RIP Martin Mikkelsen

Finnster Martin Mikkelsen has sailed his last voyage in our waters. 


202205182022 Finn Gold Cup Malcesine Pic Robert Deaves RS1A5967

 

I remember him for his enthusiasm but also for his bubbling joy for sailing in general and the Finn dinghy in particular.

In the beginning, his joy would sometimes overflow, making him the center of attention in a discussion on the water. On land, you could always count on getting a hug and a good conversation afterwards.

In later times, he managed to control his bubbles of joy, and we could settle for hugs and good conversations.

Last spring, he achieved a great goal when he participated in the Finn Gold Cup on Lake Garda. He had just met his future wife, Roberta, so Martin was at the top of his game. It may not be evident from the results list, but Martin had fantastic starts and let his joy run freely in the beautiful surroundings.

He was a sailor and a person on the rise in life, both in sports and in his personal life with the newfound love for Roberta.

I have chosen to remember Martin as he was during that week.

In December, we were informed that he had an incurable brain cancer, and we began the difficult task of selling his Finn dinghy. At the same time, we heard that Roberta was pregnant with a due date in July.

Sailors from all over the world stepped in and have helped secure the future for Roberta & Martin's son.

The world is tough and brutal but also beautiful - I will never forget Martin in silhouette against the mountainside of Malcesine after a successful start in the Gold Cup.

Fair winds to Martin wherever he sails now.

 

Otto Strandvig, DEN 21

UPDATE - International Finn Events 2023-2026

20230126 2023 Finn Gold Cuo Miami Robert Deaves RS1A0496

 

Following various decisions taken at the International Finn Association AGM in Csopak and the Finn World Masters Annual meeting in Kavala, there are a number of significant changes to the major event calendar over the next three years.

The IFA AGM Minutes have been published here:
https://finnclass.org/organisation/meetings-and-reports/1197-2023-ifa-agm-minutes

The Masters Annual Meeting minutes will be published here: https://finnworldmaster.com/about/meetings


2023

Two events remain to be held in 2023.

2023 Silver Cup, Gravedona, ITA, 17-21 July
https://finnclass.org/news/180-eventpage/1177-2023-finn-silver-cup-event-page

2023 Finn European Masters, Campione del Garda, ITA, 2-8 September
https://finnworldmaster.com/events/campione-2023

In 2024 the Finn Gold Cup will return to Aarhus in Denmark


2024

For 2024, unfortunately Anzio had to pull out from hosting the 2024 Finn Gold Cup due to local issues, but luckily Aarhus was able to make a proposal to host instead. This was agreed by the AGM in Csopak. It follows directly on from the German Championship in Hamburg, so provides a great opportunity for two different events - lake and sea - close together within a 2 week window.

In addition, the Annual Masters Meeting made an amendment to its rules to hold all future events in June rather than the Whitsun holiday. This was done for a number of reasons, including travel costs, more reliable weather and providing easier scheduling. As a result, the dates for the 2024 Finn World Masters were moved later by a few weeks.

So, the calendar for 2024 looks like this:

2024 Finn World Masters, Punta Ala, Italy, 7-14 June (NEW DATES)
https://finnworldmaster.com/events/puntala-2024

2024 Finn Gold Cup, Aarhus, Denmark, 31 August to 7 September (NEW VENUE)
Website to follow.

2024 Open and Masters Europeans, Cannes, FRA, 19-26 October
Website to follow.

2024 Silver Cup, TBA


2025

The AGM in Csopak also decided the 2025 Finn Gold Cup would be held in Cascais, Portugal.

The 2025 season looks like this so far:

2025 Finn World Masters, Medemblik, NED, June 6-13
www.finnworldmasters.com

2025 Open and Masters Europeans, TBC, probably August

2025 Finn Gold Cup, Cascais, POR, Dates October TBA

2025 Silver Cup, TBA


2026

The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Brisbane, put in bids for both the Finn Gold Cup and Finn World Masters in 2026 and both received almost unanimous approval by the IFA AGM and the Masters Meeting. This will be the first time the World Masters has gone to the southern hemisphere.

So, in 2026 we have

2026 Finn Gold Cup, Brisbane, Australia, Dates TBC (Jan-Feb)

2026 Finn World Masters, Brisbane, Australia, Dates TBC (Jan-Feb)

There will then likely be an Open Europeans in June/July in central Europe and a Masters Europeans in October in a southern European location.

All dates and changes can also be found on the IFA website here: https://finnclass.org/racing/calendar

 

Farewell Wolfgang Gerz 1952-2023

41 wolfgang gerzFormer Finn champion Wolfgang Gerz passed away suddenly on 2 April at the age of 71. He won the 1981 Finn Gold Cup and later placed fifth at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He also returned in the mid-1990s to sail the Finn World Masters, winning in 1997, placing second in 1996 and third in 1995 and 1998.

IFA send its condolences to his family and friends.

Later better known as a Laser Masters sailor, there is an extended tribute to him here.

He wrote a chapter in Photo Finnish, which is repeated below and encapsulates the kind of sailor he was.

“After the disappointment in 1980 of the boycott of the Moscow Games I had not done any sailing at all when our national coach, Peter Stohl, called me in November. He wanted to find out if I would continue and join in a special project for the 1981 Gold Cup. This was to build a German (Mader) Finn with basically a Lanaverre-like hull shape plus a Taylor-like double bottom with perfect weight distribution. I got keen again and we started to work on the project, with first tests on the water in Anzio in early February 1981.

My training partner was Michael Nissen and it all looked good, and we felt really fit – until we met Lasse Hjortnaes and Jørgen Lindhardtsen for the first time in the Palma Regatta. They were usually sailing hundreds of metres ahead – not only compared to us Germans but to the whole fleet. We made some improvements over the next week, trained even harder, but Lasse seemed to be unbeatable, actually winning every single race in which he started.

After the Europeans in Athens in May, where I came sixth, I decided that if I wanted to have the slightest chance it meant going back to the good old Lanaverre. This had been sitting in the garage since June 1980 and was full of dust, airbags broken, fittings partially not working; but I took it to the Niendorf Regatta in May, where Jørgen won. But I suddenly had the feeling that this enormous difference in boat speed and pointing was getting smaller.

So I made the decision to give up the Mader project and tune my Lanaverre back to peak performance. The next regatta was Kieler Woche in mid-June, where I actually managed to beat Lasse for the first time in that year in a single race.

When I crossed the line in front of him, he gave a sound like a dying whale.

I finished second overall – despite the attempts of the German Sailing Federation to disqualify me for carrying an anti-nuclear-power sticker – and went home to Munich for a week without sailing before the Gold Cup. A week later we had a great summer party. I drank a little too much but managed to arrive in Grömitz on the Sunday morning – the last measurement day. I went to bed early, knowing that I had good enough speed and fitness to get second in the Gold Cup if everything worked out well.

As it turned out, Lasse had obviously lost his invincible touch after Kiel. The first race was in light and tricky conditions – Lasse was second and I was fourth – followed by beautiful weather with medium winds and perfect waves for surfing and planning.

All the torture of the previous months had obviously made me faster than ever on reaches and downwind. Lasse was still superior upwind, but not enough to resist my downhill speed. With this, I also benefited from the old Olympic course, which was triangle, downwind, triangle. The result was a total score of 4, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2 and the first Gold Cup for a German since Willy Kuhweide.

Looking back, all of us in the German team couldn’t believe how stupid we had been. Whereas the Danes had been sailing all winter with their previous boats – fairly well used Vanguards – we just started in February, and with a new boat, which we tested against the Vanguard of Michael Nissen but never against the Lanaverre which had been the fastest German boat throughout the previous two years.

What happened to Lasse? He got his revenge in 1982, winning his first Gold Cup in Medemblik with myself in fourth.

For the history of the Finn, I was probably the last Gold Cup winner below 80 kg and my Lanaverre the last boat that was at least half wood.

For the rest of the Needlespar era, it was now clear that the perfect boat-mast combination was not a super-stiff hull with an appropriate mast, but actually a fairly stiff mast sideways with a fairly soft and flexible deck in specific areas.”

 

gerz in old boat  Wolfgang Gerz F Richard

Ed Wright secures second Finn Gold Cup after no racing on final day in Miami

Britain’s Ed Wright has won the Finn Gold Cup in Miami, USA, after no racing was possible on the final day on Biscayne Bay. Domonkos Nemeth, from Hungary, went one better than 2022 and took the silver while European Champion, Miguel Fernandez Vasco, from Spain took the bronze.

The fleet was sent out an hour early to try to make the best of the wind conditions, but the breeze was already dying and after a short wait AP over A was signalled to end the regatta as no more breeze was expected until after the time limit.

Fernandez Vasco was elated with the bronze, coming just four months after the European title.

