UK Finn fleet racing in 2025
by Richard Sharp 29 Jan 23:46 NZDT
Rooster British Finn Nationals at Hayling Island © Peter Hickson
Following a very successful 2024 it looks like 2025 is going to be even a better year for the UK Finn fleet.
There is an ongoing demand for boats and we are getting more and more sailors becoming hooked on this awesome boat. We have lots of new sailors entering the fleet but also some others returning.
The fleet is amazingly friendly, welcoming and the boat itself just drags you in.
The opportunity to choose different hulls, masts and sails to suit your age, fitness, size and weight means the boat caters for a huge range of sailors.
There is a brilliant schedule of events planned for the coming season.
We have been lucky enough to secure support from North sails UK for our North Sails Silver Finn Trophy. Various events across the UK will count for this series.
Things kick off in March and April with a series of one day warm up events at Warsash, Emsworth, Burghfield and Bough Beech for the Spring Trophy. There are also events also at Blithfield, West Kirby and Ullswater at this time to support the growing fleet in the northern counties.
These events are perfect for brushing off any winter cobwebs and should be well attended.
In April some of the fleet will be heading for the Europeans in Naples. This should be a fantastic championships at an amazing venue.
In May we can then look forward to the UK Masters National at Thorpe Bay. The hot local fleet will be pushing hard for a home victory.
We then move to the Scottish Nationals at beautiful Largs, or HISC for those who can't travel, and finish the spring in beautiful Christchurch for the Southern Area Championships.
The Finn World Masters is in June at Medemblik. This is almost certainly going to be the biggest Finn event ever - at least 450 boats. This may be a once in a lifetime event.
The UK will no doubt send a large and very keen fleet.
Once we have recovered we move to Weymouth for the Vaikobi UK Nationals. This will be well attended and a chance to sail on the Olympic waters again. A very prestigious title awaits the winner.
Stunning Bosham then holds its annual Finn festival - always popular.
A good fleet of Finns will sail at Chichester Harbour Race Week in August. This is a great opportunity to sail amongst the other 400 boats in the beautiful harbour.
A number of us will no doubt travel to Cascais in Portugal for the Gold Cup in early September. This is a venue famous for epic conditions.
In September the Northern Championships at West Riding should be a great event, closely followed by the Inlands at Rutland and then on to Warsash in early October to complete the season.
After this last event the North Sails Silver Finn Trophy will be awarded with great sail discounts to the prize winners and also an 'out of the hat' prize for a lucky sailor who has attended all of the events in this series.
Finally, we hope to be sending a number of boats to Brisbane for the Gold Cup and Finn World Masters in February 2026.
What a year this promises to be - some awesome venues, great events and something for everyone.
The year's event calendar can be found on the BFA website
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