Finn Class launches new World Ranking with more than a thousand sailors
by Robert Deaves 23 Oct 2022 06:40 BST
Laurent Hay is the Finn Class World No 1 © Robert Deaves
After months of development, the Finn Class is excited to announce the launch of its new World Ranking list. The new ranking platform includes more than one thousand sailors from 37 nations, and provides an excellent illustration of the spread, popularity and energy within the class at the moment.
Laurent Hay, from France, becomes the first Finn World No.1 using the new platform, with a very small points margin over Filipe Silva, from Portugal, with The Netherlands' Bas de Waal in third. In the top 20 alone there are 11 nations.
This first list includes results from 58 events in 21 countries worldwide in the 12 months up to and including September 2022. A total of 1,054 sailors from 37 nations took part in at least one of these events, with 500 sailors taking part in three or more regattas. There were a total of over 2,000 individual race positions included on this first release.
The new Finn World Ranking list is part of the class's longer term global event strategy that will be designed around inclusivity, cross border cooperation with calendars and with a focus on supporting national associations across the world. It also provides the class with a unified platform to promote events, sponsors and sailors.
The foremost objective of creating the new Finn World Ranking was that it should be accessible by the majority of Finn sailors worldwide. It had to be inclusive. The platform will also act as the first step towards regional and even Masters rankings in the coming year. The intention for this first list was always to add as many names as possible to highlight the number of people sailing Finns at regattas worldwide. Over time the list will evolve and grow further, with each National association able to nominate events to include.
The overriding concept is one of an inclusive and accessible initiative that promotes and supports a global 'World Tour for Finns' through all of IFA's member countries.
Rob McMillan, the International Finn Association President, from Australia, said, "This new platform is a very exciting development for the class and a lot of work has gone into this to make it representative of the classes activities at this pivotal moment in its history. That we have more than one thousand sailors on this very first release bodes extremely well for the future of the class and give us a solid base from which to develop it further as part of our global events strategy.
"In the coming months we will be searching for suitable partners to help us build the Finn World Ranking list to become a major part of the class's marketing and media strategy. The Finn offers both sailors and sponsors a unique opportunity within the sport of sailing."
It is intended to release updates four times each year, roughly March, June, September and December.
The Finn World Ranking list is based on each sailors best five events over a two year rolling system and aims to include results from as many events around the world as possible along with the major class championships. A full explanation of the platform can be found here.
Finn World Ranking 001 - October 2022 (top 20 from 1,054 sailors)
Full list can be be downloaded from the class website as a PDF here or as an Excel file here.