Entry for the 2024 Finn World Masters at the Puntala Camp & Resort is now open.

After a hugely successful Finn World Masters at Puntala in 2011, the Finn World Masters is returning to this beautiful Tuscan beach in June 2024.

The event will be run from 7-14 June.

Enter the 2024 Finn World Masters here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/FinnWC2024#!/

The championship will be based at Puntala Camp & Resort, located on the shores of the Gulf of Follonica.

The resort has over 500 mobile homes, cabins, silverfield caravans, glamping areas, and camper van spaces. There are restaurants, a supermarket, activities and the boats will be kept on the beach in front of the resort.

It is an oasis for the traveller, off the beaten track with its own unspoilt sandy beach.

An exclusive booking period at discounted rates for Finn sailors will run from November 1 to December 1 2023. During this time no public bookings will be taken; this period is for Finn Masters to have first choice.

It is highly recommended to make a booking during this time to secure preferred options.

Event website here: https://finnworldmasters.com/events/puntala-2024

Peter Peet, from The Netherlands, has won the 2023 Finn European Masters at Campione del Garda, Italy, after a nervous last day with a long wait for wind and then two more challenging races in light and shifty winds. Britain’s John Greenwood took second with Simon Bovay, from Switzerland, moving back up to third.
 
The racing did not get any easier on the final day on Lake Garda, with a very late and light Ora coming in for two hot and tricky races. The first race was probably the lightest of the week and produced a very mixed bag of results. Both Peet and Greenwood were very deep, but both had the same discard, so nothing changed at the front. Sweden’s Peter Overup started at the boat, tacked to the cliffs and was never headed. He took the win from Slovakia’s Peter Mosny and Turkey’s Sinan Sumer.

Highlights from Day 4 - https://youtu.be/SMFBq82svEg

The final race turned into a one-way track with a big left shift and pin end bias. Those down the pin laid the top mark after a short hitch with France’s Laurent Hay leading round and extending to take the last race win of the week from Peet and Hungary’s Tibor Pallay.

Peet,“I’m really happy that I've won the regatta especially with this light weather which is not my favourite. This morning I did a really bad race and the afternoon I got a second place, and overall I won so I'm really happy with that.”
 
Greenwood, “Another tough day on the water. Everybody was trying their best and we had two winds. Sometimes the wind came in, sometimes it didn't so everybody had a lot of racing. I think the lesson learnt today is just keep with the wind and keep the head out of the boat. I was lucky, in the first race not so good in the second race better so I hang on second overall.”
 
Bovay, “I finished third and I'm very happy. Today was very tricky conditions and it was not easy. The winds always change but it was an incredible week. The level was very high. I'm so happy now to be in this place.”

 
Garda is famous for its winds and this week was perhaps exceptional due to the high temperatures around and the strong morning northerly that delayed the afternoon Ora and kept it mainly light and unstable. This turned the week into a high scoring series with most of the fleet getting a turn near the front and the back. Consistency has never been so important, with 35 boats getting top 10 places in at least one race.
 
Univela Saiing at Campione, were great hosts, with most sailors remaining on site for the duration creating a very special Finn environment during the day and in the evenings. It is a beautiful venue with stunning light changes and a great restaurant and bar service that left the sailors wanting for nothing.
 
Finn Masters events are becoming bucket list regattas at bucket list venues. Next year the World Masters heads back to Puntala in Italy while the European Masters will be in Cannes, France, in October. Start planning. 
 
Final results after 8 races
1 NED 148 GrM Peter Peet 51
2 GBR 5 GGM John Greenwood 63
3 SUI 59 Mst Simon Bovay 68
4 ITA 115 Mst Roberto Strappati 77
5 SWE 32 GrM Olof Lundqvist 81
6 HUN 5 Mst Tibor Pallay 96
7 AUS 22 GrM Paul Mckenzie 96
8 ITA 788 GGM Roberto Benamati 103
9 SWE 72 GrM Peter Overup 103
10 FRA 111 Mst Valerian Lebrun 125
 
Ladies Prize: Maria Kuiper, NED
Super Legend Prize: Joop Wuijts, NED
 
Legends
1 Hans Fatzer, SUI
2 Bruno Catalan, ITA
3 Chris Frijdal, NED
 
Great Grand Masters
1 John Greenwood, GBR
2 Roberto Benamati, ITA
3 Otto Strandvig, DEN
 
Grand Masters
1 Peter Peet, NED
2 Olof Lundqvist, SWE 
3 Paul Mckenzie, AUS
 
Masters
1 Simon Bovay, SUI
2 Roberto Strappati, ITA
3 Tibor Pallay, HUN
 
Final results here: https://www.campioneunivela.it/regate/2023/campionato-europeo-finn-master/finn/
 
Full Gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720311062128

Peter Peet, from The Netherlands, will go into the final day of the 2023 Finn European Masters, at Campione del Garda, with a nine-point lead over Britain’s John Greenwood, while Olof Lundqvist, from Sweden, moves up to third. Race wins on the third day went to Greenwood and France’s Valarian Lebrun on what was another very hot day on Lake Garda, with the wind increasing during the day from 6 to 9 knots.
 
It was another extremely tricky day on the water with the Ora developing late and slowly. After a few delays the first start under black flag removed around 20 boats, but the wind was not fully established and there were a lot of new faces at the front. Maintaining anything like consistency here has been near on impossible, with pretty much all sailors picking up high points at some point. 
 
