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A triple challenge of three major events, held back-to-back, had never been attempted before, but Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron made the decision to organize three incredible weeks of sailing for Finn sailors. The Porsche Centre Brisbane Australian Championship was held February 7-12, followed by the Finn Gold Cup February 12-19 and, last but not least, the Finn World Masters on February 20-27. Overall the three events attracted 150 sailors from 18 nations for a festival of racing, camaraderie and endurance for the Finn community. Sailors were tested to new limits, new records were achieved, new standards were set, and there were two very deserving winners.

Finn Gold Cup

The 70th Finn Gold Cup, with 72 entries from 15 nations, was the largest Finn Gold Cup outside Europe since 2015.

Sailed outside Green Island, near Manly, the first two days were a physical challenge befitting of one of the toughest events in dinghy sailing. Due to the extreme wet conditions, a GPS mistake in Race 3 made for the longest upwind leg in living memory—2.2 miles and 43 minutes for the leading boat. The Race Committee made the decision to carry on with the race, and though it exceeded the first leg time limit, no one who was there will forget it in a hurry. Classic Finn legend.

Norway’s Anders Pedersen scored five race wins over the first three days. He looked unbeatable, but then the lighter winds came and he struggled to repeat. Meanwhile, Italy’s Alessandro Marega was incredibly consistent, dropping a fifth going into the final day. One more race and the title was his—the first time an Italian would win the Finn Gold Cup. Completing a story started by Adelchi Pelaschier, from the same club, who took bronze in 1958 at the third Finn Gold Cup, Marega’s win was a remarkable achievement. He is the first post-Olympic era Finn sailor who has won the title. The only other Italian medalist is Luca Devoti, who took silver in 1997.

Pedersen was the first Norwegian medalist since Harald Bredo Eriksen took silver in 1957, the second year of the event. The podium was rounded out by the previous week’s Australian champion, Brendan Casey, only the third medalist for Australia, after John Bertrand took silver in 1972 and bronze in 1976. Glenn Bourke won silver in 1992.

Finn World Masters

With barely time to take breath, the 56th Finn World Masters started three days after the Finn Gold Cup, with 107 entries from 17 countries. Sailed in the flatter water and more protected Waterloo Bay, it still turned into a test of endurance with several days approaching 20 knots of breeze, which is the limit for this event. The forecast of very strong winds luckily proved incorrect with seven out of the scheduled eight races completed, with the winds on the final day just under the limit for starting.

Brendan Casey made the best of the early races with Spain’s Rafa Trujillo never far behind. The thrilling final day was a battle of wits and prowess on the water with Casey winning by a single point after Trujillo pushed to the end, had victory almost within reach at one point. However, Casey just passed enough boats on the final downwind to become the first Australian to ever win the title. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Karl Purdie put on a great show of consistency after a poor first race to take the bronze.

Phil Ramming, from the USA won the Legends (ages 70-80) from New Zealand’s Rob Coutts and Denis Mowbray The over-80 category, Super Legends, was won by Australia’s Dirk Seret, who hasn’t sailed a Masters for more than a decade. Gus Miller was second.

Gus Miller returns

One of the major stories of the events was the arrival of 91-year-old Gus Miller from the USA. He was the only competitor this year who had participated in the infamous 1976 Finn Gold Cup, also in Manly, which was won by Britain’s Chris Law. While Miller only took part in the final race of the Gold Cup, he completed every single race of the Finn World Masters in Waterloo Bay, including the final race with a 25-knot squall passing through.

Miller is an enduring legend of the class in so many ways and has now set a record that is unlikely to be ever beaten (except maybe by him). Miller is the oldest sailor to sail a Finn Gold Cup race, and now the Finn World Masters, beating his own record from three years ago at Miami’s Finn Gold Cup.

There is some discord within the class for creating a new division for over 90s, called the Immortals, which would have been won by Miller.

Purdie won the Great Grand Master (60-70) from Britain’s Lawrence Crispin and Peter Peet from the Netherlands. Rafael Trujillo won the Grand Master (50-60) from Australia’s favourite son, Anthony Nossiter and Britain’s Nick Craig. Finally, Casey won the Masters category (40-50) from Portugal’s Filipe Silva and Italy’s Marko Kolic.

It’s worth noting that the top three Masters, Grand Masters and Great Grand Masters all finished in the top 10, while the first Legend was top 40.

The dream

The dream to hold these events in Australia started over a decade ago. The Finn Gold Cup has been held here on four previous occasions during the Olympic era, but never the Masters. To bring them there was fraught with uncertainty, especially with the increased shipping costs post-Covid. However, the international fleet embraced the opportunity and working with a sizable local fleet, made the events a huge success, both on the water and financially.

Changes in leadership, differing ideas, challenging discussions and personal preferences were endured, but all who made the effort to attend were rewarded with exceptional competition, amazing hospitality from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, and their army of volunteers, as well as the polish provided by the local fleet, principally the amazing sponsorship from Porsche Centre Brisbane and the huge number of other companies providing goods, prizes and cash, in a combined super effort.

The year ahead

Never before have both major championships been held so early in the year, and with the annual highlights over, it would be easy to rest up and let the coming European season just happen. But that’s far from the case with many events and new initiatives in the pipeline. The Open Europeans in Gdynia, Poland, is already over-subscribed past the 120-boat limit, while more than 200 boats are expected for the European Masters on Mar Menor, Spain, in October.

In addition, the World Tour for Finns and the inaugural WTF Grand Slam will focus attention on key events during the year.

The Finn class is experiencing extensive revitalisation and renewal. Five years on from the notorious decisions of 2021, the class is stronger than ever, bigger than ever, more in demand than ever, with new ideas, initiatives and vitality, and pulling in more and more top sailors.

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