Finnish J/70 Sailing League fun in Vaasa
by J/Boats 18 Sep 2022 10:41 BST
Finnish J/70 Sailing League © Pepe Korteniemi
The Finnish Sailing League is one of 17 national leagues whose top clubs compete in the international Sailing Champions League. The sailing league is a competition series between clubs that are sailed on J/70 one-design class sailboats.
The races are short, fleet-type, fast-paced races, the duration of which, depending on the weather conditions, is about 10-15 minutes. Team changes and protests are handled immediately on the water.
The key thing in the Sailing League is that the clubs compete against each other as teams. When the main focus is on clubs, and not on individual sailors. As a result, this opens up new opportunities for members of the club to be involved in competitive activities.
The evolution of this competition in Europe has been nothing short of revolutionary. From the Nordic countries south to the Mediterranean countries, the J/70 sailing league concept has simply swept across Europe and now counts over 500 sailing clubs and over 10,000 sailors on J/70s every single summer.
In the Finnish J/70 Sailing League alone, the 2022 season has seen 22 Finnish sailing clubs and 36 teams participating. The latest Act #3 took place in Vaasa, Finland. Winning was the Esbo Sailing Association. In second place we find Mariehamn Sailing Association, closely followed by the ESF Youth team in third place.