[PDF] November 2006 - Finn

NOVEMBER 2006
Europeans • Forty years ago • Gold Cup memories

“Thank you very much for the perfect working new
B4 racing machine. Believe me, this is the best boat
that I have sailed in my life.”
Andre Budzien - GER 711
“ - bearing in mind that I've not been in a Finn for a
couple of years and weigh more than 110 kg, I was
extremely surprised to feel so fast off the wind. Please
send me your spec. sheets and build schedule so that
I can place an order.”
John Greenwood - GBR 5
“Thank you for my new B4 Finn. I was very impressed
with the complete, ready to sail package, including
the Pata Willetts mast and especially with the high
build quality. My first serious event was the UK Finn
Masters and with the impressive speed to windward
and blistering downwind speed, I was able to finish
1st Grand Master.”
Alan Tucker - RSA 540
Stefan DeVries – NED 6
Europeans:
1 st. 2005
1 st. 2004
1 st. 2003
1 st. 2002
1 st. 2001
Gold Cup:
1 st. 2006
1 st. 2005
1 st. 2004
1 st. 2003
1 st. 2002
1 st. 2001
Athens ‘04:
1 st. 2004
“With the solid performance and quality of my Pata
Willetts mast and the B4 hull, I can finally just go
racing and not worry about having the right
equipment.”
Pata Marine
Website: www.suntouched.co.uk Tel: + 44 (0)7734 251033 email: B4@suntouched.co.uk

Black flag start for race 5 of the 2006 Europeans in Palamós
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
The past couple of months
produced a number of hotly
contested Finn events on the
water as well as the realisation
of some items laid down in our
long term program, the IFA
Strategic Plan 2008.
On-the-water action at both
Split and Palamós proved that
the quality of competition in
the Finn class is as high as
ever. One of the main issues
in the Strategic Plan is to raise
the number of Finn sailors and
Finn sailing countries across
the world and help newcomers with the necessary equipment and
know-how to integrate as quickly as practicable.
We had almost 100 boats on the starting line in Split with the largest
number of participating countries for a long time. Among the sailors
in Split were 16 juniors, which means that young sailors are getting
more and more fascinated by such complex sailing equipment as the
Finn and the motivating spirit that is part of the Finn Class. Juniors
will have a great chance next year to fight out the Junior World
Championship in Moscow. Corinne and Moscow Sailing School are
doing a great job in preparing the event. I hope that junior sailing and
Finn sailing in new Finn countries will get a further boost by a recently
established boat manufacturing facility in Rio de Janeiro and with
more boats available, we hope our friends in South and Central
America will rejoin the International Finn scene.
Dear members of the International Finn community
Another main goal set out in the Strategic Plan is promotion. Have
a look at the 2007 Finn Calendar (a beautiful baby of Andreas
Bollongino and Robert Deaves) on the web and help IFA to promote
the sale of calendars with revenues going directly to the Finn
International Development Support programme. Beyond the calendar,
our website had a revival too, being much more informative and upto-date
than before.
There is one more main social Finn event coming up in November,
which is the 50 year celebration of the Finn Gold Cup held at an
evening reception at the ISAF conference in Helsinki, Finland. On
this very special evening IFA will display a 1952 Olympic Finn and
present a slide show on the famous history of the class in front of
many hundred guests visiting the conference. Helsinki will also be
important from a few political aspects as well, on which the IFA
Executive will report to you in due course.
I wish you all good winds and waves for the coming months, be it in
the cold Northern or the sunny and hot Southern Hemisphere.
Yours
Dr Balazs Hajdu
IFA President
3

Executive Committee of IFA 2006/7
President of Honour
Gerardo Seeliger c/o ACNO
21 rue d'Artois, Paris 75008 France
Tel (W): +33 1 42 56 21 71
President
Dr Balasz Hajdu
PLUS Elelmiszer Diszkont Kft
Jászberényi út 43-47
H-1106 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: +36 1 265 5170
Fax: +36 1 265 5163
Mob: +36 30 332 7415
Email: balasz.hajdu@mail.plus.hu
Vice-President – Sailing
Daniel Birgmark
Föreningsgatan 16E
411 27 Göteborg, Sweden
Email: birgmark@hotmail.com
Vice-President – Development
Michele Marchesini
v.le Roma 17, 37018 Malcesine, Italy
Tel: +39 45 7400077, Fax: +39 45 7400042
Email: mmarchesini@infinito.it
4
is the official publication of the
International Finn Association
FINNFARE
Circulation
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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
Executive Director
Corinne McKenzie
39 Rue du Portal d’Amont
66370 Pezilla la Riviere, France
Mob: +33 671 750 771
Tel/fax: +33 4 68 92 60 46
Email: 106473.577@compuserve.com
Honorary Treasurer
Martijn van Muyden
Vaartveg 186, 1217SZ Hilversum
The Netherlands
Email: mvanmuyden@xs4all.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
FINNFARE Editor
Robert Deaves
124 Heatherhayes, Ipswich. IP2 9SG,
England
Mob: +44 (0)7932 047046
Email: robertdeaves@yahoo.co.uk
Cover photos: Main picture: Ed Greig at the
UK Nationals (Photo: Dave Walker)
Insets: Start of race 7 at the 2006 European
Championships; Ricky Ironmonger at Sail
Melbourne 2006 (photo: Jeff Crow @Sport
the Library/Sail Melbourne)
Next issue: March 2007
Back issues: These are available from the
editor at GBP 0.50 each plus postage. Back
issues stocks begin October 1997
FINNatics and FINNLOG: FINNatics is
currenly out of print. Some of the original
FINNLOGs (from 1986) are still available
for GBP 5 plus p&p from the IFA through
the IFA office.
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
marina@dellas.de www.dellas.de
Chief Measurer
Jüri Saraskin
Lossi 1A, Tallinn, EE0026, Estonia
Tel: (W) +372 6726 777, (H) +372 6726 222
Mobile: + 372 501 1321
Fax: +372 6726 778
Email: perimex@online.ee
Development Coach
Clifton Webb
31 Gulf View Road, Murrays Bay
North Shore, Auckland, New-Zealand
Tel: +64 9479 3638
Fax: +64 9 479 3687
Email: clifton@orcon.net.nz
Chairman of the Marketing Committee
Robert Deaves
124 Heatherhayes, Ipswich. IP2 9SG
England
Mob: +44 (0)7932 047046
Email: robertdeaves@yahoo.co.uk
IFA WEB SITE
http://www.finnclass.org
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

Finn news
New for 2007 - Finn Calendar
For 2007, the International Finn
Association (IFA) has published a
unique calendar of stunning Finn
action over the past eight years.
Moments of competition from two
Olympics, the Finn Gold Cup and several other
regattas have been brought together in this musthave
collection of Finns in action on the water.
The calendar includes shots of many of the world’s best sailors by
some of the world's finest yachting photographers. This is a calendar
that will look great on any serious sailor's wall. They can be purchased
now from the IFA and will be available from October.
Sales of the calendar are being used to raise funds for FIDeS. Finn
International Development Support (FIDeS) is an official programme
of the IFA, to promote and facilitate Finn sailing throughout the world,
by helping Finn sailors in nations where the Finn dinghy and the sport
of sailing are not well established. The FIDeS programme will offer
support to eligible sailors through training, information, coaching,
logistics and equipment loan, leasing and discounts. For more
information see www.finnclass.org
Calling all junior Finn sailors
In 2007 you have the opportunity to visit one of the world’s most
fascinating countries and take part in a unique event. Following on
from the highly successful 2005 Finn Gold Cup on Pestovkoe Lake
in Moscow, in 2007 the Junior Finn World Championship will be taking
place at the same venue in the same boats. From 21 to 29 of August
the Finn youth of the world will be gathering in Moscow to battle for
the Jorg Bruder Cup. You could one of them. You don’t need to own
a Finn or even to have sailed one (although it might help), but if you
were born after 31st of December 1985, then you are eligible to enter.
The entry fee is EUR 150 which includes a complete ready to sail
Finn. Coach boats will be available free of charge (except for fuel),
and full board is available for competitors for just EUR 30 a night. For
more information contact Corinne Rolland-McKenzie on
106453.577@compuserve.com
Polish Finn Masters
The Masters fleet in Poland have got themselves organised and
produced an excellent website in Polish. You can find it at www.finnmasters.pl.
Piotr Pajor writes, “Budget or new equipment is not important
for us. We are sailing with passion and satisfaction. Many sailors have
wooden boats and aluminium spars. Together with good intention this
is enough to feel that the Finn is the greatest boat in the world,”
CNC 2006 Qingdao International Regatta
Qingdao - China, 18-30 August
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
Kiel Week change
From June 16th to June 24th, 2007 Kiel Week will celebrate its 125th
anniversary. In this year the two parts of Kiel Week will be exchanged:
from June 16th to June 20th the races for the Olympic Classes will
take place, followed by the races of the International Classes in the
second half of the week from June 21st until June 24th, 2007.
The Kiel Week organisers write, “The reason for this rather vital but
only once ‘swap’ within the time schedule is the closeness with the
ISAF Olympic Classes Worlds 2007, which will take place from July
2nd until July 13th, 2007 in Cascais/Portugal. Kiel Yacht Club and
ISAF will arrange transport of boat material from Kiel to Cascais.
There are sponsors and partners who may assist in solving logistic
problems, thus helping all competitors of the Olympic Classes as
much as possible.” Further information: www.kieler-woche.de
The first ever Finn Gold Cup
To begin our look back at 50 Finn Gold Cups, we go
back 51 years to the very start.
“1956 was an outstanding year for the Finn class. The first Gold
Cup was organised in Burnham U.K. I used my wooden Borreson
Finn which I bought second hand (boat used during the Olympics
in Helsinki.) My wooden mast was made in Antwerp and I planed
it myself to readapt the mast bend to the luff curve of the sail.
In those days we still used mostly cotton
sails before switching to Dacron. After every
single race day the sail was drying in a
heating room.This gave us the ability to get
the original shape back for the next race.
When the wind strength increased we tried
to flatten the sail in throwing a hand bucket
of water there where the sail might be to
André Nelis in 1956
full.This task was done mostly after the 10
minute gun before the start. Nowadays such tasks are not necessary
anymore since mast and sails are made out of much better materials.
The 1956 Gold Cup was a battle between Paul Elvström and
myself. I won the cup and was motivated to sail well in the Olympics
in Melbourne that year. In the Finn class Paul Elvström was my
biggest opponent but always remained a good friend. My age in
consideration I am still a yachtsman and sail big boats. At an age
of 71 hiking is not my favourite activity anymore!”
All the best to you all,
1 GBR 3 Ben AINSLIE 1 (2) 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 12
2 GRE 7 Emilios PAPATHANASIOU 2 1 (dnf) 9 3 2 2 2 5 4 10 40
3 DEN 2 Jonas HOGH-CHRISTENSEN (16) 3 6 4 2 9 6 4 1 8 6 49
4 SWE 736 Johan TILLANDER 7 4 10 3 4 3 12 3 (14) 12 18 76
5 SLO 5 Gasper VINCEC 4 7 5 10 16 5 4 (dnf) 3 2 mdnf 78
6 USA 4 Zachary RAILEY (14) 5 4 6 9 6 11 8 12 7 12 80
7 ESP 100 Rafael TRUJILLO (15) 12 3 8 12 7 10 11 4 6 8 81
8 NZL 1 Dan SLATER 6 8 (ocs) 2 6 ocs 8 6 6 5 16 82
9 GBR 111 Ed WRIGHT 12 9 2 (ocs) 8 4 raf 14 9 3 4 84
10 ITA 117 Giorgio POGGI 9 6 8 14 5 8 7 10 8 (18) 14 89
11 DEN 7 Thomas LAURSEN 5 10 9 5 15 11 9 5 (17) 17 dnc 124
12 AUS 188 Brendan CASEY 10 14 7 12 10 (ocs) 3 9 18 16 dnc 137
13 CHN 43 Hongquan LI 3 11 15 7 (18) 14 16 17 16 11 dnc 148
14 CHN 188 Peng ZHANG 8 (17) 11 17 17 15 13 16 7 9 dnc 151
15 USA 81 Darrell PECK (17) 15 14 11 7 13 14 15 15 10 dnc 152
16 CHN 319 Lei GONG 13 (dnf) 13 13 14 10 17 7 13 14 dnc 152
17 POL 12 Waclaw SZUKIEL 11 (16) 12 16 11 12 15 12 10 15 dnc 152
18 FIN 216 Tapio NIRKKO 18 13 (ocs) 15 13 dnf 5 13 11 13 dnc 158
André Nelis - BEL
You will all have seen these
results before but here
again is the first set of races
from the venue of the 2008
Olympic Regatta in
Qingdao, China.
Ben Ainslie’s return to the
Finn was marked
by perhaps his most
impressive performance yet.
At a venue where most
sailors in most classes were
struggling to find any
consistency in the light
winds and strong current,
he made it look easy.
5

Sixty nine sailors from 22 countries came to
Palamós to contest the Senior and Junior
European Championship. It was the first major
Finn championship staged in Palamós since
the Finn World Week in 1977. New winners
were guaranteed in both fleets. Ben Ainslie
was busy with America’s Cup commitments
while Ivan Klakovitch Gaspic was now too old.
This championship was the first major Finn
event where a revised version of the ‘new’
Olympic format was used. Nine races were
scheduled as usual but the last race was split
in two groups: a medal race for the top 10
and another ‘normal’ race for the rest of the
fleet, with only the medal race being not
discardable and counting double points.
Day one
Sunshine and steady breeze welcomed the
sailors on the first day. The first race was
6
European Championships 2006
Palamós, Spain
Mixed conditions prevailed at the
2006 Finn European Championship
in Palamós as consistency proved
to be the decisive factor. With two wins and only one
result outside the top six, Edward Wright won his first
Finn championship. Guillaume Florent returned to the
Finn after a year off and also won two races to finish
second. Marin Misura kept posting consistent results to
place third. The Junior title went to the current Junior
world champion, Mark Andrews finishing a long way
ahead of Piotr Kula and Andrew Mills.
started with a 14 to 16 knots northerly wind.
Australian and French sailors dominated the
front of the fleet on the triangular course. The
Oscar flag was raised allowing free kinetics
until the last upwind to the finish when the
wind dropped under 10 knots. Some of the
leaders dropped back a few places. Guillaume
Florent held onto his lead to win the first race
of the championship, in front of Ed Wright
and Anthony Nossiter.
The first race finished just on time, as the
wind swung right round. The race committee
reset the course and the second race started
on a triangular course under Oscar flag.
Rafael Trujillo was obviously more familiar
with the new wind configuration, leading from
start to finish.
Jonas Hoegh-Christensen was the overnight
leader while Mark Andrews led the Junior
section. Regatta favourite
Emilios Papathanasiou had
to withdraw soon after the
start of the first race. “My
knee is hurting and after such
a long season it might be
better to rest and recover.”
Day two
Day two provided Finn sailing
at its best: athletic, physical
and fun. The sun was out, the
Tramontana was blowing
from 18 to 26 knots, and small
choppy waves combined with
a forming swell to make
racing exciting.
Double GBR win. Ed Wright (left)
and Mark Andrews (right)
Ed Wright made the most of the day winning
the first race and placing third in the second.
The Skandia team GBR sailor took the lead
of the championship from Jonas. It was a
great day as well for Anthony Nossiter who
enjoyed the gruelling conditions. The +39
team sailor warmed up in the first race with
a fifth place before winning the second in
style, crossing the line 40 seconds in front of
Spanish hope Rafael Trujillo. “I trained a lot
in Valencia in my Finn,” explained Nossiter,
a broad grin on his face, “but only in light
weather. It is a good change to have these
strong breezes; more like Australia!”
With four sailors winning a race each so far,
the championship was wide open half way
through the opening series. Mark Andrews
increased the gap in the Junior division after
a seventh in race three.
Day three
The only race on day three gave a first victory
in a European championship to Frenchman
Ismael Bruno. “I had a great feeling this
morning that today I could win a race.”
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2006 - FINAL RESULTS
1 GBR 111 Edward Wright 2 6 1 3 42 1 4 4 25
2 FRA 73 Guillaume Florent 1 11 10 5 4 4 1 3 31
3 CRO 25 Marin Misura 8 8 3 6 3 2 25 6 42
4 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 5 3 6 12 6 25 16 2 52
5 DEN 2 Jonas Høgh-Christensen 4 2 8 4 14 13 7 9 56
6 ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo Villar 23 1 12 2 8 7 43 5 63
7 SWE 736 Johan Tillander 16 4 23 14 13 5 10 1 64
8 CRO 524 Ivan Kljakvic-Gaspic 14 7 18 15 7 6 5 8 70
9 AUS 221 Anthony Nossiter 3 19 5 1 22 51 12 7 76
10 FRA 972 Ismael Bruno 6 16 20 9 1 17 33 10 89
11 CAN 41 Chris Cook 13 18 17 30 16 3 2 2 71
12 NOR 1 Peer Moberg 20 14 2 22 33 10 19 11 98
13 DEN 7 Soren Holm 22 9 11 DNF 34 12 3 9 100
14 FIN 216 Tapio Nirkko 12 23 13 7 45 22 21 5 103
15 POL 12 Waclaw Szukiel 18 21 15 16 18 30 11 7 106
16 AUT 271 Florian Raudaschl 9 10 31 26 2 28 17 15 107
17 POL 7 Rafal Szukiel 15 29 4 28 10 20 29 3 109
18 SWE 11 Daniel Birgmark 11 15 26 18 BFD 21 15 4 110
19 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 17 5 30 27 24 29 41 1 133
20 GBR 550 Matt Howard 28 24 33 10 5 52 6 27 133
21 GBR 88 Mark Andrews (J) 25 22 7 25 47 33 9 14 135
22 CZE 1 Michael Maier 19 20 19 11 20 37 40 12 138
23 ESP 1 Diego Fructuoso 10 36 29 21 21 DSQ 14 13 144
24 ESP 836 Alberto Vadell Sabater 7 26 27 17 49 34 28 6 145
25 ESP 310 Pablo Arrarte 33 13 22 13 11 26 32 31 148
26 CZE 9 Michal Hruby 27 33 21 35 27 11 13 18 150
27 IRL 10 Aaron O’Grady 26 27 14 31 19 19 31 16 152
28 USA 4 Zach Railey 21 17 28 23 28 23 36 17 157
29 NED 80 S.E. Willems 37 25 9 8 23 9 47 OCS 158
30 GBR 625 Ed Greig 24 12 24 24 39 45 27 24 174
31 ITA 117 Giorgio Poggi 34 34 35 46 41 14 18 28 204
32 NED 64 Wietze Zetzema 29 30 43 36 17 16 39 40 207
33 IRL 5 Timothy Goodbody 40 39 16 49 32 18 51 20 214
34 ITA 101 Riccardo Cordovani 46 37 50 32 25 DNF 23 10 223
35 POL 17 Piotr Kula (J) 32 28 39 53 46 39 20 26 230
36 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 45 35 32 37 57 35 8 39 231
37 GBR 634 Andrew Mills (J) 35 32 38 42 52 42 22 29 240
38 AUS 228 Josh Beaver 31 31 25 29 DNC 31 56 41 244
39 GER 174 Matthias Bohn 49 47 42 20 29 41 44 32 255
40 GBR 628 Nick Craig 38 49 45 33 38 54 35 21 259
41 CAN 115 Derek Mess 44 50 52 50 12 38 24 42 260
42 POL 1 Krzysztof Dabkowski (J) 39 44 57 34 26 60 38 22 260
43 ESP 161 Miguel Fernandez Vasco 43 59 47 47 9 24 59 35 264
44 ITA 660 Davide Bortoletto 55 51 51 48 30 36 42 8 266
45 GRE 8 Alexandros Dragoutsis 36 41 36 39 40 40 50 34 266
46 HUN 6 Gaszton Pál 54 43 58 DNF 15 15 46 36 267
47 EST 7 Harles Liiv 30 54 48 19 BFD 48 49 19 267
48 AUS 241 Brendan Casey 53 53 37 40 35 27 34 DNC 279
49 POL 45 Piotr Mazur (J) 50 52 59 44 43 8 45 44 286
50 ITA 68 Piero Romeo 41 42 34 43 44 46 37 46 287
51 CZE 52 Tomas Vika (J) 48 40 46 52 53 32 53 25 296
52 GBR 589 Peter Davidson 60 55 41 45 37 49 26 49 302
53 GBR 99 Henry Bagnall (J) 52 56 40 38 BFD 44 54 23 307
54 ITA 70 Francesco Lubrano 47 45 55 DNC 48 55 30 30 310
55 SWE 6 Björn Allansson (J) 42 38 56 41 50 47 52 48 318
56 HUN 8 Márton Beliczay (J) 58 58 49 51 31 43 64 43 333
57 NED 804 Cees Scheurwater 56 46 53 56 36 64 58 33 338
58 ESP 696 Alvaro Elorza Herrá (J) 57 57 54 54 54 61 62 45 382
59 CZE 3 Rudolf Lidarik DNC DNC 44 55 BFD 53 57 38 387
60 IRL 2 Guy O’Leary 63 60 DNF DNC 51 56 48 47 395
61 POR 83 Nuno Espírito Santo 51 61 60 DNC 58 50 55 DNC 395
62 GBR 8 Tim Carver 62 48 DNC DNC 61 58 60 37 396
63 POR 55 Jorge Pinheiro de Melo 59 62 61 DNC 59 57 63 DNC 421
64 ITA 941 Paolo Cisbani 65 64 DNC DNC 60 62 61 50 432
65 ESP 196 Pablo López Baldán 64 63 DNC DNC 55 59 65 DNC 436
66 POR 310 Rodrigo Quina 61 65 DNC DNC 62 66 66 51 441
67 ESP 190 Mauricio Luque Diaz DNF DNC DNC DNC 56 63 DNF DNC 459
68 ESP 316 Francisco Javier Garcia Miura DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 65 DNC DNC 475
69 GRE 7 Emilios Papathanasiou DNF DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 480
7

