Finn class returns to Gdynia for European titles
by Robert Deaves 19 Jun 09:10 PDT
20-27 June 2026
2020 Finn European Championship, Gdynia, Poland © Robert Deaves
The Finn Class returns to Gdynia, Poland, next week, for the 2026 Open and U29 European Championship. Held under the umbrella of the LOTTO Gdynia Sailing Days, the entry includes 110 Finns from 23 countries.
The class last held a major event in Gdynia in 2020 - also the European Championship - amid the pandemic as one of the few venues able to run events. It was a relatively small event then of 57 boats and was one of the last major events before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics the following summer.
The current world champion, and the 2024 European Champion Alessandro Marega is clearly the favourite, though he will not have things all his own way. The defending champion is France's Valerian Lebrun, who placed fourth in the Gold Cup in Brisbane earlier this year, while Italy's Arkadii Kistanov took third at last year's Finn Gold Cup in Cascais. Also expected to make the running will be Martijn van Muyden from The Netherlands and France's Laurent Hay.
Other names to watch include Australia's Rob McMillan who placed ninth of the Gold Cup this year and is sailing faster than ever; and the 2023 European Masters champion, Peter Peet, from The Netherlands.
For the first time in many years entry to this event was restricted, to focus on one-fleet. When entry opened, it was 'sold out' within 24 hours, which was unprecedented and unexpected, and underlines how popular the class is right now.
This year's event will also be the largest U29 event so far with 14 sailors competing for the U29 European title. There are also many new names present include the 2024 Polish ILCA Olympian Michal Krasodomski, who will be competing for the U29 title. Britain's Cameron Tweedle will also be hoping to do well here, after a string of national titles in the UK.
The conditions in Gdynia are known to be challenging, and to help the fleet build up to the event the class ran several webinars with former Olympian Piotr Kula including an in-depth analysis of the venue and what competitors might expect.
Equipment inspection and registration get under way on Saturday with the opening ceremony and practice race on Monday. The 10-race series runs from Tuesday to Saturday. Stay tuned....
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