News

Bence Rácz leads Silver Cup after first day

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The 2023 Finn Silver Cup is being held on Lake Como at Gravedona, hosted by the Centro Vela Alto Lario.

RIP Martin Mikkelsen

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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

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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

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41 wolfgang gerz Former 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