FINN - Focus on youth in November FINNFARE

There is a strong focus on the youth in the Finn class in the November 2014 issue of FINNFARE, which has been published on November 1 in time for the ISAF Annual Conference in Palma, where the first copies were made available.  The London 2012 bronze medalist, Jonathan Lobert (FRA), features on the cover on his way to fourth place at the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships in September. There is full coverage of that event in this issue with great photos showing the close and challenging competition. 

 

 Giles Scott (GBR) took his second world title after dominating all week and is one of the nominations for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, to be held on Tuesday 4 November in Palma. Scott also picked up a sizeable victory at the first test event at the Olympic venue in Rio.

Scott said, "It's a big milestone. I try to stay realistic, but my big goal is in two years time. This is a very big step towards that so I am really looking forward to the next two years."

One of the futures hopes in the class is Anders Pedersen (NOR) who not only won the Junior World Championship (for the Finn Silver Cup), but also placed eighth in Santander to qualify Norway for a place in Rio. This edition includes the story of how he won the Silver Cup in his last year as a junior, in Hoorn, The Netherlands. It also tells the story of five other juniors and the challenges they are facing as they learn the demands of sailing the ultimate single-hander at the highest level.

On his Santander success Pedersen said: "I'd known for the previous few months that I had really good speed so I was just trying to use that and follow the good guys and use simple tactics and hang with the group. Getting into the medal race was just a real bonus."

During the Silver Cup we recorded the sailors ages, weights and heights and that data is included in this issue. It shows that these young sailors are already taller and heavier than many of their senior counterparts.

Of the 32 sailors competing:

• Average age was 19 (range 17-22 years)
• Average height was 189 cm (range (174 to 200 cm)
• Average weight was 92.5 kg (range 78 to 101 kg)

Another highlight of the year was The Dinghy Academy in Valencia successfully undergoing a formal audit from ISAF to become the first ISAF Approved Training Centre. Since it opened in 2013, four emergent sailors have received funding from the Finn Class each year to train at the Dinghy Academy and the class is currently fixing these grants for 2015. It is proving to be a successful formula both for the Finn Class and the Dinghy Academy.

One of those who received funding in 2014 is Santiago Falasca (ARG), who is featured in the youth interviews in this issue. He said of his learning curve, "When I started I wasn't very fit and didn't like the free pumping but now I am starting to like it a lot. If you put in proper effort you can overtake many boats. I like the upwind much more than in the Laser even though it is harder, because I really like the way the boat moves through the waves."

"In these six months I have learned more than in all my previous sailing career because the Finn is a very complete boat, from rigging the boat, to materials, everything is very complete for sailing."

This issue also also includes:

• Update on technical matters
• Gear lists from the World and European Championships
• News from: Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and USA.

It can be read online here or downloaded through the class website as a PDF.