“I am really happy because in three months I have won the Finn Europeans and now I finished the Finn Gold Cup in third, so it's a dream for me.

“This year I am going to stop sailing and I'll try hard to get the title at the next Gold Cup. I am taking nine months break also because I haven't really stopped sailing from the previous Gold Cup and this Gold Cup was very close to the Europeans, so it's a lot of time that I've dedicated to the Finn.

“Miami is fantastic. If we do the Gold Cup another time here, I will come back for sure.”

Taking the silver, Nemeth said, “It’s been a really nice week in Miami. We were sailing really good, with very nice conditions. It was really nice sailing with super good people, the organisation was really good, I really liked it and I hope to see more of these sailors at the Europeans.

“I am super happy with the silver medal. It's really thrilling to be honest, super good guys were here and it was really tight at the end. I am happy to compete against these guys and it was good to test my skills in another boat, [he sailed the TT2 this week] which I am not used to. It was good to test my skills also in the lighter winds. I am really happy with my sailing to be honest.”

On the future, “I am definitely going to sail the Finn while I am a junior. I am 20, so I have more time. I started doing a bit of iQFoiling but I don’t know how it will end. I am also sailing in the SSL with the Hungarian team. We really hope that the event is going to be held, so I don't know what the future holds, I just want to sail as much as I can.”

20230131 2023 Finn Gold Cup Miami Robert Deaves RS1A0707

Ed Wright, who also sailed a TT2 Finn, last won the Finn Gold Cup 12 years ago in San Francisco, the longest gap in Finn Gold Cup history for first and second titles.

Since then, “Many times I've been second or third, so probably I've been knocking on the door a bunch of times; it's a nice feeling to win it again.

“It was a stressful day with very light winds, but we didn't race today in the end so by default I got the win. It's been a fun week and it's nice to be back after a few years off the boat, I think it was 2019 the last time I was in the Finn, so it was really nice racing, and I really had a nice week.”

He said the competition was actually really hard. “The other guys have definitely picked up the level by training hard and there's a couple young sailors that are improving, so let's see what’s happening with the Finn Class in the future.

"Coconut Grove Sailing Club put together a great event, the race officer was outstanding this week, really hats off to her and everything went amazingly, it was a well oiled regatta.”

On future Finn events. “We will see, you never say never.”

Finn fans will see that the TT2 Finn has now won the last two Finn Gold Cups. Gear breakdowns will be published in the coming weeks.

For the American fleet this event has hopefully been a catalyst for further growth and development, and it is healthier now than it has been for a long time with growing numbers, new boats and a new builder on the horizon.

Gus Miller, the oldest person ever to sail a Finn Gold Cup finished 53rd overall. The highlight was Race 7 when he rounded the top mark in the top 20 to whoops from those watching this remarkable sailor. He finished 33rd in that race. Even at 87 years old his mark roundings were flawlessly smooth, and he even had his luff curve recut prior to the event, critiquing it with his experienced eyes. He inspired admiration and awe from all the other competitors, many of whom helped him get afloat each day.

Through the week the fleet has been joined by other icons of American Finn sailing, John Bertrand did some coaching, Cam Lewis turned up and recounted many old and gaudy stories to the younger sailors and Peter Harken also showed up for a while.

A final word about Coconut Grove Sailing Club. A huge band of enthusiastic volunteers has made this event possible with food and the Bacardi Bar available off the water every day. The race management was impeccable, the hospitality was second to none, the Miami weather delivered, and everyone had a finntastically fun and memorable regatta. Everyone who made the effort to travel to Miami was rewarded with an awesome event on and off the water. The Finn class and Finn culture lives on and goes from strength to strength.

Ed Wright remains world champion for 17 months with the next Finn Gold Cup heading back to another old Finn haunt, at Anzio in Italy, in May 2024. We are looking forward to it already…

Final results after 8 races
1 GBR 111 Ed Wright 11
2 HUN 80 Domonkos Nemeth 22
3 ESP 161 Miguel Fernandez Vasco 26
4 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 34
5 ITA 171 Federico Colaninno 35
6 USA 186 James Golden 59
7 USA 16 Rodion Mazin 61
8 BRA 53 Pedro Trouche 62
9 ITA 40 Marko Kolic 68
10 BRA 32 Pedro Lodovici 74

Full results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=15268

Full photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720305663002

 

Highlights from Day 5 (click for video)

 

FGC2023 day 5

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