declared the sailor from Martinique. The
weather forecast was right and very little wind
was present. In the end, the wind built to six
knots from the east and the warning signal
was finally given at 3.30pm.
Two general recalls and a black flag sent four
sailors home but for those left the wind was
patchy with different pressure over the course.
Ismael Bruno followed by Spanish sailors
Miguel Fernandez Vasco, Diego Fructuoso
and Pablo Arrarte went for more pressure on
the right to round the mark ahead. Junior
sailor Marton Belicsay rounded fourth. On
the other side, some regatta favourites like
Jonas and Ed found less pressure and
rounded the top mark way down the fleet.
The wind had changed again on the run and
Ismael Bruno increased his lead at the
leeward mark, while other sailors gained
precious places. The second beat to the
shortened finish was dominated by Bruno
and Florian Raudaschl. Meanwhile Marin
Misura kept gaining more places. The French
Caribbean sailor got the gun with Raudaschl
close behind in second and Misura third.
Day four
There was little hope for sailing in the morning
with unsettled light winds over Palamós. After
a late start, the first two attempts were quickly
aborted by the shifty wind. Then a general
recall on the third start followed by a change
of course and another general recall, caused
the black flag to be hoisted and produced a
clear start on the fifth attempt.
Race six was probably one of the trickiest
with light winds and currents. “Every tack had
its importance,” explained Rafael Trujillo, first
at the windward mark. “I went to the right
side of the course which seemed to have
8
more air. I was followed by Sander Willems
and I went a bit further while Sander tacked
sooner. However Trujillo lost places on each
leg to finish the race in seventh position in front
of Piotr Mazur, the first junior across the line.
Ed Wright passed Trujillo on the run,
increasing his lead on the fleet on each leg.
Marin Misura once again showed his speed
climbing from 11th at the first top mark to
second at the finish.
Day five
The racing committee saved the day’s only
race by shortening the second beat and
placing the finishing line at the top of the beat.
Starting with eight knots from the north-east
the wind rapidly weakened to six knots and
by the end of the second beat it was close
to four.
Marin Misura who had so far only scored top
ten results placed 25th and lost a place overall
to third. Rafael Trujillo suffered in the light
wind crossing the line in 43rd and was now
sixth overall, while Ismael Bruno narrowly
saved his place in the medal race after
finishing 33rd. He was on equal points with
Chris Cook who was the unlucky 11th. The
Canadian tried hard to secure a place in the
medal race, but after leading from the start
after going on the left of the course, Cook
lost the lead only 50 meters from the finishing
line when Guillaume Florent won his second
race.
Going into the medal race, only the top five
sailors could get a place on the podium while
the title would either go to Ed Wright,
Guillaume Florent or Marin Misura.
Day six
The medal race was blessed with steady
wind that reached 13 knots. Johan Tillander
took a rocket start in the middle of the line
and sailed the first beat in front of the fleet
on the left side of the course. Among the top
five sailors (the medal potentials), Jonas
Hoegh-Christensen was the only one to chose
the right of the course. “We had some practice
before the race and all the time the right side
was better with more pressure.” Unfortunately
for the Dane, the boats coming from the left
came in front at the top mark with Tillander
leading the group from Gasper Vincec and
Guillaume Florent closely followed by Ed
Wright who never lost sight of his direct
opponent during the race. The placings didn’t
change much and the ten finalists were
supported and cheered by the rest of the fleet
who had convened around the race course
waiting for the start of their last race to
determine positions from 11th onward.
The regatta ended in Palamos with an 8th
race for the sailors not in the medal race.
Racing started soon after the end of the medal
race with 11 knots from the south. The left
was favoured allowing Peter-Jan Postma and
Italians Davide Bortoletto and Riccardo
Cordovani to take the lead at the top mark.
The run was the same story with sailors
gaining ground on the left. Chris Cook climbed
to second behind Peter-Jan Postma while
Rafal Szukiel followed in third place. The trio
held their positions until the finish.
The new Finn European Champion, Ed
Wright, has made a rocket debut in the Finn
class. “About time!” he declared afterwards.
Starting the Finn only 18 months ago the
Team Skandia GBR sailor demonstrated
throughout the regattas his skills but also his
determination.
Second in the Championship was Guillaume
Florent. This was his best result since his
Bronze medal in the 2004 Europeans. Florent
has demonstrated his skill in all range of
conditions. The Bronze medal went to Marin
Misura. “After my bad results in the Finn Gold
Cup in Split, I am really happy. This is like
winning for me!”
Meanwhile Mark Andrews added the Finn
Junior European title to his recent World
Junior title. Piotr Kula got the Silver and
Andrew Mills the Bronze. There were 10
juniors competing in the regatta.
Racing in Palamos proved to be very
interesting and of high quality with different
range and direction of winds experienced.
Rafael Serrano ‘Luky’, the Principal Race
Officer, and his team made the most of the
conditions, adapting the course and length
to suit, anticipating the weather that proved
capricious in the middle of the Championship
to provide great racing for the sailors
competing in this championship.
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

The Finn class took the opportunity to support some of
our most active young Finn sailors by providing some
coaching support before the 2006 European Championship
in Palamós. The objective was to assist some of the
keenest young sailors with some coaching (most of them
don’t have a regular coach) that will help them to be more
competitive for the Europeans a few days after, but more
importantly to direct them in the areas which they need to
work to become the next generation of top sailors.
The principal participants in the training
were juniors or rookies: Piotr Kula POL
17 , Piotr Mazur POL 45, Krzysztof
Dabkowski POL 1, Marton Beliczay HUN
8 and Guy O’Leary IRL 2. Miguel
Fernandez ESP 161 and Rodrigo Quina
POR 310 joined training for the last day.
I organised the coaching around a training
regatta, with the help of the Club de Vela
Palamós. The assistance provided to each
sailor depended on their level of
competence. Some sailors were excellent technically and physically
and simply needed to work on starting or tactical placement, while others
needed help on basics such as foot placement for upwind sailing in light
winds and downwind pumping in all wind strengths.
Each day our training group went out early so each sailor had time
to work on their weaknesses during racing within our training group,
before the more experienced guys joined the racing later in the day.
We often finished with up to 25 sailors fighting it out on a short course
at the end of the day which provided a good opportunity to test the
progress made over the early part of the day.
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
The following mornings we discussed some basic
things to improve and watched video of the previous
day to highlight some important differences between
sailors. We also used the video to show the sailors
their hiking technique and its progression over a
day as each sailor tired and a judges view of each
sailor pumping downwind. With the help of Pat
Healy the sailors were coached on exactly what
is efficient and what is allowed downwind.
For me it was a pleasure to return to the Finn class and to see how
keen and talented these young sailors are.
Paul McKenzie
The junior angle
Piotr Mazur from Poland tells his story.
All the juniors (and not only them) that came to Palamós a couple of
days before the European Championship started, could have taken
part in a very interesting regatta and clinic held by Paul McKenzie.
The main aim of the clinic wasn’t the racing itself, but rather to focus
on better sailing, as usually juniors have a lot of trouble with it.
On the 19 September we had the first day of the regatta. The wind
was around 4-6 knots, and the weather was just perfect; it was hot
and sunny. Only four of us appeared on the race area, the three Polish
juniors, and Marton Beliczay from Hungary. We sailed about six races
mainly focusing on the speed during the upwind and pumping on the
downwind. Paul did his best to explain to us what is allowed and what
is illegal in the light winds.
On the second day of the clinic the weather was
almost the same, only the wind was a bit stronger
(around 10-12 knots). Some new people were
appearing and disappearing from the racing area,
which made the racing more exciting. The last race
of the day was particularly nice, as 17 people took
part in it, although the wind decreased a bit and
swung round by 45 degrees.
Paul took a camera and filmed a lot of our sailing
from the beginning, middle and end the end of
training. On the morning of the third day we sat down in the port’s
restaurant and watched ourselves on the camera. Paul invited one
of the judges and asked him to comment on our pumping. We also
had a look at our hiking, tacking and gybes.
When some wind came, we went out for the last two races of the
regattas Once again there were many boats on the racing area, about
15, and the wind was extremely light and very tricky. That kind of
conditions seems to me even more difficult than the strong wind conditions.
Final results after 12 races with one discard:
1 Piotr Kula POL 17 21
2 Piotr Mazur POL 45 47
3 Krzysztof Dabkowski POL 1 49
4 Marton Beliczay HUN 8 52
Three days of junior training with
Paul McKenzie were a very good
opportunity to make our sailing better,
and more fair (as far as pumping is
concerned). For me it was great
pleasure to train with so many
people from so many countries, and
with a coach that could have a look
at my sailing from a completely
different point of view. I think most
of us had the same feelings and we
are all looking forward to taking part
in another Finn clinic.
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9

The Finn Gold Cup is widely regarded as one
of the toughest events in the sport of yachting.
Its list of winners includes some of the greatest
yachtsmen ever to have lived. This year's
event in Split, Croatia was the 50th time the
event has been sailed. It would have been
the 51st, except the International Finn
Association withdrew the cup from competition
in 1977 when the Spanish government
refused to let a participant from South Africa
compete (see panel).
The Cup was presented to the International
Finn Association by the late F. R. ‘Tiny’ Mitchell
of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Great
Britain in 1956 and effectively became the
World Championship Trophy for the class.
10
1956...
Yachting’s hardest challenge?
Fifty years of the Finn Gold Cup
In fact the first Finn Gold Cup was sailed in
Burnham-on-Crouch in England in April 1956.
The great Paul Elvstrøm travelled from
Denmark to compete on the relatively confined
waters of the Rivers Crouch and Roach, but
finished second to Andre Nelis of Belgium.
Third place in that first event went to Brian
Roswell of Great Britain.
Nelis went on to become one of the most
successful sailors ever at the Finn Gold Cup.
He won it again in 1961, finished second in
1958, 1959 and 1960 and came third in 1957
and 1962. Thus he managed to finish in the
top three for seven consecutive years.
This record stood for 38 years and has only
been matched once by Sweden's Fredrik
FINN GOLD CUP WINNERS 1956 TO 2006
Year Venue Gold Silver Bronze
1956 Burnham, UK Andre Nelis, B Paul Elvstrom, D Brian Roswell, K.
1957 Karlstad, Sweden Jürgen Vogler DDR Harald Bredo Eriksen, N Andre Nelis,B.
1958 Zeebrugge, Belgium Paul Elvstrom, D Andre Nelis, B Adelchi Pelaschier, I.
1959 Hellerup, Denmark Paul Elvstrom, D Andre Nelis, B Pierre Poullain, F.
1960 Torquay, UK Vernon Stratton, UK Andre Nelis, B Desmond Stratton, UK.
1961 Travemunde, Germany Andre Nelis, B Hans Fogh, D Fred Miller, US.
1962 Tonsberg, Norway Arne Akerson, S Boris Jacobsson, S Andre Nelis, B.
1963 Medemblik, Holland Willy Kuhweide, G Boris Jacobsson, S Hans Willems, H.
1964 Torquay, UK Hubert Raudaschl, OE Hakan Kellner, S Richard Creagh-Osborne, K.
1965 Gdynia, Poland Jürgen Mier, DDR Bernd Dehmel, DDR Richard Hart, UK.
1966 La Baule, France Willy Kuhweide, G Jorg Bruder, BL Bernhard Straubinger, G.
1967 Hanko, Finland Willy Kuhweide, G Valentin Mankin, SR Uwe Mares, G.
1968 Whitstable, UK Henning Wind, D Uwe Mares, G Jorg Bruder, BL.
1969 Hamilton, Bermuda Thomas Lundquist, S Jorg Bruder, BL Peter Barrett, USA.
1970 Cascais, Portugal Jorg Bruder, BL Henry Sprague, USA Robert Andre, USA.
1971 Toronto, Canada Jorg Bruder, BL Carl van Duyne, USA Serge Maury, F.
1972 Anzio, Italy Jorg Bruder, BL John Bertrand, AUS Lennart Gustafsson, S.
1973 Brest, France Serge Maury, F Magnus Olin, S Guy Liljegren, S.
1974 Long Beach, USA Henry Sprague, USA Guy Liljegren, S Kent Carlsson, S.
1975 Malmo, Sweden Magnus Olin, S B. Binkhorst, H Jonty Farmer, KZ.
1976 Brisbane,Australia Chris Law, UK Jonty Farmer, KZ John Bertrand, AUS.
1977 Palamos, Spain (World Week) Joaquin Blanco, E Jose Luis Doreste, E Claudio Biekarck, BL.
1978 Manzanillo, Mexico John Bertrand, USA Joaquin Blanco, E Carl Buchan, USA.
1979 Weymouth, UK Cam Lewis, USA John Bertrand, USA Mark Neeleman, H.
1980 Auckland, New Zealand Cam Lewis, USA John Bertrand, USA Larry Lemieux, CAN.
1981 Gromitz, Germany Wolfgang Gerz, G Lasse Hjortnaes, D Miroslav Rychcik, PZ.
1982 Medemblik, Holland Lasse Hjortnaes, D Henryk Blaszka, PZ Buzz Reynolds, USA.
1983 Milwaukee, USA Paul van Cleve, USA Wolfgang Gerz, G Mark Neeleman, H.
1984 Anzio, Italy Lasse Hjortnaes, D Terry Neilson, KC Jørgen Lindhardtsen, D.
1985 Marstrand,Sweden Lasse Hjortnaes, D Oleg Khoperski, SR Ingvar Bengtsson, S.
1986 El Arenal, Spain Stig Westergaard, D Brian Ledbetter, USA Jose Luis Doreste, E.
1987 Kiel, Germany Jose Luis Doreste, E Lasse Hjortnaes, D Brian Ledbetter, USA.
1988 Ilha Bela, Brazil Thomas Schmid, G Roy Heiner, H Goran Anderson, CAN.
1989 Alassio, Italy Stig Westergaard, D Eric Mergenthaler, MX Oleg Khoperski, SR.
1990 Porto Carras,Greece Hank Lammens, CAN Larry Lemieux CAN Eric Mergenthaler, MX.
1991 Kingston, Canada Hank Lammens, CAN Brian Ledbetter, USA Oleg Khoperski, SR.
1992 Cadiz, Spain Eric Mergenthaler, MX Glenn Bourke, AUS Hans Spitzauer, OE.
1993 Bangor, N. Ireland Philippe Presti, F Fredrik Loof, S Richard Clarke, CAN.
1994 Parnu, Estonia Fredrik Loof, S Hank Lammens, CAN Jose Maria van der Ploeg, E
1995 Melbourne, Australia Hans Spitzauer, AUT Fredrik Loof, SWE Philippe Presti, FRA
1996 La Rochelle, France Philippe Presti, FRA Hans Spitzauer, AUT Fredrik Loof, SWE
1997 Gdansk, Poland Fredrik Loof, SWE Luca Devoti, ITA Xavier Rohart, FRA
1998 Athens, Greece Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL Fredrik Loof, SWE Xavier Rohart, FRA
1999 Melbourne, Australia Fredrik Loof, SWE Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL Richard Clarke, CAN
2000 Weymouth, Great Britain Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL Sebastien Godefroid,BEL Emilios Papathanasiou, GRE
2001 Marblehead,USA Sebastien Godefroid, BEL Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL Emilios Papathanasiou, GRE
2002 Athens, Greece Ben Ainslie, GBR Mateusz Kusznierewicz, POL Emilios Papathanasiou, GRE
2003 Cadiz, Spain Ben Ainslie, GBR Rafael Trujillo, ESP Andrew Simpson, GBR
2004 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Ben Ainslie, GBR Richard Clarke, CAN David Burrows, IRL
2005 Moscow, Russia Ben Ainslie, GBR Emilios Papathanasiou, GRE Chris Cook, CAN
2006 Split, Croatia Jonas Hoegh-Christensen, DEN Emilios Papathanasiou,GRE Edward Wright, GBR
...to 2006
Lööf. In the seven years between 1993 and
1999, he won the cup in 1994, 1997 and
1999, was second in 1993, 1995 and 1998
and third in 1996.
Over the years the event has been generally
dominated by European sailors. In fact a non-
European has only won the cup on 10
occasions, all of these being from North or
South America. For a brief period in the late
1970s, sailors from the USA dominated the
international scene before the Europeans
caught up with them. However, to date, the
Finn Gold Cup has not yet been won by
sailors from down-under.
Several sailors have won the cup three times.
Willy Kuhweide of FRG three times in 1963,
1966 and 1967, Lasse Hjortnaes from
Denmark won in 1982, 1984 and
1985. However Jorg Bruder of Brazil
set a record that would stand for 33
years when he won the Cup three
times consecutively.
Between 1970 and 1972 Bruder won
two Cups by the narrowest of margins
(one by just 0.3 points). In 1970 he
won the original Finn Gold Cup for
the last time by beating Australia's
John Bertrand by a relatively large
12.3 points. However fate decided
that Bruder would remain unbeaten
forever.
In 1973 while en route to defend his
title in France, he was killed in an
aeroplane accident and the original
cup, which was in his custody at the
time, was lost. Somms Marine of
France presented a replica of the
original cup to the Finn Class in 1975,
which is still used today to represent
the highest honour in single-handed
racing.
In recent years Mateusz Kusznierewicz
from Poland had his eyes firmly on the
Gold Cup winning it twice in 1998 and
2000 and finishing second three times
in 1999, 2001 and 2002.
In 2002 Kusznierewicz finished
second to Ben Ainslie, his first year
in Finns. Ainslie would go on to equal
Bruder’s record by winning it again
in 2003 and 2004. Then in 2005 in
Moscow Ainslie set a new record with
his fourth consecutive Cup win, surely
a record that will never be broken.
The Finn Gold Cup is seen as one
of the most important events in the
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

From top left: Willy Kuhweide, Jorg Bruder,
Fredrik Lööf, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, ‘Tiny’
Mitchell. Paul Elvstrøm
history of the class. It influenced the founding of
the International Finn Association in 1956 in
Loosdrecht, Holland and thereafter became the
time for the Annual General Meeting of the class.
The original intention of the Finn Gold Cup was
that the event should be held to bring together
sailors from nations around the world for a week
of meetings and racing. Without ‘Tiny’ Mitchell it
is believed that the Finn class would not have
gained such a firm worldwide following. The Finn
Gold Cup has been bringing sailors together for
over 50 years and has allowed sailors from diverse
backgrounds to compete against each other right
across the world and in 50 years time will hopefully
be doing the same thing.
Above: Racing from the 1956 Finn Gold Cup
Memories from the 1977 Finn World Week
The intended Finn Gold Cup in 1977 didn’t
happen. Because the Spanish Government
refused to accept the participation of one
competitor from South Africa, the IFA
withdrew the Gold Cup from competition and
renamed the event as Finn World Week. In
1977, 129 competitors took part from 26
countries. The week was distinguished by
feeble breezes and only five of the total of
seven planned races could be sailed.
However, 21 year old Joaquin Blanco won
two races, was always among the top 10 and finished with 23.3 points ahead of
José Doreste.
At this year’s Europeans in Palamós, Joaquin Blanco and Jose Luis Doreste as
well as Tomasz Rumszewicz (who finished 8th in 1977) and is now coaching the
Polish Finn sailors in Palamós, shared some memories:
Joaquin Blanco: “Doreste and I were studying in Barcelona from 1974 to 1980.
We trained all the weekends in Palamós with Paul Maes. Sometimes it was a long
distance to drive, but I think it is a beautiful place and there are good conditions to sail
all the year , including the ‘Tramontana’ in the winter, which for me was really cold.
I do remember lot of stories. Just before the first race I tried to use a new North
sail. I put my mast and the new sail on with the boat on the Spanish Federation
trailer and we took a small SEAT car to carry
the boats rigged with masts and sails to the
Club. With the top of the mast we cut the high
tension power line for all the city. The fire burned
my sail, but unbelievable the mast was ok. So
I had to race the Gold Cup with my old Musto-
Hyde sail and I was the fastest of all the Finns!
I think the Finn has been a fantastic boat for
the heavy sailors. With the evolution now the
Finn is more spectacular and the use of new
technologies makes the differences with other boats. I wish very good luck to all
the Finn sailors at this Europeans, and tell them to take care of the high tension
lines!”
José-Luis Doreste: “As much as I can remember, we sailed in September, with
very light wind, atypical for the place but good for Blanco and me. Palamós has
been for many years the National Sailing School. We studied in Barcelona and
every weekend we came to Palamós for sailing, including during the cold winter,
but not with the clothing of today. I see that the Finn is still a very hard boat for
sailing. Years ago it was a problem, but young people today are very big and this
shouldn’t be a problem any more.”
Tomasz Rumszewicz: “This was my first and last major regatta in the Finn class.
The political situation in Poland made it hard for me to sail at international level.
Palamós was then a very small fishing village. We used to launch from the beach
which was all right as there were no waves with the exception of one day when the
wind came straight in and the waves were so big that we couldn’t go out. Racing
was then very different than today. We had three hours races, one per day during
six days. The event then was sponsored by Dunhill cigarettes and nice girls were
distributing them after sailing. How times have changed!”
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006 11

Photo: Jan Walker
Interview with Philippe Kahn
Philippe Kahn airs his views on Finn
sailing and the Olympics and is behind
the forthcoming bid to host the 2009
Finn Gold Cup in San Francisco.
FF: Why did you first become involved in
the Finn class?
PK: I sail with lots of fantastic sailors such
as Freddy Lööf, Brian Ledbetter, Russell
Coutts, Craig Monk and they have all have
one thing in common: They are very
successful Finn sailors. I had to give it a go.
And after a couple of weeks, I was hooked!
FF: What is the attraction of the Finn for you?
PK: It’s the perfect single handed boat and is a
pleasure to sail from 4 knots to 30 knots. It does
great in all sea states. It is very simple, yet always
a challenge and is a great fitness tool.
FF: Why do you think the Finn make a
good Olympic class dinghy?
PK: The one that wins in the Finn is the best
man. There are no gimmicks. The boat has
a huge following. I would also add that all
statistics point to the fact that the population
around the world is getting taller and heavier.
The Finn is the perfect single-handed dinghy for
a huge range of sailors from 82 KG to 115 KG.
FF: Tell us about your involvement in
developing the Finn in San Francisco?
PK: We train in San Francisco where we sail
five Finns. Our plan is to start helping
redevelop the San Francisco fleet. We have
perfect sailing conditions year around. Freddy
Lööf has joined us and I bet that you’re going
to see Freddy sailing the Finn at the Gold
Cup in San Francisco in 2009! Brian will
undoubtedly join. In fact we hope to have at
least 25 San Francisco Finns at the Gold
Cup and just as many from Southern
California. We are going to have a vibrant
Finn community on the West Coast.
FF: You are putting together an impressive
bid for the 2009 Finn Gold Cup. Why should
the Finn class go to San Francisco?
PK: I believe that San Francisco is one of the
very best sailing venues in the world. We
12
always have great conditions, the yacht clubs
are fantastic, the facilities are outstanding
and the City of San Francisco it a perfect
destination. We just had a fantastic Star World
championships in early October. We sailed
every day, the conditions were perfect. It’s
nice to have great conditions in late
September, early October so that everyone
can join right after their season.
FF: Will boats be available for sailors from
abroad to use at the FGC in 2009 should
St Francisco win their bid?
PK: We’ll be working on both boats for charter
and also very advantageous shipping.
FF: What do you think makes for an ideal
Olympic class dinghy?
PK: I believe in one-design. I believe in
simplicity and allowing a wide range of sailor
size/weights to compete. My 16 year old is
in the 49er US sailing team and he and his
crew have to be within 1 kg of target weight to
be competitive. That is very restrictive. Don’t
get me wrong, the 49er is a great boat, however,
it’s nice to target a broad class of people.
FF: How do you see the future of sailing
as a sport in the Olympics?
PK: That’s a loaded question. I am one that
believes that media coverage should not
decide this. I hear people saying that sailing
should be more exciting and thrilling. But golf
is the most boring thing to watch and has a
huge audience. Why? Because it is a
participation sport. The future of sailing is to
get many more to experience the thrill of
sailing. Then people will watch. Just like
golfers watch golf on TV.
FF: Do you think the recent changes from
ISAF, such as a weighted medal race, are
beneficial?
PK: I think that it’s a mistake. No matter what
the rules are, the way sailing is, the best
always rise to the top in a regatta. So why
make it complicated and deny most of the
participants one last race. Think about it:
Imagine a regatta where some of the days
you don’t get wind and then on the last day,
70 to 95% of the participants don’t get to
race? It seems to be such a waste? I am
certain that not one more person will watch
the coverage. In fact you may lose people.
It makes calculations even more complicated
for novices. If you want to make it simple,
then just have no throw-outs and make every
race count. That way everyone can
understand the scores. Keep it simple and fun!
FF: Do you think that (Olympic) sailing needs
to make itself more media friendly to survive?
PK: I think that the media will kill sailing.
Participation is what we need to raise through
kid-sailing, adult-education, etc... Sailing is
the best life-long sport. There is only one way
to find out, to experience it.
FF: What changes would you like to see
either format or classes?
PK: Personally I’d do 11+ races, no throwouts,
unlimited kinetics over 12 knots. More
shorter races, all counting, may the best win!
I’d make all the major regattas follow that format
so that everyone travelling to a major event
gets lots of races where every race counts.
Who is Philippe Kahn?
Sailing resume: I learned windsurfing as a
teenager. My parents were working-class, living in
Paris, France and I didn’t grow up around water.
We’d go to the Paris boat-show to all dream of one
day “sailing into the sunset”. Only after I immigrated
to the Silicon Valley and had my first technology
successes was I able to buy a small boat. It was
a Holder 20, a little keep boat. I sailed her in the
rough waters of Northern California. Then chartered
a sled and sailed to Hawaii and was hooked. That’s
when i discovered smaller one-design classes such
as Finns, 505s and Melges 24s.
Profession: I am a technologist, an innovator and
an inventor in the wireless and the high-tech
industry. That hard work has allowed me to be
successful at build several high-tech businesses.
I find the same challenges in my work as I find in
sailing. They are both very challenging and great fun.
Life summary: I’m focused at always trying to
make things better for my family, my friends, my
co-workers. I like to learn new things. Becoming
a better sailor is important to me. I'm not a superstar,
but every time I go out sailing, I feel that I am
getting better at it. In fact I was never the best at
anything, but one thing that I can do is work twice
as hard as anyone else. And that really makes a
difference.
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
All photos (c) www.pegasus.com

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for more information
or to download an order form
Images of 2006
(or the bits that wouldn’t fit in anywhere else)
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006 13

Finn sailing from across the world
The growing strength of the fleet fleets across the world can be best summed
up by the numbers attending each country’s national championships. Here we
look at the some of the events this year.
ARGENTINA
FINNFARE received the following results from the Finn fleet in Argentina.
Autumn Championship 2006
1 ARG 11 Calegari Federico DNF 1 1 7
2 A 14 Chernobilsky Nicolas DNF 3 3 11
3 ARG 101 Gazari Julian DNF 5 2 12
4 ARG 1 Lucca Mariano DNF 2 5 12
Winter Championship 2006
1 ARG11 Calegari Federico 1 1 1 3
2 ARG 101 Gazari Julian 3 3 2 8
3 DEN 12 Caviglia Jorge 2 2 5 9
4 CRO 14 Chernobilsky Nicolas 4 4 3 11
5 BRA 79 Tufarolo Marcelo DNF 5 DNF 15
AUSTRIA
Nationals, Union Yacht Club, Traunsee
11-15 August, 2006
1 CZE 1 Michael Maier 11
2 AUT 271 Florian Raudaschl 16
3 AUS 221 Anthony Nossiter 31
4 NED 64 Wietze Zetzema 42
5 AUT 7 Michael Gubi 49
6 HUN 6 Gazston Pal 51
7 SUI 5 Christoph Christen 51
8 AUT 11 Bernd Moser 62
9 GER 39 Karl-Heinz Erich 74
10 AUT 37 Harry Eder 78
11 CZE 318 Martin Plecity 80
12 GER 3 Walter Mai 98
13 GER 310 Ralf Behrens 111
14 CZE 8 Jiri Outrata 122
15 ITA 4 Francesco Fraggiani 131
16 GER 82 Alfons Huber 134
17 GER 12 David Guminski 154
18 AUT 36 Helmuth Gubi 160
19 GER 206 Klaus Reffelmann 160
20 GER 48 Manfred Poschl 162
21 AUT 293 Florian Urban 165
22 GER 811 Michael Knoll 165
23 AUT 296 Tobias Drugowitsch 172
24 HUN 55 David Schomer 178
25 GER 92 Detlev Guminski 178
26 AUT 288 Hannes Blaschke 184
27 ITA 39 Thomas Pichler 191
28 GER 55 Herbert Sondermann 194
29 GER 333 Hans-Jurgen Brenninger 194
30 GER 5 Herbert Straub 208
31 GER 36 Adalbert Wiest 211
32 GER 86 Peter Mannes 214
33 GER 8 Jurgen Eiermann 218
34 GER 63 Michael Pandler 222
35 CZE 21 Jan Cajcik 230
36 GER 611 Gregor Zulow 235
37 AUT 300 Anton Berner 245
38 GER 152 Stefan Stefula 247
14
39 GER 959 Hans-Peter Mannes 250
40 ITA 93 Nikolaus Mair 257
41 AUT 267 Hermann Deimling 266
42 GER 147 Eberhard Magin 276
43 AUT 295 Johann Raudaschl 282
44 HUN 9 Gyorgy Vas 284
45 ITA 43 Pietro Piram 285
46 GER 49 Horst Klein 288
47 ITA 84 Pierluigi Pinzan 288
48 AUT 4 Gerhard Gfreiner 294
49 AUT 289 Georg Pommer 300
50 GER 144 Jens Ott 310
51 AUT 210 Walter Schuster 311
52 AUT 281 Jorg Deimling 325
53 GER 432 Michael Kostner 331
54 GER 93 Otto Kaser 332
55 ITA 17 Martin Kusstatscher 347
56 AUT 211 Anton Kossina 350
57 AUT 291 Christian Feichtinger 350
58 GER 69 Simon Luffelmann 353
59 AUT 294 Hannes Stadler 354
60 AUT 285 Michael Gerstmayer 361
61 AUT 286 Wolfgang Kronsteiner 374
62 AUT 261 Florian Leitner 384
63 GER 221 Miklos Ruffy 387
64 FRA 236 Philippe d'Aligny 388
65 AUT 279 Klaus Schiller 419
66 SUI 40 Heinz Stammnitz 420
67 SUI 64 Hans-Rudolf Osterwalder425
68 AUT 223 Lukas Holzinger 430
69 AUT 257 Manfred Gonter 447
New Danish fleet at Næstved
DENMARK
Richard Berg-Larsen writes, “Finally a Dane
on top after so many years. It was a real
boost for the class when Jonas pulled it off
and won the Gold Cup this Summer, and our
job in the Danish Finn Association is now to
keep working for the club sailors, avoiding
the mistake we did last time we had several
Danish boats in the absolute top, as top
sailors tend to scare club sailors away due
to the incredible speed difference between
the very best and the average club sailor.
It is therefore fantastic that we at the same time
have seen a New ‘Fleet’ developing in Næstved,
a good hour’s drive south of Copenhagen. More
than 10 boats have been assembled over a
little more than a year, and in August they
managed to arrange a very professional one
day event, with sponsor supported giveaways,
quay beers and other stuff, worthy of a
National Championship.
The only thing they could not control was the
weather, and in the end it was only the ‘old
hands’ who made it out of the harbour, in
blustery conditions for the first start.
We are however confident that a lot of
Finnsters will show up again next year, when
they have learned to organise good weather.
The 2006 season has seen the normal level
of activities with 2 races in the spring, a break
during midsummer, the Nationals in August,
followed by the new Næstved event sailed
off Karrebæksminde, and last but not least
the Ofelia Cup in late September.
Danish Open National Championship
Hornbæk, 11-13 August 2006
Søren won his 6th. consecutive nationals which
put him in a shared second together with
Henning Wind, who won 6 Nationals, however
‘only’ 5 consecutive wins from 1963 to 1967.
We are now going to see if he can reach, or
even beat Jørgen Lindhardtsen’s 7 in a row,
out of 14, in a couple of years. The Danish
Nationals keeps on attracting boats from
Sweden, Germany and especially Holland,
and they do not only make up numbers, as
you will note 4 Dutch sailors in top 10 this year.
We had hoped for a showdown between
Jonas and Søren, as Jonas has still not
beaten Søren in a Danish Finn Regatta. To
be fair, they have not met very often in Danish
races, due to their International commitments.
Jonas had unfortunately a written report, that
had to be handed in before he left for China
a few days later, and was therefore absent.
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

1 DEN 7 Søren Holm 6
2 DEN 9 Thomas Laursen 14
3 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 23
4 DEN 231 Kenneth Bøggild 24
5 SWE 6 Bjørn Allansson 31
6 DEN 218 Jesper Petersen 38
7 NED 804 Cees Scheurwater 42
8 DEN 21 Michael Staal 48
9 NED 11 Henk De Jager 62
10 NED 66 Ewout Meijer 66
11 NED 18 Johan van Straalen 66
12 DEN 1 Frank Hansen 68
13 DEN 17 Lars Juel Christensen 70
14 DEN 20 Per Cederberg 70
15 DEN 5 Søren Oster Hansen 73
16 DEN 140 Michael Bak 90
17 DEN 43 Kim Siesta 96
18 DEN 77 Flemming Jensen 101
19 DEN 211 Thomas Bo Nielsen 102
20 DEN 18 Richard Berg-Larsen 124
21 DEN 210 Finn Andersen 124
22 DEN 204 Lars Gelbjerg-Hansen 133
23 DEN 205 Mogens Petersson 134
24 DEN 15 Lars Erting 141
25 DEN 178 Søren Svare 151
26 GER 1340Willi Meister 154
27 DEN 12 Thorsten Schacht 158
28 DEN 243 Jorgen Leschly-Thorsted 180
29 DEN 188 Hasting Molich 181
30 DEN Ane Zielinski 185
Polyester Cup, Kastrup
6 - 7 May (Top 10 out of 18)
1 Thomas Lausen
2 Jørgen Lindhardtsen
3 Lars Hall
4 Michael Staal
5 Kenneth Bøggild
6 Günther Arndt
7 Thomas Ørum Steenberg
8 Michael Bæk
FRANCE
Marc Ribet writes, “Here is a nice picture of
the winner of the French Nationals, Marc
Allain des Beauvais. The event was held at
Les Embiez from the 10th to the 13th of July.
Also, here is the tentative French calendar
for 2007”
Championnat de France Senior, May 17th-
20th, Maubuisson
44th Open Voile Lügére, May 26th-28th, La
Rochelle
French Nationals, July 9th-12th, most likely
in Brittany
Eurocup d'Etè, July 23rd-27th, La Rochelle
Armistice, October 27th-30th, Hourtin
Nationals results:
1 Allain Des Beauvais Marc 18
2 Hay Laurent 19
3 Hoffman Gunther Otto 22
4 Alexis Stephane 37
5 Roumaillac Jean Claude 48
6 Bollogingo Andreas 53
7 Geisser Harry 58
8 Henaff Gilles 68
9 Gaston Jeanpaul 74
10 Deseilligny Christophe 76
11 Baumgarten Regis 82
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
9 Oluf Lundquist
10 Jesper Petersen
Dragør Cup
20 - 21, May (Top 10 out of 15)
1 Thomas Laursen
2 Jørgen Lindhardtsen
3 Lars Hall
4 Kenneth Bøggild
5 Michael Staal
6 Michael Bæk
7 Frank Hansen
8 Thomas Ørum Steenberg
9 Kim Siestø
10 Jesper Petersen
Næstved
16 September
Sailed off Karrebæksminde, it was unfortunately
to windy for the newcomers, but the old hands
made it, and had some good racing, and many
are looking forward to next year.
Top 10 out of 23
1 Kenneth Bøggild
2 Jørgen Lindhardtsen
3 Thomas Laursen
4 Michael Bæk
5 Lars Hall
6 Søren Svare
7 Hasting Molich
8 Jesper Serop
9 Svend V Andersen
10 Michael Staal
Ofelia Cup, Snekkersten
30 September - 1 October
Ofelia Cup which is sailed under the watchful
towers of Prins Hamlets Castle has for years
been the last scheduled regatta, which is part
of the Danish ranking.
12 Moore Patrick 90
13 Groussard Jean Paul 104
14 Dejean Philippe 109
15 Limare Francois 113
16 Ribet Marc 122
17 Salomon Herve 122
18 Lalanne Jacques 132
19 Hutter Patrick 136
20 Limouse Marc 144
21 Liguet Jeanjoseph 144
22 Ducassou Philippe 152
23 Bognareric 153
24 Chomet Patrick 159
25 Malservet Gilles 159
26 Limare Pierre 160
27 Godefroy Joel 224
Marc Allan Des Beauvais receives
his reward
Søren Holm receives his prize from
DFDS Seaways
The turnout this year was lower than normal,
but we are confident that Ofelia Cup is here
to stay, as one of the races sailed right outside
the harbour, with a club not least known for
the way they can arrange ‘after sailing’.
Top 10 out of 11
1 Thomas Laursen
2 Jesper Petersen
3 Kenneth Bøggild
4 Lars Hall
5 Flemming B Jensen
6 Kim Siestø
7 Michael Staal
8 Svend V Andersen
9 Lars Erting
10 Mogens Petersson
GERMANY
German Nationals,
Schwerin, September 7-9, 2006
1 GER 711 Andre Budzien 10
2 AUT 271 Florian Raudaschl 12
3 GER 14 Dirk Loewe 28
4 GER 8 Jurgen Eiermann 30
5 GER 174 Matthias Bohn 32
6 GER 176 Jens Raben 58
7 CZE 70 Roman Babicky 68
8 GER 22 Martin Mitterer 71
9 GER 310 Ralf Behrens 76
10 GER 13 Wolfgang Tamm 79
11 GER 150 Gunter Hoffmann 79
12 GER 113 Heiko Winkler 84
13 GER 701 Eckhard Drephal 93
14 GER 165 Dirk Meid 94
15 GER 208 Uwe Kinast 97
16 GER 146 Friedrich Muller 99
17 NED 804 Cees Scheurwater 102
18 GER 108 Sebastian Munck 104
19 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 105
20 GER 91 Kai Falkenthal 122
21 GER 88 Carsten Sibbert 129
22 GER 206 Klaus Reffelmann 132
23 GER 262 Uwe Barthel 136
24 GER 3 Walter Mai 137
25 GER 39 Karl-Heinz Erich 151
26 GER 111 Rainer Haacks 156
27 GER 92 Detlef Guminski 165
15

