Porsche Finn World Masters; Top performance by NZ team at Brisbane.

by Karl Purdie 2 Jun 12:24 BST

With our boats finally back, the time has come to reflect on what was an excellent team performance by the NZ Finn team at the Porsche Finn World Masters (FWM) regatta held from 20-27 February.

This regatta featured an array of past open/masters world champions, Olympians, Olympic medallists, Olympic coaches, and the (then) current world No. 1-ranked Finn sailor. A total of 108 sailors from 17 countries lined up to do battle on Moreton Bay, representing the most competitive master’s fleet ever assembled in the world’s most physically and mentally demanding single-handed sailing dinghy.

The FWM was held in a broad range of conditions, ranging from sunny 6-15knts to the final days racing held in breezier 16-22knts with gusts of 28 knots as various rain squalls ran through the course area. With racing held inside Green Island, the breeze was typically shiftier and had more variable pressure than the Finn Gold Cup held the previous week outside. The racing was very tight, with small errors punished. As one notable European Finn sailor remarked, the competition in the southern hemisphere was a step up from the northern, with places very hard to regain if you were buried at the first top mark.

Except for Rafa Trujillo (past FGC winner and Olympic silver medallist), no other sailors achieved all seven race results in the top 10. When all results were tallied, the deserved winner was Brendon Casey (Australian National Champion & 2012 Finn Olympian), narrowly ahead of Rafa by one point, with Karl Purdie (NZL) a further 8 points back in 3rd. The final race was a thrilling match race affair between Rafa and Brendon, with Rafa sailing Brendon well down the fleet before the final run to the finish, where Brendon just clawed enough boats back to win. So close was the finish that neither knew who had won as they crossed the finish line.

From a NZ team perspective, this regatta represented our best FWM performance with standout results comprising:

• New Zealand second in the Nations Cup behind Australia, beating traditional northern hemisphere Finn powerhouse countries such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
• New Zealand’s first ever overall results podium finish with Karl Purdie 3rd
• Karl Purdie crowned Great Grand Master age group World Champion (his 3rd world title following the two OK Dinghy World Titles obtained in 2008 & 2010)
• Rob Coutts 2nd and Denis Mowbray 3rd overall in the Legends age group.
• New Zealand and Australia were the only two countries to have three podium finishers over the various age categories

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The NZ team comprised:

• Andrew Duncan & Richard Hawkins of Dunedin
• Brendon Hogg, Chris Wells, Denis Mowbray and Paul Bamford of Christchurch
• Tony Bierre, Joe Spooner, Mark Perrow and Rob Coutts of Auckland
• Ray Hall and Karl Purdie of Wellington

Results obtained are shared by all team members and were built on the back of competition provided by a very competitive nationwide regatta circuit comprising Open/Masters Nationals, South/North Island Champs, Auckland Champs, and Christchurch Champs. All these regattas were attended by the bulk of the NZ team, where skills were sharpened, and the latest tuning ideas were shared.

Prior to the FWM, February began with the Australian National Championship, which boasted 83 entries from 17 countries and was seen as a warm-up for the Finn Gold Cup and FWM. This regatta, also held inside Green Island, featured very close racing and a split-fleet format, with the two fleets redrawn after each day’s racing based on the daily results. Held in predominantly light 6-10knt conditions, it was won by Brendon Casey with Rafa Trujillio a very close second. The top three NZ finishers were Karl Purdie (5th), Ray Hall (16th) and Joe Spooner (17th). Thankfully, this race format (with the often unfair results and vagaries it produces) was not used again, with both FGC and FWM regattas held as a single fleet.

From 12-19 February, the Finn Gold Cup was held. The first four races were held in strong wind conditions of predominantly 18-25knts with gusts over 30knts regularly sweeping through. Comprising 10 races, the first half of the regatta was dominated by Anders Pederson of Norway, who relished the heavier airs.

As the breeze for the last four races lightened, he lost his grip on the title. The eventual winner was Alessandro Marega of Italy, who won with a race to spare despite never winning a single race. Alessandro is the first Italian to take out this prestigious regatta and has never placed outside the top eight. Brendon Casey rounded out the podium, finishing 3rd. The top New Zealander was Karl Purdie in 7th place. Unfortunately, this regatta marked the end of Ray Hall's FWM bid after a capsize in Race 2, which left all three tendons of his right shoulder completely torn.

When reviewing individual results those of Andrew and Richard of Otago who are both relative Finn class newcomers (having sailed the class for only 2-3 years and having never competed at a prior FWM) stand out. They both beat out sailors considerably more experienced in the wave conditions and in big fleet starts/racing. The Christchurch sailors put in solid performances and keep improving with every FWM event they compete in.

Brendon has done fantastic work here, maintaining a core group of sailors and helping expand the local fleet to become the largest and most competitive Finn fleet in NZ. Denis's bronze medal in the Legends division was very well deserved and a testament to the great racing he enjoys in Christchurch.

From the Auckland region, it was great to see Joe Spooner back in a Finn. He was previously on the Olympic circuit in the mid-to-late 1990’s, often serving as Craig Monk's training partner. He posted some very solid results and was devastatingly fast upwind, particularly in strong winds. A bit more time in the boat learning the free pumping technique, and he will be an exceedingly strong future FWM and FGC competitor.

Mark Perrow had flashes of brilliance, demonstrated superior heavy-air upwind pace, and ended up with a great overall FWM result. He can achieve much higher results in the years to come and is well worth following.

Rob Coutts again was very solid and well deserved his Legends silver medal.

Tony is very capable of a higher result, but just had one of those regattas. Except for Tony, all New Zealanders finished in the top half of the FWM – a fantastic result.

Ray Hall, as previously mentioned, sadly sustained tendon injuries which prevented him from completing the FGC and sailing in the FWM. He is the current NZ champion and was expected to perform very well.

Karl performed at a high level across all three regattas, backed by extensive on-water and fitness training over the previous 18 months. He, together with Mark Perrow, had raced at the Queensland State Champs, 2 Sail Brisbane Regattas and the Australian Mid-Winter Nationals during that period, all held at the RQYS to gain additional regatta/venue experience. Ray Hall had also competed at two of these regattas. Just as he managed to tick off his 531 OK dinghy sail number, being able to finally tick off his Finn sail number of 111 came as a relief.

February was unprecedented in providing quality Finn racing and regatta facilities/management. The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron was indisputably an outstanding host and set a very high bar for future international Finn regattas to live up to.

Never has a country's national Championship been held together with the FGC and FWM at one venue over the same period.

All sailors who attended definitely got their money’s worth in terms of racing and social activities. The organisation was faultless, with even a rock concert held between the FGC and FWM events. Every effort was made to ensure that visiting southern-hemisphere sailors experienced plentiful, high-quality racing. Where sailors travel halfway around the world at great expense to compete at a world championship, the very least the host club can provide is a high-class warm-up regatta at the same venue immediately prior to that regatta starting.

The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron delivered in spades!

Additional Images:

Results links

Australian Nationals

Finn Gold Cup

Finn Masters Overall

Finn Masters Nations