Finn Class News - July 2022

Dear sailors

Here is a quick update of the latest developments.

2022 Open European Championship

As you may have heard by now the 2022 Open Europeans in Kiel has been cancelled by the club as we did not reach the minimum entry level of 40 boats. In fact, despite the extended early entry deadline we only got to 25 paid entries by Sunday 24 July, when a decision was due to be taken.

This is very disappointing considering the amount of work by the club and IFA to promote and organise the event. When it was decided at the AGM in 2020, there was 100% approval to go to Kiel, but it appears a combination of too many events and lack of interest in Kiel put many off. Many who said there were going did not enter and it became self-fulfilling with a lot of sailors waiting for entry numbers to improve. Nine of those who had entered did not pay the entry fee, so this also contributed the lack of confidence from the club that it could arrange the event successfully.

It would not have been the European Championship that everyone hoped for, so in the end there was only one decision to take. The Executive will review what happened and ensure lessons are learned.

Since then, the IFA Executive has been in discussions with Club Nàutic Hospitalet-Vandellòs, near Barcelona in Spain – which is running the Finn European Masters from September 13-17 – on whether they would be interested in adding the open titles to this event.

We are happy to say this has been approved by the club this week on the following basis.

2022 Open Europeans is being rescheduled for Spain

The event will become the Open and U23 Finn European Masters and will be sailed under the Masters Rules, and not the IFA Major championship rules, as already specified in the Notice of Race.

In short:
• 8 races over 4 days
• Oscar limit remains at 12 knots
• Upper wind limit remains at 20 knots (though this is considered unlikely to be exceeded)
• There will also be an upper entry limit of 125 boats.

The amended Notice of Race will also confirm:

• The title ‘Finn European Champion 2022’ will be awarded to the first competitor in the overall score sailing under the flag of a European country of which he is a citizen. Medals will be awarded to the top three competitors in the overall score sailing under the flag of a European country of which they are citizens.

• The title ‘U23 Finn European Champion 2022’ will be awarded to the first competitor in the U23-division sailing under the flag of a European country of which he is a citizen. Medals will be awarded to the top three U23 competitors in the overall score sailing under the flag of a European country of which they are citizens.

• The title ‘Masters European Champion’ will be awarded to the first competitor in the Masters division irrespective of the national flag under which they compete.

• Prizes will be adjusted to award the top 10 Masters as well as the top 10 overall.

The Notice of Race will shortly be modified to include all the above.

The championship currently has 57 entries.

You can enter here: https://www.cnhv.sailti.com/en/default/races/race-inscriptions/text/finn-european-masters-eng-en

Entry will be closed once the maximum limit is reached and then there will be a waiting list in case any drop out.

Please also not that the Spanish Championship tales place immediately preceding this event. More details and entry form here: https://www.cnhv.sailti.com/es/default/races/race-inscription/text/campeonato-espana-clase-finn-es/menuaction/calendar/cruise/no

 

2023 Finn Gold Cup – Miami
There is a lot of interest in next year’s Finn Gold Cup and if all expressions of interest and advance planning are realised, then we are looking at a fleet of 70-80 boats. Currently there are already 30 boats entered.

There are a lot of containers being planned and we have published all the ongoing plans here: https://www.finnclass.org/news/20-news/1166-shipping-options-for-2023-finn-gold-cup-in-miami

If you are interested in sailing in Miami then please make contact with whoever is most convenient to reserve a place in that container.

It is also an excellent opportunity to import boats into the USA and that is also being discussed, so if you want a new boat in the USA, which could also be chartered for the Gold Cup, please also take a look at what is happening.

Please keep checking that page to be aware of all the updates.

 

Finn World Ranking List

After a lot of discussion and consultation, a first draft is underway to produce a Finn World Ranking List. It is being put together using the major events this year to start things going and the first list will be published after the Finn European Masters.

For sure it will not be perfect, and we expect it to evolve over time as new ideas are incorporated.

The initial concept is:

• All major championships and events
• Two events per member country. These can be nominated by the NCA. While there will be some effort to find the results, in general results will only be included if they are sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Each event will have a weighting based on number of sailors, number of nations, number of ranked sailors, importance.
• Age categories will be incorporated at a later date so that U23, Masters etc can be extracted.
• Up to 4 press releases per year
• Probably no more than best 5 results per sailor will count, but this will be monitored. The idea is to encourage each sailor to travel to one or two more events than normal. If it is made too arduous, it will not realise that, so it will be made accessible to the majority of sailors that travel to events.

 

Events for 2023

The other major events in 2023 are:

Open Europeans, Csopak, Lake Balaton, Hungary, May 12-18
World Masters, Kavala, Greece, May 26 - June 2
European Masters, Campione, Garda, early September tbc

Already there has been a great deal of interest in sailing the double bill of Csopak-Kavala.

IFA would encourage event organisers and National Class Associations to also look at ways to extend a possible ‘tour’ by organising events around these two championships so there is a geographical circuit for those who have the time. A lot of our sailors are retired or have spare time so if an event can added before or after the two major events, it would make the journey far more interesting as well as boosting the domestic fleets.

IFA would also request that National Finn Associations try not to schedule a major event within 2-3 weeks of an IFA major championship, if that would likely lead to reduced attendance at either. Sailors should not have to make a hard decision between attending an international championship or a national championship, though of course sometimes this will be unavoidable.

Shipping options for 2023 Finn Gold Cup in Miami

Update 18 Oct 2022

The Gold Cup in Miami at the end of January 2023 Miami is proving to be popular. Several containers are now booked to leave from Europe in the second half of November and return in February 2023.

The Miami Finn fleet will receive and store our Finns in a Miami facility provided by their sponsor when the containers arrive from Europe. Boats can be collected one by one as sailors arrive for training and lead up regattas prior to the Gold Cup.

Pricing is around €1500-2000 per boat for the return trip in a full container, depending on the ports used.

All boats leaving will need to be listed on an ATA Carnet document. The cost of this process is included in the overall pricing quoted above.

Options for shipping or supplied boats are:

DC Composites Netherlands 
Currently 2 containers are booked– for new TT2 boats supplied for the event, possibly charters and also for private boats to complete any incomplete containers.
Contact Joost +31 622 798 462 • 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Devoti sailing Czech Rep 
Currently 1 container is booked – only for new boats bought and supplied for the event.
Contact Karel +420 602 140 116 • 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

From Portugal 
Containers will leave from Cascais on the 28th of Nov (the day after the Portugese National Championship 26-27 Nov).  Currently 1 container is booked but a second one is more than 50% booked. 
Contact Paul +33 671 750 771 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

La Rochelle and Helsinki Finn Fleet – Have chartered boats in Miami.

Further charter boats are also available in Miami, but the number is limited.
Contact Fabiano +1 786 252 5191 • 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Rodion on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The central contact at IFA for charter and shipping coordination is Paul Mckenzie, but Robert will also be up to date.
Paul +33 671 750 771 • 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Robert +44 7936 356 663 • 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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July 2022 Update (superceded by the above)

There is a lot of interest for the Gold Cup in Miami at the end of January 2023. Containers will leave from Europe in the second half of November and return in February.

Our friends from the Miami Finn fleet have offered to store our Finns in a Miami facility provided by their sponsor once the containers arrive from Europe. Therefore, boats can be collected one by one as sailors arrive for training and lead up regattas prior to the Gold Cup.

We have quotes for shipping to Miami return, but at this stage they are only indicative. Pricing is only valid for 2 to 4 weeks and we are planning to ship in November or early December. At present costs are around €2200  per boat for the return trip, in a full container.

Note containers are in high demand at present and prices are exceptionally expensive. By November it may be a bit cheaper…

All boats leaving will need to be listed on an ATA Carnet document. The cost of this process is included in the overall pricing quoted above.

Options for shipping or supplied boats are:

DC Composites Netherlands – for new TT2 boats supplied for the event, possibly charters and also for private boats to complete any incomplete containers.
Contact Joost +31 622 798 462 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Devoti sailing Czech Rep – only for new boats bought and supplied for the event.
Contact Karel +420 602 140 116 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Finn Sailing Academy in Portugal – Filipe is sending boats to Miami for charter, there may be room to ship private boats. To be confirmed…
Contact Filipe +351 916 611 122 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Helsinki Finn Fleet – the Finnish are organizing a container from Helsinki. Some charter boats may be available and private boats are welcome to complete the container.
Contact Jesse +358 445 342 823 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

La Rochelle Finn Fleet – the French fleet are organizing a container from La Rochelle. Private boats are welcome to complete the container.
Contact Michel +33 603 363 905 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Renting Ribs Barcelona – Renting Ribs are organizing containers from their facility in Spain to ship private boats. Boats can be dropped off prior to packing and will be loaded by Renting Ribs. Contact Pere at RR’s +34 661 955 530 or me (Paul) +33 671 750 771

Charter boats are also available in Miami, but the number is limited.
Contact Fabiano +1 786 252 5191 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The central contact at IFA for charter and shipping coordination is Paul Mckenzie, but Robert will also be up to date.
Paul +33 671 750 771 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Robert +44 7936 356 663 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Finn Survey March 2022

A brief survey was carried out in February principally to direct the Executive towards event planning this year, but also to gauge feelings towards a raft of rule change proposals that have been widely discussed over the past year.

Read more ...

National flags on Sails

 

There have been several questions regarding National flags on sails

National flags are only mandatory when rule C10.3 (c) is specifically invoked in the Notice of Race. 

This rule will not be invoked during 2022 at any IFA major championship, including the Finn Gold Cup, Open Europeans or the Masters championships.

Therefore national flags are not mandatory at these events.

Previously it has only ever been fully mandatory at the World Sailing World Championship and World Cup events. It was always a class choice whether or not to invoke it at other events such as the FGC and EC. However it has never been invoked at Masters events.

It was recognised that this year we are trying to attract a lot of sailors who have perhaps never sailed a FGC and never had a flag before. It did not seem worth asking sailors to buy sets of flags for one event.

The decision on whether to delete or continue with this rule is included on the AGM Agenda.

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