28 GER 51 Hermann Heide 166
29 GER 119 Peter Bronke 171
30 GER 217 Carsten Niehusen 176
31 GER 27 Matthias Wolff 177
32 GER 81 Jan-Dietmar Dellas 178
33 GER 212 Erk Muller 191
34 GER 188 Michael Klugel 192
35 GER 155 Edwin Gast 194
36 GER 179 Helmut Lumker 196
37 GER 71 Jan Kurfeld 208
38 GER 230 Morten Arndal 209
39 GER 42 Jurgen Kraft 209
40 GER 35 Hans-Gunter Ehlers 212
41 GER 58 Thomas Schulz 224
42 GER 255 Thomas Fleischmann 225
43 GER 189 Stefan Schwehm 230
GREAT BRITAIN
UK Nationals 2006
Mengeham Rythe Sailing Club
September 8-10
A fleet of 59 Finns, buoyed by the presence
of most of the squad and by four boats from
Scotland, gathered at Mengeham over 8th -
10th September for one of the best attended
Nationals ever.
Friday produced a veering easterly wind in
Hayling Bay in excess of 12 knots allowing
a triangular course with unrestricted pumping.
Having tacked inshore Matt Howard led at
the windward mark followed by Alan Burrell
and Mark Andrews (the new Junior World
Champion). Race 2 started promptly with no
recalls and a strengthened wind of 16 knots.
Ed Greig won the start, tacked inshore and
was first to the windward mark from Andrews
followed by Henry Bagnall, Nick Craig (last
year’s champion) and Matt Howard. Greig
held his lead and Tim Goodbody worked his
way through to 5th.
Saturday brought much the same wind and
the only general recall. The black flag ensured
a clean second start. Mills was first to the
windward mark with Greig and Howard
following closely. Howard passed both and
Mills was unable to hold the challenges on
the second beat from Greig, Andrews and
Goodbody. With the wind holding steady Race
4 started promptly with the fleet again
favouring the inshore tack. Greig rounded
the windward mark ahead of Andrews, and
held positions to the finish. Race 5 saw
Howard take an early lead to lose it
temporarily up the second beat to Andrews.
The run back reestablished Howard who took
16
44 CEZ 21 Jan Cajcik 239
45 GER 55 Herbert Sondermann 248
46 GER 300 Eggo Zopfs 249
47 GER 10 Eberhard Bieberitz 250
48 GER 63 Michael Pandler 264
49 GER 12 David Guminski 266
50 GER 142 Jonny Paech 275
51 GER 100 Oliver-Sven Schulz 276
52 GER 811 Michael Knoll 281
53 GER 611 Gregor Zulow 282
54 GER 43 Ingo Spory 284
55 GER 89 Günter Kellermann 290
56 GER 248 Eckehard Zulow 296
57 GER 112 Dr. Egbert Vincke 301
58 GER 130 Alfred Blum 307
59 GER 36 Adalbert Wiest 307
the gun ahead of Andrews.
Sunday had the predicted lighter airs, much
to the relief of the recreational sailors. A 9
knot wind provided the variation of a
windward-leeward course and different
leaders. In Race 6 Ben Mansfield in his first
nationals established a lead by the windward
mark and held off Howard, Greig, Andrews,
and Goodbody throughout, despite the wind
swings of 15 degrees.Howard managed to
hold 2nd for the Championship.
The last race saw the fleet split evenly up
each side of the first beat. Mills won through
to reach the windward mark ahead of Marc
Allain des Beauuvais. In the shifting 7 knot
wind Mills held his lead whilst Beauvais lost
out to Martin Hughes on the run ahead of
Howard.
1 GBR 550 Matt Howard 7
2 GBR 625 Ed Greig 12
3 GBR 88 Mark Andrews 12
4 GBR 634 Andrew Mills 19
5 IRL 5 Timothy Goodbody 21
6 GBR 628 Nick Craig 30
7 GBR 2 Alan Burrell 32
8 GBR 650 John Greenwood 40
9 GBR 8 Tim Carver 46
10 FRA 862 Marc Allain des Beauvais 50
11 BAR 2 Dave MacGregor 59
12 GBR 651 Neil Robinson 60
13 GBR 99 Henry Bagnell 61
14 GBR 65 Sander Kooij 68
15 GBR 567 Martin Hughes 72
16 GBR 649 David Harcourt 80
17 RSA 540 Alan Tucker 83
18 GBR 602 Ashley Taylor 86
19 GBR 33 Graham Page 87
20 GBR 648 Adrian Brunton 89
21 GBR 13 John De Leeuw 91
22 GBR 10 Robert Deaves 94
23 GBR 635 Simon Percival 96
24 GBR 640 Stuart Glover 100
25 GBR 18 Ben Mansfield 102
26 GBR 562 Jerry Andrews 113
27 GBR 610 John Heyes 113
60 GER 74 Olaf Ebbecke 308
61 GER 11 Hendrik Vincke 313
62 GER 54 Oliver Baltes 321
63 GER 911 Patrick Frind 323
64 GER 109 Manfred Tomaszewski 329
65 GER 666 Volker Wingsch 334
66 GER 131 Horst Schlick 336
67 GER 26 Willi Meister 337
68 GER 16 Uwe Hand 341
69 GER 120 Jurgen Holler 353
70 GER 95 Gerd Bollrath 365
71 GER 186 Detlef Blaschkowski 376
72 GER 144 Jens Ott 378
73 GER 432 Michael Kostner 388
74 GER 34 Dieter Borges 430
28 GBR 631 Richard Hart 115
29 GBR 595 Ed Thorburn 122
30 GBR 572 Mark Macdonald 130
31 GBR 656 Graeme Macdonald 133
32 GBR 77 Howard Sellars 134
33 IRL 2 Guy O'Leary 137
34 GBR 636 Merrick Gill 138
35 GBR 20 Andy Dennison 143
36 GBR 28 Anthony Osman 144
37 GBR 17 Nick Roberts 162
38 GBR 24 Rory Barnes 165
39 GBR 611 Tony Lock 165
40 GBR 644 Julian Smith 167
41 GBR 22 Martin Allen 173
42 GBR 555 Chris Farrell 177
43 GBR 11 Cliff English 180
44 GBR 620 Laurence Peters 191
45 GBR 100 Matthew Walker 197
46 IRL 4 Daniel Belton 201
47 GBR 55 Mike Till 203
48 GBR 556 Robert Smagon 214
49 GBR 542 Adrian Buswell 216
50 GBR 580 Anthony Walker 228
51 GBR 576 James Wyburd 233
52 GBR 64 Craig Kirkpatrick-Whitby 235
53 GBR 51 Phil Laycock 247
54 GBR 629 Ray New 254
55 GBR 79 Mike Cheshire 259
56 GBR 189 Alan Harris 267
57 GBR 454 Jack Ward-Golden 284
58 GBR 74 Graham Brookes 300
58 GBR 609 James Howells 300
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
Photos: Dave Walker

HUNGARY
50th Hungarian National Finn Championship
Tihanyi Hajós Egylet, September 13-17
Márton Beliczay writes, “This year was the
50th anniversary of the Hungarian Finn
Championship and it was celebrated and held
in Tihany on Lake Balaton. The regatta was
to be five days long, which according to
previous years experience seemed to be too
short. But the weather was excellent for sailing,
so the organiser could hold nine races during
three days. On the first two days medium and
light eastern south-eastern wind, while on the
third day strong eastern wind was the dominant
Before the final day four guys could have
won the title, but in the strong wind dr. Balázs
Hajdú didn’t give the others a chance. The
big fight was for the podium places between
Attila Szilvássy, Gaszton Pál and Tibor Pallay
who were fighting head to head for the first
six races. Attila was leading with one point
in front of Tibor who led Gaszton with two points.
The seventh race was crucial, because Tibor
had an OCS so he was knocked out from the
fight for the podium places and Gaszton beat
Attila in all the races and got the silver prize.
The numbers were very promising as well as
the enthusiasm of the juniors. They were ten
POLAND
Polish Finn National Championship
Warszawa (Zalew Zegrzynski)
8-10 September 2006
Piotr Mazur writes, “This year, for the first
time since 1980, our nationals have been
held on a lake. It has also been the first
regatta for so many years, where there were
so many Polish Finn sailors on the start (20).
The competition lasted three days, and nine
races were sailed with two discards.
The first day was very windy, up to 25 knots,
and the majority of us capsized at least once.
The next day was very similar, though the
wind had lightened a bit and it was blowing
only up to 20 knots. On both those days we
in number, but among them was Márton
Beliczay and Tomai Balázs, who could fight
in the top fleet. They had a fierce fight, but
in the final race Márton beat Balázs so he
got the junior trophy. Third was László Akos
Nagy from Balatonalmádi. Among the masters
Attila Szilvássy could wallop the others, Antal
Székely was second and Lajos Varga third.
All in all, the good wind was a great fortune,
The organisers didn’t waste any time when
there was enough wind; they held the races.
The prizegiving ceremony was at dusk which
everyone enjoyed. See you next year on
Lake Velencei in September on the 51st
Hungarian National Finn Championship!”
1 HUN 1 Hajdu Balazs dr 15
2 HUN 6 Pal Gaszton 29
3 HUN 211 Szilvassy Attila 32
4 HUN 5 Pallay Tibor 45
5 AUT 11 Moser Bernd 46
6 HUN 7 Szekely Antal 52
7 HUN 75 Nemeth Ors 65
8 HUN 8 Beliczay Marton 72
9 AUT 240 Huszar Gaza 74
sailed four
races, so on the
last day we had
only one race
held in a rather
light wind.
Z a l e w
Zegrzynski is a
very difficult lake
to sail on, it is
very tricky, shifts of the wind are unpredictable
and it is also very crowded. Winning on this
lake means being really a very good sailor.
Results:
SENIORS
1 Szukiel Waclaw 7
2 Szukiel Rafal 12
3 Kula Piotr 24
JUNIORS
1 Kula Piotr 24
2 Dabkowski Krzysztof 28
3 Strusinski Michal 35
MASTERS
1 Mikulski Tomasz 93
2 Pajor Piotr 104
3 Jankowski Wojciech 129
What is really very important to all Finn sailors
in Poland is the growth of the class. When
10 HUN 151 Tomai Balazs 82
11 HUN 55 Schemer David 91
12 HUN 11 Lovas Peter 93
13 HUN 17 Keresztes Gabor 100
14 HUN 4 Varga Lajos 106
15 HUN 21 Sipos Bence 111
16 HUN 300 Sipos Peter 121
17 HUN 41 Bartos Zoltan 136
18 HUN 15 Szell Peter 140
19 HUN 101 Hozmann Laszlo 140
20 HUN 12 Sipos Mate 156
21 DEN 7 Sarkozy Andras 158
22 HUN 51 Rutai Istvan 161
23 HUN 68 Nagy ¡kos Laszlo 171
24 HUN 78 Bona Gabor 182
25 HUN 3 Buki Gabor 182
26 HUN 121 Gulyas Gabor 189
27 HUN 16 Kavassy Arpad 198
28 HUN 11 Pay'r Egon ifj 229
29 HUN 64 Szalay Daniel 230
30 HUN 711 Biszkot Peter 233
31 HUN 161 Szendroi Marton 236
32 HUN 33 Komm Zsuzsa 245
33 HUN 19 Nadai Laszlo 245
34 HUN 36 Kudron Zoltan 250
35 HUN 117 Hegedas Tibor 251
36 HUN 96 Farkas Jozsef 268
37 HUN 61 Morocz Emil dr 281
38 GER 69 Loffelmann Simon 293
39 AUT 271 Raudaschl Florian 295
40 HUN 81 Schimert Peter 306
41 HUN 1252 Soveny Balint 3
people around have seen that there are still
so many people racing, they started searching
for equipment for themselves. What is
interesting however is that there are more
new Finn sailors among masters than seniors.
Let’s hope that this growth continues. We
look forward to seeing you in regattas in
Poland next year.”
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006 17

