Finn Class announces U23 Finn World Championship

by Robert Deaves on 29 Jan 2016 The International Finn Association has announced a decision to change the age for its Junior titles from under 22 years old to U23.

“The decision has been taken following discussions with various federations and National Olympic Committees in order to align the age group to one most commonly used by other sports such as athletics, rowing and swimming. Among the Olympic sailing classes, the 470, the 49er and the FX have also recently adopted U23 for their Junior worlds and this would allow us to run combined events in the future,” Corinne Mckenzie, Finn Class Executive Director, explained.

“This decision should impact on clarity for the general media but also play an important role with funding through the sailors national authorities including their federation or Olympic committees. These are factors we cannot ignore even if the term ‘Junior’ now becomes less relevant.”

With the change of age division, the Finn class is changing the name to U23 Finn World Championship. The event is also known as the Finn Silver Cup, for the Jorg Bruder Trophy, a stepping stone to the famous World Championship trophy, the Finn Gold Cup.

This rule will apply from this year when U23 Finn sailors will be able to test first-hand the 2018 World Sailing Championship waters in Aarhus, Denmark. The 2016 U23 Finn World Championship will take place from the 3-9 July 2016.

Official IFA decision
Change of eligible age for Junior events

The IFA Executive Committee, with unanimous approval from the General Assembly members, has changed the Junior championships rules as follow:
1) The age for the Finn Junior events will be U23. Entrants must not have reached their 23rd birthday prior to the first of January in the year of the championship.
2) The Junior Finn World Championship title is replaced by U23 Finn World Championship. The event is also called Finn Silver Cup, for the Jorg Bruder Trophy.
3) The Junior European Championship is replaced by the U23 Finn European Championship. This decision will apply from the 2016 Finn Silver Cup.