The 2016 Finn Nationals was hosted by Yacht Club Paulista (YCP) at Guarapiranga Lake, São Paulo, from February 12-14, right after the Carnival holidays. The club comprises the biggest Finn fleet in Brazil and is also recognised for its hospitality.

The 2016 Finn Nationals was hosted by Yacht Club Paulista (YCP) at Guarapiranga Lake, São Paulo, from February 12-14, right after the Carnival holidays. The club comprises the biggest Finn fleet in Brazil and is also recognised for its hospitality. This year we had 23 sailors from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Niteroi, as well as the Olympic medalist and Gold Cup winner Rafa Trujillo trying to beat the reigning champion Jorge Zarif. Most of the sailors took advantage of the holidays to get some practice before the first day since YCP set courses for practice races during the week.

The first day of competition started with a light breeze from the south, sun and blue sky. The first race started with some delay due to a two general recalls. A black flag fixed the issue. Jorge Zarif had a great speed and played the wind shifts well to win the race from A to Z. Henry ‘Maguila’ Boening secured the second place and Antonio Moreira, only 18 year old, a new talent from Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, got the third.

In the second race of the day, Trujillo chose to the left side of the course to get a 20 degrees wind shift and build a good margin to win the race. Zarif was second and Henrique ‘Imperador’ Cabette got the third place in his return to the Finn Class after 5 years of absence.

The second day was also blessed by great weather. The light breeze from the south was still in, and Mauricio Bueno, a decorated sailor from Sao Paulo got first place in Race 3, followed by Zarif and Boening. Race 4 was held in the same conditions and Zarif took another bullet, followed by Boening and Moreira again. The fleet returned to the club to enjoy a great Brazilian Barbecue and the traditional camaraderie environment ot the club balcony.

The last day was tricky. The wind changed direction to north-west and the race committee moved the race course to the north side of the lake. Race 5 started with 8 to 10 knots in the second attempt, after a general recall, and Zarif once again took the bullet, followed by Moreira and Boening. The last race of the championship was held in a thrilling 8 to 15 knots wind with Oscar flag up the pole. All sailors started the free pumping battle downwind. Zarif won the race to be crowned Brazilian Champion for the seventh time. Now he needs only two additional titles to match his father’s record. Jorge Zarif Neto, Brazilian sailing legend, who passed away in 2008, was National Champion nine times.

After the race, Rafa Trujillo provided a splendid clinic to all sailors, focusing on boat tuning, mast and sail selection and boat handling. The prizegiving ceremony was held immediately after Rafa’s clinic and a big celebration followed.

The winning trio of Jorge Zarif, Henry ‘Maguila’ Boening and Rafa Trujillo were expected due their past performances and great experience in the Finn class. The class felt very happy also with the performance of the Junior sailor Antonio Moreira in the fourth place. It is a good sign that the class is attracting new good sailors.

Now it’s time to focus on the next championships. Sao Paulo Championship and Rio de Janeiro State Championship are being planned. All sailors will have enough time to improve their technique after getting Rafa’s tips.
We are planning to have our next Nationals in São Paulo again, to balance the number of Championships realised for the class on the last years.

Results:

1 109 Jorge Zarif 6
2 1 Henry Boening 13
3 ESP 100 RafaelTrujillo 16
4 114 Antonio Moreira 18
5 BRA 100 Mauricio Bueno 25
6 97 Ricardo Santos 32
7 103 Luis Mosquera 40
8 5 Henrique Cabette 45
9 11 Robert Rittscher 45
10 3 Ricardo Valerio 50
11 179 Paulo Picchetti 58
12 BRA Pedro Henrique Trouche de Souza 60
13 21 Ricardo Biederman de Carvalho 61
14 10 Arthur Lopes 65
15 45 Rafael Federici F 65
16 17 Rolf Bremer 67
17 117 Mauricio de Alcantara Martins 68
18 108 Cristiano Ruschmann 72
19 7 Bruno Caruso 77
20 80 Tiago Moraes 87
21 709 Jorge Rodrigues 96
22 9 Eduardo Bomeisel 110
23 35 Colin Reed 111

Full results: http://sailwave.com/results/BRASILEIRO%20DE%20FINN%202016%20FINAL.htm

Video of the Championship: https://www.facebook.com/YachtClubPaulista/videos/1091810804194329

Text: Jorge Rodriques • Photos: Ale Socci - Green Pixel

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