NETHERLANDS
Open Dutch Championship and
Dutch Masters Championship
Medemblik, September 15-17, 2006
No less than 91 Finn sailors from seven
countries fought over the highest title in the
‘NR KOELING’ Open Dutch Championship
and the Dutch Masters Championship 2006
on August 25th to 27th in Harderwijk. A total
of six races were sailed under pretty varying
weather conditions which obviously
contributed to the very exciting competition.
By a landslide, Pieter-Jan Postma won the
Dutch title with four victorious races. Our
French guest Bruno Ismael came in second
and Wietze Zetzema ultimately won third
place. Finn Club Holland can look back on a
fantastic national championship, organised
professionally and with great efforts by WSV
Randsmeer.
1 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 6
2 FRA 972 Ismael Bruno 18
3 NED 64 Wietze Zetzema 31
4 GER 10 Eberhard Bieberitz, M 40
5 GER 711 Andre Budzien, M 41
6 GBR 589 Peter Davidson 52
7 NED 80 Sander Willems 55
8 NED 29 Bas de Waal, M 55
9 NED 45 Dennis de Ruiter 60
10 NED 100 Hein-Pieter Okker, M 61
11 GBR 625 E.D.Greig 78
12 GER 150 Gunter O. Hoffmann, M 89
13 NED 61 Han Bergsma, M 89
14 NED 25 Arwin Karssemeijer, M 90
15 GBR 634 Andrew Mills 93
16 NED 780 Jan Willem Kok 96
17 NED 66 Ewout Meijer, M 97
18 NED 838 Luuk Kuijper, M 99
19 NED 787 Nanno Schuttrups 104
20 NED 2 Wouter Molenaar, M 108
21 NED 804 Cees Scheurwater 113
22 NED 30 Hero Mulder, M 116
23 GER 108 Sebastian Munck 120
24 NED 860 Loek Kruyer, M 127
25 NED 41 Karel van Hellemond 132
26 GBR 567 Martin Hughes, M 133
27 NED 43 Jack van Hellemond, M 140
28 USA 64 Conrad Brown, M 140
29 NED 77 Jan-Jaap Lamme, M 147
18
30 GER 174 Matthias Bohn 148
31 NED 3 Gert v Woudenberg, M 151
32 NED 50 Jan Zetzema, M 162
33 NED 817 Jelte Baerends 164
34 NED 81 Gerko Visser, M 165
35 GER 280 Holger Muller 168
36 NED 58 Pieter de Gooijer, M 170
37 NED 8 Rodrick Casander, M 176
38 RSA 540 Alan Tucker, M 178
39 NED 810 Simeon Tienpont 180
40 GER 300 Eggo Zopfs, M 184
41 GBR 33 Graham Page, M 186
42 GBR 648 Adrian Brunton, M 190
43 NED 11 Henk de Jager, M 191
44 NED 55 Eddy Huisman, M 191
45 GER 208 Uwe Kinast, M 192
46 NED 88 Chiel Barends, M 194
47 NED 95 Wobbe de Schiffart, M 198
48 NED 748 Fons van Gent, M 203
49 NED 39 Hans Zomer, M 203
50 NED 7 John van Altena, M 204
51 GER 129 Walter Siemers, M 206
52 NED 4 Ruurd Baerends, M 214
53 GER 165 Dirk Meid, M 223
54 NED 67 Rutger Rozemuller 224
55 NED 844 Nodari Lucio, M 232
56 NED 35 Bas Proper, M 233
57 NED 777 Albert Kroon 234
58 NED 27 Paul Kamphorst, M 236
59 NED 759 Leo Meijaard 243
60 NED 778 Auke Woerdeman, M 251
61 NED 786 Johan de Schiffart, M 251
62 NED 18 Johan van Straalen 255
63 NED 72 Lacus-jan Groenhout, M 257
64 NED 764 Maurits Boot 265
65 NED 767 R Gerssen, M 271
66 NED 862 Rob Woudstra, M 275
67 GER 54 Baltes, Oliver, M 275
68 GER 2 Nils Peters, M 289
69 NED 816 Gerard Jacobs 306
70 NED 38 Olaf van Heusden, M 310
71 NED 13 Harold Lensing, M 316
72 NED 17 Ab Schippers, M 325
73 BEL 27 Jaap Goede, M 336
74 NED 32 Peter Verhoef, M 336
75 GER 146 Friedrich Muller, M 340
76 NED 848 Pax van de Griend, M 341
77 NED 23 Robert Sledziewski, M 347
78 GBR 1 Sander Kooij, M 350
79 NED 9 Jobs Isselmann, M 354
80 NED 723 Pieter Risseeuw, M 355
81 GER 120 Holler Jurgen, M 358
82 FRA 58 Hans Steijn, M 362
83 NED 22 Marco de Wilde 368
84 GER 214 Bernd Schulz, M 377
85 NED 501 G. Peeters, M 393
86 NED 42 Hans Guldemond 395
87 NED 865 Jack Kamminga, M 398
88 NED 48 Boudewijn Kortbeek, M 398
89 NED 704 Jurgen Ahaus, M 400
90 NED 12 Wijnand de Leur, M 401
91 NED 367 Arthur van Son, M 404
In the Master competition Eberhard Bieberitz
from Duitsland has performed best, but Bas
de Waal has become Dutch Champion Master
2006, followed
by Hein-Pieter
Okker and Han
Bergsma.
SPAIN
National Championships
Club Nautico Islas Menores, 11-14 October
Many years have past since the last time we
enjoyed a Spanish National Championship
so tight and fun. Nearly 20 Finns met at Club
Nautico Islas Menores, in the Mar Menor
(Murcia), to compete. We found a wonderful
organisation, an excellent field of races and
winds that, although the first day picked up to
20 knots, decreased to 10 knots on the last day.
For the first time in years, we could see here
most of the Spanish sailors, except for our
medalist Rafa Trujillo, who is working hard in
Valencia with Luca's +39 Challenge. There was
the complete Spanish pre-olympic team (Pablo
Arrarte, Diego Fructuoso and Alberto Badell),
old sailors returning to the arena (like ‘Kiko’
Villalonga, Manel Guardiola and Jaime Carbonell)
and we even found the Portuguese Armada
here: Rodrigo Quina and his coach Joao.
But the fun was on the
water. Eight exciting
races left the fight for
the title between Pablo
Arrarte and Alberto
Badell. The duel was
so well-balanced that
we had to look at the Appendix of the RRS to
determine who was the new Spanish Champion:
Pablo Arrarte, thanks to his first place in the
last race won the title.
But there was even more fun. The nights at
the mythical pub 'El Micky', the dinners and
some unexpected visitors completed a
difficult-to-forget race. It must also be said
that during the official dinner, the Class paid
a surprised tribute to two persons who had
contributed notably to the development of the
class in Spain these last years: Emilio Plagaro,
and the current National Secretary, Victor Serrano.
1 ESP Pablo Arrarte Elorza 10
2 ESP Alberto Vadell 10
3 ESP Diego Fructuoso Pérez 22
4 ESP Miguel Fernandez Vasco 27
5 ESP Francisco Villalonga Canellas 33
6 ESP Alvaro Elorza Herra 48
7 ESP Manel Guardiola Tey 49
8 ESP Jaime Carbonell Flexas 57
9 ESP Victor Serrano Conesa 65
10 ESP José Alejandro Aranzueque Tormo 68
11 ESP Javier Moreno Pons 69
12 ESP Miguel Fernando Jiménez Galeote 71
13 ESP Jose Rafael Artime Gutierrez 84
14 POR Rodrigo Quina 88
15 ESP Antonio Candela Domingo 91
16 ESP Emilio Plagaro Perez 99
17 ESP Javier Garcia Miura 116
18 ESP Alvaro Ros Martínez 117
19 ESP Pablo Lopez Baldan 140
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

SWEDEN
Sverker Härd writes, “The interest for Finn
sailing is increasing in Sweden. The rookie
of the year is Björn Allansson, a dedicated
junior from Motala who has established quickly
as one of the top Finn-sailors in Sweden. We
look forward to follow his development over
the coming years.
The Nordic Championships took place in
Träslövsläge at the Swedish west coast July
21-23. Johan Tillander from Västerås became
Nordic Champion, Björn Allansson was
second and Anders Nilsson from Träslövsläge
won the bronze.
Karlstad hosted The Swedish Nationals in
August this year. Light, shifty winds made
sailing difficult for the 30 sailors as well as
for the regatta staff.
The regatta staff made an excellent job and
after nine races could Daniel Birgmark
collected the gold medal. Björn Allansson
ended up second again and the veteran
Mikael Brandt from Uppsala was third.
Sweden Cup is a series of four regattas in
Lysekil, Träslövsläge, Karlstad and Uppsala.
The overall winner 2006 is Johan Wijk from
Sandviken.
SWITZERLAND
International Swiss Championship 2006
Lake Lucerne, Brunnen, August 24-27
The 2006 championship was hosted by the
‘Regattaverein Brunnen’ from 24 to 27 August.
It was the first regatta to take place in the
new marina ‘Fallenbach’. On the first day,
storms, rainbows and the frequently whistling
jury were the most discussed points.
Immediately after the start, a strong turn
made the first leg a downwind one. Despite
that, the favorites Anthony Nossiter, Michael
Maier, Jürgen Eiermann and Christoph
Christen kept their leading position and held
it for the next two days with 3 runs each. As
soon as the wind reached 12 knots, the
competent race committee, lead by Gregor
Top three in Switzerland
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
Stefan Fagerlund
from Södertälje in
light winds outside
Uppsala sailing in the
Sweden Cup Finals,
September
16-17.
In the background is
the old sailing club
UKF i Uppsala. This
was Richard Sarby’s
club and where the
Finn was born.
Nordic Championships
Träslövsläge July 21-23
1 SWE 736 Johan Tillander 3
2 SWE 6 Björn Allansson 6
3 SWE 41 Anders Nilsson 8
4 SWE 735 Johan Wijk 12
5 DEN 17 Lars Juel Christensen 13
6 DEN 140 Mikael Baek 16
7 SWE 721 Mikael Brandt 19
8 SWE 726 Jonas Andersson 23
9 SWE 740 Sverker Härd 24
Swedish Nationals, Karlstad
1 SWE 11 Daniel Birgmark 9
2 SWE 6 Björn Allansson 26
3 SWE 721 Mikael Brandt 29
4 SWE 41 Anders Nilsson 31
5 SWE 735 Johan Wijk 35
6 SWE 734 Stefan Fagerlund 42
7 SWE 739 Olof Lundqvist 52
Zurfluh, set the pumping free. In heavy winds
on the downwind leg, the cracks pumped
themselves forward with up to 17 jibes. An
impressive demonstration of highperformance
sport on the wonderful ‘Urnersee’
lake! The Australian Anthony Nossiter became
the Swiss champion in front of Michael Maier
with the same number of points. Christoph
Christen was the best Swiss in third place
and Dominigue Wälchli the next Swiss in
seventh place.
1 AUS 221 Nossiter Anthony 9
2 CZE 1 Maier Michael 9
3 SUI 5 Christen Christoph 22
4 GER 8 Eiermann Jurgen 24
5 GER 15 Ganzert Peter 41
6 GER 310 Behrens Ralf 44
7 SUI 6 Wulchli Dominique 48
8 Frau 7 Alexis Stephane 58
9 SUI 496 Gautschi Thomas 62
10 GER 5 Straub Herbert 65
11 SUI 12 Burgi Franz 73
12 GER 19 Bollongino Andreas 80
13 SUI 11 Fatzer Hans 94
14 GER 121 Schmitz Nikolaus 96
15 Frau 865 Rochet Joseph 97
16 Frau 86 Jean Christophe 101
17 SUI 466 Wyss Heinz 106
18 SUI 67 Benz Nick 107
19 SUI 1 Mutti Michael 108
20 GER 1 Finke Thomas 110
21 SUI 99 Brack Thomas 111
22 SUI 57 Baumann Rudolf 112
23 SUI 94 Fridrich Andreas 113
8 SWE 682 Stefan Eriksson 68
9 SWE 7 Mats Karlsson 71
10 SWE 740 Sverker Härd 83
Sweden Cup 2006 (34 entries)
1 SWE 735 Johan Wijk 74
2 SWE 721 Mikael Brandt 40
3 SWE 41 Anders Nilsson 140
4 SWE 740 Sverker Härd 163
5 SWE 6 Björn Allansson 170
6 SWE 734 Stefan Fagerlund 175
7 SWE 726 Jonas Andersson 216
8 SWE 11 Daniel Birgmark 234
9 SWE 739 Olof Lundqvist 372
10 SWE 682 Stefan Eriksson 415
11 SWE 736 Johan Tillander 446
12 SWE 3 Christian Finnsgård 465
13 SWE 7 Mats Karlsson 521
14 SWE 77 Lars Maersk-Hansen 524
15 SWE 627 Torsten Jarnstam 542
24 AUT 292 Wachter Fredi 119
25 SUI 44 Roost Andrea 120
26 SUI 13 Kilchenmann Peter 121
27 GER 293 Siebeck Georg 129
28 ITA 96 Turchette Alessandro 135
29 GER 131 Schlick Horst 141
30 SUI 7 Huracek Jiri 162
31 SUI 21 Krienbohl Beni 164
32 GER 154 Wenz Roland 164
33 SUI 441 Nydegger Martin 169
34 ITA 43 Piram Pietro 177
35 SUI 96 Lehmann Hans 181
36 SUI 16 Lazzari Carlo 192
37 SUI 19 Piccinanno Ivan 195
38 SUI 64 Osterwalder Hans-Rudolf 211
After 7 years of hard work for the Swiss finn
class, Franz Bürgi resigned as president and
the GA elected Jiri Huracek as his successor.
The Swiss finn class owes a lot to Franz and
we all thank him for the services rendered.
Goodbye Franz and hello Jiri
19

