APRIL 2006 - Finn

APRIL 2006USA winter circuit • Ben Ainslie interview • Cannes

“Thank you very much for the perfect working newB4 racing machine. Believe me, this is the best boatthat I have sailed in my life.”Andre Budzien - GER 711“ - bearing in mind that I've not been in a Finn for acouple of years and weigh more than 110 kg, I wasextremely surprised to feel so fast off the wind. Pleasesend me your spec. sheets and build schedule so thatI can place an order.”John Greenwood - GBR 5“Thank you for my new B4 Finn. I was very impressedwith the complete, ready to sail package, includingthe Pata Willetts mast and especially with the highbuild quality. My first serious event was the UK FinnMasters and with the impressive speed to windwardand blistering downwind speed, I was able to finish1st Grand Master.”Alan Tucker - RSA 540Stefan DeVries – NED 6“With the solid performance and quality of my PataWilletts mast and the B4 hull, I can finally just goracing and not worry about having the rightequipment.”Pata Willetts MarineWebsite: www.suntouched.co.uk Tel: + 44 (0)7734 251033 email: B4@suntouched.co.uk

Photo: (c) Dan Nerney/RolexOpening shot: Jonas Hoegh Christensen and Dan Slater in MiamiPresident’s LetterDear Friends,Dear Finn sailors around the world,Considering the manifold projects currentlyrun by the IFA, our Executive Director,Corinne Roland-McKenzie and myself havedecided to use this president’s letter forbriefing you on the various issues the classis facing in the near future. Parts of thisoverview of IFA activities have already beencommunicated to national class secretaries,however, we felt that the wider Finn sailing community should alsohave a chance to learn about the projects forming the centre of ourwork over the forthcoming months.As you may already be aware of, the IFA Executive and some otherFinn sailors and coaches decided last September to summarise thepolicies, tasks and projects the Finn Class regards as priorities in thelonger term. This group has spent a considerable amount of time andeffort sharing ideas on the class future. The outcome is the conceptionof the 2008 Finn Strategic Plan. This plan has been published onwww.finnclass.org and is encompassing all the areas of IFA and setsgoals and priorities for the short and the long term. You are all morethan welcome to comment on it and come back to us with constructivefeedback and ideas.One of our major issues for the near future is a program VPDevelopment, Michele Marchesini has ‘given birth’ to last month, andwhich is already collecting material to be allocated at a later date.The Finn International Development Support (FIDeS) is a programmeaimed to help developing countries in the Finn class or new sailorswith no support, who have the objective to sail competitively. We haveapproached many people including ex-Finn sailors and builders andmany of them have committed to help with donations of new or secondhand equipment as well as discounted products. Michele has writtena document named Guidelines and Rules of FIDeS and we hope tomake it work rapidly to help more countries and sailors to join thelocal and international Finn families. We hope that you can pass theword around and help us promote this programme.Robert Deaves has taken control of the Finn website and loaded itwith a whole lot of new information. Both the Strategic Plan and theFIDeS programme are available to download directly there. There isa new Forum especially conceived for regatta organisers. You andyour federations can place here information and links also for localFinn championships and regattas.In the latest news section you will also find a link to the 2006 FGC inSplit/Croatia. The dates are from the 8th to 16th of July 2006. Assome of you know, this regatta will be used (along with the 2005 FGC)as qualification for the 2007 ISAF combined Worlds (qualifying 75%of nations for the Olympics). Because of the restriction to 80 boatsin the 2007 FGC and the anticipated desire to most countries to qualifya maximum number of representatives for Cascais, we have decidedto increase the number of entries for 2006. The first step will be toallow a representative of the National Finn Association appointed bythe secretary (when the Secretary is unable to come) to race; the onlycondition to this is that this person dully represents his country andvotes at the AGM (9th of July). The second step is to apply for extraplaces (by sending an email to 106453.577@compuserve.com beforethe end of April).[Continues on page 5]FINNFARE APRIL 2006 3

is the official publication of theInternational Finn AssociationFINNFARECirculationFINNFARE is a non-profit publication that isdistributed free of charge to all IFA membersand to interested parties connected to theInternational Finn Class around the world.For extra copies, or if you have addresses ofpeople who you think should be receivingFINNFARE, please contact the IFA Office.ContributionsArticles, race results, photographs and reportsfrom countries are always welcome. Pleaseinclude FINNFARE in your NationalAssociation for mailing newsletters, bulletins,press releases and race reports.AdvertisementsAll advertisement enquiries should also beaddressed to the Editor. Technical details andrates are available on request.Electronic MailPlease email photos as high resolution jpeg files.High resolution photos for the cover alwaysneeded. Most Mac compatable formats accepted.Max file file 1.2 Mb, max email size 3 MbFINNFARE EditorRobert Deaves124 Heatherhayes, Ipswich. IP2 9SG,EnglandMob: +44 (0)7932 047046Email: robertdeaves@yahoo.co.ukCover photos: Main picture: Rafael TrujilloAt the NA Midwinters. Photo: Jan Walker.Inset: Aaron O’Grady at the Rolex MiamiOCR. Photo Dan Nerney/RolexNext issue: August 2006Back issues: These are available from theeditor at GBP 0.50 each plus postage. Backissues stocks begin October 1997FINNatics and FINNLOG: Please notethat these are now only available fromthe IFA through the IFA office, and nolonger from the editor. FINNatics iscurrenly out of print. Some of the originalFINNLOGs (from 1986)are still availablefor GBP 5 plus p&p.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 884765marina@dellas.dewww.dellas.deExecutive Committee of IFA 2005/6President of HonourGerardo Seeliger c/o ACNO21 rue d'Artois, Paris 75008 FranceTel (W): +33 1 42 56 21 71PresidentDr Balasz HajduPLUS Elelmiszer Diszkont KftJászberényi út 43-47H-1106 Budapest, HungaryTel: +36 1 265 5170Fax: +36 1 265 5163Mob: +36 30 332 7415Email: balasz.hajdu@mail.plus.huVice-President – SailingAli Enver AdakanBadstr. 46, 8590 Romanshorn, SwitzerlandEmail: ae.adakan@gmx.chTemporarily replaced by: Daniel BirgmarkEmail: birgmark@hotmail.comVice-President – DevelopmentMichele Marchesiniv.le Roma 17, 37018 Malcesine, ItalyTel: +39 45 7400077, Fax: +39 45 7400042Email: mmarchesini@infinito.itVice-President – Masters’ FleetRolf LehnertSonnenhalde 26D-88161, Lindenberg, GermanyTel: +49 838 17116Fax: +49 838 182614Email: Rolf.Lehnert@allgaeu.orgExecutive DirectorCorinne McKenzie3 Impasse de la Bousquette66370 Pezilla la Riviere, FranceTel: +33 680 924 895 (m)Fax: +33 468 380913Email: 106473.577@compuserve.comHonorary TreasurerMartijn van MuydenVaartveg 186, 1217SZ HilversumThe NetherlandsEmail: mvanmuyden@xs4all.nlChairman Technical CommitteeRichard Hart26 Lower Spinney, Warsash, SouthamptonHants SO3 9NL, EnglandTel: +44 1489 575327Fax: +44 1489 576908Email: Richard@Hart331.fsnet.co.ukChief MeasurerJüri SaraskinLossi 1A, Tallinn, EE0026, EstoniaTel: (W) +372 6397041, (H) +372 672 6222Mobile: + 372 501 1321Fax: +372 639 7043Email: perimex@online.eeDevelopment CoachClifton Webb31 Gulf View Road, Murrays BayNorth Shore, Auckland, New-ZealandTel: +64 9479 3638Fax: +64 9 479 3687Email: clifton@orcon.net.nzChairman of the Marketing CommitteeRobert Deaves124 Heatherhayes, Ipswich. IP2 9SGEnglandMob: +44 (0)7932 047046Email: robertdeaves@yahoo.co.ukIFA WEB SITEhttp://www.finnclass.org4FINNFARE APRIL 2006

