Robert Deaves

Finn Europeans opened in hospitable Hospitalet

The Open Finn European Masters Championship was opened Tuesday night at Club Nàutic Hospitalet-Vandellòs, at L’Hospitalet de l'Infant, Spain. Around 70 sailors from 20 nations are ready to compete for the Open and Masters European titles over the coming week.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE 2022 OPEN FINN EUROPEAN MASTERS

VENUE
The 2022 Open Finn European Masters is taking place at Hospitalet de l'Infant, Spain, from 12-17 September, organised by Club Nàutic Hospitalet-Vandellòs in conjunction with the International Finn Association.

EVENT WEBSITE for media
www.finnworldmaster.com

RESULTS and NOTICES
https://www.cnhv.sailti.com/en/default/races/race/text/finn-european-masters-eng-en

SCHEDULE
Tues, 13 Sept  Equipment Inspection/Registration/Opening Ceremony
Weds, 14 Sept Equipment Inspection/Registration/Competitor’s Meeting
Weds, 14 Sept Racing (2 races scheduled)
Thurs 15 Sept  Racing (2 races scheduled)
Fri 16 Sept Racing (2 races scheduled)
Sat, 17 Sept Racing (2 races scheduled)
Sat, 17 Sept Closing Ceremony/prizegiving

PRESS RELEASES
The Finn Class will release international press releases each day during the event. Sign up to receive these at: http://www.finnclass.org/media-finn/newsletter-a-press-release

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Daily highlights will be available on https://finnclass.org/finn-tv/2022-videos
And on https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFinnClass/

PHOTOGRAPHY
Finn Class photos by Robert Deaves will be available here:
https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFinnClass/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/
https://robertdeaves.smugmug.com

and also on the event website.
Please send any requests to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the event through the Finn Class Social Media Channels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFinnClass/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finnclass/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Finn_Class
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheFinnChannel

Hashtags for the event are:
#finnsailing #finneuros #finnmasters #finnclass #finn #sailing

Finn European titles up for grabs in Spain

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.

Pieter-Jan Postma lifts Finn World Masters title in Helsinki

Just two months after winning his first ever Finn Gold Cup, Pieter-Jan Postma, from The Netherlands, has become the first person in history to also win the Finn World Masters in the same year. He has put together a picket fence score line this week in Helsinki, Finland and has had an amazing time with the Masters fleet. Laurent Hay, from France held on to second while Peter Peet, from The Netherlands was third.

The Netherlands was a major prize winner tonight at the Helsingfors Segelklubb, taking the Nations Cup, and the Club Cup, for Het Witte Huis, as well as many individual prizes in addition to Postma.

The final day of racing was always forecast to be light, and never more than 5-8 knots, and it took nearly an hour to get the fleet away in the fickle breeze. Postma started in the third row but was leading at the top, but couldn’t break away from the fleet with Székely Antal from Hungary, never far behind. Gert van der Heijden, from The Netherlands was third.

Postma joins an elite group that have won the Finn World Masters with straight wins and paid tribute to the sailors, the organisers and the rest of the fleet at the prizegiving, on Friday night on the steps of Helsingfors Segelklubb. The original podium from the 1952 Olympics was used, to mark the end of an event that was created to celebrate 70 years since the Finn was first included in the Olympic Games.

Age knows no bounds in the Finn class and the first presentation was for the Super Legends, those over 80 years old. Richard Hart, from Britain, won again, though again said it was probably his last event, something he has been saying for 10 years. Once a Finn sailor…

Hans Fatzer retained the Legends prize that he won last year, while John Greenwood won the Great Grand Masters and Laurent Hay the Grand Masters. Postma was of course top Master. While there are many age categories in the Finn Masters, they all race as one fleet, with inclusivity and community an important ingredient in what makes this event so successful.

This year was the first time the event has been in Finland and the furthest north it has ever been. Next year, the event goes far down south to Kavala in Greece where already the class is expecting in excess of 250 entries, bringing it back to somewhere near pre-covid numbers. For those that think a trip in May to sail with fellow Finn enthusiasts sound like fun, there is more information here and more will be released verysoon. https://finnworldmasters.com/events/kavala-iraklitsa-2023

Final results after 7 races
1 NED 842 Pieter Jan Postma 6
2 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 25
3 NED 148 Peter Peet 35
4 POR 21 Filipe Silva 42
5 NZL 111 Karl Purdie 55
6 NED 41 Karel Van Hellemond 66
7 NED 25 Gert Van Der Heijden 72
8 GBR 5 John Greenwood 74
9 FIN 234 Ville Aalto-Setälä 84
10 NED 80 Sander Willems 85

Full results here: https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/FMW2022#!/results?classId=e3a2d976-144c-4b91-a5f7-67f9b1c61fa2

More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos