Finn European titles up for grabs in Spain
by Robert Deaves 9 Sep 13:04 PDT
14-17 September 2022
2021 Finn European Masters, Tihany, Hungary © Robert Deaves /
www.robertdeaves.uk
The Open Finn European Masters Championship begins in Spain next week, the final major Finn championship of the year. A healthy entry list shows 72 Finn sailors from 16 nations. The fleet will compete for the Masters and Open titles over a four day event.
The event is being hosted by the Club Nàutic Hospitalet-Vandellòs, at Hospitalet de l'Infant, just south of Tarragona. It's been 26 years since the Finn class last held a major championship at the club, and the return has been greeted with much anticipation. What better antidote to today's world than a week of Finn sailing on the Mediterranean.
The only former European Masters champion taking part is the 2019 champion Filipe Silva, from Portugal, though there are plenty of big names taking part. The Masters fleet this year includes this year's Finn World Masters runner up, Laurent Hay, from France, last years European Masters runner-up, Bas de Waal, from The Netherlands, and local sailor David Terol, bronze medalist at last year's Finn World Masters. Other names to watch include former Laser world champion, Lawrence Crispin, from Britain, Christoph Burger, from Switzerland, and 1996 Olympian Paul Mckenzie, from Australia, the only entrant from the 1996 Europeans that was held here, sailing this week.
The largest team is unsurprisingly from Spain, with 14 entries, including Open entry Miguel Fernandez Vasco, who placed sixth at the Finn Gold Cup in May this year. There are also good sized teams from The Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, and Italy, including Open entrant, Matteo Iovenitti, who placed 10th at the Finn Gold Cup this year.
The fleet also incudes a swathe of non-Europeans from Australia, Chile, Brazil and New Zealand. While the European title is only open to European sailors, the Masters titles are ope to any nationality.
The forecast for the coming week shows a lot of high temperatures, sunshine and a mix of wind conditions.
However, before the European Championships start next Wednesday, there is the not so small matter of the Spanish National Championships to decide, with 56 entries from 11 countries taking part. Follow the results here.
There will be an intensified focus on social media coverage for these two events, so make sure to follow the Finn Class channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, along with the usual media coverage.
The Spanish championship runs from 9-11 September, while racing for the European titles runs from 14-17 September with eight races scheduled over four days.