In Race 5, Greenwood started near the pin and tacked straight to the right. A big right shift near the top left the fleet reaching in from the cliffs with Greenwood rounding first from Spain’s Xavier Penas, Otto Strandvig from Denmark and Britain’s Stewart Mitchell. The wind was a bit more stable on the second upwind with Greenwood protecting and slightly extending his lead to win from Penas and Strandvig. 
 
There were a couple of other standout performances. Juan E Maegli, from Guatemala sailed an excellent race to cross fourth, while the only super legend here, 87-year-old Joop Wuijts, from The Netherlands, finished 44th after rounding the top mark mid fleet. He was pretty happy about that, as were the Dutch team.

Highlights from Day 3 of 2023 Finn European Masters at Campione del Garda - https://youtu.be/ycFbWK9-EGI

The wind increased for a much better second race with Lebrun tacking early to the right and leading the fleet round from Lundqvist and Spain’s David Terol. Lebrun was never headed, sailing away on every leg, making a huge gain at the gate and winning by a substantial margin. Terol came through for second with Sweden’s Peter Overup in third. Lundqvist dropped to fifth, but had done enough to move up to third overall.
 
Lebrun said, “The weather for today was almost like every other day, pretty light, a little bit stronger for the second race. For me the first race was terrible like the last two days but fortunately I was able to win the second one, so good for the for the overall and to save the championship. I am having a good time here and I think that the level has increased quite a lot in the master class, so it's pretty close at the front. As with many sailors we've been training quite a lot this year.”

 
Maegli said, “I came back to the Finn after 57 years, so I’ve been sailing fir a few days, today I had a very good race for me. I haven’t had very good results, but I found myself remembering my old times in one race, and the second race I wasn’t able to start well and then ended up at the back of the fleet again. But I’m happy now. I know I can do it if I start properly.”
 
Friday is the final day of the Finn European Masters with two more races scheduled.
 
Results after 6 races
1 NED 148 GrM Peter Peet 30
2 GBR 5 GGM John Greenwood 39
3 SWE 32 GrM Olof Lundqvist 46
4 SUI 59 Mst Simon Bovay 51
5 ITA 115 Mst Roberto Strappati 56
6 NED 29 GrM Bas De Waal 60
7 AUS 22 GrM Paul Mckenzie 68
8 SWE 72 GrM Peter Overup 72
9 FRA 111 Mst Valerian Lebrun 74
10 GBR 2 GrM Allen Burrell 75
 
Results here: https://www.campioneunivela.it/regate/2023/campionato-europeo-finn-master/finn/
 
Full gallery on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720311023930

Peter Peet, from The Netherlands, is the new leader at the 2023 Finn European Masters at Campione del Garda after two more extremely difficult but fun races on Wednesday. Britain’s John Greenwood moves up to second after winning the second race while Simon Bovey, from Switzerland, is now third. 
 
It was a very hot day on Lake Garda with a shifty 8-9 knots filling in after a short postponement ashore and some different tactics in play during the day.
 
After some starting practice, the fleet finally got away and similar to Tuesday, most of the fleet headed to the cliffs. However, many also overstood allowing those who got the laylines right to make some gains. Italy’s Roberto Benamati was one of those and rounded third, took the lead on the run and led round to take the gun. Britain’s Lawrence Crispin sailed a great race to cross second with Peter Overup, from Sweden, in third.

Highlights: https://youtu.be/AIMCiaZCW_4

Race 4 was slightly different with a big left shift on the first upwind, allowing those at the pin to almost lay the top in one tack while those at the boat were in different wind near the cliffs. France’s Laurent Hay rounded first from Greenwood and Bas de Waal, from The Netherlands. It was tight round the next leg then Greenwood took the lead after a rare mistake from Hay after missing the top spreader mark. Greenwood extended downwind to cross ahead of Peet and Benamati, who put in the best score of the day.

However, several front runners, including de Waal and Hay picked up a first or second starting penalty, but there were plenty of high scores throughout the fleet.
 
Benamati said “I'm very happy to have won this race, I had a very good start. I started in the middle of the starting line, then I tacked immediately and I went to the right and I was lucky to not overstand the lay line. Myself and the two others went straight to the mark, so we gained a lot of meters and then we were in front. I was pretty fast on the run and I passed the two boats in front, and then I was leading the fleet all the second beat and the second round.”
 
Former double World Masters champion, Greenwood said it was a trying day. 
 
“What can I say about today? It was really, really testing day we had. We had situations where the windward mark was being moved after the first sequence, so lot of guys were overstanding and then in the second race you could lay the mark from the pin, so really challenging day for everyone, but the sun was shining, and the wind blew more than yesterday, so I think everybody's had a testing day, but hopefully the beer will be cold soon.” It was. Happy hour was not far away.
 
There are four races left to sail and with a discard coming in after the next race, the landscape after Thursday could look quite different.
 
Results after four races
1 NED 148 GrM Peter Peet27
2 GBR 5 GGM John Greenwood38
3 SUI 59 Mst Simon Bovay41
4 ITA 115 Mst Roberto Strappati 52
5 GBR 74 GrM Lawrence Crispin 54
6 HUN 5 Mst Tibor Pallay 60
7 AUS 22 GrM Paul Mckenzie 60
8 SWE 32 GrM Olof Lundqvist 61
9 ITA 788 GGM Roberto Benamati 69
10 SWE 72 GrM Peter Overup 69
 
Full gallery on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/721777203114782
Results here: https://www.campioneunivela.it/regate/2023/campionato-europeo-finn-master/finn/