After 10 months of training and racing the Finn, I have finished 15th at my first Finn Gold Cup.

The World Championship was sailed in moderate and fresh to frighting northerly winds.

My focus all through the transition from the Laser to the Finn was to maintain a lighter body weight then my competition so that I would have a competitive advantage for the expected weather conditions in China.

My results over the last 10 months have included

• Qingdao test event – 12th
• 2006 Finn European Championships- 48th
• Australian Finn Championships- 1st
• Miami Olympic Classes- 11th
• Finn Mid Winters- 5th
• Princess Sofia Trophy- 8th
• French Olympic Week- 15th
• Breitling Regatta- 10th
• 2007 Finn European Championship- 18th
• Kiel Week- 5th
• ISAF Worlds / Finn Gold Cup 15th

My current position on the world ranking is 22nd. We will have to wait till the 18th of July for the new world rankings to include the latest event.

Related articles
Finn class report
Rankings

Where am I now?

I have just finished the return drive from Cascais to Munich to return my Audi.

My impression was I had the rough deal on driving distance but having pasted Finnish Yngling girls this afternoon and selecting Helsinki as a destination in to the GPS. I soon discovered that they where only half way home with 2000 kms left to drive. This brought a smile to my face as I only had 300 kms till my destination.

I return to Australia on the 24th so for the next week I will be having a holiday with friends in Seattle and LA.

See you all on my return to Australia.
Brendan

Cascais Portugal

After 4 days of driving I have made it to Cascais. It was an easy drive of 2790 kilometres. I planned to take four days so that I could keep normal sleeping patterns and work out during the day. I was caught up in traffic delays that really killed my averages, 339 kilometres in 8 hours added some time to the trip.

I will start on water training in Cascais on Wednesday and racing will begin on the 5th July.

Kiel Week

Racing has been completed at Kiel Week and I have finished 5th overall out of the 46 boats.

I’m now driving to Cascais, Portugal for the ISAF World Championships.

European Championships

I have finished 18th overall. I have just finished packing up and heading to Budapest for the night before driving up to Kiel Week in Germany.

European Championships Day 3

After 3 general recalls, racing got away cleanly under a black flag start. The wind strength started out about 8 knots but dropped to 4-6 knots during the second half of the race.

My Start was reasonable but I tacked to close to another boat as I tried to get to the right hand side of the course. I took my 720 penalty turns to clear myself of a protest.

I made huge gains on the second beat and on the last downwind separated to the right of the pack of boats heading left. While the other boats were blocking each other, I sailed into new wind and had clear air behind to extended on the boats around me and move up 20 or so places to finish 8th.

My current standing after 3 races is 5th overall with a 5,33,8 score line.

European Championships Day 2

Today racing got under way at 10am. Two races sailed in 4-8 knots of breeze. The breeze was light but fairly stable. In race 1 I finished 5th following a good start were I could tack immediately and head to the right hand side of the course.

In race 2, however my strategy to work the right hand side was not as successful as race 1. I had a poor start with really limited my opportunities on the first beat. I consistently moved forward throughout the race to finish 33rd.

After the days racing scoring a 5,33 my overall position in 11th.

Racing will continues tomorrow.

European Championships Day 1

Today was spent waiting and waiting. I arrived at the Yacht Club at 8:30am and have just returned to the Hotel at 4:30pm

I have spent the whole day waiting for something to happen. The lake was totally glassed out for the majority of the day before a thunderstorm caused a little wind but that soon died as the thunderstorm passed.

Racing will continues tomorrow.

(Insert photo of lake.)

Related Article
http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1vFnAAvD&format=popup

European Championships

Balaton, Hungary is the venue for the Finn European Championships and for the last 3 days I have spent preparing my equipment and training on the water to test sails and fine turning some of my extreme light air techniques.

Just over 100 Finns will be lining up for the start from 24 countries.

Paul McKenzie has been here providing me with his expert knowledge of the Finn and fine turning some of my existing skills

Racing starts Monday at 10am. To view the results and follow my progress you can log on to the event website www.spartacus.hu

(Insert photo of Finn sailing on lake.)

Related article
http://www.sailing.org/default.asp?ID=j1/FnAAk?&format=popup

ISAF World Ranking

Once again I have make a significance jump in the Finn World Rankings up 13 positions from 52 to 39 overall. Next World Ranking are released on the 6 June.

The Breitling Regatta

I have finished in 10th position in The Breitling Regatta. (Formally Spa Regatta)

This regatta was a good test for me as many of the more experienced Finn sailors returned to competition after the America Cup round robin series.

The conditions were favourable in Medemblik with warm temperatures and light breezes for the majority of the regatta.

My next event is the European Championships in Balaton, Hungary.

Hot Wheels
Thank you AUDI for the A6 Allroad that I have the pleasure of driving to all my events in Europe.

The Breitling Regatta
The Breitling Regatta (formally know as Spa Regatta) is in its 23rd year and again promises to be an exciting test for me. The Finn class is boosted in numbers by the return of many America’s Cup sailors whose campaigns are now over. 88 Finns will race in a split fleet format over the first 3 days with a gold fleet races and medal race on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

This will be my 5th time competing and racing from the town of Medembilk and the sailing on the Ijsselmeer.

Once again due to container and ground transport issues I will be sailing with a borrowed Finn. My Finn is still in Valencia and with not wanting to drive 4000 kilometres prior to regatta, I elected to use a ground transport however due to circumstances out of my control the Finn is still in Valencia. Monday was spent cleaning and polishing the boat to make it look as bright and as clean as my own boat.

