30, race one 

finally got underway in 8 to 12 knots easterly 

with small waves. An even split up the first 

beat saw David Burrows round first followed 

by Joao Signorini, Alejandro Colla and Ben 

Ainslie. Most of the fleet favoured the right 

side on the run with Sebastien Godefroid 

making large gains on the final upwind leg 

to move up to second place behind Joao. 

After the three offwind legs to the finish, Joao 

held onto his lead ahead of Sebastien with 

Ben moving up to third. Meanwhile Mateusz 

Kusznierewicz was making a charge moving 

up 10 places on the final offwind to finish 

10th. 

Race two 

After two general recalls, race two started 

under a black flag in an increased breeze of 

around 15 to 18 knots. Many of the favourites 

were buried on the first beat which saw 

Alejandro again at the front, rounding the first 

mark in the lead followed by Gasper Vincec 

and Ali Enver Adakan. Ben was down in the 

mid 20s while Mateusz was in the 50s. 

6 

FINN GOLD CUP 2003 – CÁDIZ 

Wall to wall sunshine and healthy breezes welcomed 82 sailors to the 2003 Finn Gold Cup in the Bay of Cádiz in 

Andalucia in south western Spain. Sailed as part of the ISAF Olympic Sailing World Championships from 11 to 24 

September, the onshore organisation was immense. Cádiz put on a show to be proud of with three venues running 

the world championships for all the nine Olympic classes. With the Laser and 470 classes at other centres around the 

bay, the other seven were based at the impressive El Puerto de Santa Maria. 

Sebastien, who had rounded the first mark 

in 10th place, found a good shift and more 

pressure on the right on the second beat 

moved from 7th up to first, a position he held 

until the finish. David and Jonas Hoegh- 

Christensen also found good shifts to finish 

second and third. 

The overnight leader, Sebastien later 

commented “It was lucky for me though; I got 

some good shifts on the last upwind in the 

first race to move up to second. Although 

Ben pushed me hard offwind, I managed to 

stay ahead. In the second race I saw a line 

a pressure and a shift to the right, but the 

leaders were going left. It looked good, but 

was a risk. So I took it and came out on top 

with a nice lead. I was pretty happy about that!” 

David Burrows commented, “It was a bit of 

a scrap upwind with 30 degree shifts, and 

lots of bad air. It was very tricky sailing at 

times, although there were nice waves offwind 

and the final beat reached 18 knots, which 

was good sailing.” 

Race three 

A cloudless sky, brilliant sunshine and a 15 

knot breeze greeted competitors for the 

second day and race three. After a two hour 

delay while the race committee set, shifted 

and reset the course, racing finally started at 

13:55 after one general recall. The majority 

of the fleet headed for the favoured left hand 

side of the course, while a small bunch 

headed to the right. Most of the boats went 

left on the second beat as well and at the top 

mark Rafael Trujillo led from Stefan de Vries, 

Sander Willems, Kristian Åderman and 

Richard Clarke. 

Rafael extended his lead on the final legs to 

win by a comfortable margin. By the finish 

Karlo Kuret had worked his way up to third 

and Ben, as usual, was working his way up 

the fleet making a late charge and finished 

in 7th place behind Jonas and Jaap Zielhuis. 

It was a good race for the Dutch team with 

three boats inside the top 12. 

Race four 

The start of the second race was almost of 

copy of the first. Initially, Emilios led the fleet 

to the left but most tacked within 2-300 metres 

to cross to the right. By this time the right

was looking better and round the first mark 

Andrew Simpson emerged with a good lead 

ahead of Guillaume Florent, Rafael and 

Jonas. The sailing conditions were near 

perfect, with 15 knots of breeze and good 

surfing waves downwind. Andrew held onto 

and extended his lead on the next round and 

led a bunch of five boats that had broken 

away from the pack. Jonas, Emilios, 

Guillaume and Rafael dutifully followed 

Andrew round the course to the finish. 

Race five 

With the wind at 14 knots, David Burrows, 

rounded first followed by Stefan de Vries and 

Andrew Simpson. Andrew had started mid 

line and started going left, crossed to the right 

on a shift stayed at the front of the fleet. 

On the subsequent offwind and windward 

legs, Rafael worked his way into the lead, 

but after touching the windward mark dropped 

back. This let Andrew into the lead which he 

stretched out considerably on the run and 

following beat. He was still leading at the top 

of the next beat with David, Sebastien, 

Anthony Nossiter and Rafael hard on his 

heels. On the final downwind, Sebastien 

started to push hard and got past David, but 

couldn’t catch Andrew. 

Race six 

The sixth race started in similar conditions 

with most of the favourites, as usual, headed 

left, but at the top of the beat it was Martijn 

van Muyden who went right followed by Joao, 

Michael Fellmann, David and Massimo 

Gherarducci. Again the left side was favoured 

on the following upwind leg. David sailed well 

to take the lead, creating a large lead from 

Michael and Andrew Simpson. Nenad Viali 

had made large gains to round fourth, just 

ahead of Ben Ainslie who had been having 

an indifferent day so far. 

These positions remained the same on the 

final downwind, except that Ben’s superior 

speed got him past Nenad and for a while 

threatened Andrew as well. Simpson 

commented on his day’s work, “It was tough 

out there, very hard to break through and you 

never really knew what was going to happen. 

However I had good speed round the course 

and good starts, and also a bit of luck, which 

helps,” he added, with a grin. 

Race seven 

After a lay day race seven was finally started 

at 14.40 in a patchy 5-6 knot north-westerly. 

Ben takes up the story. “I started just down 

from the committee boat where there was a 

bit of space, got lifted out of the start and 


then tacked over to the right where the 

majority of the fleet were going.” Ben’s 

excellent start put him in clear air and he 

crossed the whole fleet when going right to 

lead into the windward mark by about 10 

boatlengths. 

The gap that Ben had made allowed him to 

escape downwind, while the following pack 

slowed each other down. Many of the other 

favourites were buried in the 20s and 30s. 

On the second beat, most of the fleet went 

hard right again, playing the shifts on the 

inshore side of the course. The third beat 

followed a similar pattern, with Karlo sneaking 

into fourth ahead of Andrew at the windward 

mark. However on the three offwind legs to the 

finish, Andrew’s superior downwind speed pulled 

him through to third place behind Emilios. 

Race eight 

After one general recall, the fleet got cleanly 

away. Half way up the beat Ben, who had 

initially headed right, tacked back to the left 

just in time and rounded the first mark just 

behind Rafael who had worked left of middle 

up the course. Rafael extended his lead on 

each leg to win by about a minute. The 

chasing pack traded places and tacks until 

the final windward mark. Mateusz rounded 

just ahead of Andrew and Jonas and the race 

to the finish was on. 

On the downwind leg, Mateusz caught some 

nice waves to the right of the course and 

surfed up to Ben, reducing his 100 metre 

lead to nothing. On the next wave he was 

past and led into the final mark, before, the 

short reach to the finish. However it was not 

over yet. These two battled hard for second 

place and just yards from the line it looked 

like the Pole would get it. But then the yellow 

flag went up from the nearby jury boat. Ben 

slumped thinking it was him and as his second 

yellow flag of the regatta he would have to 

retire from the race. But the flag was pointed 

at Mateusz, who then had to do his turns and 

finish third behind Ben. 

Analysing the racing, Ben commented, “It 

was still tough out there today, although once 

you were in front, clear air and water were 

definitely an advantage, as both myself, this 

morning, and Rafael this afternoon proved, 

although he had pace on me in the breeze 

this afternoon. Tomorrow the plan is just to 

plug away and try and do the same.” 

Race nine 

While many of the favourites started right next 

to the boat and tacked off to the right, which 

had proved heavily favoured so far, David 

Burrows led at the first mark from the middle 

with a nice lead over Guillaume Florent, Ali 

Enver, Mateusz, Sylvain Chtounder and Ben. 

Sailing a triangle course, the reaches were 

fast and furious with Ben taking several boats 

on the first reach and the rest on the second, 

to lead round the bottom mark. From then on 

it was mainly a drag race to the right, and no 

one could catch Ben downwind, so he sailed 

on to his second win of the event. 

Race ten 

With an increased wind and larger waves, 

race ten was a Finn sailor´s dream. As the 

wind was over 15 knots, the flag was up for 

free downwind pumping. The start line was 

biased slightly towards the pin end, but most 

thought the favoured side was still right. Race 

winner Rafael commented, “I started mid left 

on the line and had really good speed off the 

line and then I tacked for the right on a 5 

degree shift. After I while I saw Karlo and 

Jonas on the left sailing in much more 

pressure so I tacked over to get it and found 

myself leading round the first mark.” 

By the now the wind was reaching 18 to 20 

knots and the fleet really had fun on the 

triangle, with fantastic waves and great surfing 

to be had. Positions didn’t change much with 

Rafael just protecting his lead from Karlo at 

the bottom mark and then extending it on the 

right hand track of the next beat and never 

looking back to record his third win. 

Final race 

With three possible championship winners 

going into the final race, competitors were 

frustrated by being held on shore until 13.00 

and then having to wait on the water until 15:00 

before there was a steady enough wind to be 

able to start. Sailing a brilliant race, Alejandro 

Colla, sailing in his first Gold Cup led the fleet 

at the first mark and went on to win in fine style. 

The drama that was being played out behind 

him was the stuff of legends. 


