Finn World Masters Championship to have a record-breaking number at CN El Balís

Finn World Masters Championship © CN El Balís

The Finn World Masters Championship, which will take place at Club Naútico El Balís, from the 18th to the 25th of May, has closed its registration process with a record-breaking number of 350 participants from 32 countries, representing four continents.

This is the second largest figure in the history of the World Masters Championship after the 2016 organized in Torbole (Italy), which included 355 participants and finished with the victory of Spanish skipper Rafa Trujillo.

The event in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, one of the best of the season, will feature Olympic medalists, Masters World champions and European Finn Gold Cup winners –including overall Finn World champions.

José Luis Doreste and many others will participate

Amongst the 24 Spaniards registered for the event, we can highlight two Finn Gold Cup champions: Joaquín Blanco (1977) and José Luis Doreste (1987), who also stroke gold in the 1998 Olympic Games and conquered the European title. A member of the Finn Class Hall of Fame, Doreste is in a select group of four men, alongside Paul Elsvtrom, Mateusz Kuznierewicz and Ben Ainslie, who have won the gold medal in the Olympic Games as well as the World and European championships in this class. Other two Spanish skippers who have raced in the Olympic Games will be at El Balís: Jesús Turró and Gerardo Seeliger, who is also the honorary president of the class.

International top participants will include Russian Vladimir Krutskikh, who will defend the title conquered last year at Barbados. Besides winning in 2017, Krutskikh also claimed the championship in 2015. Also coming from abroad will be six-time champion from the Czech Republic Michael Maier, who won in 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and German André Budzien, who claimed the championship in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

In its 48-year history, this will be the second time the Masters Fin World Championship takes place in Spain. The previous occasion was in Murcia (2007). The first time the event was held was in 1970 in Saint Moritz, Switzerland.

Europe, America, Africa and Oceania will be represented

The 32 countries represented at CN El Balís will be: Germany (42), Argentina (1), Australia (12), Austria (10), Bahamas (1), Belgium (4), Brazil (8), Canada (1), Chile (4), Czech Republic (8), Denmark (4), Slovakia (1), Spain (24), The United States of America (8), Estonia (1), Finland (5), France (27), The United Kingdom (29), Greece (2), The Netherlands (38), Hungary (19), Italy (24), Monaco (1), Norway (3), New Zealand (6), Poland (6), Portugal (1), South Africa (4), Russia (11), Sweden (14), Switzerland (21) and Ukraine (8).