The weather forecast predicts extremely light winds for the first 3 days of competition.

Racing starts at the leisurely time of 3pm tomorrow.

You can following racing via the website http://www.breitlingregatta.org/2007/

Brendan

The European season thus far has been very successful with an 8th and 15th placing out of 70 boat fleets in the Princess Sofia Regatta and the French Olympic Class regatta respectively.

My knowledge and skills in sailing the Finn are on a rapid rise. The Australian Sailing Team has given the Finn program a great boost with the appointment of Paul McKenzie. Paul will coach and advise me while in Europe competing in the following four events:

• Holland Regatta in Medemblik, Holland May 23-27
• Finn European Championships Balaton Hungary June 1-9
• Kiel Week Kiel Germany June 16-20
• Finn Gold Cup and ISAF World Championships Cascais Portugal 28-13 June/July

The ISAF World Championships in Cascais is the first opportunity for Australia to qualify the Nation in each respective class for the Olympic Games. The Finn has a fleet size of 25 boats in the Olympic Games and the top 19 nations will qualify at this event and the remaining 6 positions will be allocated at the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne during January.

Training in Australia
I have sailed from Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron under the watchful eye of Adrian Finglas and working very hard in the gym lifting big weights with my personal trainer Mark Mathe. I’m holding a steady weight of 94 kgs up 11 kgs from lightweight Laser days.

Giving Back
Saturday 12th May, along with fellow RQYS member and Australian Sailing Team Sailor Nick Behrens gave a presentation to the Queensland Laser Association / Yachting Queensland Youth Development Squad. This was a great success and allowed all to hear first hand sailing tips, preparation skills, share in the Olympic dream and hear some of the stories from our sailing adventures.

Looking forward
Thursday 17th May, I will fly to Munich and pick up my new Audi A6 from the Audi factory before driving up to Amsterdam. I, along with my training partners from Canada, Ireland and Holland are still having container issues. Although the containers have been released by customs all the Finns and Powerboats are in Valencia. Katie Culbert from the Australian Sailing Team High Performance Unit has been hard at work investigating alternatives to get the equipment to Holland without having me drive Munich-Valencia-Amsterdam prior to the Holland Regatta.

Quick update

In the Finn Class 3 races have been completed in light condition of 3 – 6 knot of breeze. My results have improved, as I get more comfortable in the lighter conditions. Thus far I have finishing results of 16,12 & 8 out of a fleet of 75 boats.

My current overall position is 8th.

Racing continues tomorrow with another light airs day expected.

To view results or follow the race mark by mark, go to http://sof.ffvoile.net/

Thanks for your support

Brendan

The new ISAF world ranking have been released and I have moved up 10 places to 64th.

This is my 8th year competing in Hyeres at the French Olympic Classes regatta. This event over the years was very successful to me in the Laser Class.

Hyeres traditional has been big breeze event but the forecast this week predicts lighter winds for the first couple of days of racing.

The regatta has a wonderful feel to it and I’m right at home in a small apartment overlooking the Marina. The majority of the competitor stay harbour side and with the unusually high temperatures has attracted many locals to the Harbour to wine and dine at the restaurants, cafés and bars along the boardwalk.

10 races are schedules until Thursday with the medal race on Friday to decide the overall winner.

To view results or follow the race mark by mark, go to http://sof.ffvoile.net/

Thanks for your support
Brendan

I have been training in Hyeres for the last week. After leaving Palma I spent the night with a good buddy of my Jr (Andrew Lewis) in Valencia. Jr works for the Victory Red Bull Challenge Americas Cup Team from Sweden. I have the feeling that Valencia will explode this summer when racing begins. The Harbour is already starting to fill with super yachts and other vessels to view the Cup.

My welcome to Hyeres was having little punk kids smash the driver’s side back seat window. They stole some Australian Sailing Team clothing but the worst of it was that my passport was in the pocket of the jacket.

It’s a length processes getting everything required to make the insurance claim on my return to Australia. Police report, reporting my passport stolen, ordering the window from Audi and have the window replaced has taken all week.

My container issues are no closer to being resolved and I have written off having my own boat and equipment available for racing in the French Olympic Classes regatta. It’s been over 50 days since the container was packed in Miami USA.

On a brighter note, Paul McKenzie will be providing me with on water support and coaching during the French Olympic Classes regatta and the training prior. Paul represented Australia the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and has an excellent Finn knowledge to help me improve my skill base.

This week in Hyeres, ISAF are holding trails for a new dinghy to replace the Women’s 470 Class. The boats that are being trailed are the 29er, 29erXX, RS800, International 14 and Cherub. My first impression is that it will be between the 29er, 29erXX and the RS800.

Thanks for your support
Brendan

I have finished 8th in the Princess Sofia Regatta. This is my best overall in the Finn so far.

Conditions in Palma were varied from 5 – 15 knots with most races sailed in the 6-10 knot range on a moderately rough sea state.

I will be working hard to improve on my downwind strategies and other areas that were holding me back in the next two weeks in my preparation for the French Olympic Week in Hyere.

I’m now leaving Palma on the ferry bound for Valencia before driving 940 km’s to Hyere.

My Finn training group has had many container issues with late arrival of ships, strikes by the tugboat drivers and custom delays. We are all hoping that this will be the last of our dramas as we finally unpack the container on the 16th, a little over 3 weeks late.

Top 10 Results from Palma