President’s Letter (continued)With the increasing number of Juniors, the Executive have decidedto organise a Junior Cup just before the European Championship inPalamos. This will be a short regatta with a training camp. More detailswill be available later, however we would like to know how manysailors/countries are interested in this event to anticipate participation.The dates for the 2006 European Championship are from the 22ndto the 30th of September. The Malcesine Finn Cup has been thereforepushed back one week to be held between the 6th and 8th of October.Liking and respecting our desire to repeat history, America’s CupManagement has agreed to organise a one day ‘All-star’ Finn regattain Valencia in the new harbour. The concept created by Clifton Webbin Auckland in 1998 to attract media and publicity to the Finn, provedto be a great success. AC Management will organise the next one inconjunction with the Finn class probably before Act 12. The sailorsinvited are the actual or past Finn sailors engaged in an AC team.This event will hopefully bring good media exposure and allow greatsailors to once more enjoy their beloved boat.With regards to the new Olympic format, as expected, Grade 1 eventorganisers have adopted the new format in their regattas. We alsoexpect regattas like Princess Sofia, Barcelona and other Grade 2events to do the same. The problem that could emerge from it is thatthe fine print of such format is not yet defined and the Olympic classesfear that liberal decisions will be taken without ISAF or the classesconsultation. The wind limit on the last race, the minimum number ofraces before the last race, the quality and experience of judges withAppendix Q (direct judging) experience, racing for the sailors outsidethe top 10 on the last day, but also the race course chosen or thelength of the course could result in a different format altogether. Itwould be really helpful that sailors who have attended Miami and thenext events with the new format send their feedback to Corinne forfurther evaluation. Hopefully, we Olympic classes will be able to geta commitment on the ‘fine print’ at the next ISAF mid-year meetingin May.Jumping over to technical aspects of our great boat, thanks to theRichard Hart led IFA Technical Committee and Gilbert Lamboley, theshape of the hull at the measurement stations is now set out in digitalform, along with the shape of the relevant templates. This completeswork started in the 1970s. Gilbert is also working at producingconvincing shapes for the intermediate sections 1, 3, 5 and 7 that arenot measured, as a guide to boat builders.We are moving into a new era in some other ways as well. ISAF isdetermined to take a more active role in ensuring that classes havegood rules and that these Equipment Rules are adhered to. Thanksto Richard and his Technical Committee, we are a jump ahead ofmost because we have already adopted the SCR format. The nextfocus of attention is going to be the qualification of the measurers.In an endeavour based on the request from Finn sailors attendingthe last AGM in Kalmar, IFA decided to become more pro-active inthe course of finding suitable sailing venues for forthcoming majorsFinn championships. In this manner the Executive has already finaliseddetails of a bid from Melbourne to host the 2008 FGC (the bid hasbeen published on the website) and further regatta bids (2008 FGCand Europeans) are welcome. The next AGM is scheduled for the 9thof July in Split.Technical DevelopmentsAt the November Meeting of ISAF, corrections were approvedfor various minor errors and omissions in our new Class Rules.In January, Jüri Saraskin noticed that the measurement from thetop of the boom to the middle of the pin hole had been shown asa maximum when it should be a minimum! We were able toinclude the correction with the changes that became effective onMarch 1st. If you find any more errors like that, please let meknow!The changes are available as downloads on the Finn Classwebsite, and there are instructions about changing several pages.I believe that there should be no boats affected.We are coming to the time of year when submissions should beprepared for the class AGM. Please consider any suggestionsthat you may want your national Finn Association to make, andwhen submissions are published, make sure that your nationalrepresentative has been briefed about what you and your countrywant.On another matter, the long saga about digitising our hull shapeand templates is nearly sorted at last: the information is nowprepared and standardised on the measurement baseline.The next three years are going to be interesting times, as ISAFis reshaping the way that measurement and certification areorganised. It is intended that the processes will be made simplerand that builders will be encouraged towards ‘In-HouseCertification’ (this means that the builder is approved to checkthe boat etc himself). IHC will be an option that WE can approve,but the result will be something that we do anyway: when youcollect the new boat or the new sail, it has already been measured.Our new rules were written with IHC in mind, but no doubt someredrafting will be necessary when all the details have been agreed.ISAF is becoming more directly involved with operations in thevarious classes, so when issues arise, please make sure thatyour national Finn and nationalauthority representatives know whatyou feel about these issues. If theyare not told, they have to guess whatthey think is good for us.Richard Hart16th March 2006Last but not least, VP Sailing Ali Enver Adakan has been called byhis country to do his military service on the north-east border of Turkeyin the Kurdish mountains. We wish him the best under these toughconditions and hope he will be back soon. In the meantime DanielBirgmark has kindly agreed to temporarily carry out the duties of VicePresident - Sailing.Best regardsDr. Balazs HajduCorinne-Rolland McKenzieFINNFARE APRIL 20065

Dutch bid for 2008 World MastersDuring the Master Worlds at Balaton inJune this year, the Dutch Finn sailors willmake a presentation to bid to organise theFinn World Masters 2008.The venue will be the IJsselmeer atMedemblik in Holland. This is the samearea where the famous Holland Regatta(previously called the SPA Regatta) isheld. Medemblik is the smallest, prettiestand oldest city of West-Friesland alongsidethe former Zuiderzee (IJsselmeer),approximately 40 km north of Amsterdam.Due to its rich history, Medemblik is aninteresting place to visit. The picturesquetown reminds you of the old days. Inaddition there are many tourist attractions,such as harbours, castle Radboud, atypical Dutch flour mill ‘de Herder’, manymuseums and establishments.The Regatta Center Medemblik is thehome base for many international sailingevents, such as the Holland Regatta,European and World Championships inseveral classes, and of yachting eventslike the 24-hours race. This reputation andposition is due to the sheltered location atthe windward shore of the IJsselmeer, tothe attraction of the historical city ofMedemblik, and to the effort of variousorganising committees of sailing events.The International Sailing Center Medemblik(ISCM) is situated at the northern part ofthe venue close to the harbour entrance.During the Finn Masters, the ISCM will bethe regatta office including the protestrooms. The racing area is non-tidal and isfresh water. In addition to a harbour anda sailing centre, the venue offers arestaurant, a water sports store, camperparking, camping and bungalows.During the Masters at Balaton the Dutchsailors will be happy to inform you moreabout this perfect location! We hope youwill all say then: going Dutch in 2008!At the NA Finn Masters, Gus Miller hadplenty to say, while Derek Mess and LarryLemieux have heard it all before.Photos: Jan Walker...shot with anartist’s eye...www.RegattaActiveImages.comPhotos by Jan WalkerName: Allen BurrellAge: 41What is your home town? Southend-on-SeaWhen did you start sailing?1970Summary of sailing career: Started in Cadets in which I was reservefor the Worlds, then moved on to Lasers and then Solos. I followedthe Solo circuit for many years, then moved on to the Phantom inwhich I have won the Nationals 5 times and finally the Finn. In betweenI have also competed in the OK and Albacore Nationals.Why did you take up sailing? Because I lived at a boat yard.What was your first boat? A pram dinghy similar to a Cadet.What was your favourite boat and why? Phantom because it islight and fast for someone of my weight.What class did you first race in? Cadet.How much time do you spend on the water per week? 4 to 8 hours.Who are your sailing heroes and why? Iain Percy and RichardStenhouse because of their determination to win combined with agood attitude to the sport and those around them.Why did you take up the Finn? To sail against the best in my weightrange.6Sailor profileAllen Burrell (GBR)How long have you sailed the Finn? 7 years on and off.What is your favourite venue? Lyme Regis.What is your least favourite venue? Small inland ponds andanywhere with no wind !When was your first major win? Phantom Nationals 1996.What is your best ever result? 3rd at Finn World Masters 2005.What are your strengths in sailing? Upwind.What are your weaknesses in sailing? Downwind and not aggressiveenough on the start line.What result gave you the most satisfaction? 3rd at the Finn WorldMasters 2005.What is the single most important piece of sailing advice youcould give to a young sailor? There is no substitute for time in theboat so practice and enjoy yourself!What is the Finn classes greatest asset? The high standard ofcompetition.What are its disadvantages? The costs involved in competingregularly both here and abroad.Are there any changes you like see happen to the Olympic classessailing circuit? No real opinion..What class would you like to move into after the Finn? Cruisingin the Med !Do you think the spread of Olympic classes should be changedand how? I think the Melges dinghy should be included.What is the funniest thing you've ever witnessed at a regatta?Seeing someone on the way to a regatta driving out of a garage,having wrapped their trailer around a petrol pump, with the hosedragging behind them .Other hobbies and interests? Keeping my wife and her horse happy!What job would you be doing if you were not sailing? PlasteringWhere would you like to see the gold cup sailed in the future?No real preference.Editor’s note: Thanks to all those sailors who filled in the questionnairesfor this section. They will all be used when space permits.FINNFARE APRIL 2006

Cannes 2006Semaine Internationale de CANNES - FINN15 to 18 February 20061 MON 23 BRUNO Ismael 1 1 2 DNF 42 CRO 16 TOMASEVIC Emil OCS 3 1 2 63 AUT 271 RAUDALSCHL Florian 2 4 4 1 74 NED 6 DE VRIES Stefan 3 2 3 DNF 85 NED 64 ZETZEMA Wietre OCS 5 6 3 146 HUN 6 PAL Gaszton 5 7 13 9 217 FRA 9 PONSOT Pierre Alexis 7 10 5 14 228 FRA 110 CHOLEY Luc DNF 6 7 12 259 BAR 2 MCGREGOR David 10 DNF 9 6 2510AUT 7 GUBI Michael 15 8 15 4 2711 GER 22 MITTERER Martin 6 11 10 26 2712GER 165 MEID Dirk 4 9 17 15 2813FRA 75 HAY Laurent OCS 12 11 5 2814HUN 5 PALLAI Tibor 14 DNF 8 8 3015FRA 862 ALLAIN DES BEAUVAIS Marc 8 13 12 DNF 3316FRA 850 TETARD Pascal 12 15 DNF 7 3417SUI 99 BRAK Thomas 9 16 14 13 3618FRA 846 HENAF FGilles 17 18 DNF 21 5619FRA 6 LIMARE Francois 18 19 DNF 19 5620FRA 827 SALIN Jan 21 20 16 DNF 5721FRA 885 BELLES JeanNoel 19 22 18 22 5922FRA 797 DE SEILLIGNY Christophe 26 24 19 17 6023SUI 496 GAUTSCHI Thomas 11 14 DNF DNF 6924FRA 822 LESAGE Vincent 25 21 DNF 24 7025FRA 74 FAUROUX Jacques 24 23 DNF 23 7026GBR 53 COBB Rodney 16 DNF DNF 11 7127FRA 848 ROUMAILLAC Jean Claude 22 DNF DNF 10 7628SUI 11 FATZER Hans 20 17 DNF DNF 8129FRA 869 BAUMGARTEN Regis 23 25 DNF DNF 9230ITA 43 PIRAM Pietro DNF 26 DNF 30 10031MON 234 KUTRZ Michael 13 DNC DNF DNF 10132RSA 540 TUCKER Alan DNF DNF DNF 16 10433FRA 865 ROCHET Joseph DNF DNF DNF 18 10634FRA 59 SALOMON Herve DNF DNF DNF 20 10835FRA 83 GODEFROY Joel DNF DNF DNF 25 11336FRA 837 GUILLOU Alain-Pierre DNF DNF DNF 27 11537FRA 800 ZOCCOLA Yves DNF DNC DNF 28 11638FRA 1 POISSANT Didier DNF DNC DNF 29 117Photos by Gatti ThibautDevoti Finn - the winner’s choice2004 results:1st World Championships1st European Championships1st World Masters1st Athens 20042005 results:1st European Championships1st World Championships1st World MastersDevoti Finns have won 10 of the last 11 World ChampionshipsDevoti Sailing supplied 100 Finns to theMoscow Sailing Federation for the 2005 Gold CupAll business is now handled by an office inthe Czech Republic as from 1st July 2005Devoti Sailing s.r.o.Príkop 27/2a602 00 BrnoCzech RepublicTel/Fax +420 545 215 373Mobile: +420 602 160 562Office Opening hours: 8am to 4pm CETE-mail: info@devotisailing.czWeb: http://www.devotisailing.comDevoti Finn stocked in Holland by HIT MastsHEAVYWEIGHT DINGHY – FINN Issue Date – 8 Mar 2006Emilios Papathansiou has been hovering outside the top spot on the Finnrankings for the last 12 months and has finally made it. The only event toadd points to this release was the ISAF Grade 2 Semaine Internationalede Cannes. Victorious was ISAF Athlete Commission representative for theFinn, Ismael BRUNO and he now rises from 30 to 26. The highest rankedsailor competing in Cannes was Stefan De Vries who finished just outsidethe medals. There are now 232 sailors on the Finn Rankings.Skipper Nation Prev Events Points1 Emilios PAPATHANASIOU GRE 4 7 47532 Jonas HOEGH CHRISTENSEN DEN 3 7 46343 Rafael TRUJILLO VILLAR ESP 2 7 45394 Gasper VINCEC SLO 5 7 44575 Ben AINSLIE GBR 1 7 43726 Daniel BIRGMARK SWE 6 7 4367 Edward WRIGHT GBR 9 7 41738 Aaron O’GRADY IRL 12 7 40649 Vladimir KRUTSKIKH RUS 13 7 405410 Waclaw SZUKIEL POL 8 7 401711 Soren HOLM DEN 7 7 395712 Johan TILLANDER SWE 11 7 392613 Chris COOK CAN 10 7 389514 Daniel SLATER NZL 17 6 373715 Stefan DE VRIES NED 15 7 371316 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC CRO 18 7 370217 Olexiy BORYSOV UKR 19 7 370018 Wietze ZETZEMA NED 21 7 366619 Marin MISURA CRO 14 7 365720 Anthony NOSSITER AUS 16 7 3643FINNFARE APRIL 20067

The Ben Ainslie interviewIn January at the LondonInternational Boat Show, BritishFinn Association Chairman MikeWoodhead and Secretary PhilLaycock tracked down Ben Ainsliefor a chat about the America’s Cup,the Olympics and the future.Reprinted from PUMP, the BritishFinn Association newsletter.America’s Cup - How is it going, what is yourrole on the boat and what do you reckonyour chances are in the scheme of things?It’s going really well and we have just finishedbuilding our first new boat - NZL 84. It gotthrough all the structural tests than need tobe done we’re so ready to start testing itagainst 81 – which is the first of the lastgeneration of boats down in Auckland – nextweek. My role is skipper of the B boat, sobasically to make sure the testing is aseffective as possible and get to a positionwhere I can stand in and be able to race inthe Cup if I need to.Are you happy with that role?Yes, there’s been a lot of talk about not beingon the A boat or the race boat but basicallymy options were to be the strategist of the Aboat or take on the B boat and learn how toskipper a boat like that and learn how to matchrace and get to a position where I can race inthe Cup and do well. So for me, that’s a fantasticopportunity and I look at it as a long term goalin a way. You look at the people like Coutts andthose guys and they took a long time to get upto that level; it doesn’t come overnight.The Luca Devoti boat is so full of Finn sailorsand helms; how do you think they will fare?I think they will be just fine. They have provenin the ACTS that they can sail the boat andmatch race just fine and seem to be a goodteam. You would imagine a lot of singlehanderstogether on a boat wouldn’t be a good mix butall the characters they have there such as Bart,Rafa, Nocker are all good solid blokes as wellas Ian Walker doing the tactics. He’s got a lotof experience to keep the boat calm.Do you think Bart is motivated enough tochallenge you for an Olympic campaign?I saw him recently and he is doing really well.He is enjoying a bit of time off. I think he justwants to sail for fun and enjoy it. He’s planningsome squad training down in Weymouth andtime will tell whether he wants another crackat the Games or not. Either way I think it’s greathaving guys like Bart, Chris Brittle, Matt Howard,and Ed Wright all pushing each other along.8In 2003, Rafa said “it’s a good job that theUK can’t send two people to the AthensOlympics as they are in danger of comingback with two medals.” In 2003, Bart waspushing you really hard but he doesn’t seemto be doing that much at the moment.I think its really hard. Doing the America’sCup is seriously hard work; in the gym at 6in the morning and working on boats andoften not getting home until 9 or 10 at night.So by the end of it the last thing you reallywant to do is spend your weekend goingsailing again. It sounds hard and people don’treally understand, but it is pretty tough grindso I think he’s just happy having a bit of timeoff. I’m sure he still loves his Finn sailing andwill be back doing some racing soon.Who do you rank as your biggest rivalsin the world of Finn sailing at the moment?Good question. I think it’s going through areal transition zone at the moment with someof the guys like myself, Rafa and Bart goingand spending more time cup sailing and notFinn sailing and people like Sebastian andMateusz moving on to different classes andthen younger guys coming through. It’s hardto really say where the benchmark is. I guessEmilios is still training hard so I think he isprobably the on-form guy at the moment.Leading up to 2008 it’s still quite early, peoplelike Dan Slater are going really well, andvarious younger guys like that are comingthrough, so its going to be a really interestinglead up to 2008 in terms of who takes controlof the fleet and sets the benchmark.When will the AC be out of the way toconcentrate on the build up to 2008?Obviously it depends a lot on how we do,somewhere between June and July 2007 soit doesn’t leave a long time to get ready forthe Worlds. That looks like it is going to bepart of the selection process so it’s not goingto be easy by any means but I’ll have to tryand keep in shape and get ready for that one.You look quite lean at the moment?I need to be lighter for helming the Cup boats,you don’t need much weight for standing behindthe wheel. I try and keep my weight around 90kg and keep lean so that if you need to put theweight on, you can get up to racing weight.Who do you rate amongst the British squad,other than Bart, as potential successorsto you if you don’t go for the 2012?It’s hard to say, a number of the guys my ageand a little bit younger are going to need to lookto professional sailing to earn a living and moveon, so that’s going to happen. I’m quiteimpressed by Mark Andrews. He’s young andPhotos: Ben Ainslie on his wayto winning a record fourthFinn Gold Cup in Moscow in 2005Photos by Masha Novoselovahis results so far haven’t set the world on firebut he has certainly shown a lot of promise andI see in him the sort of temperament thatperhaps in the future could be really good. Alsoguys like Giles Scott who’s a big lad from Laserswill do well in a bigger boat.Ed Wright seems to be somebody who’smade a really good impression on thedomestic scene and he’s had one or twovery good results internationally as well.Has he got the temperament, the dedicationand the commitment to go all the way?Ed’s a really seasoned campaigner with a lotof years in the Laser Class being reallysuccessful and been on the Olympic squadso he is certainly someone with the right workethic and capability to do it. Its just a matterof how he applies himself and how things gofor him but I certainly think that for him andother people like Matt Howard, it’s there forthe taking. It’s just doing things right.If you were to give those without unlimitedtraining time three top tips to get the mostout of the boat what would they be?a) Boat preparation: setting the boat upproperly. Make sure that everything is neatand the finish of the boat is good. Knowingyour boat.b) Boat handlingc) Working on racing well, getting good starts,wind shifts, etc.FINNFARE APRIL 2006

From a fitness point of view – in terms ofstrength or endurance – where would youput the emphasis in terms of the Finn?Endurance for sure. You see a lot of big guys,really big guys, even at Olympic level and theyare fine for the first five minutes on a run andthen you get down to the bottom and runningfor the ratchet block. Endurance and techniqueas well. Technique can overcome a lot of lackof strength – 2 to 1 as opposed to 1 to 1 – aswell changing hiking technique and styles.You very quickly started a trend towardscentre mainsheet and away from the sidedeckcleats. What was the main reason for that?Firstly, like any newcomer to a class shoulddo, I went to look at the best guy’s boat whichwas Mateusz, and he had a centre jammerand I guessed there must be a reason forthat. I tried it and really liked it. The mainbenefits are for changing from 2 to 1downwind and certainly tacking. If you did atacking drill it’s about 30 seconds quickerover 10 minutes.What is your greatest achievement?Winning Gold in Sydney in 2000.Most memorable sailing moment?The race in Sydney.Highlight of your life to date?Winning at the Olympics and all those thingsthey talk about. That’s not just for mepersonally but for everyone else who workedbehind the individuals, so it’s great to be ableto give something back to them as well.What do you enjoy most about sailing?For me it’s a game as much as anything, Ienjoy the challenge.So what do you like least about sailingand life as a full time sailor?Well it sounds very glamorous and I supposeit is, but there are also a lot of sacrifices thatyou have to make along the way and it’s likeeverything else in life. It’s a trade off but I’mcertainly very happy to be out there doing it.Do you believe that the Finn is still theviable singlehander for Olympiccompetition and if so why?FINNFARE APRIL 2006Yes I think it is. The Laser is a great classbut certainly it’s limited in a number of wayssuch as the weight and the technical side,and the Finn offers that. You already seepeople like Giles Scott, he’s 18 and he’salready too big for the boat so there’s a lotof guys out there who need a boat like theFinn as a challenge and right now I don’tthink there is any realistic alternative thatoffers both the physical and technicalchallenge that the Finn does.Do you think that holding the 2008 FinnEuropean championships in Britain wouldhelp promote the Finn for selection in 2012?Yes certainly an event that’s well run andhigh profile is going to help the class in thatcrucial period. I think the Finn class in generalhas done a very good job in the past but itneeds to continue to do a good job ofpublicising the events that go on and makingthe most out of the sailors and the athletesthat it has. Making people realise that it’s areal challenge to sail and looking at the peoplethat have gone on from Finn sailing to doother things in the sport.Are you enjoying having a little bit morecompany on the boat when you sailAmerica’s Cup yachts?Yes it’s been really good actually. The Kiwis area great bunch. They are fun to sail with, have agood work ethic, work hard, play hard and thatworks fine with me and we have a good time.Did you find the teamwork different frombeing in a singlehander for so long,suddenly having to communicate whatyou wanted to do to other people?Yes for sure. That’s part of the challenge andthe leadership at the back end of the boat,making sure the guys are working and thatthe team is running well. It’s coming on reallywell and is quite rewarding being part of ateam and making it work.Is there the possibility that you will be inthe afterguard for Team NZ in 2007?I think its pretty unlikely and if I am it wouldbe as a helmsman and you know we decidedpretty early on what our goal was going tobe but, as I said before I’m really happy withthe situation and the opportunity I’ve got,moving forwards to the future.What’s your reaction to the new ISAF finalrace system for the 2008 Olympics?I struggle to subscribe to the ideas of trying touse a non-discard final race to increase thePR or media attention on sailing. I think Olympicsailing is never going to compete with athleticson TV or on the spectator side and theOlympics is all about higher, faster, stronger– about the best people winning – and I thinkby this system it effectively makes it harderfor the best people to win so I’m not a fan ofit. But sailing is always going to develop andthese things will happen, but after it’s beenused for a couple of times, I don’t think there’llbe a huge amount of confidence it in.Do you think that there are modificationsthat could be make to the Finn that wouldimprove its performance and make it moreattractive to the general sailing population?Certainly the boom is pretty archaic and thereare a number of things which you could doto the boat, but certainly the carbon mast hasmade a real difference. It must have beenreally hard sailing them in the old days. Therehas been a similar push with Lasers in thepast and I think you just have to be carefulbecause in the end you are effectivelydesigning a new boat. So certainly there aresome things that would help, small things,but I think fundamental change is probably astep in the wrong direction.Do you ever see yourself sailing in theFinn Masters for fun?It would be nice to. They had an All Starregatta in Auckland a few years ago and alot of the old boys turned up for that. It’scertainly a great class to be involved with, sohopefully you never lose your ties.Can you envisage a point coming where GBget its act together and enters for the AC?I think there will definitely be a Britishchallenge in the near future and certainly itwould be great to be involved in that. It’sdefinitely got the sailing and design talentand there’s the money out there; it just needsthe whole thing to come together. The Cupis one of those things, it’s probably stretchingit a bit to go and win it first time, it’s a longterm project. You get the right people buyingin to that and it’s certainly possible to win it.9

The US Winter circuit 2006A series of events in North America over the northernhemisphere winter attracted a number of boats fromaround the world. The series started with the NorthAmerican Championships in Clearwater, Florida fromNovember 4-6. Chris Cook dominated with seven winsfrom 8 races. Aaron O’Grady won the opening race.Second paced Zach Railey scored six 2nd places inthe mainly light conditions.1 Chris Cook CAN 41 72 Zach Railey USA 4 173 Aaron O’Grady IRL 10 294 Andrew Casey USA 31 315 Darrell Peck USA 1181 346 Mike Milner CAN 4 377 Derek Mess CAN 115 458 Gabor Keresztes HUN 17 629 Kurt Taulbee USA 1 6910 Kenneth Luczynski USA 2 6911 Andrew Kern USA 78 7612 Bill Upthegrove USA 7 7913 Chuck Rudinsky USA 409 8114 Bret Webb USA 1197 8515 Louie Nady USA 150 9316 Christopher Kent BAR 1 10517 Chris Dudenas CAN 1 10618 Charles Heimler USA 3 107After the New Year, light airs on Biscayne Bay, Miami,USA proved a telling test for the sailors battling at theRolex Miami OCR. Rafael Trujillo was the early leader,only to be overtaken by Dan Slater mid series. HoweverTrujillo came back strongly with three bullets to takethe lead again and the series.The fleet then moved onto to Fort Lauderdale for theFinn Midwinters, while those those who are old enoughto know better, took part in the inaugural NA FinnMasters. Such is the strength of the Masters fleetsworldwide, that the US joins a growing list of nationsorganising their own Masters Championships.ROLEX MIAMI OCR 20061 ESP 100 TRUJILLO, Rafael 1 1 5 3 4 [9] 2 5 1 1 1 8 322 CAN 41 COOK, Christopher 3 2 3 1 [7] 4 1 1 4 3 4 10 363 DEN 2 CHRISTENSEN, Jonas Hoegh 5 [ocs]4 4 1 6 6 4 3 4 3 2 424 NZL 1 SLATER, Dan 4 3 2 2 5 1 [10] 3 5 9 7 4 455 GBR 111 WRIGHT, Edward 2 [ocs]1 6 2 7 5 2 7 7 2 6 476 IRL 10 O GRADY, Aaron 6 4 13 5 10 [14] 4 6 2 2 6 14 727 USA 4 RAILEY, Zachary 7 5 6 8 9 [10] 3 7 6 6.6 5 12 74.68 USA 80 LEDBETTER, Brian 12 8 8 [dnf] 3 5 7 8 10 10 13 dns 1069 USA 11 EWENSON, Geoff 8 6 7 10 11 8 [ocs] 9 12 11 8 16 10610 USA 1140 BOYD, Bryan [ocs] 7 10 7 8 12 9 15 9 6 9 18 11011 USA 1181 PECK, Darrell 11 9 9 9 13 13 12 11 [14] 8 12 10712 NED 64 ZETZEMA, Wietze 13 12 11 13 [16] 16 8 10 11 3 11 10813 FRA 972 BRUNO, Ismael 9 13 16 16 6 18 13 [19] 8 5 10 11414 CAN 115 MESS, Derek 10 11 12 15 14 2 [dnf] 13 13 14 15 11915 USA 78 KERN, Andrew 14 10 15 11 12 15 14 12 15 [16] 14 13216 USA 150 NADY, Louie 15 16 [19] 12 18 3 11 16 16 12 16 13517 USA 1067 NIEUWSTAD, Bradley 17 15 18 14 17 11 [ocs] 14 18 18 17 15918 USA 975 MILLER, August 18 14 14 18 15 19 [ocs] 18 20 13 21 17019 USA 2 LUCZYNSKI, Ken 16 17 17 19 19 17 15 17 17 19 [20] 17320 CAN 44 DUDENAS, Christopher [ocs] 20 20 17 21 20 17 20 19 22 22 19821 USA 111 MANICKAS, Andrew 20 19 21 20 20 21 18 21 22 21 [23] 20322 USA 1213 NADY, Andras 19 18 22 21 22 22 16 22 21 24 [dnf] 20723 GBR 1201 PLANT, Robert [dnc] dnc dnc dnf dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc 17 19 24424 USA 409 RUDINSKY, Charles [dnc] dnc dnc dnf dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc 23 18 24925 USA 1211 PAPE, Jeremy [dnc] dnc dnc dnf dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc dnc 260Final10FINNFARE APRIL 2006

FINN MIDWINTERS 20061 Jonas Hoegh Christensen DEN 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 (4) 1 3 2 21 172 Rafael Trujillo ESP 100 1 1 1 2 3 3 (DNF) 4 2 6 44 233 Zach Railey USA 4 (6) 3 5 5 5 5 1 3 5 1 39 334 Ed Wright GBR 111 3 6 4 4 4 1 (OCS) 5 4 5 57 365 Aaron O'Grady IRL 10 4 8 7 9 8 7 2 (13) 1 8 67 546 Geoff Ewensen USA 11 9 9 (11) 3 6 6 8 9 6 4 71 607 Christopher Cook CAN 41 5 4 12 6 1 4 3 14 (DNF) DNC 91 708 Ismael Bruno FRA 972 7 5 3 7 9 8 6 (DNC)12 16 94 739 Darrell Peck USA 1181 10 7 6 8 (12) 11 5 11 11 7 88 7610 Andy Kern USA 78 8 11 8 10 7 10 7 (DNF) 8 10 100 7911 Derek Mess CAN 115 (14) 12 13 12 11 13 10 2 9 9 105 9112 Wietze Zetzema NED 64 11 10 9 11 10 9 (DNF) 6 13 15 115 9413 Louie Nady USA 150 13 14 10 (16) 15 16 11 12 10 3 120 10414 Brad Nieuwstad USA 1067 12 13 14 (17) 13 12 9 16 7 12 125 10815 Charles Rudinsky USA 409 15 (OCS) 15 15 14 15 13 8 14 DNF 151 13016 Kenneth Luczynski USA 2 16 15 (18) 13 18 18 12 10 17 11 148 13017 Gus Miller USA 975 (18) 17 17 18 16 14 14 7 16 14 151 13318 Bill Upthegrove USA 7 17 16 16 14 17 17 (DNC) 18 18 DNC 175 15419 Andras Nady USA 1213 (19) 18 19 19 19 19 16 15 15 17 176 15720 Andrew Mankickas USA 111 (DNF) DNC DNC 20 20 20 15 17 19 13 187 166Jonas Hoegh-Christensen produced a strong finish in FortLauderdale to take victory ahead of Rafael Trujillo. Earlyon it looked as if Rafael would run away with things, afterwinning all three opening races. But when Rafael failedto finish race seven, Jonas immediately put the pressureon to take overall victory by six points. Behind the leadingpair, young American Zach Railey overtook Ed Wright totake third, securing the position with a win in the final race.All photos on this page: Jan Walker. [Will the owner of theFinn on the right please step forward!]NORTH AMERICAN FINN MASTERSPALM BEACH FEBRUARY 22-251 Derek Mess CAN 115 1 1 1 3 3 1 3 102 Larry Lemieux CAN 101 2 2 4 1 1 2 2 103 Jeremy Pape USA 1211 3 3 2 2 4 3 dns 174 Louis Nady USA 150 4 4 6 8 5 7 1 275 Scott Mason USA 11 5 5 3 5 2 dns dns 356 Gus Miller USA 975 7 7 5 4 10 6 7 367 Peter Frissell USA 1 6 6 7 9 7 9 4 398 Paul Heiniken USA 50 9 10 8 6 6 5 5 399 William Hendershot CAN 72 8 9 9 7 8 8 dns 4910 Macho Slavich USA 13 10 12 14 12 9 4 6 5311 Jeff Annis USA 1170 11 8 10 10 dns dns dns 6912 Jon Luscomb USA 8 13 13 13 11 11 10 dns 7113 Art Diefendorf USA 1145 12 11 11 13 dns dns dns 7714 Steve Burrell USA 1146 14 14 12 14 dns dns dns 84FINNFARE APRIL 2006 11

Q & A with Luca Devoti, +39 Challengeby Tim JeffreyFirst published in the December 2005edition of Seahorse International SailingMagazine. For your copy or for othersubscription information please go towww.seahorsemagazine.comSeahorse: You’ve eschewed experience andstarted a team with a bunch of Finn sailors.Why?Luca Devoti: We just do our own thing. It’sa new approach. It’s a new way of doingthings and it uses the new rules to an extent.We have 11 nationalities in the team andmost of them have never seen a winch before.They’re all young; they’re all keen and mostof them are brilliant sailors.SH: It’s a small team making a big noise. Theothers are taking notice.LD: They’re scared. It’s as simple as that.They are scared because they all come fromthe same sailing background as us and theyknew we could beat them all. It’s a yacht raceafter all and the worse we can do is not win.But the theory is that with guys like Percy,Walker, Rafa know how to win and they aredoing this with the same enthusiasm anddiscipline as they did with their Olympic sailing.Crazy as it might sound, I do think we havea chance.SH: It is a team that’s impossible to pigeonhole?LD: We don’t project any public image. Wejust stay true to ourselves. I don’t know mostof the other guys in the Cup teams, so I don’tknow what’s normal. Our environment isOlympic sailing so we just came from adifferent world, that’s all. It’s what they wantedwhen they changed the Cup. They wantedto make it more of a sport and less of a socialgame. We just do our own thing and weprepare ourselves best with the means wehave. So far they haven’t been great. Butnext year when we have the new boat, weare very confident.I’m very happy with the work that’s been donethere, to design the new boat. It’s already inconstruction and I’m happy with the work thedesign team did and the inputs we gave them.I’m quite confident because I can see it’s avery similar thing to smaller boats. The sizechanges, but not very much else.SH: You say this is just a yacht race, but?LD: My guys say it is easier to win the LouisVuitton Cup than it is to win a bronze medalat the Olympics. I can believe that. Theproblems in the America’s Cup to solve areorganisation and means. You need enoughof both, but not too much, to take care of thesporting side.It’s not only my belief but I think the resultsprove it. We got six wins in Malmo and gotfour here, even when threw two more away.SH: Would this challenge have happened ifAlinghi had not brought the Cup to Europe?LD: This world has been closed for so longtherefore when you have just one regatta infour years you would never take the approachwe have now. The first regatta would be adisaster. So we have really used the newsystem for the best. We can learn and canget better. We can get experience via theActs, we can gain confidence and we canactually become experts. These boats arejust another boat. They are very complicatedand you have coordinate 17 people. And likeall team sports just one silly mistake can costyou a result. We’ve seen that.But from last year are continuous programmeof training and the fact that we will continuethrough the winter means we will havecontinuity. The guys are young and hungryand they can stand this load. It’s a unitedgroup and there’s a strong friendship between.This is why the other teams don’t know muchabout us because we like to hang out together.SH: Is the Cup a new passion?LD: I have been thinking about the America’sCup for a long time. I always thought it was mydestiny to be involved in something like this.SH: Why?LD: I’ve been an athlete myself, I’ve been inboatbuilding and little bit of design myself, Ispeak all the languages which means I canhave a very direct communication with all themembers of our team, the unique position ofknowing them as customers and competitorsgives me an interesting angle to read theirpersonalities and because of who I am.Actually I was talking to three teams whenthis started. The guys involved +39 came tome and believed in me even though thelargest boat I have been involved is 40ft andso it was challenge I needed. I’m the rightage. I took on a year and half ago and I’vedone nothing but this since.Photos: Top left, Luca Devoti at the 2000Olympics in Sydney where he won silver.Top right, competing at the 2004 Gold Cupin Rio de JaneiroSH: Why Iain Percy as your skipper. He’sBritish, new to the Cup and has modest bigboat experience?LD: Percy has responded unbelievably well,let alone the way he is sailing the Cup boatsbut to get a 1st in the Star Worlds andEuropeans is phenomenal result on his own.He was the first one we chose. We went toLondon to try and convince to come with us.Among the various options, we chose himbecause he’s a very bright man, a verystraightforward person, has natural leadershipqualities and there is enough age differencewith me so that he accepts my type ofsupervision. He trusts me because he paidmoney to buy and race the Star in theOlympics and he won his gold medal in oneof my Finn boats using a mast I’d engineeredwith our production manager in Poland. Henever doubts for one second that being acompetitor, I would not give him the best Ipossibly could. So he is the perfect helmsmanfor our boat because he is the best we couldhave.SH: Yet this is huge leap from Olympichelmsman to skipper of a Cup team?LD: I don’t see this as a big jump becausehe has the respect of the sailors. Most ofthem have competed against each other ina very fair way. We have seven of the top 10in the Finn world rankings. We have the guyswho finished 2nd, 4th, 6th in the last Olympicsand so on. There is a natural hierarchy in ourcrew. It’s very clear to everybody. Percy wona gold medal and he’s steering. Rafa won asilver medal and he’s doing the main and soon. There is respect.SH: Surely performance in an Olympicsinglehander is not guarantee of a successfultransition to Cup skipper?LD: I think he’s going to become the newRussell Coutts. Here we’ve split the work thatRussell was doing. I am doing things ashore,Iain’s concentrating on the sailing so that wehave energy in each department. He’s provinggreat. He’s doing incredibly well, especiallywhen you consider we have not been ableto do two boat training. We’ve come out andwon 80% of the starts against the other teams.12FINNFARE APRIL 2006

None of them come out and relax becausewe are a small team because they know theycan be beaten.SH: Good race or bad race, you can seePercy communicate with the crew after thefinish. There’s a great rapport?LD: He’s a very charismatic person. He wasthe right choice.SH: Ian Walker is full time now?LD: Yes, he’s with us through to the end ofthe Cup. That’s an interesting story. I shouldhave worked with him and Johnny Merricks10 years ago. When I made my 470, theywere the ones who should have sailed it andthen that mishap happened. But I think I wasthe first person to suggest to Ian to sail theStar for the 2000 Games. I didn’t think thelevel was not that brilliant because the Starhad been out of the Games for a while. Wetalked about how to improve his boat andthen it was a special day in Sydney when weall did the medal ceremony together. Thatcreates a special respect. He’s a great, greataddition to our team.SH: Explain how your funds come from thenorth of Italy and Sicily? It seems complexeven by Italian standards!LD: Lombardy is the sponsor of the yachtclub who launched the challenge. And Sicilyis significant. They allowed this campaign tostart. Now we have sponsors like SAIinsurance and Yamamay underwear. Weneed more but I’m sure we will do the Cup.SH: And the ownership of the team?LD: There are three partners: RiccardoSoggliano, a Milan soccer player in the 1970s;Lorenzo Rizzardi, president of the CVG yachtclub and a harbour and boatbuildingentrepreneur; and Cesare Pasotti, whomanages the team and is my chief. They allput their own money in and together with theSicilian funds it’s how we got started. It’s runlike a business and these guys will makesure it will go forward.SH: A year ago, it seemed as if cash flowwas a problem.LD: Not really. We always did what weplanned. Maybe the outside perception wassomething to do with our relationships withGBR Challenge. They weren’t happy whenwe signed Percy and rumours were spreadaround which was a bit naughty. But Iain wassigned and got his money, like all of us. Wewere the first team to challenge after BMWOracle, we put the bond down and we areconcrete. We’re cautious with money. Wedon’t have a rich guy like Ellison or Bertarellibehind us who can throw money around. No,we’ve done great with the resources we have.SH: Does having three Italian teams cloudthe picture or do you all benefit?LD: Italy’s a big and fairly rich country whichis passionate for sailing. Italy could probablyafford five teams in the same way that Britaincould certainly afford a couple. You just haveto have the passion. Each team is positioneddifferently in the market. Luna Rossa’s kindof the establishment; Mascalzone is this thingfrom Naples, very colourful and with a classicItalian owner; we are a north Italian enterprise.The Cup is a worldwide thing so I don’t thinkwe are only looking for money in our country.As Prada have invested so much in promotingthe Cup in Italy it makes it easier for us! Ifwe beat them, we’ll benefit from all of that.That’s our plan!SH: You’re new boat is in build so that’sencouraging. But ITA 59 was short of sailsthis year?LD: We’ve made a really good choice withour sail designer. He’s a young, bright hardworking guy from Argentina – Juan Garaj.The sails we used in Trapani are the firstwe’ve ever made and Juan’s done fantasticwork. It was a smart choice. His sails wonthe IMS Worlds this year, so he can’t be thatbad.SH: The sailors seem totally separate fromthe management and design elements of theteam?LD: That’s modern sport. Each to his own.Percy’s concentrating on being the besthelmsman, Walker being the best tactician;I’ve got to do my best coordinating all theseelements. If try and do all these things andgo to the gym you’ll have no energy left forthe race so that’s why we have a clearseparation of responsibilities. It’s exactlywhat’s happened in the Olympic sailing in thepast 10-15 years. I’m kind of the from the oldschool where you do everything yourself butlook at the structure behind Britain’s Olympicsailors and you see how specialised the roleshave become. Iain is very cultivated and doesmeet the designers, but our system is howwe decided to run this.SH: You are one of the big personalities inOlympic sailing. Does this team mirror you?LD: For sure.SH: If you hadn’t sailed all your adult life,what would you have done?LD: I read economics and was the beststudent in my first year when my father gotcancer. It took him seven years to die. Ithought, life isn’t that long, what do I reallywant to do? And I’ve sailed ever since, thoughI started late at 18 or 19. I’ve managed tomake my passion my job. I consider myselfextremely lucky for this.SH: Is this why you made another bigpersonality, Paul Henderson, your ChallengerCommission representative rather than asoftly, softly negotiator?LD: Paul’s a tough negotiator and he’s knownand respected. We’re not interested in thepolitics or the formula of the America’s Cup.Whatever they give us, we just want to tryand win. It’s a waste of energy to try andtrade favours here and there. The one thingwe are absolutely firm on is that we want tobe treated fairly. We have great confidencein Bryan Willis as chairman of the jury andPaul’s role is totally independent from +39,but he says what he thinks and makes sureno one else tries it on with us. For instance,he changed the sail card rule for next year.The old teams could use sails they measuredin for the Louis Vuitton Cup last time andobviously we don’t have those. So that wastotally unfair. So they had staysails whereasfor us to build a staysail from new would havebeen a waste of quota at this stage. In 2006we can only used the sails we measured inthis year and our 26 sails for next year.SH: The Finn Gold Cup was a successfulteam outing for +39?LD: Rafael Trujillo, Andrew Simpson, AnthonyNossiter and Chris Brittle went and I think allfour one a race. And they are big guys whoneed a breeze, not a little lake surroundedby high trees. We have seven of the top 10ranked Finn sailors in our team and all theguys on the boat but one have won a medalin their careers are either Olympics, GoldCup or Europeans. They are all brilliant sailors,all selected for the talent and personality. Andthey bring so much. Rafa’s an engineer, sois Karlo Kuret; Nocker’s an accountant andso on.SH: And what’s the future for Devoti Sailing?LD: It’s operating very well in the CzechRepublic and Poland, run by Roman Teply.I’m a sleeping partner really, just ashareholder. We’re doing Finns, Melges 24sand Stars with Lillia. But we are in a littleniche. We want to stay small, though lastyear we sold a record number of Finns: 140.The yard is involved in building our Cup boatin Palermo.SH: Aren’t you totally dependent on ISAF?The way the Yngling ended up in the Gamesis an example of how unpredictable thedecision making can be?LD: No. We’re doing well at what we’re doing,accumulating resources and so we are ableto do something else if we chose to. But we’resmall and the guys do great work. You can’tbe the best in the world and make money!Working with all the different cultures hasbeen great for me and it’s this experience Ibring into the Cup challenge.FINNFARE APRIL 2006 13

Finn sailing from across the worldAUSTRALIAAustralian Championship 2005The Finn Australian championships were heldwith six races on Lake Illawarra from 25-27November in trying conditions with either lightand variable but also strong and rainyconditions. The new National Champion isJosh Beaver from NSW. Minor placings werefilled by second placed Ricky Ironmongerfrom Sandringham and third was Queenslandsailor William Wild from Oxley Sailing Club.Finn Association of Australia President, JohnShallvey came fourth. The best local resultwas sixth placed Nowra sailor MichaelFairburn who pipped his father Ray to winthe Classic Finn Trophy. Both sailors areIllawarra Yacht Club competitors. NotedBRAZILBrazilian National ChampionshipsRio de Janeiro, January 2006Bruno Caruso writes “With 4 days ofcompetition with winds between 12 and 20knots, 40°C of temperature and a beautifulblue sky we had our 2006 Finn NationalChampionship in the Iate Clube do Rio deJaneiro. The competition was in the beautifulBaia da Guanabara near the Sugar Loaf andCristo Redentor. Jorge Zarif won 8 races outof 10 ones and also won his 8th Braziliantitle.”Melbourne yachtsman Lex Bertrand – whois coaching the high performance Finn sailors– was on the water for the three days andprovided excellent debriefs following theracing.1 Josh BEAVER AUS228 72 Ricky IRONMONGER AUS221 93 Will WILD AUS230 134 John SHALLVEY AUS22 175 Geoff FRANCIS AUS224 246 Michael FAIRBURN AUS198 287 Ray FAIRBURN AUS225 348 David RICHARDSON AUS125 439 Michael DICKER AUS206 4310 Damien BATES AUS164 4711 Graham BATES AUS17512 Gavin BATES AUS20320th Semana de Vela de Sao PauloNovember 12-15, 20051 Jorge Zarif BRA 109 112 Fabio Bodra BRA 11 133 Mauricio Bueno BRA 100 164 Rolf Bremer BRA 7 315 Bruno Manzoli Caruso BRA 1 356 Cristiano Frederico Ruschmann BRA 108 407 Ricardo Valcrio BRA 117 478 Carlos Rittscher BRA 101 63ARGENTINAFrederico Calegari sent these photos fromthe Semana de Buenos Aires 2005. Theseand others can be found in colour at the IFAwebsite www.finnclass.org.1 Jorge Zarif BRA 109 112 Fabio Bodra BRA 11 213 Mauricio Bueno BRA 100 214 Henry Boening BRA 111 345 Rolf Bremer BRA 7 566 Brno Manzoli Caruso BRA 1 587 Ricardo Valerio BRA 117 598 Jorge Rodrigues BRA 102 719 Marco Aurélio de Sá Ribeiro BRA 10 8610 Ricardo Horacio Maffia BRA 303 8811 Pablo Zabala BRA 99 9414FINNFARE APRIL 2006

