Oldest videos of sailing in Finn dinghies
by Magnus Smith 1 Dec 2023 15:59 PST
75 years of Finn sailing © Robert Deaves / Finn Class
Our video archive is fully searchable, and linked to all the clubs and classes in our database. It is updated weekly with the latest videos of sailing, but here we delve into the past, and round-up everything that shows sailing in Finn dinghies.
The first old video we know of, which features a Finn, is Sailing in Emsworth during the 1950s; it's a fascinating look at all the different craft in Chichester Harbour at that time.
Just down the road, we have Hayling Island sailing in the 50s with Finns appearing at at 16m19s, for a little while.
A cannister of footage labelled Finn championship races, Marblehead, 1957 is next. Nobody knows the proper regatta title.
Here are some great close-ups of US number 3 in the later fifties. You can see each aspect of the boat, recorded carefully, ashore.
Near the end of the decade, this promotional film for Fairey Marine covers all the classes they made - the Finn is shown at 2m41s. Again, just a brief glimpse.
Ron Jenyns sailed in the Rome 1960 Olympics and this footage is a mix of activity in NSW, Australia and in Rome, with the Star class and other Olympic activity thrown in too.
From the 1960s, there's Finn Gold Cup footage from British Pathé.
A promotional video for CORK (Canadian Olympic Regatta at Kingston) 1972 has Finn footage at 3m06s.
There is also some great 1970s footage in this Finn class in Kiel video.
Then we have Finns at the Montreal 1976 Olympics (you need to click to watch in a new tab, direct on the Youtube website).
Watch Russell Coutts wins Gold in the Los Angeles Olympics, 1984.
We haven't found any older videos that show these boats, but do get in touch if you know of any interesting footage. You can submit video links to us for immediate review.
Last of all (before videos went digital) we have John Cutler wins Bronze, Seoul Olympics 1988.
Update - new research
A year after publishing this article we had uncovered yet more Finn video footage during our research:
- Melbourne 1956 Olympics - Paul Elvstrøm in the Finn
- Kiel Week 1962 - Finn, Dragon
- Snipe, Finn and Star racing in 1963
- Tokyo 1964 Olympics - Finn class
- Finn Class World Cup Championship 1967
- 1968 Earls Court boat show, London
- 1970 SCKN Regatta, Germany - Finn, 470 and other dinghies
- Munich 1972 Olympics - Soling, FD, Finn, 470
- Munich 1972 Olympics - documentary (including Kiel Week) skip to 17m49s and 38m10s for Finns
- Harken promotional film, 1976 - features 470 class, ice yacht, Tornado, Finn
- Paul Elvstrøm in various Olympics - 1952, 1968 and 1984
- Los Angeles 1984 Olympics - 470, Windglider, FD, Soling, Finn, Star, Tornado
- Seoul 1988 Olympics - 470 and Finn racing
- Finn sailor Lawrence Lemieux talks about rescuing a competitor during the Olympics
More links to videos: