Once again, no races were possible at the 2026 Open and U29 Finn European Championship in Gdynia, Poland, due to very light winds. The fleet attempted one race in the early afternoon, but it was abandoned on the first downwind as the breeze evaporated into Polish thin air. 98 Finns from 17 countries are taking part in the event. One more race is needed to have a valid championship.
The fleet was postponed on shore for 40 minutes and while it did not look promising, the breeze was coming, at 7-9 knots, but the fleet lost the opportunity to complete the race as the breeze started to drop before they reached the start area.
After starting in 6-7 knots, at top mark Kristof Kaiser, from Hungary, continues to impress – he put it down to his coach Facundo Olezza – with a nice lead round from Dariusz Dązbłaż from Poland and Laurent Hay from France. However, by half way down the run the wind had dropped to under 5 knots, so the race was abandoned and the fleet sent home shortly afterwards.
Olof Lundqvist, from Sweden, explained his day.
“We had really light winds, and it was discussed whether or not we should go out on the water. But finally, we did, and we started one race in very light conditions. But I think it was quite fair still. The conditions were evenly spread on the course, we got to the top mark, and I think I was in around 20 or something at the top mark, and then I started on the downwind and it got even lighter. And then they called it off midway down the downwind.
“So maybe a little pity for me because I think I was, it felt good. I would have liked at least that we could have sailed into, take shortened the course or something like that, because it felt rather fair on the course actually.
“But that's life and we have to have one more race at least to have a championship tomorrow. And I don't look at the forecast anymore because it's no use. You only get depressed, but let's hope for a good day tomorrow. It would be really great to have two races tomorrow. Fingers crossed.”
After four days, Bas de Waal, from The Netherlands, leads after just three races from Poland’s Michal Krasodomski, and Britain’s John Greenwood. Krasodomski also leads the U29 Championship.
The forecast for the final day on Saturday looks equally challenging, but there is a possibility for wind early morning. Hence, the decision was taken for three races from 0630. One more race is needed for a valid event with two more needed for a discard.
Results after 3 races
1 NED 29 Bas De Waal 20
2 POL 77 Michał Krasodomski 28
3 GBR 5 John Greenwood 36
4 NED 60 Martijn Van Muyden 39
5 GER 501 Fabian Lemmel 40
6 DEN 21 Otto Strandvig 40
7 SVK 271 Tomas Mihalik 43
8 ESP 22 Adrián Bedoya Mey 47
9 CZE 54 Matouš Červenka 48
10 HUN 911 Elemer Haidekker 52
Results here: https://events.pya.org.pl/open-finn-european-championship-2026,e152
Gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720334413488