8 

FINN GOLD CUP 2003 – FINAL RESULTS 

1 GBR 3 Ben Ainslie 44 3 5 7 8 19 4 1 2 1 10 3 

2 ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo 48 9 8 1 5 5 10 19 1 6 1 2 

3 GBR 6 Andrew Simpson 75 32 14 9 1 1 3 3 4 8 8 24 

4 DEN 200 Jonas Hoegh-christensen 84 4 3 6 2 8 23 OCS 6 12 3 17 

5 FRA 73 Guillaume Florent 94 21 6 25 4 7 12 RAF 5 2 6 6 

6 POL 17 Mateusz Kusznierewicz 97 10 17 18 13 9 14 7 3 5 11 8 

7 IRL 8 David Burrows 98 5 2 17 18 3 1 35 29 4 5 14 

8 AUS 221 Anthony Nossiter 100 6 20 15 9 4 OCS 8 7 19 7 5 

9 BEL 7 Sebastien Godefroid 101 2 1 16 11 2 OCS 12 11 21 9 16 

10 CRO 11 Karlo Kuret 102 18 9 3 16 25 7 4 9 14 2 20 

11 TUR 6 Ali Enver Adakan 143 13 13 10 12 18 25 10 25 7 31 10 

12 GRE 6 Emilios Papathanasiou 153,3 46 7 2 3 13 24 2 16 25 RDG DNC 

13 NED 6 Stefan De Vries 163 22 11 8 34 6 8 14 28 24 21 21 

14 DEN 7 Soren Holm 179 14 19 13 20 11 22 42 26 27 12 15 

15 BRA 10 Joao Signorini 181 1 BFD 30 36 10 27 6 20 9 33 9 

16 GBR 15 Charlie Cumbley 189 7 12 23 47 29 20 28 10 11 27 22 

17 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 192 48 4 43 19 12 26 5 32 15 17 19 

18 CAN 303 Richard Clarke 192 11 31 12 32 23 15 25 15 10 RAF 18 

19 GER 79 Michael Fellmann 193 29 22 26 23 21 2 37 38 3 4 26 

20 NED 78 Jaap Zielhuis 193 17 28 5 14 31 17 22 14 45 34 11 

21 GBR 577 David Mellor 197 51 16 20 6 17 35 11 22 13 30 27 

22 CZE 1 Michael Maier 197 28 15 22 27 15 28 20 33 16 13 13 

23 CRO 14 Nenad Viali 227 35 10 21 15 24 5 57 35 23 14 45 

24 SUI 7 Christoph Burger 229 24 48 33 7 14 9 34 19 38 18 33 

25 NED 701 Martijn Van Muyden 254 23 23 34 39 34 11 45 44 18 24 4 

26 SWE 7 Kristian Åderman 261 25 18 4 29 42 48 16 27 34 26 40 

27 USA 12 Kevin Hall 264 16 25 51 25 DNC29 32 18 29 32 7 

28 NZL 27 Clifton Webb 265 53 24 19 24 30 21 26 21 36 25 39 

29 CAN 41 Chris Cook 286 59 40 28 49 16 34 17 23 26 19 34 

30 CRO 25 Marin Misura 311 34 32 24 17 22 18 23 30 28 OCS OCS 

31 AUS 222 Paul Mckenzie 321 56 26 40 44 44 31 43 13 31 37 12 

32 NZL 19 Peter Fox 326 47 29 14 22 OCS51 18 39 40 22 44 

33 GBR 550 Matthew Howard 335 44 38 62 40 36 19 9 24 22 OCS 41 

34 FRA 972 Ismael Bruno 353 20 43 37 10 43 39 36 41 47 38 46 

35 ARG 1 Alejandro Colla 354 12 41 60 45 56 44 21 37 50 47 1 

36 POL 12 Waclaw Szukiel 358 26 39 DSQ 35 OCS38 15 31 32 29 30 

37 CZE 9 Michal Hruby 364 39 50 35 37 27 46 39 47 DSQ 15 29 

38 FRA 7 Sylvain Chtounder 366 27 37 39 60 33 42 DNC 43 20 16 49 

39 GBR 593 Edward Greig 371 57 36 41 38 39 32 38 57 30 28 32 

40 SWE 736 Johan Tillander 387 43 46 45 28 26 36 OCS 53 44 35 31 

41 IRL 10 Aaron O'grady 395 30 42 31 51 20 64 58 58 42 20 43 

42 CRO 16 Emil Tomasevic 402 OCS33 38 50 52 40 65 40 33 23 28 

43 RUS 8 Evgeniy Chernov 408 15 30 49 43 28 58 67 59 39 45 42 

44 USA 16 Mo Hart 411 31 27 50 21 32 43 29 12 DNC DNC OCS 

45 ITA 71 Massimo Gherarducci 413 8 45 32 30 35 6 DNE 8 DNC DNC DNC 

46 USA 11 Geoffrey Ewenson 414 OCS57 36 52 51 13 DNF 17 43 39 23 

47 RUS 7 Vladislav Kapitonov 436 62 61 63 48 48 52 13 36 41 50 25 

48 ITA 15 Michele Marchesini 439 19 DNC29 42 45 50 60 50 52 54 38 

49 USA 1140 Bryan Boyd 439 49 53 42 26 46 60 27 52 DNC 48 36 

50 POL 7 Rafal Szukiel 442 36 55 47 46 55 59 33 46 37 40 47 

51 BEL 2 Philippe Rogge 444 38 58 57 56 38 61 48 34 17 46 52 

52 AUT 271 Raudaschl Florian 461 37 54 46 54 61 37 41 45 51 DNC 35 

53 ESP 107 Agustin Juarez 469 40 21 59 31 41 45 55 48 46 DNC DNC 

54 CHN 155 Xiangfeng Zhang 475 52 47 52 55 37 33 51 49 49 DSQ 50 

55 USA 1181 Darrell Peck 477 70 49 44 41 40 54 56 56 35 42 60 

56 NED 80 Sander Willems 491 63 35 11 33 OCS16 30 54 DNC DNC OCS 

57 IRL 5 Youen Jacob 492 60 59 27 73 OCS69 24 51 48 44 37 

58 DEN 9 Thomas Laursen 507 65 52 56 57 49 30 44 60 55 51 53 

59 FIN 216 Tapio Nirkko 526 67 64 48 59 57 55 40 42 DNC 36 58 

60 SWE 734 Anders Nilsson 549 45 51 58 68 58 53 62 64 54 41 63 

61 GRE 8 Alexandros Dragoutsis 565 33 60 64 67 67 66 46 65 56 53 55 

62 CHN 188 Peng Zhang 565 55 34 55 DNF 47 56 50 68 53 DNC 64 

63 DEN 208 Joergen Lindhardtsen 565 42 71 65 53 59 47 59 74 66 55 48 

64 USA 78 Andy Kern 567 68 56 53 58 50 41 52 55 DNC DNC 51 

65 GER 151 Matthias Miller 574 41 65 61 61 OCS57 64 69 59 43 54 

66 ESP 1 Diego Fructuoso 614 64 44 67 63 53 72 54 73 DNC 57 67 

67 GER 126 Paul Kessler 622 74 62 68 65 60 63 71 62 60 52 59 

68 EST 7 Harles Liiv 625 54 70 54 62 64 DNC 73 72 61 49 66 

69 JPN 1 Takeshi Kuroda 629 61 66 74 66 62 65 53 66 DSQ 60 56 

70 POL 40 Robert Polczynski 632 66 67 70 69 66 68 31 70 63 DNC 62 

71 ITA 101 Riccado Cordovani 649 50 77 66 70 54 49 61 77 62 DSQ OCS 

72 GER 81 Jan-dietmar Dellas 656 72 63 72 64 65 62 68 76 58 56 DNC 

73 EST 15 Janno Hool 665 73 74 71 DNC 69 71 47 63 57 DNC 57 

74 SWE 31 Bjorn Smit 672 58 75 76 DNC 71 73 69 61 67 61 61 

75 AUS 223 Dean Mcaullay 673 75 69 69 72 63 70 72 71 64 58 65 

76 AUS 224 John Shallvey 696 71 72 75 71 70 67 70 79 68 63 69 

77 ESP 310 Claudio Montalbön 699 69 73 77 DNC 68 74 49 75 69 62 OCS 

78 IRL 4 Gareth Martel 701 76 76 73 74 72 75 63 DSQ65 59 68 

79 HUN 5 Tibor Pallay 777 78 68 DNC DNC DNCDNC 66 67 DNC DNC DNC 

80 HUN 6 Gaszton Pal 785 79 79 78 75 73 OCS 74 78 DNC DNC DNC 

81 ISV 1 Ben Beer 819 77 78 DNC DNC DNCDNC DNC DNCDNC DNC DNC 

82 ITA 1 Luca Devoti 830 DNCDNCDNC DNC DNCDNC DNC DNCDNC DNC DNC 

From top: Mateuesz Kusznierewicz, 

Juri Saraskin, 

Jonas Hoegh-Christensen, 

Peng Zhang and Xiangfeng Zhang, 

Darrell Peck, British Team

At the start the wind was at 6-7 knots and 

patchy in places with a fairly flat sea. The 

race initially followed a similar pattern to 

previous days. Many started at the committee 

boat and tacked off to the right. Further down 

the line, regatta leader Ben Ainslie got buried 

out of the start and has difficulty finding clear 

lanes. His main rival for the title, Rafael Trujillo 

did find the right shifts to round the top mark 

6th. However the man who could do no wrong 

was Alejandro, who emerged from the middle 

right with a substantial lead. 

Rafael rounded fifth and Ben rounded 23rd, 

accompanied by shocked silence from the 

British supporters. Surely even Ben couldn’t 

recover from that position... However the first 

downwind was the key leg of the race. Ben 

tells his side of the story. “There was no one 

on the left of the course. I saw Rafa doing 

well down there and I really needed to catch 

up. So I went left and fortunately it worked 

well and I picked up a lot of ground.” In fact 

he took over ten places on that leg alone. 

There was now very much a race on. 

By the next windward mark, Alejandro had 

extended his lead and Rafael had moved up 

to second place. Anthony Nossiter and Martijn 

van Muyden were up in third and fourth, while 

Ben had taken more places to move into 

seventh. 

The right was generally paying on the beat 

and at the end of the next downwind, during 

which Ben had inevitably moved up to fifth, 

Alejandro led a group to the right, while Ben 

led another group round the right hand mark 

to the left of the course. Ben emerged round 

the top mark just behind Rafael and after 

three offwind legs, with the positions 

unchanged, he had retained the title he had 

won in Athens last year. 

Alejandro won his first Finn Gold Cup race 

after much promise at the start of the regatta. 

He said afterwards, “I dedicate this win to my 

mother, who died a year and a half ago. My 

boat is named Mami in honour of her. This 

win will give me the incentive I need to 


improve and come back to La Rochelle to 

qualify Argentina for the 2003 Olympics.” 

Second in the race and the Silver medal 

winner, Rafael, was pleased the regatta came 

down to the last race. He said, “I am very 

pleased because normally the winners have 

all been decided before the last race, and 

there has always been a clear winner, so this 

year was good because we didn’t know until 

the very end. I am glad about that. It made 

for a good competition.” 

Third in the race and Gold Cup winner, Ben 

Ainslie concurred, “The last race was very 

exciting for spectators. There was a lot going 

on. It has been very hard because both Rafa 

and Bart have been sailing very well. I was 

a bit worried after the first mark, and it was 

really tough to get back into the race. I am 

very pleased.” 

Geoff Ewensen going the wrong way again 

The race for the bronze medal looked over 

at the first mark with both Andrew and Jonas 

somewhere in the 50s. However, Jonas’s 

phenomenal ability to make comebacks saw 

him take boat after boat and overtake Andrew 

on the final offwind to finish 17th. However, 

Andrew stayed close enough to be sure of 

the bronze medal. Andrew later commented, 

“I had a good gap beneath me in the points, 

so I decided to take a risk and go to an 

extreme to try and get a result. I had to do 

something spectacular if I was a going to win, 

so decided to take the risk. However it didn’t 

really pay off. I wasn’t really aware of where 

Jonas was and he got past me when I wasn’t 

paying attention. However that woke me up 

and I started trying harder again and kept in 

touch with him to stay in third overall.” 

Twice former world champion Mateusz 

Kusznierewicz ended, what for him was a 

poor regatta, in sixth place. After having a 

bad start to the week with a 17th and 18th, 

he has been trying to understand what was 

going wrong. He revealed, “I have been 

having bad upwind speed all week. I don’t 

know why. I need to look at things and make 

some improvements I think. After my terrible 

first two days though, I am delighted with 

sixth overall.” On the future for him he 

commented, “I will sail in Brazil next year and 

then in Athens, but then I will give up sailing 

the Finn. I might be tempted to come back 

for the Moscow Gold Cup as it sounds like 

that will be good.” 

In the Junior Finn Gold Cup Marin Misura 

(CRO) finished in 30th place, ahead of Edward 

Greig (GBR) in 39th and Tapio Nirkko (FIN) 

in 59th. 

The prizegiving was held by the swimming 

pool of the Hotel Yacht Club in Puerto Sherry 

with the medals being awarded by ISAF Vice- 

President, Fernando Bolin. 

Below: Rafael Trujillo congratulates 

Ben Ainslie after the final race 


10 

INTERNATIONAL FINN ASSOCIATION 

2003 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

Cádiz, Spain 

MINUTES 

Present: 

Executive Committee: Philippe Rogge, 

President; Ali Enver Adakan, Vice-President 

Sailing, Clifton Webb, Vice-President 

Development; Martijn Van Muyden, Treasurer; 

Corinne Rolland-McKenzie, Secretary; 

Richard Hart, Chairman Technical Committee, 

Robert Deaves, Chairman Marketing 

Committee, Michele Marchesini, IFA coach. 

Countries represented: Australia, Belgium, 

Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, 

Italy, The Netherlands, New-Zealand, Poland, 

Russia, Turkey, Switzerland, USA, Sweden, 

UK. 

1. National Class Associations 

Voting cards were distributed to the National 

Class Association representatives based on 

the 2003 IFA dues received. 

2. Minutes from the last meeting 

The minutes from the 2002 IFA AGM were 

approved 

3. Accounts 

a. The 2002 accounts and the budget for 

2003/2004 were approved (Appendix A) 

4. Elections of Members to IFA Committees 

Gilbert Lamboley has been proposed by 

Richard Hart and elected in the Technical 

Committee. 

IFA AGM MINUTES 2003 

5. Executive Committee Reports 

Verbal reports were received from members 

of the Executive Committee (Appendix B) 

IFA Technical Committee report (Appendix C) 

6. IFA Championships 

An update was received from Joao Signorini 

on the 2004 FGC in Rio. Dates of the 

Championship: 12th to 20th of February. 

Information on accommodation and boat 

transport have been posted on the event 

website: www.atividade.com.br/finn, you will 

also find information on warm up regattas 

and the most famous Carnival is starting a 

few days only after the regatta. 

Dates for the Europeans in La Rochelle are 

confirmed to be between the 7th and the 15th 

of May. It will be the last Olympic Qualifier. 

b. Bids were received from: 

Warnemunde (GER), Balaton, (HUN), 

Kalmar (SWE), Moscow (RUS) 

Moscow received 13 voices and was elected 

to host the 2005 FGC. However, the location 

being a lake, the council gave the IFA EC the 

chance to go and assess the suitability of the 

location before giving full consent. Moscow 

has committed to build 100 Finns that they 

will lend, free of charge, to the competitors. 

Dates will be between SPA regatta and Kiel 

Week to allow the sailors to fly from Hamburg. 

A charter flight will be available at a very 

competitive price at a set date and time. 

Accommodation was offered free of charge 

to the top 10 sailors but IFA asked for the 

offer to be given to developing nations instead. 

Visas will be organised in conjunction with 

the organisers and each country Russian 

IFA ACCOUNTS 2003 

INTERNATIONAL FINN ASSOCIATION 2002 FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS – English Pounds GBR 

Embassy. To facilitate this operation for the 

sailors, dates to collect visas will be organised 

with each country. 

Kalmar in the South of Sweden was elected 

to host the 2005 European Championship. 

This event will be part of the 50 years 

anniversary celebration of the Swedish Sailing 

Federation. 

7. IFA rules and Constitution 

a. Constitution: ‘Mission Statement’: deferred 

to the next AGM 

b. Racing: 

(i) Increase the number of judges from 6 to 

8 in major events where the fleet is likely to 

exceed 80 boats. (recommendation in IFA 

Championship manual) 

Voted against. 

(ii) Fleet or group racing format in large fleet 

events. 

Fleet format is still the most preferred format. 

(iii) Bring the age of Juniors from 21yo to 

25yo (submission from Finn Club Holland) 

Voted against. However some measures are 

being studied to help Juniors to sail the Finn. 

(creation of a Junior Major event, Juniors 

clinics...) 

8. Any other business 

The 2004 AGM will be held in La Rochelle 

during the European Championship. 

RRS42: 

A late submission was submitted during the 

AGM by a few sailors and accepted by the 

council. 

See appendix D. 

Revenue 2002 2001 Expenses 2002 2001 Assets 2002 2001 

Memberships 16 315 16 064 Salaries 10 200 11 921 Accounts receivable 4 025 - 

Sail labels 7 150 6 832 Office expenses 2 131 1 266 Working Account 18 498 19 854 

Mast labels 2 957 1 958 Regatta expenses 1 653 2 186 Capital Account 31 048 30 542 

Rule books 6 413 6 706 Bank Charges 292 77 

Interest 496 1 084 Finnfare expenses 7 885 7 684 53 571 50 408 

Advertising 3 579 3 922 Postage 173 485 

‘Finnatics, Finnlog’ 746 1 513 ISAF Building fee 4 586 4 159 Liabilities 

Other 30 - Stickers & RB 2 837 596 

Masters admin. 669 1 101 Salary owing 1 120 1 468 

Website 706 - Bond - GRE - 1 845 

Various* 1 198 - Capital 52 451 47 095 

Profit for the year 5 356 8 623 

37 686 38 079 37 686 38 079 53 571 50 408 

* new Lamboley

IFA Clinic 9-12 September 2003, Cádiz – by Arif Gurdenli 

The 2003 Finn Clinic took place in Cádiz just 

before the Gold Cup, with participation from 

China, Japan and France. The program had 

intensive content, both on shore and on the 

water. The mornings were covered by 

classroom work, where Luca Devoti, Ben Ainslie 

and Sebastian Godefroid were the guest 

speakers. On the water (2-4 hours per day) 

sail trim, speed testing, boat handling drills 

(mark rounding, tacking, gybing), start drills, 

short races were the focus areas. 

Luca’s lecture was on boats, rigs and tuning: 

all the secrets for a fast Finn 

Optimum weight for a Finn sailor 

These days the optimum weight seems to be around 

103. This may be down to 95 as minimum, and up 

to 115 as max. to be competitive. 

Centreboard pin position 

In general, heavy guys can move the pin 

forward where the lighter sailors would prefer 

to move it back. Also in light winds it would be 

faster to move it forward and would be faster 

to move back in heavy winds. 

Deck ring position 

Considering Devoti boats, 1 big + 1-2 small pieces 

of blocks would be ideal in from of the mast ring. 

In heavy wind the ring can be placed more forward 

and in light winds could be moved aft. 

Mast rake 

More technology is involved in the rake 

measurement. A tape is still used but a weight 

system seems to be more accurate. With a 

tape, 6.77 metre would be an average rake. 

Using a cord of leach length where an electronic 

scale is attached at the end, boom is positioned 

on deck and the load is measured as 37 kg for 

an average measurement. This can go down 

to 32-33 kg as a minimum (by raking the mast 

aft). In flat waters and light winds you can rake 

the mast more back and in choppy conditions 

more forward. 

Mast types 

Two type of masts seem to dominate the class 

these days : 

a) Diamond shape; can deliver more consistent 

masts according to the required measures. 

Since the shape is more symmetrical and the 

draft position is in the middle, it's easier to build 

the mast to the numbers. Also the centre of 

gravity may be slightly lower. These masts 

have quick response (more nervous). 

b) Teardrop shape; may have a better 

aerodynamic shape to produce a narrower 

angle of attack on the sail. This type of masts 

are more difficult to produce to the required 

numbers. Therefore, would be vise to get the 

numbers of already built masts and choose in 

between. These masts are slower in reaction. 

Mast deflection 

Most sailors and sailmakers test the masts by 

supporting the mast at the bottom and at the 

deck ring, then by attaching 12 kg at the tip. 


Fore/aft measurements: 

Tip deflection (difference of mast tip position before 

attaching the 12 kg, and after attaching it) ; 49 cm 

is stiff - 52 cm is on the softer side. 

Middle deflection; 110 (stiff) - 125 (soft) 

An all-round mast (fore/aft); 86 mm at 1/4 - 117 mm 

at 1/2 - 86 mm at 3/4 with 51.5 cm tip deflection 

Side to side measures: 

Tip deflection; 37 (stiff) - 42 (soft) 

Middle deflection; 115 (stiff) - 130 (soft) 

3/4 deflection; 90-93% of middle deflection 

An all-round mast (side to side); 127 mm at 

1/2 - 92% at 3/4 with 39 cm tip deflection. 

Sails 

North Sails have a firmer cloth and is built for 

relatively stiffer masts. Victory Sails have softer 

clothes, need more mast bend in the middle. 

In general, best would be to decide on one sail 

and stick with it, since the feelings are very 

different. 1 mm of change in the mast curve 

(by the measurement) may result in 0.8 mm 

change in luff curve of the sail. 

Sebastien’s lecture was on fitness: must do 

for all Finn sailors. 

Balance seems to be the most important idea 

in the physical preparation. In sailing certain 

muscles work more than the others and they 

are more developed. During the workout 

program, it’s more important to focus on unused 

parts of the body, to develop those muscles. 

This will result in a better performing body in 

the long term (over a busy season). Before 

starting a training program it’s very critical to 

find a good physio man who can analyse you, 

your movements in a Finn and can come up 

with a specific program to your needs. In 

general, before developing your most needed 

muscles in a Finn, it's necessary to develop the 

opposite muscles to those. Resting is a very 

important aspect of the total preparation. When 

the regatta season is over, one month of resting 

(in October) , with little exercises would be good. 

In November, starting a heavy physical training 

with 3 sessions a day, 6 days a week: 

Program type-A (in a day) 

1st session ; cardio by 2 hours bike or 1 hour run 

2nd session; Gym for about 1.5-2 hours. 

3rd session; Trunk (upper body) workout 

Program type-B (in a day) 

1st session; cardio intervals (focus on speed 

- explosion) 

2nd session; gym for about 1.5-2 hours. 

3rd session; stretching 

In December, include sailing in the training 

program after the cardio session in the morning. 

On sailing days, gym work can be combined 

with trunk workout after sailing session. 

In January, it’s good to travel to warm countries 

for more on the water training and regattas. 

Less cardio work and opposite muscles workout 

(heavy weight less reps) in the gym should be 

integrated in the program. Longer sailing 

sessions replace cardio time. 

In February, training type turns to speed/quick 

and active sessions in gym and cardio. On the 

water focus on short racing and start drills by 

doing your best (maximum effort) for shorter 

periods. Closer to the regatta season focus 

more on the shorter, quicker training style with 

more effort in a shorter time interval. 

Sailing season; focus on 3-4 major regattas 

(like Hyeres, Europeans, Worlds). Train really 

hard for 3 weeks before your important regatta. 

During your important regattas stop your cardio 

and gym work. In other regattas, gym and 

cardio work should continue as before. 

Therefore, it's important to find a good gym as 

the first thing when you arrive at the venue. 

Between regattas, take a rest, by sailing just 

1-2 times a week. Fitness training continues. 

Heart rate 

Keep track of your heart rate in the night. If the 

difference between night and day is high, you're 

doing good. 

Nutrition 

Strong breakfast with lots of carbohydrate is 

essential. No fat before sailing. Lots of drinks 

during sailing, especially in light wind and hot 

days. Rehydration specific drinks are good in 

such days. In long days of sailing, energy drinks 

can be included as well. Protein rich meals 

could be eaten 30 min. after training. Carbo 

intake is necessary during gym training. 

Ben’s lecture was on Regatta preparation: 

should be considered by anyone with big goals. 

For a good preparation of an important regatta, 

logistics are very important. Finding a good 

place to stay, a gym, restaurants to your taste, 

nice pubs etc. that can make you feel relaxed 

after a long and stressful day is needed. To 

get used to the conditions, three weeks would 

be a good time in advance. More than 3 weeks 

would be boring and cause demotivation during 

the regatta. During the three week period, 

focusing on wind patterns, wave types, small 

racing. Spending 3-5 hours on the water is 

good enough. 

If you really focus on the regatta, coming to 

the same location and training 3-5 months 

before could be very positive. For the 2003 

Worlds, Ben was in Cadiz in March. 

Extra info by Ben 

Few things to consider in downwind : 

• After rounding the windward mark, do not 

gybe too soon. This will help you in keeping 

clear wind. 

• Boom vang tension is more crucial on reaches 

than on the run. 

• Keep 1/4 of the centreboard down on the run, 

where 1/2 could be down in reaches. 

• Using the rudder is very slow downwind. 

Keeping the balance of the boat while playing 

the waves to have minimum rudder action is 

very critical. 

• Planning down the wave, keeping the boat 

flat or slightly to leeward seems faster. 


Name: Guillaume Florent 

Age: 29 

What is your home town?: I live in 

Cagnes-sur-Mer (south of France) but 

I was born in Dunkerque. I consider 

Dunkerque my hometown. 

When did you start sailing?: 4 - 

When I was 1, on the family boat. 

Summary of sailing career: 

Optimist - Europe - Laser - Finn 

Why did you take up sailing?: I 

liked it. 

What was your first boat?: My 

first dinghy was an optimist. 

What was your favourite boat and 

why?: My favourite boat is the one I currently sail. 

What class did you first race in?: Optimist 

How much time do you spend on the water each week?: Between 

0 and 25 hours 

Who are your sailing heroes and why?: Scheidt for inventing new 

techniques. 

Why did you take up the Finn?: For the technological side and 

because I was fed up of eating only salad and cucumbers to keep 

my weight down for the Laser. 

How long have you sailed the Finn?: 1 and a half years. 

What is your favourite venue?: Hyéres (sunny, windy, beautiful 

scenery, very good organisation) 

What is your least favourite venue?: Maarstrand 

When was your first major win?: 1 year ago, winning the Nationals 

ahead of Rohart. 

What is your best ever result?: Gold Cup: 5th in Cadiz 

What are your strengths in sailing?: Determination and curiosity 

What are your weaknesses in sailing?: Lack of time to train 

What result gave you the most satisfaction?: 2nd in Hyéres after 

3 months in the Finn (some paranormal phenomenon - Mulder and 

Scully came to Hyéres to investigate). 

What is the single most important piece of sailing advice you could 

give to a young sailor?: Don’t mess up with me.... (just kidding). More 

seriously, I would tell him to focus on the learning, not on the results. 

What is the Finn classes greatest asset?: 1) The sailors 2) The 

possibility to adapt the boat to one’s style 

What are its disadvantages?: No major disadvantage 

Are there any changes you like see happen to the Olympic 

classes sailing circuit?: More freedom with rule 42 

What class would you like to move into after the Finn?: The 

IACC or the Star 

Do you think the spread of Olympic classes should be changed and 

how?: Too complicated for me - Ask Paul Henderson or Jacques Rogge. 

What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever witnessed at a regatta?: 

A dog swimming after his master’s boat for 2 miles after launching 

and stopping on a rock in the middle of the bay. His master saw his 

dog on his way back to the shore and took him in his boat. 

Other hobbies and interests?: Golf, cycling, computers 

What job would you be doing if you were not sailing?: In fact ..... 

I also work as a computer engineer. 

Where would you like to see the Gold Cup sailed in the future?: 

Cannes, Dunkerque, Caribbean, Cape Town. 

12 

SAILOR PROFILES 

Name: Joao Signorini 

Age: 26 

What is your home town?: Rio de Janeiro 

When did you start sailing?: At the age of 8 

Summary of sailing career: I’ve started in Optimist in 1988, winning 

the Rio de Janeiro state championship in the same year. Then in 

1991 I went to the Europe class, winning 2 times the Rio state 

championship. In 1995 I went to the Laser class, winning the South 

American Championship in 2000. I was 5 time 2nd in the Laser 

National Championship between 1998 and 2002. In 2002 I went to 

the Finn class and began my Olympic campaign. In this year I got 

the Olympic place for Brazil at the Finn Gold Cup and got a third 

place at the Athens 2002 Regatta. 

Why did you take up sailing?: Because of an uncle. 

What was your first boat?: An Optimist 

What was your favourite boat and why?: I don’t have any particular 

favourite boat. 

What class did you first race in?: Big boat regatta 

How much time do you spend on the water each week?: +- 12 

hours 

Who are your sailing heroes and why?: Torben Grael and Marcelo 

Ferreira, because of their style. Even winning the most important 

championships, they can still have a relaxed attitude. 

Why did you take up the Finn?: A friend of mine lent me his boat 

for a championship. I won the championship, and began my Olympic 

campaign. 

How long have you sailed the Finn?: Since January 2002. 

What is your favourite venue?: Büzios and Rio, both in Brazil 

What is your least favourite venue?: The cold one. 

What is the single most important piece of sailing advice you 

could give to a young sailor?: To have fun when sailing. 

What is the Finn classes greatest asset?: After sailing a Finn, it 

is easy to sail others boats. 

What are its disadvantages?: The price of the boat and equipment. 

Other hobbies and interests?: Big boat regattas 

What job would you be doing if you were not sailing?: Engineering 

Where would you like to see the Gold Cup sailed in the future?: 

I will see it in my home town in 2004. 

Finns and all you need for sailing fast! 

Delivery possible at good prices to nearly all major regattas. 

Marina Dellas, Segelbedarf, Weskampstr. 10, 26121 Oldenburg, Tel/Fax: +49 441 884765 

Dellas@com.oldenburg.de www.dellas.d

AUSTRALIA 

John Shallvey writes “This summer we have 

planned to team up with the Europeans as 

much as possible. The class in Australia will 

hold 3-4 regattas close together to 

accommodate any who wish to live and train 

in the best summer conditions. Firstly there 

is the Sydney International on the Harbour 

AUSTRIA 

Austrian Open Championship 

2 September 2003 00:55 

Erich Scherzer writes “From 21-28 of August 

the UYC Wolfgangsee in St. Gilgen organised 

a perfect Open Austrian Championship. 95 

competitors from 7 different countries found 

their way to this most most beautiful of areas!! 

Besides the beautiful landscape we had 

excellent weather and the typical thermal 

‘Brunnwind’ with a nice force 2 -5 on every 

day of racing. 

After some very challenging races in 

sometimes difficult shifty conditions the host 

club UYCWg offered great food, drinks and 

music every evening ! 

After 3 days of racing all 6 races were finished 

with a great winner. Michal Hruby from CZE 

beat, among others, Olympic sailor Michael 

Maier and 2003 Masters World Champion 

Eberhard Bieberitz. National champion 

Michael Gubi finished finally second overall 

– showing once more his great talent.” 

1 CZE 9 Michal Hruby 12 

2 AUT 7 Michael Gubi 23 

3 CZE 1 Michael Maier 27 

4 GER 10 Eberhard Bieberitz 30 

5 CZE 22 Roman Babicky 33 

6 ITA 24 Peter Stuffer 36 

7 ITA 16 Harald Stuffer 45 

8 GER 8 Jürgen Eiermann 46 

9 GER 39 Karl-Heinz Erich 47 

10 NED 66 Ewout Meijer 58 

11 HUN 1 Balazs Hajdu 61 

12 AUT 271 Florian Raudaschi 65 

13 AUT 11 Bernd Moser 66 

14 SUI 7 lvan Rames 72 

15 GER 151 Matthias Miller 75 

16 GER 36 Adalbert Wiest 81 

17 GER 3 Walter Mai 86 

18 CZE 70 Vaclav Cintl jr. 90 

19 NED 804 Cees Scheurwater 95 

20 GER 701 Klaus-Dieter Götz 98 

21 CZE 8 Jiri Outrata 100 

22 GER 165 Dirk Meid 105 

23 GER 48 Manni Pöschl 106 

24 CZE 318 Martin Plectiy 122 

25 GER 71 Benedikt Göch 126 

26 GER 311 Bernd Fischer 128 

27 GER 63 Michael Pandler 128 

28 SUI 465 Thomas Brack 130 

29 AUT 12 Jörg Werner 133 

30 GER 32 Felix Spring 143 


COUNTRIES REPORTS 

in December, then training coaching regatta 

Middle Harbour Sydney after Christmas, the 

pre-sail at Melbourne at the Royal Brighton 

over 3-6 January, and finally Sail Melbourne. 

