Finn Open and U29 European Championship 2026 at Gdynia, Poland - Day 1
by Robert Deaves 23 Jun 22:46 PDT
20-27 June 2026
Michal Krasodomski, from Poland, is the early leader after the opening day of the 2026 Open and U29 European Championship in Gdynia, Poland, part of the LOTTO Gdynia Sailing Days. John Greenwood, from Britain, is second with Bas de Waal, from The Netherlands in third. The race wins went to Krasodomski and France's Valerian Lebrun. 98 Finns from 17 countries are taking part.
With a challenging forecast, the start was already rescheduled for 12.45 with a possible window of wind during the afternoon, however with the breeze not developing, the fleet were held ashore until 15.00 before heading out for two races and came ashore after 19.00. The weather remained beautiful all day, with hot and sunny skies.
The opening race was sailed in a north-westerly breeze of around 7 knots. After several postponements and general recalls, with some high-profile black-flagged boats including the defending champion, the fleet eventually got away cleanly.
At the first mark, local Olympian Michal Krasodomski rounded in the lead, followed by Marek Jarocki, from Poland and Greenwood. On the first downwind leg, Tibor Pallay, from Hungary, managed to overtake Krasodomski, but the Polish ILCA Olympian fought back on the following upwind and regained the lead. After a tight battle on the final downwind leg, Krasodomski ultimately held off Pallay to take the race win. Pallay finished second, while fellow Hungarian Kristof Kaiser secured third.
By the start of Race 2, the breeze had begun to build, increasing throughout the second lap of the opening race and settling at around 10-11 knots. The stronger conditions allowed for free pumping downwind.
Kaiser rounded the first mark in the lead, followed by Lebrun and U29 German sailor Niclas Perband in third. Kaiser maintained his lead until the final upwind leg, where Lebrun closed the gap and successfully overtook him. Lebrun then extended his lead to claim victory, with Kaiser finishing second, but he was an early starter, so Arkadii Kistanov, from Italy, took second with Peter Peet, from The Netherlands, in third.
Bas de Waal is in third place overall. "It was a very hard day. At first we waited for a long time and then we go on the water for the first start. There were some black flags and then finally we started and it was a very difficult wind, 7-11 knots, but I was in the front and it was a very nice race.
"And then in the second race there was a little bit more, also with the pumping flag on, so it was a tough day. I'm third in the overall ranking, so I'm very happy with the result."
Krasodomski sailed the ILCA at the Paris 2024 Olympics. "I had pretty good two races. The first one was excellent and I won. And the other one at the beginning was really tough because at the first mark I was around like 35th, and I managed to get in the top five at the end. So, I'm really happy with the day and let's see what's going to happen.
"It was my like sixth day so far on the boat and I really like it. I like pumping when Oscar is up and that's my favourite part about it."
For the U29 European Championship, Krasodomski is leading from Lars Habermacher, from Finland with Milosz Michalak, from Poland, in third.
Racing continues on Wednesday with two more races scheduled. The 10-race series concludes on Saturday.
Results after Day 1: (top ten)
1 POL 77 Michal Krasodomski 6pts
2 GBR 5 John Greenwood 13pts
3 NED 29 Bas De Waal 19pts
4 NED 60 Martijn Van Muyden 22pts
5 SWE 32 Olof Lundqvist 24pts
6 FRA 96 Florian Faucheux 24pts
7 POL 13 Tadeusz Bartlewski 24pts
8 DEN 21 Otto Strandvig 29pts
9 GER 501 Fabian Lemmel 30pts
10 HUN 5 Tibor Pallay 33pts