FRANCEGrand Prix de l’Armistice. Hourtin.October 29-30-31 and November 1st 2005Grand Prix de l’Armistice has become atraditional and important landmark in theFrench calendar. With a record number of 54French sailors coming to the 2005 edition,this was one of the largest fleets of FrenchFinns participating in a regatta. A specialmention to Rodney Cobb, our Englishmanfrom Mayenne, who came with a lovely B4.The first day saw only one race, but what arace. With wind around 20 knots on thestarting line and building up to 30 knots, thestrong men thought it was a nice breeze andGERMANYInternational German ChampionshipLake SteinhudeFreidrich Müller writes, “The Schaumburg-Lippische Seglerverein (SLSV) hosted the2005 International German Championshipfrom 21 to 24 July. We celebrated 50 yearsFinn sailing with the club. The lake ofSteinhude is about 8 km in diameter, and islocated in north Germany near Hanover.Twice a year the German Finn fleet sails theirranking list regattas – early May theInternational Nesselblatt regatta in early Mayand the Final - Kehraus Regatta in September.We had a record number of entries: 82 Finnsailors from four countries. Everything waswell organised, and a good race committeemade it easy for everyone.NETHERLANDS‘NR Koeling’ Open Dutch Championship 2006This year, the NR Koeling Open DutchChampionship will be sailed on the 25th to27th of August during the Randmeer Racein Harderwijk, a location that is already knownto many, also by foreign Finn sailors. Duringthis championship national and internationalwill fight for the title. An especially festivecharacter is given to this championship bythe fact that the Finn Club Holland celebratesits 45th birthday as class organisation in theNetherlands. WSV Randmeer(www.wvrandmeer.nl), who organise thereal fun. For most of us it was just a questionof survival, avoiding the gybe and swimmingfast enough to grab the boat. 29 made it tothe finish line, 7 or 8 masts broke due to theshallow waters, a consequence of a very drysummer. One of the committee boats evensank. Gallons of fresh beer were needed andgreatly helped that evening at the club.The conditions got back to ‘normal’ for thethree other days with winds between 5 and12 knots, but swinging right and left. Jean-Jacques Granchamp finished 1st, andeveryone was happy about that. ‘The coach’was French champion in 1977, second toThe championship started with unexpectedstrong winds; the first day we could not sailat all. The following day the wind was stillstrong and three perfect races were sailed,all dominated by Michael Fellmann, followedby the two Dutchman Stefan de Vries andKarel van Hellemond and then Dirk Löwe.On day two another three races were sailed,still with moderate to strong westerly winds.Michael Fellmann won race 4, but then DirkLöwe showed his talent, scoring 2, 1, 2.”Final result after 6 races with one discard:1 GER 79 Michael Fellmann2 GER 14 Dirk Löwe3 NED 6 Stefan de Vries4 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond5 GER 8 Jörgen Eiermann6 GER 22 Martin Mitterer7 GER 10 Eberhard Bieberitzchampionship, has been known to facilitatea perfect course of matches for years, as wellas providing for good accommodation for thesailors and a vibrant social programme onshore. Because of the great location of thechampionship, the FCH board expects inparticular a large fleet of Finns and invites allinterested Finn sailors to participate in thisspecial Open Dutch Championship 2006.Startup in HollandMay 13-14 at the FINNALE 2006Monnickendam / GouwseaAbout 1 week before the Holland Regattatakes place, a classic Dutch Finn event isSerge Maury for the 1978 games, and thensailed on every boat known to this day (onehull, two hulls, three hulls and maybe more...).Perhaps more important to all of us, JJ wasvery instrumental in the revival of theBordeaux fleet in 2001 when he brought somehis friends back to the Finn. Starting fromscratch 5 years ago, it is now a fleet of 25boats, and still growing.Laurent Haye was second: a new comer asfar as the Finn is concerned, but Laurent hasa long experience of competitive sailing. Hehad a very good speed and picked the windshifts. Jean-Paul ‘El Presidente’ Gaston camethird after fighting for the top spot until thelast race. And there were 52 other exhaustedbut happy sailors.8 HUN 6 Gaszton Pal9 GER 310 Ralf Behrends10 GER 113 Heiko WinklerAfter almost 60 ranking list regattas the finalGerman ranking list had 128 names on it.1 Michael Fellmann 11 Ralf Behrends2 Jörgen Eiermann 12 Andre Budzin3 Dirk Löwe 13 Rainer Haaks4 Eberhard Bieberitz 14 Günter O Hoffman5 Martin Mitterer 15 Dirk Meid6 Hartmut Duisberg 16 Uwe Kinast7 Heiko Winkler 17 Friedrich Müller8 Matthias Bohn 18 Walter Mai9 Kai Falkenthal 19 Erk Möller10 Wolfgang Tamm 20 Wulf Linkmaking a new start on the Gouwsea, a hugesailing area which is a sheltered part of theIJsselmeer. The organising authority will bethe Yachtclub Monnickendam; 4 races arescheduled. May 13. 1st warning signal at11.20 a.m. Thanks to event sponsorsWaterland Yacht Charter, Dehler Benelux,Yachtharbour Waterland and CarlstahlBenelux, the entry fee is low. Pre-entries canbe done at the Dutch Finn site or by mail atfinnale@waterlandyacht.nl contact: JanZetzema or Frans Bolweg. More detailedinformation at www.finnale.nlFINNFARE APRIL 2006 15

ITALYTrofeo BertaccaDuring the last weekend of October in Torredel Lago Puccini took place the third editionof Bertacca Trophy.This regatta is growing every year and theorganisation by Italo Bertacca is improvingdramatically. This year a record 53 participantstook part, coming from all parts of Italy andalso from Switzerland. On Saturday one racewas started, but the wind died during the firstdownwind leg and the race was abandoned,with no time left for attempting another start.The second day of racing allowed for threeraces to be sailed, with a light southerly,shifting as usual on Massaciuccoli lake. Thefirst two races were convincingly won by theclass secretary Marco Buglielli, and the thirdby Riccardo Cordovani. Marco managed tofinish 6th in the third race to maintain theoverall lead. Second place overall went toGiorgio Poggi (3-2-5), a former Laser sailorin the Italian national team. It was the firstrace in a Finn for Giorgio, and he immediatelyshowed great confidence and good speed.Peter Stuffer from Caldaro obtained the thirdplace with very consistent results (4-3-3) infront of Riccardo Cordovani and his brotherHarald Stuffer.During the dinner offered on Saturday eveningby the regatta organisation took place thePOLANDPiotr Mazur writes: “There have been held acouple of major events this season, but surelythe most important were the Nationals heldfrom 26-30 of July in Gdynia. This year therehave been only 11 competitors and we had alot of problems with the wind. That, of course,was a fantastic opportunity for the juniors tocompete with the Szukiel brothers. ThoughWaclaw Szukiel was leading the regatta sincethe beginning, Rafal managed to defend thesilver medal in the last race of the Nationals,mainly because the wind started blowing.2005 Polish Nationals1 POL 12 Szukiel Waclaw 112 POL 7 Szukiel Rafal 163 POL 17 Wilandt Norbert 174 POL 71 Dabkowski Krzysztof 225 POL 8 Mazur Piotr 226 POL 14 Czarkowski Grzegorz 327 POL 4 Szydlowski Bartek 338 POL 41 Drogowski Jarema 429 POL 666 Wieteska Tomasz 5610 POL 5 Rzepecki Pawel 6211 POL 11 Korneszczuk Michal 63prizegiving of the Coppa Italia Finn 2005.After 23 races sailed it was Nicola Menoniwho dominated the rankings, with RiccardoCordovani second, Marco Buglielli on thirdand Francesco Faggiani fourth. The top 15received the nice prizes offered by the CoppaItalia sponsors: Halsey sailmakers, DevotiSailing, Grappa Bertagnolli, Mureadritta,Essemarine and Nordstudio.1 MARCO BUGLIELLI 1 1 62 GIORGIO POGGI 3 2 53 PETER STUFFER 4 3 34 RICCARDO CORDOVANI 6 4 15 HARALD STUFFER 8 9 46 SIMONE MANCINI 5 7 137 FRANCESCO FAGGIANI 7 10 98 ITALO BERTACCA 2 17 89 THOMAS PICHLER 15 16 210 ANDREA SANDINI 12 11 12During the winter season Finn activity doesn'tstop in Italy, and two very popular winterchampionships are held in Torre del Lagoand Anzio, with the participation of more than30 Finns each. At the time of writing one raceremains to be sailed in both championships,and the top 10 are as follows:Torre del LAGO: 1 Bertacca Italo, 2 RadmanMarco, 3 Chioccioli Maurizio, 4 Piram Pietro,Top three juniors at the Polish Nationals(left to right: Krzysztof Dabkowski,Norbert Wilandt, Piotr Mazur)Another very important and nice event werethe National Match Racing Championshipheld in Puck from 23-25 September. Out of10 sailors invited 9 came, and among themthere were 8 juniors. After two days fightingthe four best competitors were selected tothe final. Eventually Norbert Wilandt becamea National Match Racing Champion, RafalSzukiel was the second, Piotr Mazur thirdand Grzesiek Czarkowski fourth.5 Pezzini Ugo, 6 Bianchi Emilio, 7 GratiMaurizio, 8 Lazzarotti Mauro, 9 PalazziStefano, 10 Dazzi FrancoANZIO (33 participants): 1 Buglielli Marco, 2Antolini Ossi Fabrizio, 3 Cinque Francesco,4 Cisbani Paolo, 5 Passoni Marco, 6 GuidiAndrea, 7 Catalan Bruno, 8 Bucciarelli Gino,9 Cuccotti Francesco, 10 De Sangro RiccardoCoppa Italia 2006The calendar for Coppa Italia Finn 2006 isready. Also this year seven regattas arescheduled during weekends in wonderfulsites in northern and central Italy: April 1-2 -Anzio - Circolo Vela Roma; April 29-30 -Trofeo Vitessa - Associazione Vela LagoCaldaro; May 6-7 - Torbole - Circolo VelaTorbole; May 20-21 - Club Velico Castiglionedella Pescaia; July 1-2 - Pesaro - CircoloVelico Ardizio; September 9-10 - Livorno -Circolo Windsurf Calambrone; October 6-8- Malcesine Finn Cup Memorial MenoniMatch-racing Nationals 20051 POL 17 Wilandt Norbert2 POL 7 Szukiel Rafal3 POL 45 Mazur Piotr4 POL 14 Czarkowski Grzegory5 POL 1 Dubkowski Krzysztof6 POL 41 Szydlowski Bartlomiej7 POL 71 Flak Bartosz8 POL 666 Wieteska Tomasz9 POL 5 Rzepecki PawelWe invite You all next year for our NationalChampionship, Gdynia Sailing Days ( ISAFGrade 3 ) and all other events in our country.”16FINNFARE APRIL 2006

NEW ZEALANDNZ North Island Finn ChampsThames Sailing Club, 25-26 Nov 2005Christine Heady writes, “Light winds, blueskies and calm seas at Thames greeted theFinn sailors for the Friday before the NorthIsland Finn Championships, almost perfectfor our Finn training session with Dan Slater.After some dinghy park tuning advice welaunched our boats to receive some invaluableon-the-water coaching before some on shoredebriefing and advice on boat handling andtuning. This session turned out to be a realeye opener for most and was invaluable aswell as enjoyable. Thanks to Dan for takingtime out of his Olympic campaign to comeand help other NZ Finn sailors.The first day was postponed due to strongwinds, but we were treated to a talk/Q&Asession given by Dan on some of his veryinteresting experiences. Despite the forecastsome 11 boats started the first race of 4 onSunday. The wind was probably gusting 25knots by the end of the day but we were ableto complete the series in exciting conditionsCongratulations to Brent Hamilton for winningthe NI Champs with some impressive andconsistent sailing.The chaotic finish of the final race must havebeen quite entertaining to watch from theshore, as a big gust of wind swept down thecourse causing a hapless Finn to capsizejust before the finish, another to capsize rightL-R Gerrit Bearda, Andrew MacGregor,David Hoogenboom, Jim TurnerSWITZERLANDLebkuchenregatta / Gingerbread RegattaNovember 5-6, 2005In early November 2005 the traditionalLebkuchenregatta (or Gingerbread Regatta)showed an impressive fleet of 37 Finns onLake Thun. Six races were sailed in goodconditions with Christoph Christen as theclear overall winner followed by Dani Brun,Peter Theurer, Thomas Gautschi and JürgenEiermann. As usual Saturday night was partytime – this time with the motto 'Chicken Run'(which from a present point of view does notseem to be very intelligent).Swiss Cup 2005:Seven national regattas counted for the SwissCup 2005. After 32 races the clear winnerwas Christoph Christen, followed by NickBenz and Franz Bürgi. A total of 42 Swisscompetitors participated in the series.1 SUI 5 Christoph Christen 5182 SUI 8 Nick Benz 411FINNFARE APRIL 2006Alan Dawson leading the fleet at the gybe.on the line, literally, with his mast crashingdown on the heads of the officials in thefinishing vessel and another to capsizeimmediately after crossing the finish line.Although we had plenty of tide left to start afifth race the Race Officer probably thoughtbetter of it and sent the sailors back to shorebefore any damage to bodies or boats couldbe inflicted, including that of the officials!”1 NZL12 Brent Hamilton2 NZL 228 Alan Dawson3 NZL 271 Christine Headey1st Junior – NZL242 Hans Scheltus2006 NZ Finn National ChampsThames Sailing Club, 22-25 February 2006The 2006 NZ Finn Nationals took place over22-25 Feb at Thames Sailing Club on theCoromandel with 14 entries from all over NewZealand. Dan Slater convincingly won theregatta, totally dominating all 10 races chasedby his training partner Jim Turner who finished2nd in every race except one. Racing wasmuch closer between 3rd and 7th places3 SUI 12 Franz Buergi 3854 SUI 4 Dani Brun 3695 SUI 467 Peter Theurer 3686 SUI 496 Thomas Gautschi 3567 SUI 57 Ruedi Baumann 3268 SUI 94 Andreas Friederich 3069 SUI 99 Thomas Brack 29410 SUI 11 Hans Fatzer 287where these places were only finally decidedafter 10 races when 2 discards came intoeffect. The event was closely monitored bytwo international judges, Ralph Roberts andDon Brooke.1 Dan Slater 82 Jim Turner 163 Denis Mowbray 304 Andrew MacGregor 315 Christine Headey 416 David Hoogenboom 457 Alan Dawson 488 Peter Brookes 609 John Duff 7010 Hans Scheltus 7011 Gerrit Bearda 7312 Kevin Stone 8513 Matthew Stuart 9814 Stuart Munro 1081st Master: Denis Mowbray; 2nd Master:Andrew MacGregor; 3rd Master: ChristineHeadey; 1st Junior: Hans Scheltus; 2ndJunior: Matthew Stuart; 1st Handicap: JohnDuff; 1st Aluminium Mast: Matthew Stuart;1st Thames Boat: Christine HeadeyRight: NorthIslandChampionship– BrentHamilton andChristineHeadeybattling upthe first beat.Above: Christoph Christen likes thesweet chestnutsWhat do Swiss finnsters do when the lakesare frozen? They have a ‘Slot Car RacingChampionship’.The 2006 editionwas won byFranz Buergi(centre) followedby Heinz Wyss(left) and BrunoMarti (right).17

Internationalracing calendar 2006For further information on any event, to check the latest information on dates and venues contact the IFA Office or see the IFA or ISAF website. Please check all details with organisers before travelling.APRILApril 1-2 ABYC OCR USA www.nafinnclass.orgApril 8-14 HRH Princess Sofia Trophy Palma Spain www.trofeoprincesasofia.orgApril 13-17 Izola Spring Cup 2006 Izola Slovenia www.jadralnikklub-burga.siApril 15-16 Spring Cup Balatonfured HungaryApril 22-28 Semaine Olympique Francaise Hyeres France www.ffv.frMAYMay 1-5 Gdynia Sailing Days Gdynia Poland www.pya.org.plMay 3-7 Regatta Port Bourgas 2006 - Bourgas Bourgas BulgariaMay 4-7 Polish Yachting Association Trophy Puck PolandMay 5-6 StFYC Elvstrom-Zellerbach San FRancisco USA www.nafinnclass.orgMay 5-7 Palavska Regatta Pavlov Czech RepublicMay 20-21 Midwest Champs tbc USA www.nafinnclass.orgMay 24-28 Holland Regatta Medemblik Netherlands www.hollandregatta.orgMay 25-28 French Championship Maubuisson France www.finn-france.comMay 26-28 Polish Yachting Association Trophy Puck Poland www.pya.org.plJUNEJune1-4 Mayor of Gydnia Trophy Gdynia PolandJune 1-9 FINN WORLD MASTERS Balatonfured Hungary www.finn-world-master.comJune 2-4 North Americans Toronto Canada www.nafinnclass.orgJune16-18 USA Nationals Wild Harbor USA www.nafinnclass.orgJune 15-18 Mayor of Gydnia Trophy Gdynia Poland www.sail.gdynia.plJune 17-25 Kiel Week Kiel Germany www.kyc.deJune 23-25 UK Masters Warsash UK www.finnuk.org.ukJune 29-2 July International Austrian Lakes Week Neusiedl am See AustriaJune 29July-2 International Regatta Briz Lake Varna BulgariaJULYJuly 8-16 FINN GOLD CUP Split Croatia www.finnclass.orgJuly 1-9 69th Warnemunder Woche Baltic Sea Germany www.wscev.deJuly 4-9 Cascais International Sailing Week Cascais PortugalJuly 10-13 French Nationals Les Embiez, Var France www.finn-france.comJuly 11-14 French Nationals Les Embiez France www.finn-france.comJuly 12-15 56th Intervela 2006 Riva del Garda ItalyJuly 14-20 Balaton Sailing Week Balatonfured HungaryJuly 15-16 Eastern Championship Lake Champlain USA www.nafinnclass.orgAUGUSTAugust 1-5 Idea Gdynia Sailing Days Gdynia Poland www.sail.gdynia.plAugust 18-31 2006 Olympic Test Event Qingdao ChinaAugust19-29 Toilet Bowl Cazenovia USA www.nafinnclass.orgAugust 24-27 International Swiss Championship Brunnen/Lake Lucerne Switzerland www.finn.chAugust 25-26 CORK Kingston Canada www.nafinnclass.orgAug 30-Sept 3 International Sailing Week - Magic M... Chojnice PolandAugust 31-3 Lipno Cere Regatta Lipno Lake Czech RepublicSEPTEMBERSeptember 8-10 UK Nationals Mengeham Rythe UK www.finnuk.org.ukSeptember 15-17 Delta Lloyd Open Dutch Sailing Champ Medemblik Netherlands www.finn-sailing.nlSeptember 22-30 FINN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Palma Spain www.finnclass.orgOCTOBEROctober 6-8 International Finn Cup Malcesine ItalyOctober 7-8 Season Closing Regatta Balatonfured Hungary www.finnclass.huOctober 7-8 KSSS Olympiska Regatta Saltsjobaden SwedenOctober 13-15 Weymouth Olympic Week WPNSA UK www.finnuk.org.ukOctober 14-15 Pacific Coast Championship Coyote Point USA www.nafinnclass.orgOctober 24-28 Tzeni Grammalidou Cup Thessaloniki GreeceOctober 28-31 Armistice Regatta Hourtin France www.finn-france.comNOVEMBERNovember 4-5 Lebkuchenregatta/Gingerbread Regatta Oberhofen/Lake Thun Switzerland www.finn.chDECEMBERDecember 26-30 Christmas Race Palamos Spain www.christmasrace.org18FINNFARE APRIL 2006

The all new IFA websiteFor those of you who haven’t looked at it yet,the new Finn website is growing fast with awhole range of new features and pages.In developing the new site, we are trying tocreate a detailed database of Finn sailingfrom results to stories to technical advice aswell as a valuable up to date tool for theFinn sailor. All the results from previous GoldCups, Europeans, Masters and Olympicsare now available on the site. In additionyou can download PDF versions of the mostrecent FINNFARE issues – more will goonline soon. Interesting articles from previousissues are also placed separately on the site.All the class rules, constitution and updatescan be found in the DOWNLOAD section.In addition there are a lot of new featuresthat make up the forum section. It is hopedthat these userupdatable featureswill become a keypoint of referencewithin the class, andallow the site toremain currentwithout inter-ventionfrom the webmaster.Here is a brief lookat some of the newelements.Online regatta calendar – Use this forumto publicise your event. Just enter the regattaname, location and date as the subject andpost details such as Notice of Race, SailingInstructions, directions and social eventsinto the message body.Used boat and gear list – Sell yourunwanted boats and gear in this section.However when sold, please either leave amessage to let other people know and emailthe webmaster so it can be removed.Future plans – This important part of theforum contains many of the plans the IFAwill implement in the coming year. If youwant to see what is being planned, or wantto have your say, please read the posts andlet us know what you think.Clinic – If you have a question about thetechnical side of Finn sailing, leave a postin this section and wait for the answer fromone of our many Finn experts.Finally, if there is something you’d like to seethere and it isn’t, please drop the webmastera line – he’d love to hear from you.So go and a have a browse now – you mightbe pleasantly surprised.FINNFARE APRIL 2006 19