Legendary stories go hand in hand with the Finn Gold Cup
by Robert Deaves 30 Aug 2025 20:10 BST
30 August - 6 September 2025
'Big Saturday' at the 2007 Finn Gold Cup in Cascais © Robert Deaves
It has been 18 years since the Finn Gold Cup was last held in Cascais, Portugal. In 2007, Spain's Rafa Trujillo clinched his only Finn Gold Cup win after a thrilling medal race off the beach following an epic week of racing.
Then, it was held as part of the ISAF World Sailing Championships and was a key event in the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Qingdao, China. 2025 marks the third time the Finn Gold Cup has been held in Cascais in the last 55 years. The class also held two European Championships here in 1958, won by Adelchi Pelaschiar, from Italy, and in 1965, won by Bernd Dehmel, of the then DDR.
However, it was the Finn Gold Cups held here that are the stuff of legend. No one who was there can forget 'Big Saturday' at the 2007 Finn Gold Cup, one of the biggest days on the water the Finn Class ever had. Hardly anyone returned ashore unscathed after a day of huge waves and 30 knot winds; some of those who took part in the Portuguese Nationals over the last three days got a taste for what that course area can deliver. It's where the 2025 Finn Gold Cup will be run if conditions allow.
In 2007 the class thrived on names like Trujillo, Australia's Anthony Nossiter, Britian's Ed Wright, Pieter-Jan Postma, from the Netherlands, Denmark's Jonas Hoegh-Christensen, New Zealand's Dan Slater and Emilios Papathanasiou from Greece. Many of these are still sailing Finns when time allows, though none are here this week. Incredibly, one of the 160 sailors from 1970 is here this week though, Spain's Gerardo Seeliger.
It was the 1970 Finn Gold Cup in Cascais that stands out in the class history, not only as the largest Finn Gold Cup ever, with 160 entries from 37 nations, but also for the Brazilian legend Jörg Bruder winning the first of his three world titles, a legend that remained until Britain's Ben Ainslie matched his record in 2004, (in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, of all places), and then beat it in Moscow in 2005.
To mark the occasion of the 2004 Finn Gold Cup in Brazil and to honour their sailing hero, the Brazilian Olympic Committee presented the Finn Class with the Jörg Bruder Finn Silver Cup, which is today awarded to the best U29 sailor taking part in the Finn Gold Cup.
After twice finishing as runner up, the 37-year-old Bruder feared that 1970 might be his last Gold Cup because of leg injuries. In the last race Bruder had to finish fifth or better in order to win the Cup, no matter what Henry Sprague, from the USA, did. At the start Sprague used every match-race tactic he could in the huge fleet, trying to hold Bruder back, and even luffed the Brazilian into the spectator fleet. But on the last beat Bruder was again leading. Sprague went up what he thought was the wrong side, but it turned out to be the right one.
Then Sprague started a tacking duel until Bruder's rudder pintle broke. Bruder was famous for his strength and determination, and despite the breakage, he lifted his centreboard to take some pressure off the rudder and held the tiller with his bare hands coming up to the finish line.
Sprague crossed the finish line in fourth and only could watch as the crippled Bruder crossed the line seconds ahead of two boats who had both overstood the line and crossed it on a screaming reach. It was the most dramatic win of any Finn Gold Cup.
Bruder defended his win the following year in Toronto, Canada, and again in 1972 in Anzio, Italy. Tragically, he was killed in 1973 in an air crash on the way to Brest in France to defend his title for the third time, so remained unbeaten forever.
The legend of the 1970 Finn Gold Cup and especially that of Jörg Bruder, is on everyone's minds this week as the fleet of 88 Finn sailors from 20 nations prepares to battle for the 2025 Finn Gold Cup.
Gallery from 30 August