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Finn World Masters 1998 - Castelleto di Brenzone, Lake Garda, Italy

21         GER 49               H Klein

22         CRO 111              D Vrdoljak

23         SWE 701              M Brandt

24         NED 7                L Nodari

25         NED 600              B Van Den

27         ITA 3                K Suffer

28         GBR 534              R Cobb

29         SUI 438              H Fatzer

30         AUT 210              W Schuster

31         GER 63               M Pandler

32         GER 10               E Biebritz

33         GER 55               H Sondermann

34         GER 77               L Kopnick

35         GER 42               J Fraft

36         CRO 110              L Cicarelli

37         NED 716              V Altena

38         SUI 711              L Zsindely

39         SWE 711              S Waldo

40         GER 68               W Balthasar

41         FRA 784              C Vauthier

42         FRA 785              J Lalanne

43         NED 630              N Boot

44         GER 87               G Dufner

45         FRA 777              J Metayer

46         GER 17               C Niehusen

47         GER 34               D Borges

48         NED 1                H Van Der

49         GER 1941             A Blum

50         ITA 827              P Hans Zischg

51         SUI 445              A Roost

52         NED 723              O Ouheusden

53         GBR 18               S Becker

54         CZE 7                V Cintl

55         ITA 66               E Kapareth

56         GER 1669             B Gunther

57         GER 2033             D Ottlik

58         ITA 85               H Chiochetti

59         GER 89               G Kellermann

60         GER 139              H Halbach

61         NED 639              R Baerends

62         FRA 790              D Poissant

63         ITA 93               K Mair

64         GER 159              D Ciesielski

65         SUI 430              R Baumann

66         GER 93               O Kaser

67         NED 689              P Verhoef

68         SUI 454              A Baumann

69         ITA 38               C Bosetti

70         GER 94               P Schobert

71         GER 183              F Steib

72         ITA 691              P Bonell

73         GER 98               X Stephl

74         CZE 47               G Antonin

75         SWE 704              P Diener

76         NED 587              B Kraan

77         GBR 6                P MacGregor

78         GER 101              H Tidemann

79         GBR 516              B Hardy

80         GER 1852             R Stelzl

81         GER 95               G Bollrath

82         SUI 461              P Kilchenmann

83         GER 36               A Weist

84         ITA 833              M Croso

85         SWE 688              P Nilson

86         GER 122              H Herwig

87         GER 69               S Loffelmann

88         GBR 536              M Till

89         GER 144              J Ott

90         NED 659              A Van Gent

91         GER 2105             B Fischer

92         GBR 504              P Coburn

93         ITA 88               F M Giugni Umberto

94         ITA 839              F Starke

95         GER 701              D Gotz Klaus

96         NED 698              H Saarnio

97         GER 1890             R Wenz

98         ITA 84               P Pinzan

99         GER 47               R Raderschadt

100        SUI 523              H Lehmann

101        SUI 439              C Wuthrich

102        GER 168              J Larsen

103        GER 1119             P Bronke

104        GER 1714             P Gellert

105        GER 998              E Rist

106        GER 1591             D Blaschkowski

107        GER 1870             W Orth

108        BEL 35               L Neve

109        SWE 717              B Bergman

110        GER 73               G Hopp

111        GER 1966             M Thurm

112        GER 97               M Helmling

113        ITA 809              G Vangelista

114        SWE 581              C Ridderheim

115        ITA 33               M Vaccari

116        FRA 764              B Michal

117        NED 667              N Elsink

118        SUI 418              M Hunzinker

119        SUI 288              W Angehrn

120        GER 2005             H Volkl

121        NED 661              R Van Mourik

122        GER 9                F Koch

123        GER 200              H Vetter

124        ITA 794              F Cavazza

125        GER 153              M Witte

126        GER 2222             R Lehnert

127        GER 2096             C Donner

128        GBR 509              M Camps

Masters 1998 report

The annual meeting of so many Finn sailors always provides the opportunity to meet old friends in great surroundings and to enjoy very competitive racing of a high standard. The Masters has in recent years attracted more and more different nationalities. In 1998 there were 13 countries represented with 132 entries. This year's event was held at Castelleto di Brenzone on Lake Garda. Report by Mike Till (GBR)

Castelleto was chosen as the 1998 venue by Roland Balthasar of Germany, the winner of the 1996 Masters; maybe because he has an apartment there but also because it really is a lovely place which offers all the pleasures of a Garda Lakeside venue.

After some frenetic pre-race preparations the Monday morning race got under way with a moderate southerly of 6 -10 knots. The position on the very long start line was such that the starboard end appeared as the favoured end but within five minutes of the start it was obvious that those who had gone left were on a new wind and those on the right hadnÕt a hope! The eventual winner and leaders were all those that had gone left at the start. As usual Larry Lemieux got it right. Race 2 was abandoned after a number of protests forced the committee to declare that it was null and void. The restart was a horror and with barely 4-6 knots of a very shifty wind and produced some unexpected results apart from Larry Lemieux who once again managed to win. As a result of the very fickle conditions there were 32 DNFs with all of these being caught by the extended time limit of 45 minutes. The two Croats who had finished 1st and 2nd were PMS thus allowing Larry Lemieux to get another 1st.

Race 3 was again sailed in very light conditions similar to the second race with Larry Lemieux winning again followed by Minski Fabris from Croatia and the Hungarian, Antal Gabor, from Pata boats gaining an excellent third. Race 4 saw the start of the Race Committee's solution to the lack of southerly winds by starting the racing at 8.30 am for the remaining races over the next three days. This led to much better conditions and saw wind strengths increase each day so that by race 6 we had 17-21 knots from the North.

Once the wind picked up the battle among the top ten or so became very close and exciting as the boat speed differentials became more apparent in comparison to the rest of the fleet. Some of the most exciting racing was between Roland Balthasar, Wolfgang Gerz, Andrew Cooper and Sobstad sailmaker Jan Bjornberg who slugged it out between them upwind. Larry Lemieux continued his flawless sailing with two 1sts and a discarded 3rd! with Fabris on a 5th 2nd and 1st giving him 2nd overall. Wolfgang Gerz proved that you don't have to be heavy to sail a Finn and sailing as usual ITA 1 with a 7th 6th and 7th achieved 3rd overall and R. Bosetti from Italy was 4th.

The Masters is a wonderful event and each year I write a few lines, which fail to portray the fun of it all. Next year we all go to France, near Bordeaux.

Vice-President - Masters, Rolf Lehnert (who sadly only managed to sail one race after hurting his arm) chaired a Masters Meeting in Castelleto this year. Copies of the minutes have been circulated to National Secretaries.