I am happy to coordinate transport or stowage 

and the Australian authority is happy to 

support with transport and storage. I can also 

offer membership privilege in Melbourne for 

those who wish to train and play.” 

31 AUT 284 Erich Scherzer 144 

32 GER 150 Günther Hoffmann 152 

33 HUN 11 Lovas Püter 153 

34 GER 86 Peter Mannes 154 

35 GER 92 Detlef Gumminski 156 

36 GER 55 Herbert Sondermann 159 

37 AUT 272 Franz Kloiber 162 

38 GER 20 Stefan Weigl 166 

39 ITA 3 Klaus Stuffer 167 

40 GER 130 Alfred Blum 172 

41 CZE 7 Vaclav Cinti 172 

42 HUN 4 Varga Lajos 187 

43 GER 49 Horst Klein 201 

44 AUT 260 Johannes Poell 206 

45 GER 18 Mike Wendler 214 

46 GER 122 Herbert Herwig 214 

47 ITA 39 Thomas Pichler 219 

48 HUN 6517 Keresztes Gábor 222 

49 GER 1 Werner Beuck 222 

50 ITA 93 Klaus Mair 222 

51 GER 2 Nils Peters 225 

52 SUI 40 Heinz Stammnitz 229 

53 ESP 100 Pavel Frohlich 237 

54 ITA 72 Andrea Guidi 244 

55 ITA 84 Pierluigi Pinzan 245 

56 AUT 210 Walter Schuster 251 

57 HUN 99 Barnabás Doromby 261 

58 AUT 199 Hannes Blaschke 272 

59 GER 35 Fiffi Ehlers 275 

60 GER 102 Siegfried Böhl 276 

61 AUT 268 Maximilian Pfeiffer 279 

62 GER 266 Michael Eller 283 

63 ITA 66 Stefan Stefula 291 

64 CZE 10 Vaclav Hudec 295 

65 GER 333 Hans Jürgen Brenninger 303 

66 GER 120 Christian Wächter 305 

67 HUN 41 Bartos Zoltan 307 

68 HUN 6 Pál Gaszton 313 

69 GER 65 Claus Donner 317 

70 GER 303 Wolfgang Herter 318 

71 AUT 223 Tobias Drugowitsch 319 

72 HUN 70 Gyorgy Vas 325 

73 GER 95 Gert Bollrath 328 

74 GER 2155 Johannes Gauwerky 330 

75 GER 222 Wilhelm Emde 333 

76 GER 93 Otto Käser 334 

77 ITA 902 Fritz Starke 340 

78 GER 200 Helmut Vetter 344 

79 AUT 277 Gerhard Schlipfinger 347 

80 AUT 19 Frank Schimak 357 

81 AUT 234 Robert Erhart 358 

82 GER 109 Manfred Tomaszewski 376 

83 AUT 36 Helmuth Gubi 382 

84 ITA 43 Pietro Piran 382 

85 AUT 214 Thomas Kattinger 383 

86 GER 1852 Rudiger Stelzl 388 

87 SUI 64 Hans-Rudolf Osterwalder 393 

88 AUT 13 Andreas Poell 397 

89 ITA 86 Stefan Kaspar 398 

90 AUT 253 Johann Raudaschl 421 

91 AUT 211 Michael Gerstmayer 422 

92 GER 2035 Stefan Magirus 430 

93 SUI 531 Roland Schneider 431 

94 GER 69 Simon Löffelmann 446 

95 0E 1 Dieter Lesiak 469 

Austrian Ranking List 2003 (top 20) 

1 Gubi Michael 361 

2 Raudaschl Florian 336 

3 Moser Bernd 324 

4 Werner Jörg 274 

5 Poell Johannes 266 

6 Gubi Helmuth 259 

7 Scherzer Erich 217 

8 Schuster Walter 214 

9 Fischer Michael 196 

10 Pfeiffer Max 186 

11 Grögl Peter 174 

12 Drugovitsch Tobias 124 

13 Gfreiner Gerhard 109 

14 Poell Andreas 102 

15 Schlipfinger Gerhard 100 

16 Eder Harald 99 

17 Raudaschl Johann 64 

18 Kloiber Franz 58 

19 Erhard Robert 48 

20 Gfreiner Hartwig 46 

Austrian Secretary Bernd Moser 


CANADA 

Canadian Nationals 2003 

Whitby, Ontario July 11-13 

A dozen North Americans ventured to Whitby, 

Ontario July 11-13 for the Canadian National 

Championship sailed on Lake Ontario in winds 

from 15-20 knots with big waves, uncharacteristic 

for the usually shifty and light venue. 

This regatta was a homecoming for Chris 

Cook, who grew up in Whitby and started 

sailing at WYC when his mother Geri, enrolled 

him in its junior program. Geri was on hand 

for the regatta and help played den mother 

to the Finn fleet. A fine crew of WYC 

volunteers put on a great regatta complete 

with food and an old Finn filled with ice and 

Lone Star beer. 

The best U.S. performance, a second, was 

put on by US Sailing Team member Geoff 

Ewenson. John Porter, who campaigned 

actively for the 2000 Olympics, has come out 

of retirement and placed third, followed by 

Andy Kern, who forgot his rudder and had to 

bondo together two pieces of plywood in the 

middle of night in order to sail. Jon Clark, 

DENMARK 

Lars Vesterholm writes: The Danish 2003 

regatta-season is now coming to an end (but 

FRANCE 

Cercle de la Voile Bordeaux 

8-9 August 2003 

20 sailors participated to the celebration of 

the Finn fleet rebirth in Maubuisson. Among 

them, big names such as: Philippe Soria, 

Yves-Louis Pinault, Serge and Alain Maury, 

Jean-Jacques Busquet, Pierre Mondeteguy 

and Didier Poissant (3 of them past Finn 

Olympian). Five light wind races were sailed 

and every competitor had the opportunity to 

change their boat before the starts. Philippe 

Soria, Alain and Serge Maury won each won 

a race, proving if necessary that ‘old soldiers 

never die’. It was a great feast of friends and 

14 

from Ottawa, 

taking time off 

from his position 

as sailing 

p r o g r a m 

administrator and 

full-time university 

student, placed 

fifth. Bill 

Upthegrove, in his 

re-built Teal, 

finished in sixth 

and was first 

master. 

Chris Cook in Cádiz 

Results 

1 Chris Cook CAN 41 6 

2 Geoff Ewenson USA 11 14 

3 John Porter USA 14 23 

4 Andy Kern USA 78 25 

5 Jon Clark USA 111 34 

6 Bill Upthegrove USA 7 39 

7 Mike Milner CAN 4 47 

8 Steve Cutting CAN 24 61 

9 Charles Heimler USA 1111 61 

10 Chris Kent BAR 1 68 

11 Ian Bostock CAN 3 73 

12 Ian Robertson CAN 105 78 

most of us will continue until the marinas 

freeze over). In this situation it is always nice 

to look back at the results of a splendid 2003. 

2003 has been a very good year for the 

Danish Finn Sailors. The number of sailors 

that decided to visit other countries raised 

significantly and the fine results have been 

pouring in... Jonas and Soren both won 

regattas in the early spring and continued to 

show great form over the summer. 

On August 8-10th the Open Danish 

Championship 2003 was held in Egaa (north 

of Aarhus) in extremely fine conditions. Superb 

winds, 30+ degrees (celcius) and absolutely 

no clouds. In addition the Danish Finn 

Association had sponsored a special trophy 

to the overall winner of the event – a 1:1 

bronze replica of Paul Elvstrøm’s left hand. 

36 Sailors from 4 nations showed up and 

raced for the honour of being the first sailor 

to win this trophy. Christian Aderman from 

Sweden won the event not even having to 

start in the last race. Soren came in second 

all of these 50s, 60s and 70s heroes still 

consider Finn as the missing link between a 

Rambrandt painting and a Stradivarius ! 

Port-Blanc, 8-11 May. 

Port-Blanc is probably one of the most 

beautiful and windy places to sail in France 

(northern Bretagne). For this regatta only 13 

sailors (the creme of the French Finn class) 

decided to come for a nice fight in medium 

winds and choppy water. Jean Duru from 

Paris had a very consistent regatta and was 

most of the time ahead of the fleet winning 

7 of the 9 races. He won with only 9 points. 

Second was Patrick Zagazuc from Dinard 

with 27 points,and third was Gaël Seguin 

1 Kristian Åderman 5 

2 Søren Holm 10 

3 Johan Tillander 15 

4 Thomas Laursen 16 

5 Anders Nilsson 27 

6 Jørgen Lindhartsen 27 

7 Michael Båk 32 

8 Cees Scheurwater 36 

9 Ewout Meijer 40 

10 Mikael Brandt 40 

11 Dirk Meid 40 

12 Frank Hansen 51 

13 Lars Juel Christensen 58 

14 Michael Staal 63 

15 Lars Stenfeldt 66 

16 Henrik Thomsen 69 

17 Lars Vesterholm-Lavesen 71 

18 Loek Kruyer 76 

19 Olof Lundqvist 82 

20 Thorsten Schacht 90 

21 Ole Vorm 95 

22 Thomas Bo Nielsen 99 

23 Flemming Jensen 99 

24 Hank De Jager 102 

25 Kim Siestø 105 

26 Lars Gelbjerg-Hansen 120 

27 John van Altena 122 

28 Sten Waldo 124 

29 Olaf van Heusden 128 

30 Peter Verhoef 133 

31 Richard Berg-Larsen 133 

32 Peter Malm 145 

33 Martin Leifeldt 150 

34 Finn Andersen 167 

35 Per Cederholm 169 

36 Lars Hauschultz 170 

in a borrowed boat (and missing the first race 

when the owner sailed and Soren stayed 

onboard the committee boat). 

In the Danish Nationals the winner and gold 

medalist was Soren Holm and silver medalist 

was Thomas Laursen (who finally and well 

deserved made it to the podium). Bronze 

went to – yes – Jørgen Lindhardtsen. 

with 32 Points. During the prize-giving 

ceremony the organisers gave each 

competitor a CD ROM with more than 250 

pictures taken during the regatta. 

Start at Port Blanc

Binic - Thamer, 6-7 September 

In the 70s Binic was a well known spot for 

Finn and the Yacht Club of Binic was proud 

to have a fleet of more than 20 Finnsters. 

Bruno Rossignol put his natural energy and 

good public relations to produce a Finn 

comeback in his club. It has been decided 

that every year in last weekend of September 

will be a two day regatta in Binic. Saturday 

saw a good and steady medium wind from 

west. Pierre Le Chatelier won 2 races far 

ahead from the fleet, and Gilles Mal-Sevré 

one. Sunday was not a very nice day to sail 

as the wind was very shifty and light. The 

committee ran 4 races, Alain Keraudy with 

his ‘skinny’ Devoti won 2 races, Pierre Luce 

and P.Le Chatelier the two others. We will 

certainly have more than 25 on the start line 

next year as this one was a real success! 

1 888 LE CHATELIER PIERRE 11 

2 7 KERAUDY ALAIN 17 

3 826 MALSERVET GILLES 21 

4 534 LUCE PIERRE 24 

5 797 DESEILLIGNY CHRISTOPHE25 

6 821 LE MAITRE SIMON 31 

7 807 SIOT RENE 45 

8 837 GUILLOU ALAIN PIERRE 49 

9 785 LIGUET JAEN JOSEPH 49 

10 806 ZAGAZUC PATRICK 55 

11 760 GAUCHET XAVIER 59 

12 73 ROUX PHILIPPE 60 

13 762 CHOMET PATRICK 69 

14 792 CHAGNAUD FRANCIS 89 

15 847 ROSSIGNOL BRUNO 96 

International Sailing Week 

Cannes, 26 April - 1 March, 2003 

70 participants from 7 different countries gave 

the strong feeling that it was more than a 

district regatta. As usual the atmosphere was 

really cordial and we all know that it is a 

distinctive feature of our class to have this 

excentrical force. Thanks to all of you who 

have made such a long trip to join us (Danish 

team for instance). The first day of regatta 

sew rough weather conditions, and for safety 

reasons the race committee did not start any 

race. We spent much time and of course a 

lot of money at the bar ... For the second day 

the wind was light and very shifty, Guillaume 

Florent won the first race and Søren Holm 

the second one. On the last day the wind 

steadied at 2 pm and the committee set two 

races. Søren got two bullets. Cannes will be 

the spot for the 2004 Masters and we expect 

more than 80 participants for the third 

international sailing week in Cannes from 18 

to 21 February next year as this event will 

be a perfect practice for those who came 

back in May for the Masters. 

1 DEN 7 HOLM Søren 3 

2 FRA 73 FLORENT Guillaume 7 

3 FRA 17 RAMBEAU Pascal 8 

4 SUI 6 WA’LCHI Dominique 14 

5 DEN 9 LARSEN Thomas 14 

6 DEN 201 HENDRIKSEN Lars 20 

7 FRA 7 CHTOUNDER Sylvain 21 

8 FRA 11 DEPLANQUE Mathieu 22 

9 SUI 4 BRUN Daniel 22 

10 AUT 271 RAUDASCHL Florian 28 

11 ITA 25 BATTAGLIA Armando 33 

12 AUS 222 MC KENZIE Paul 34 


13 GBR 53 COBB Rodney 36 

14 FRA 8 GASTON Jean Paul 42 

15 ITA 111 CATALAN Bruno 44 

16 ITA 727 BUGLIELLI Marco 45 

17 HUN 11 LOVAS Peter 46 

18 ITA 111 SALANI Mario 47 

19 GER 13 TAMM Wolfgang 50 

20 SUI 452 RICKERT Wolfgang 53 

French Nationals 2003, 9-12 July 

For the 4th time in a row, Quiberon was the 

choice to host the French Finn Nationals. As 

the previous events, this event was sailed in 

light winds and in these conditions it was a 

very tough battle for the 49 sailors because 

there was not so much big boat speed 

difference. Those who finished in the top 5 

places has most of the time been able to 

place in the top ten in every race. In the last 

day, the wind steadied to force 3-5 and two 

races were sailed and determined who will 

be the winner between Jean-Paul Gaston 

and Pierre Le Chatelier. On the overall results 

P. le Chatelier won the championship, 1 point 

ahead of Gaston, and Gaël Seguin third. 

Thanks to British and German fellows who 

participated in this event and hope to meet 

you next year. 

1 FRA 888 LE CHATELIER PIERRE 16 

2 FRA 8 GASTON JEANPAUL 17 

3 FRA 804 SEGUIN GAEL 26 

4 GER 17 SCHARDER KAI 36 

5 FRA 848 ROUMAILLAC JEAN CLAUD 36 

6 FRA 817 VALLIER PHILIPPE 45 

7 FRA 534 LUCE PIERRE 47 

8 GBR 53 COBB RODNEY 53 

9 FRA 846 HENAFF GILLES 59 

10 FRA 822 LESAGE VINCENT 61 

11 FRA 897 LOQUINEAU JEAN MARC 64 

12 FRA 77 DURU JEAN 65 

13 FRA 821 LEMAITRE SIMON 69 

14 FRA 14 MONTORIOL CHRISTOPHE70 

15 FRA 18 BOUTEMY YVES 71 

16 SUI 7 KERAUDY ALAIN 76 

17 FRA 776 HERAUDET JEAN BERNARD 79 

18 FRA 76 HAUTECOEUR JEAN PIERR84 

19 FRA 1 POISSANT DIDIER 85 

20 FRA 837 GUILLOU ALAIN-PIERRE86 

Hourtin Medoc (Maubuisson Lake) 

31 October - 2 November 2003 

53 sailors from 4 different countries sailed 7 

races in good strong and steady medium 

winds. It was obvious that this regatta was 

the most interesting and physical of all of 

these sailed this season in France. Many 

capsizes, one broken mast, and one sailor 

that spent a part of the night at the hospital 

prove that there was some thrills especially 

at the gybe mark. Mario Salani from Italy after 

a long trip from Tuscany had enough energy 

to show to some of his French mates how to 

cook pasta, thanks Mario! Mario won 4 races 

and got 3 second places, Paul got 3 victories 

and 2 secons places. Unfortunately for Paul, 

he scored an OCS that cost him second place 

on the overall result. This event testifies the 

good health of the Finn class in France and 

the search to build new Finn fleets in different 

geographical and strategical parts of the 

country. We hope to meet all of you from 

Holland, Italy and maybe Paul next year. 

1 ITA 11 SALANI Mario 8 

2 8 GASTON JEANPAUL 19 

3 7 LE CHATELIER PIERRE 34 

4 NED 1 VANDERHORST Jan 38 

5 NED 7 ALTENA John 51 

6 AUS 222 MCKENZIE Paul 61 

7 826 MALSERVET GILLES 63 

8 77 DURU JEAN 66 

9 848 ROUMAILLAC JEAN CLAUDE 75 

10 791 GRANCHAMP JEAN JACQUES80 

11 804 SEGUIN GAEL 96 

12 822 LESAGE VINCENT 101 

13 73 LEMAITRE SIMON 104 

14 19 ALBERT JEAN MARC 109 

15 534 LUCE PIERRE 111 

16 797 DESEILLIGNY CHRISTOPHE 112 

17 NED 704 LAMME Jan jaap 121 

18 838 TANGUY SYLVAIN 124 

19 NED 38 HEUSDEN Olaf 129 

20 76 HAUTECOEUR JEAN PIERRE132 

Competitors at the French Nationals 


GREAT BRITAIN 

UK National Championship 2003 

Warsash Sailing Club 

1 Charlie Cumbley GBR 15 9 

2 Aaron O’Grady IRL 7 11 

3 Ed Greig GBR 593 23 

4 Adam Cowling GBR 2 26 

5 Thomas Greig GBR 567 39 

6 Nick Daniels GBR 58 43 

7 Phil Laycock GBR 3 65 

8 Sander Kooij GBR 1 80 

9 Richard Hart GBR 531 87 

10 Stuart Glover GBR598 91 

HUNGARY 

Hungarian Nationals 

Lake Balaton, 3-7 September 2003 

This year’s Finn Class Nationals took place 

at Lake Balaton with 35 boats at the start. 

The fleet contained 8 junior and 12 masters 

sailors, as well. Seven races were sailed in 

light to medium winds with two olympians 

(Antal ‘Tonyo’ Szekely, Seoul1988 and Balazs 

Hajdu, Sydney 2000) battling out the top two 

overall places. Due to the proper timing of 

the event within the local sailing season, most 

races allowed for fair and exciting racing. The 

fleet showed again some new faces joining 

the Hungarian Finn scene and - thanks to 

PATA Boats - a general improvement of 

equipment was noticeable. As to the results, 

the regatta was comfortably won by Balazs 

Hajdu, scoring four first and three second 

places. He was followed by Antal Szekely, 

who showed great boat speed, formidable 

determination and proved that real sailing 

skills cannot be unlearned. Tibor Pallay came 

third overall scoring a first and a sixth place 

on the last day. With his great overall result 

ITALY 

Coppa Italia Finn 2003 

Coppa Italia, a series of 6 regattas held during 

spring and summer weekends in Italy, had 

its epilogue in Pesaro at the beginning of 

September. 

Unfortunately this last 

race had only a few 

competitors. Anyway 

the local Maurizio 

Grati won it with 2 

bullets and 3 second 

places, and second 

was the Italian Navy 

representative Marc 

Arata. The convincing 

overall winner of 

16 

11 Robert Deaves GBR 10 91 

12 Russell Ward GBR 4 93 

13 Graham Page GBR 33 93 

14 Rowan Chaplin GBR 7 97 

15 Gordon Watson GBR 544 101 

16 Mark Andrews GBR 88 113 

17 Martin Hutchins GBR 563 121 

18 Graeme Macdonald GBR 556 123 

19 Tim Powell GBR 583 123 

20 Ed Thorburn GBR 595 124 

21 Mark Macdonald GBR 572 125 

22 Howard Sellars GBR 77 132 

23 Justin Chisolm GBR 23 133 

24 Jon Powell GBR 582 155 

Antal Szekely was declared National Masters 

Champion with Gaszton Pöl winning the junior 

title. Sincere thanks are given to Silvy Szekely, 

who once again managed to organise a 

fantastic Finn event for 35 hungry and thirsty 

wolves. 

1 HUN 1 Hajdu Baläzs 8 

2 Szükely Antal 15 

3 HUN 5 Pallay Tibor 27 

4 HUN 71 Kertäsz Gábor 28 

5 HUN 2 Sipos Peter 28 

6 HUN 11 Lovas Peter 35 

7 HUN 6 Pöl Gaszton 43 

8 HUN 113 Berecz Zsombor 53 

9 HUN 65/17 Keresztes Gábor 57 

10 SUI 347 Zsindely Lászlo 61 

12 HUN 4/479 Varga Lajos 63 

13 HUN 99 Dorombi Barnabás 70 

14 HUN 41 Bartos Zoltán 79 

15 HUN 14/51 Göl Dezsá 84 

16 HUN 21 Sipos Bence 89 

17 HUN 1111 Bisztray Frigyes 89 

18 HUN 7 Mihály ¡döm 94 

19 HUN 171 Biszküt Peter 106 

20 HUN 81 Szendrüi Merton 110 

Coppa Italia 2003 is Michele Marchesini, with 

Marco Buglielli at second place and the young 

hopeful Riccardo Cordovani in third place. 

Also this year this series of races was a big 

success, with 85 Italian competitors and 

several foreign guests, particularly in the 

traditional Stuffer-Vitessa Trophy on Caldaro 

lake. 

1 ITA 15 Michele Marchesini (left) 414 

2 ITA 727 Marco Buglielli 404 

3 ITA 101 Riccardo Cordovani 379 

4 ITA 11 Mario Salani 324 

5 ITA 111 Bruno Catalan 279 

6 ITA 71 Massimo Gherarducci 253 

7 ITA52 Franco Martinelli 249 

8 ITA 898 Johannes Van Asperen 231 

9 ITA22 Frank Lokin 219 

10 ITA 38 Claudio Bosetti 205 

25 James Wyburd GBR 576 172 

26 Mike Woodhead GBR 16 178 

27 Mathieu de Verdiere GBR 537 182 

28 Robert Plant USA 1201 185 

29 Andrew Wylam GBR 53 197 

30 Simon Stonehouse GBR 11 200 

31 Mike Till GBR 55 204 

32 Ian Kay GBR 581 212 

33 Mark Ingram GBR 424 221 

34 Tim Tavinor GBR 9 222 

35 Keith Fedi GBR 596 227 

36 David Martin GBR 69 254 

37 Michael Stringer GBR 578 258 

38 L Maudsley GBR 567 267 

Photos by Eddie Mays (eddie@eddiemays.com) 

21 HUN 15 Gulyás Gábor 117 

22 HUN 163 Böna Gábor 126 

23 M 104 Tirvol Tamás 127 

24 HUN 61 Anka Attila 137 

25 HUN 275 Vincz Tibor 143 

26 HUN 8 Beliczay Merton 149 

27 HUN 3 Koller Tam´ås 152 

28 HUN 55 Szalai Lászlo 158 

29 HUN 300 Farkas Jözsef 166 

30 HUN 771 Kudron Zoltán 175 

31 HUN 743 dr Mucs Mihály 185 

32 M 3 Sarina Robert 190 

33 HUN 17/12 Boros Ferenc 190 

34 HUN 1144 Szendrái Dávid 199 

35 M 158 Szili Károly 213 

Malcesine Finn Cup 

The traditional Finn Cup was held in 

Malcesine at the beginning of October, but 

this year this wonderful regatta was disturbed 

by a capricious weather, which allowed only 

2 races to be completed. 68 Finn sailors were 

present, despite the clash with the German 

Finn championship. The first day the usual 

gardesan Ora didn’t show up, and the only 

comfort came from the very abundant and 

tasty ‘merenda’ offered by Hans Chiocchetti. 

On Saturday a good northerly wind was 

present, but it was unusually unstable, and 

only one race was held with a dying wind, 

which was won by Michael Maier who beat 

his fellow Czech Michail Hruby and the 

Slovenian Vincec Gasper. The last day 

everybody was ready at 8 am for an early 

start, but torrential rain and a strong northerly

forced the race committee to postpone the 

start. At 11 am the rain stopped and the wind 

decreased a bit, and a race was started in 

some 25 knots increasing with gusts up to 

33 knots. In these tough conditions Michael 

Maier won again after a hard fight against 

Luca Devoti, and only 11 boats managed to 

finish the race. 

1 CZE 1 MAIER MICHAEL 2 

2 CZE 9 HRUBY MICHAL 5 

3 SLO 5 GASPER VINCEC 7 

4 ITA 15 MARCHESINI MICHELE 9 

5 CZE 3 LIDARIK RUDOLF 12 

6 AUT 271RAUDASCHL FLORIAN 12 

7 ITA 1 DEVOTI LUCA 17 

8 CZE 318PLECITY MARTIN 21 

9 ITA 727 BUGLIELLI MARCO 29 

10 ITA 890 TACCHINO JACOPO 30 

Ooops! 

NETHERLANDS 

Grevelingen, Zeeland, August 9-10 

This event was held on the beautiful water 

of the Grevelingen in Zeeland, the weather 

was nice, but light wind conditions. Here we 

met a new youngster Finn sailor Wietze 

Zetsema, and he took the first place – so 

watch out, here he comes. 

1 NED 724 W.Zetzema 

2 NED 757 L.Kuijper 

3 NED 712 R.Baerends 

4 NED 5 R. Tobe 

5 NED 759 G.v.Woudenberg 

Gaastra ONK FINN Masters 

Harderwijk, August 30-31 

This year the Masters were separated from 

the Dutch Open, due to late time of this event 

in October. 50 boats were competing for the 

Dutch Masters title, including six German and 

one Belgian entry. Mateusz Kusznierewicz, 

who was invited by Gaastra, followed the 

SWITZERLAND 

International Finn Swiss Championship 

Lake Silvaplana/St. Moritz 

August 17. 20.2003 

There was no doubt that the Swiss mountains 

would attract sailors from all over Europe to 

sail some races on one of the most 

spectacular ‘Finnable’ lakes you can find. At 

an altitude of 1800 metres, surrounded by 

high mountains and woods and close to the 

well known jet set melting pot of St. Moritz, 

a record fleet of 70 boats from 8 countries 

fought hard for the championship. The well 

known ‘Maloja Wind’ (thermal wind reaching 

4-5 Bft) didn’t really blow early in the series 

and one day was even spent on shore without 

racing. Dutch sailor Ewout Meijer and masters 

world champion Eberhard Bieberitz were the 

early leaders after three races. Most sailors 

collected at least one bad race in the 

sometimes tricky conditions. A jury that took 

its job just a little bit too serious listed additional 

sailors on the victims list (there have never 


fleet during the regatta. In the evening he 

held a clinic about some situations on the 

water earlier. It was a great success. Luuk 

Kuijper took the Gaastra ONK Mastertitle. 

1 NED 757 Luuk Kuijper 17 


3 GER 209 Steffen Folsing 33 

4 NED 5 Richard Tobe 56 

5 GER 55 Herber Sondermann 60 

Gaastra Pro Ranking list: 

1 Ewout Meijer S 14,770 

2 Stefan de Vries S 14,206 

3 Cees Scheurwater S 14,132 

4 Jaap Zielhuis S 13,248 

5 Martijn van Muyden S 13,205 

6 Sander Willems S 9,529 

7 John van Altena M 7,334 

8 Loek Kruijer M 7,127 

9 Ab Schippers M 6,652 

10 Wouter Molenaar M 6,613 

11 Richard Tobé M 6,594 

12 Luuk Kuijper M 6,362 

been slower moving Finn sailors than this 

year on Lake Silvaplana – even a fast 

movement of the little finger immediately 

attracted the jury’s attention followed by a 

‘freezing stage’ of the sailor). The last day 

brought back the ‘Maloja Wind’ with three 

wonderful races. Masters champion Eberhard 

Bieberitz scored two bullets and took the 

championship two points ahead of Balazs 

Hajdu and Andrea Guidi. Defending Swiss 

champion Christoph Christen could not make 

use of his excellent position before the last 

race. A bad start and 16 additional points on 

the score pushed him from the podium. 


2 HUN 1 Balazs Hajdu 21 

3 ITA 72 Andrea Guidi 24 

4 SUI 465 Christoph Christen 26 

5 GER 151 Matthias Miller 30 

6 CZE 8 Jiri Outrata 34 

7 GER 209 Steffen Fölsing 43 

8 ITA 25 Armando Battaglia 50 

9 CZE 70 Vaclav Cintl (jun) 52 

10 SUI 6 Dominique Wölchli 53 


13 Bas de Waal S 6,328 

14 Thierry van Viersen S 5,666 

15 Nanno Schuttrups J 5,357 

16 Henk de Jager M 5,179 

17 Nanne Boot M 4,838 

18 Jan Jaap Lamme M 4,790 

19 Eric Bakker S 4,637 

20 Fons van Gent M 4,266 

21 Hans Willekes M 3,987 

22 Pim de Visser S 3,821 

23 Roderik Casander M 3,708 

24 Ruurd Baerends M 3,522 

25 Lucio Nodari M 3,418 

11 GER 71 Benedikt Güch 57 

12 NED 66 Ewout Meijer 58 

13 SUI 462 Thomas Brack 78 

14 GER 19 Andreas Bollongino 79 

15 NED 804 Cees Scheurwater 82 

16 AUT 12 Jörg Werner 83 

17 GER 701 Klaus Dieter Götz 85 

18 NED 22 Jaap van der Weele 92 

19 GER 206 Klaus Reffelmann 93 

20 CZE 7 Vaclav Cintl (sen) 93 

21 CZE 318 Martin Plecity 95 

22 GER 266 Michael Eller 99 

23 SUI 57 Rudolf Baumann 109 

24 SUI 12 Franz Bürgi 115

25 ITA 27 Andrea Bianchi 117 

26 GER 55 Herbert Sondermann 119 

27 SUI 8 Nick Benz 132 

28 SUI 475 Frederik Huck 136 

29 SUI 473 Silvan Zuppiger 151 

30 SUI 490 Andreas Fürer 152 

31 SUI 11 Hans Fatzer 155 

32 SUI 65 Mark Kruisheer 158 

33 GER 40 Heinz Stammnitz 159 

34 SUI 14 Andreas Meyer 159 

35 GER 117 Manfred Zälow 162 

36 GER 154 Roland Wenz 179 

37 ITA 24 Peter Stuffer 180 

38 HUN 70 György Vas 182 

39 SUI 60 Peter Kurz 188 

40 FRA 794 Joseph Rochet 191 

41 GER 222 Wilhelm Emde 192 

42 GER 293 Georg Siebeck 198 

43 SUI 466 Heinz Wyss 203 

44 GER 102 Siegfried Böhl 204 

45 GER 2 Nils Peters 211 

46 ITA 30 Stefano Neri 211 

47 SUI 4 Daniel Brun 212 

48 ITA 43 Pietro Piram 216 

49 GER 92 Detlev Guminsky 226 

50 ITA 11 Mario Salani 229 

51 SUI 13 Peter Kilchenmann 230 

52 SUI 340 Rainer Klosterman 232 

53 SUI 433 Thomas Roost 238 

54 SUI 463 Martin Leuch 240 

55 GER 65 Claus Donner 244 

USA 

Toilet Bowl 

Cazenovia, NY Aug 16-17, 2003 

The 34th edition of the Toilet Bowl was sailed 

in light conditions on August 16 and 17. This 

year five races were sailed on Saturday and 

two on Sunday. There were 13 competitors, 

the turnout being somewhat smaller due to 

difficulties elsewhere caused by the effects 

of that week’s blackout. 

The event proved to be mainly a duel between 

last year’s winner, Bill Upthegrove of 

Cambridge, Mass. and first year ace sailor 

and boat converter, Dave Powlison of 

Shelburne, Vermont. Both sailed older Teel 

hulls and were the two oldest boats 

competing. Only Art Diefendorf’s Vanguard 

was anywhere near as old (and NO boats 

raced were anywhere near as old as Gus 

Miller and Art). The issue was in doubt until 

the last leg of the last race, which was won 

by Bill with his slightly altered sail. He had 

manually ‘ventilated’ it during a frustrating 

moment in race six. Wayne Myers, who came 

fourth, took home the Masters’ prize. 

18 

56 SUI 454 Arnold Baumann 245 

57 SUI 96 Hans Lehmann 246 

58 NED 766 Coen Snijders 246 

59 SUI 401 Daniel Buchhofer 260 

60 SUI 50 Wolfgang Rickert 272 

61 GER 1 Werner Beuck 272 

62 SUI 22 Harry Geisser 272 

63 GER 998 Elmar Rist 281 

64 AUT 2 Kurt Schimitzek 287 

The usual plentiful quantity of charbroiled 

tenderloin and other goodies were consumed 

Saturday night, thanks to excellent preparation 

by Finn wives ably assisted at the fire by 

Steve Burrell and Phil Tate. The usual lies 

were told, and those who overindulged paid 

the usual heavy price on Sunday. Everyone 

took home fancy new sailing caps. Ray 

Cudney did his usual superlative job as RC 

Chairman, and also presented each 

competitor with a suitable-for-framing photo. 

What a guy! All visitors spoke enthusiastically 

about the terrific hospitality and all around 

helpfulness exhibited by WBYC staff. This 

will be the first year that the staff did not 

require counselling following the event. The 

local Finn Sensitivity Group is most 

appreciative. 

65 ITA 16 Harald Stuffer 309 

66 SUI 64 Hans Rudolf Osterwalder 309 

67 SUI 531 Roland Schneider 309 

68 SUI 479 Roberto Upazzoli 314 

69 SUI 66 Denise Sonderegger 319 

70 SUI 427 Daniele Panzeri 329 

71 GER 303 Wolfgang Herter 365 

71 SUI 430 Mauro Biraghi 365 

North American Championship 

Kingston, ON July 17-19, 2003 

The 2003 North Americans returned to 

Kingston, Ontario hosted by Ross Cameron 

and his intrepid CORK regatta staff. The 

conditions for the regatta were fantastic. Each 

day brought a sea breeze that came in at 

about 10 kts and built to 18-20kts. The race 

course was set just off Portsmouth Olympic 

Harbour which made for easy in and out 

access for the 15 Finns who attended. Chris 

Cook dominated the event showing superior 

uphill speed and was able to maintain his 

leads with good downwind speed. Kevin Hall 

was also quick upwind but is still getting his 

groove on in the downwind department. He 

placed second in the event showing why he 

was the strategist in the last One World 

Campaign. He is clearly going to be a favourite 

going into the US Trials. 

Ewenson was a bit off the pace upwind and 

often had to rely on his downwind jets to pass 

the likes of the unknown comic (Kern), John 

Porter, and the silent Canadian – John Clark. 

CORK was a busy place as they were hosting 

a Star event with the Finn NAs and preparing 

to run the Albacore Worlds starting the day 

The evergreen Gus Miller 

1 USA 7 Bill Upthegrove 9 

Art Diefendorf 

2 USA 935 Dave Powlison 10 

3 USA 1176 Phil Tate 22 

4 USA 996 Wayne Myers 28 

5 USA 999 Art Diefendorf 34 

6 USA 1026 Federico Meira 35 

7 USA 975 Gus Miller 35 

8 USA 1146 Steve Burrell 36 

9 CAN 3 Ian Bostock 43 

10 USA 1080 Bruce Campbell 57 

11 USA 1074 Eric Johnson 58 

12 USA 1776 Joe Burke 64 

13 USA 1111 John Dzioba 75

INTERNATIONAL RACING CALENDAR 2004 

DECEMBER 

December 26 Christmas Cup Hellerup Denmark berg-lar@post5.tele.dk 

December 26-30 Christmas Race Palamos Spain 

JANUARY 2004 

January 12-17 Sail Melbourne Sandringham Australia 

January 26-30 Rolex Miami OCR Miami USA 

January 28-31 Rio de Janeiro Cup Rio de Janeiro Brazil www.atividada.com.br/finn 

FEBRUARY 

February 6-9 Sail Aukland Auckland New Zeland 

February 8-11 South American Championship Rio de Janeiro Brazil www.atividada.com.br/finn 

February 12-20 FINN GOLD CUP Rio de Janeiro Brazil www.atividada.com.br/finn 

February 17-21 Athens Eurolymp Week Athens Greece 

February 18-21 Cannes week Canne France ww.finn-france.com 

February 26-29 IV International Carnival Regatta Cadiz Spain 

MARCH 

March 13-20 Olympic Garda Riva Del Garda Italy 

March 26-30 X Barcelona Olympic Sailing Week Barcelona Spain 

March 27-28 OCR (tbc) Weymouth UK phil.laycock@lineone.net 

March 27-31 X Barcelona Olympic Sailing Week Barcelona Spain 

APRIL 

April 2-9 XXXV Princess Sofia Trophy Palma de Mallo Spain 

April 7-11 Izola Spring Cup Izola Slovenia 

April 17-18 Southern Championships (tbc) Warsash UK phil.laycock@lineone.net 

April 23-30 Semaine Olympique Francaise Hyeres France 

MAY 

May 7-15 EUROPEANS La Rochelle France 

May 8-9 Lilac Festival OCR Ontario Canada 

May 22-23 Canadian OCR Toronto Canada 

May 26-30 SPA Regatta Medemblik Netherlands www.sparegatta.org 

May 28 June 4 FINN WOLRD MASTERS Cannes France 

JUNE 

June 10-13 Austrian Championship Attersee Austria 

June 11-13 British Nationals (tbc) Torbay UK phil.laycock@lineone.net 

June 11-13 Open Swedish Championship Malmo Sweden 

June 17-21 Scandinavian Race Week Rungsted Denmark 

June 23-27 Kiel Week Kiel Germany 

June 30- 4 July Austrian Lakes Week Eurolymp Neusiedlersee Austria 

JULY 

July 3-10 International Baltic Regatta St Petersburg Russia 

July 3-11 Warnemunder Woche Warnemunde Germany 

July 8-11 Intervela Riva Del Garda Italy 

July 14-17 French Nationals Loctudny France www.finn-france.com 

July 23-1 August Travemunder Woche Travemunder Germany 

July 25- 31 Istanbul Sailing Week Istanbul Turkey 

July 31-August 1 French Open Socoa France ww.finn-france.com 

AUGUST 

August 3-7 Idea Gdynia Sailing Days Gdynia Poland 

August 14-29 2004 Olympic Regatta Athens Greece 

August 21-29 CORK Kingston Canada 

Derek Mess, Bill Upthegrove, 

John Audley and Doug Carey 

after the NAs. All in all it was a classic Finn event 

that brought out the best in the class- Gus Miller, 

Art Diefendorf, Lou Nady and Paul Phelan were 

on hand to represent the old school crowd. Sorry 

I meant the senior leadership of the North 

American contingent. Lou won that group handily. 

Class newcomer, Chris Kent showed upwind 

speed at times but had a propensity for spear 

fishing with the mast on downwind legs. Canadian 

Finn Class convert Rob Cullen also showed 

signs of life as he regularly rounded the top mark 

in the top few boats but he too had read the 

breaststrokers guide to Finn Sailing. 


Bill Upthegrove was on hand to show how one 

can pretty up an old Finn. Ian Bostock rounded 

out the fleet making it a pretty even split between 

Canuks and Seppos. All in all it was a great 

event that was a bit short in attendance. Mike 

Milner was a seen in a Star, and several others 

were apparently repelled at the border due to 

the heightened security level for that weekend. 

1 Chris Cook CAN 41 7 

2 Kevin Hall USA 1208 12 

3 Geoff Ewenson USA 11 22 

4 Andy Kern USA 78 25 

5 Jon Clark USA 1157 25 

6 John Porter USA 14 29 

7 Rob Cullen CAN 11 47 

8 Louie Nady USA 150 48 

9 Paul Phelan CAN 220 52 

10 Bill Upthegrove USA 7 56 

11 Chris Kent BAR 1 60 

12 Dave Powlison USA 111 69 

13 Ian Bostock CAN 3 77 

14 Gus Miller USA 975 80 

15 Art Diefendorf USA 999 88 

For further information on any event, 

to check the latest information on 

dates and venues or to add events 

and contact numbers to this list 

contact the IFA Office or see the IFA 

or ISAF website. Please check all 

details with organisers before 

travelling. 

St Helens Regatta 

St Helens, OR Sept 6 -7 2003 

1 Darrell Peck USA 1151 11 

2 Henry Sprague USA 74 17 

3 David Branch USA 3 22 

4 Brad Nieuwstad USA 1063 24 

5 Bob Carlen USA 1109 40 

6 Andras Nady USA 970 42 

Henry Sprague and friends! 

Editorial 

Thanks to all those who answered the call for material. This time – for a change – I had 

more than I could ever use and some has been left over for next time. Please keep it 

coming. It is really great to receive so much Finn news and photos from around the 

world. Next issue deadline is March 17th 2004. 

Robert

Finns and all you need for sailing fast!

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