No Ainslie, more chance

Racing is set to begin at the Finn European Championships this weekend

The 2006 Finn European Championship opens in Palamós, Spain this weekend with a line-up of 86 Finn sailors from 28 countries. The pre-entries include former European Champions Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) and Luca Devoti (ITA) as well as current World Champion Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN).

The recent Qingdao International Regatta highlighted the fact that most Finn sailors are still some way behind current Olympic champion, quadruple world champion and last year’s European Champion, Ben Ainslie. His ten wins in 12 races in China stunned his fellow Finn sailors as well as the rest of the sailing world, but with a return to his America’s Cup team, the Finn fleet in Spain can breathe easy for a while, and try again to up their game.

As well as the Senior European Championship, the regatta also includes the Finn Junior European Championship. Between the 19-21 September, the junior sailors have access to a junior regatta and clinic to prepare them for the following week. This is a new initiative for the International Finn Class, setting the groundwork for next year’s Junior World Championship in Moscow.

The top contenders this year would have to include Hoegh-Christensen, Papathansiou and Rafael Trujillo (ESP), who will be sailing on home waters. The Athens Silver medallist was clearly the fastest in the breeze at this year’s Finn Gold Cup in Split, but a few bad results in light winds cost him dearly. If the breeze holds in Palamós he could prove hard to beat.

Other sailors who could pose a threat are Edward Wright (GBR) after an impressive bronze at the Gold Cup, Daniel Birgmark (SWE) who seems to improve every regatta and Ivan Kljakvic-Gaspic (CRO) who won a race at the Gold Cup and finished in eighth overall.

This year also sees some old faces back in the Finn. Luca Devoti won the Europeans back in 1997, the year they were held in Split. He hasn’t competitively raced a Finn since 2004, but after watching most of his +39 team mates compete in this year’s Gold Cup, has presumably decided he can do better! The sole competitor from South America, Jorge Zarif (BRA), surprised everyone by winning a race in the 2004 Gold Cup. Now 22 years after representing Brazil in the Olympics (Long Beach in 1984) he is back again. Some people just can’t get enough of this class. There are also some new faces, among them former Laser sailor Brendan Casey (AUS), who jumped in at the deep end for the Qingdao International Regatta, and although only finishing in 12th, produced some good results in the mix.

Any one of ten or so other sailors is capable of winning races, so the championship should be open and competitive. Other names to keep an eye on are Gasper Vincec (SLO), Anthony Nossiter (AUS), Matt Howard (GBR), Chris Cook (CAN), Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), Waclav Szukiel (POL), Guillaume Florent (FRA) and Johan Tillander (SWE).

The championship officially opens on Friday 22nd September with measurement and registration. Nine races will be sailed between Monday 25th and Saturday 30th September to decide the 2006 Senior and Junior Finn Europeans Champions.

Entries:

Nationality	Helm
AUS	Anthony Nossiter
AUS	Josh Beaver
AUS	Brendan Casey
AUT	Florian Raudaschl
BAR	David McGregor
BRA	jorge zarif
CAN	Derek Mess
CAN	chris cook
CRO	Emil Tomašević
CRO	Marin Mišura
CRO	Ivan Kljakvić - Gašpić
CZE	Michael Maier
CZE	Rudolf Lidarik
CZE	Tomas Vika
CZE	Michal Hruby
DEN	Jonas Høgh-Christensen
DEN	Soren Holm
ESP	DIEGO FRUCTUOSO
ESP	Rafael Trujillo Villar
ESP	Rubén Serra Merckens
ESP	Miguel Fernandez Vasco
ESP	MAURICIO LUQUE DIAZ
ESP	Pablo López Baldán
ESP	VICTOR SERRANO CONESA
ESP	Javier Moreno Pons
ESP	Francisco Javier Garcia Miura
ESP	PABLO ARRARTE
ESP	Alvaro Florza Herrá
ESP	ALBERTO VADELL SABATER
EST	Harles Liiv
FIN	Tapio Nirkko
FRA	Guillaume FLORENT
FRA	PONSOT PIERRE-ALEXIS
FRA	BRUNO ismael
GBR	Henry Ayres
GBR	matt howard
GBR	Peter Davidson
GBR	Ed Greig
GBR	Nick Craig
GBR	Tim Carver
GBR	MARK ANDREWS
GBR	Henry Bagnall
GBR	EDWARD WRIGHT
GER	Matthias Bohn
GRE	GNAFAKIS IRINAIOS
GRE	GNAFAKIS KOSTANTINOS
GRE	EMILIOS PAPATHANASIOU
GRE	DRAGOUTSIS ALEXANDROS
HUN	Gaszton Pál
HUN	Márton Beliczay
IRL	Aaron O`Grady
IRL	guy o`leary
ITA	luca devoti
ITA	Riccardo Cordovani
ITA	Giorgio Poggi
ITA	Claudio Bosetti
ITA	Marko Kolic
ITA	Davide Bortoletto
ITA	Piero Romeo
ITA	Francesco Lubrano
ITA	Marco Buglielli
NED	van hellemond karel
NED	Stefan de Vries
NED	Wietze Zetzema
NED	S.E. Willems
NED	Cees Scheurwater
NED	Pieter-Jan Postma
NOR	Peer Moberg
POL	PIOTR KULA
POL	Krzysztof Dabkowski
POL	WACLAW SZUKIEL
POL	Piotr Mazur
POL	RAFAL SZUKIEL
POL	Rafal Szukiel
POR	Jorge Pinheiro de Melo
POR	Rodrigo Quina
POR	Nuno Espírito Santo
RUS	Alex
SLO	Gasper VINCEC
SWE	Daniel Birgmark
SWE	BJÖRN ALLANSSON
SWE	Johan Tillander
UKR	Olexiy Borysov
USA	Zach Railey