Finn Gold Cup 2013 - New event website launched

by Robert Deaves on 11 Jan 2013 The 2013 Finn Gold Cup is to be held in Tallinn, Estonia from August 23 to 31. The official event website has been launched and can be viewed here.

The Finn Gold Cup will be the fourth world championship for an Olympic sport hosted in Estonia. The Finn class previously sailed its very successful 1994 Gold Cup at Pärnu, and the event website includes a video of that event, together with an interview with the winner, a very young Fredrik Lööf (SWE), who of course captured the Star Gold medal at last year’s Olympic Games.

Ants Väinsalu (EST) is the chairman of Finn Gold Cup 2013 local organising committee. 'The best conditions for sailing on Tallinn Bay are June and August when there is plenty of wind. In June 2010, when we hosted the Laser Standard and Laser Radial European Championships and Trophy in Pirita, we saw that it was still quite cold for many sailors. So for the Finn Gold Cup we chose the last week of August instead. Pirita usually has excellent sailing conditions that time of year, with very low risk of no wind, storms or other extremes.'

Hosting the Finn Gold Cup is a remarkable event in the history of Estonian sports. It is only the fourth occasion that this small northern European nation has organised a world championship for an Olympic sport, following the 1922 weightlifting world championships, the 1988 Tornado world championships and the 1994 Finn Gold Cup.

Estonia has strong traditions in Finn sailing. Aleksander Tsutselov from Tallinn won the Olympic silver medal in Rome 1960. Today, Deniss Karpak (EST) is the leading Estonian Finn sailor and a former world number one. Also in the world top 50 is Lauri Väinsalu (EST). Both are looking forward to competing on home waters.

Karpak said, 'The Finn Gold Cup taking place in Tallinn has very high significance to every Finn sailor in Estonia and to Estonian sailing in general. We are a very small country and to host such a major event in world sailing – it makes me proud to be Estonian.'

Karpak, bronze medallist in the Laser Standard World Championships 2007 in Cascais, transferred to Finn class after the 2008 Olympics. After a successful 2012 season he finished 11th at the 2012 Olympics. He feels happy about his prospects at the Finn Gold Cup in his home town.

'In 2010 when the Laser Standard Europeans were held in Tallinn, I could not compete as I was already a Finn sailor. 2013 is going to be my turn. I hope it is going to be a good competition with great winds and sunshine. It is going to be more difficult to compete at home as expectations are even higher than usual but I am determined to do a good job.'

The Finn Gold Cup 2013 is being organised by Estonian Finn Class Association in cooperation with Estonian Yachting Union and ESS Kalev Yacht Club. The racing will be held at the Tallinn Olympic Yachting Centre at Pirita, originally built for the 1980 Olympic event, which provides an excellent sailing infrastructure with comfortable conditions for competing as well as recreation. All courses are within 15 minutes of the shore. The regatta headquarters provide excellent facilities to cater to the needs of sailors, coaches, support teams and media.

The Notice of Race will be published soon. Check out the website and the 1994 video here.