20
Forty years ago...
Forty years ago FINNFARE reported on the Europeans in Cascais,
Portugal, where next year the Finn Gold Cup will be sailed. Note IFA’s
current Chairman of the Technical Committee, Richard Hart in 10th
place at those championships. Around this time, FINNFARE also
published a great many pictures of Belgian Finnsters training in harsh
conditions in the days before modern wetsuits. Also Willy Kuhweide
won his second Gold Cup in La Baule ifront of 149 other sailors.
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

Technical notes
by Richard Hart
Rudders.
At the AGM, TC were instructed to set up a rule change specifying the
position and size of the rudder and transom pintles and gudgeons. The
aim is to have a situation where any of our rudder manufacturers can
supply a rudder that will automatically fit any new boat. This is underway.
Most of the new boats seem to be nearly the same. We now need to
check that our figures for new boats agree with what the builders are
using anyway.
Fluxgate Compasses.
Shortly after the Gold Cup in Split, Gus Miller told us that the USA
Finns are anxious for us to allow fluxgate (‘electronic’) compasses.
This has been discussed in TC and among the Executive, and there
seems to be a consensus that:
• many other classes have already allowed fluxgate compasses,
• it is inevitable that we will want to adopt these compasses soon,
• the simple (Tacktick) compass costs about the same as a big spherical
compass plus a timer,
• we don’t want the expensive version with various extra functions,
• we should allow fluxgate compasses now, or wait until after the Olympics,
• most of the TC and Executive believe that we should change soon
rather than later.
Some people are worried that this might be the start of an armaments race
where more and more complicated and expensive electronic devices are
allowed. My feeling is that we should be able to prevent this with proper rules.
I was at the UK AGM, and was allowed to ask the British sailors for
their opinions. After discussions they voted unanimously that they
supported the proposed change. They also endorsed the TC opinion that,
if allowed, the fluxgate compasses should only provide heading information.
All this leaves the Executive with a problem: do we wait to discuss
fluxgate compasses at the next AGM in the normal way? If so, we will
surely be too close to the Olympics. An alternative is to inform you
the members about the idea, and ask you to feed back your wishes.
If President Balazs and the Executive decide to seek your opinions
by Email though your National Secretaries, please support this way
of doing things by replying. If we can make a process of Email voting
work, it will be much more important than the yes or no answer to
fluxgate compasses next year!
HEAVYWEIGHT DINGHY - FINN – Issue Date: 4 Oct 2006
Skipper Nation Prev Points
1 Jonas HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN DEN 1 4943
2 Chris COOK CAN 6 4763
3 Edward WRIGHT GBR 7 4741
4 Marin MISURA CRO 11 4611
5 Rafael TRUJILLO VILLAR ESP 3 4606
6 Daniel SLATER NZL 4 4596
7 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC CRO 9 4555
8 Emilios PAPATHANASIOU GRE 2 4425
9 Daniel BIRGMARK SWE 5 4410
10 Gasper VINCEC SLO 8 4399
11 Waclaw SZUKIEL POL 10 4397
12 Peer MOBERG NOR 12 4375
13 Zack RAILEY USA 16 4250
14 Johan TILLANDER SWE 14 4241
15 Aaron O`GRADY IRL 13 4232
16 Matt HOWARD GBR 15 4086
17 Pieter Jan POSTMA NED 26 4032
18 Rafal SZUKIEL POL 17 4017
19 Ismael BRUNO FRA 21 4015
20 Wietze ZETZEMA NED 18 3855
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006
Sail Measurement.
Our old rules used to prohibit ‘loose-footed sails’. The term was not
defined, and when we changed to the SCR format it was replaced by
the SCR equivalent ‘bolt ropes shall be in the spar grooves’. Recently
a loophole became apparent: if you make a ridiculously short footrope,
then effectively you have a loose-footed sail. As a one-design class
with ‘closed class rules’, we have a duty to maintain the class within
the spirit of the rules (see Appendix H.4) and so TC are preparing a
proposal for Executive submission to ISAF for an emergency rule
change, aimed at preventing what we see as an undesirable
development. Ordinary sails would not be affected by the proposed
new limits. These are still being developed, but at the time of writing
we are discussing:
• Length of footrope ... ... minimum 2500 mm
• Length of groove in boom ... minimum 2700 mm
• Distance from Head Point to Middle of Foot (?)maximum 6020 mm (?)
Implementation Dates.
If these items are agreed and are submitted to ISAF, we can ask for
implementation dates of 1st March 2007 for the Rudder and Compass
changes, and ‘immediate’ for the sail change. This is because ISAF
has streamlined the procedures, so that the Class Rules Sub-Committee
deal with Submissions as they come in, rather than once a year in
November.
Devoti Finn - fastest Finn all over the world
2003, 2004, 2005 results:
1st World Championships
1st European Championships
1st World Masters
1st Athens 2004
All business is handled by our office in the Czech Republic
Dealer for Holland:
Devoti Sailing s.r.o.
Príkop 27/2a
602 00 Brno
Czech Republic
Mobile: +420 602 160 562
Office Opening hours: 8am to 4pm CET
E-mail: info@devotisailing.cz
Web: http://www.devotisailing.com
Devoti Finn Dealers
HIT Masts Holland
Represented by Jan van der Horst
Website: www.hit-masts.nl
Email: vanderhorst@wxs.nl
2006 results:
1st World Championships
1st World Masters
1st European Championships
Dealer for England:
Victor Boats
Represented by Tim Tavinor
Website: www.victorboats.com
Email: sales@victorboats.com
21

For 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.
November 4-5 Lebkuchenregatta/Gingerbread Regatta Oberhofen/Lake Thun Switzerland www.finn.ch
December 1-3 Go for Gold Melbourne Australia www.bryc.yachting.org.au
December 7-10 St Nicholas Race Pula Croatia www.vega.hr
December 26-30 Christmas Race Palamos Spain www.christmasrace.org
December9-12 Sail Brisbane Manly Australia www. rqys.com.au
December16-19 Sydney International Regatta Sydney Australia www.nsw.yachting.org.au
December 17-22 Christmas Race Palamos Spain www.christmasrace.org
2007
January 13-20 Sail Melbourne International Regatta Melbourne Australia www.sailmelbourne.com.au
January 21-27 Rolex Miami OCR Miami USA www.ussailing.org
February 9-12 Sail Auckland International Regatta Auckland New Zealand www.sailauckland,org.nz
February 20-23 Semaine Internationale Cannes Cannes France www.yachtclubdecannes.com
February 20-24 Athens Eurolymp Week Athens Greece www.eio.gr
February 26-Mar 4 Andalusian Olympic Week Cadiz Spain www.fav.es
February 27 -Mar 4 Alexander the Great Cup Thessaloniki Greece www.ncth.gr
March 6-11 Split Olympic Sailing Week Split Croatia www.jklabud.hr
March 14-18 Expert Olympic Garda - Eurolymp Riva del Garda Italy www.fragliavelariva.com
March 23-28 Barcelona Olympic Sailing Week Barcelona Spain www.bosw.org
March 30-April 6 HRH Princess Sofia Trophy Palma de Majorca Spain www.trofeoprincesasofia.org
April 21-27 Semaine Olympique Francaise Hyères France hyeres.fvoile.net
May 4-6 Palavska Regatta Pavlov Czech Republic www.palavska.com
May 16-20 Regatta Port Bourgas Bourgas Bulgaria www.yachtclubportbourgas.org
May 23-27 Holland Regatta Medemblik Netherlands www.hollandregata.org
May 25 - June 1 FINN WORLD MASTERS Murcia Spain www.finn-world-master.com
June 1-9 FINN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Balaton Hungary www.spartacus.hu
June 16-24 Kiel Week Kiel Germany www.kieler-woche.de
June 28 - July 13 ISAF Sailing Championships (FGC) Cascais Portugal www.cascaisworlds2007.com
July 7-15 Warnemuende Week Warnemuende Germany www.warnemunder-woche.de
July 11-14 Intervela Riva del Garda Italy www.fragliavelariva.com
July 20-29 Travemunder Woche Travemunder Germany www.travemunde-woche.de
July 31- August 4 Gdynia Sailing Days Gdynia Poland www.gdyniasailingdays.com
August 10-25 2007 Olympic Test Event Qingdao China www.sailing2008.org
August 30-Sept 2 Lipno Regatta Lake Lipno Czech Republic www.cere.cz
August 30-Sept 2 International Sailing Week Chojnice Poland www.mchtz.chkz.pl
September 15-17 Delta Lloyd Open Dutch Championship Medemblik Netherlands www.opendutchsailing.org
September19-23 Sail For Gold Regatta Weymouth Great Britain www.rya.org.uk
October 7-9 KSSS Olympic Regatta Saltsjobaden Sweden www.ksss.se
October 20-28 Semana de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina www.yca.org.ar
November 16-18 Cup Opatija Opatija Croatia www.jk-opatija.hr
December 1-3 Go for Gold Regatta Melbourne Australia www.sailmelbourne.com.au
December6-9 St Nicholas Race Pula Croatia www.vega.hr
December 17-22 Christmas Race Palamos Spain www.christmasrace.org
2008
January 14-19 Sail Melbourne International Regatta Melbourne Australia
January 27-Feb 2 Rolex Miami OCR Miami USA
March 26-30 Expert Olympic Garda - Eurolymp Riva Del Garda Italy
April 19-25 Semaine Olympique Francaise Hyeres France
May 21-25 Holland Regatta Medemblik, Net... Netherlands
June 21-29 Kiel Week Baltic Sea / K... Germany
July 12-16 Intervela Riva del Garda Italy
July 18-27 Travemunder Woche Travemunder Germany
August 9-21 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition Qingdao China
22
International
racing calendar 2006-8
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006

...shot with an
artist’s eye...
www.RegattaActiveImages.com
Photos by Jan Walker
FINNFARE NOVEMBER 2006 23