The U23 Finn World Championship, for the Jorg Bruder Finn Silver Cup, was opened at Circolo della Vela di Roma in Anzio, Italy, on Sunday night under warm Italian sunshine and with great Italian hospitality. Twenty-eight Finn hopefuls from 16 nations will sail the practice race on Monday before the competition gets underway for real on Tuesday.
The Finn Silver Cup, presented by the Brazilian Olympic Committee in 2004, to remember Brazil’s greatest Finn sailor, Jorg Bruder, was proudly on display at the opening, having just arrived from last year’s winner Ondrej Teply, of Czech Republic, now too old to take part.
The third of Bruder’s three consecutive Finn Gold Cup wins took place in Anzio in 1972, a record at the time, before his tragic death in a plane crash while heading to France to defend it in 1973. For the first time in 21 years, the Jorg Bruder Finn Silver Cup is present at the scene of one of his victories, and Anzio in 1972 was his greatest victory, winning with a sizable points lead over John Bertrand of Australia.
The opening ceremony was inevitably delayed while the tennis played out, while earlier in the day the sailors finished their final preparations and took their boats through the not too arduous equipment checks ready for Monday’s practice race. The weather leading into the event has been hot with light shifty winds. The forecast early next week is for the moderate winds to lighten during the week, with possibly some sea breezes coming into play, and with the temperatures pushing the high 20s, so it will be a challenging week.
The series of 11 scheduled races begins Tuesday to decide the 21st winner of the Jorg Bruder Finn Silver Cup.