Valérian Lebrun is Finn Class World No.1 for the first time
by Robert Deaves 9 Nov 14:11 GMT
Valerian Lebrun, FRA - Finn European Masters Championship 2026 Day 3 © Robert Deaves
Valérian Lebrun, from France, has become the new Finn Class World No.1 in the latest World Rankings, WR 013, published November 2026.
He moves up two places while Peter Peet, from The Netherlands, and Laurent Hay, from France, both drop one place each to second and third. Considered unlucky for some, 13 has proved lucky for Lebrun, as he takes the No.1 spot for the first time ever after many years of coming close.
Despite wining the Open Europeans last year and being on the podium at most major events for the last few years, it has always been a mathematically anomaly that Lebrun never made it to the No. 1 spot. He joins an elite group (just four sailors in fact) who have made it to No.1 since the World Ranking List was introduced in 2022. In fact, such is the competition at the front of the fleet that he is the fourth new leader in the last four releases, following Peet, current world champion, Alessandro Marega, from Italy, and Hay. All four also feature i the top four places in this release.
Within the top 20, there are three new entries. The highest climber is Filipe Silva, from Portugal, who won the European Masters in Spain just a few weeks ago. He moves up 26 places to eighth, and the only new entry into the top ten. Likewise, Paul McKenzie, from Australia, moves up 14 places to 12th, after a fifth place in Spain. Completing the top 20, Rodion Mazin, from the USA moves up 2 places to nudge in at 20th.
The 13th release of the World Ranking List includes 1,311 sailors from 39 nations and 113 events in 28 countries. For this issue, there are 25 new events since WR 012 was published in July 2026. This release also includes the final five events in the 2026 Grand Slam series, which was won by Bas de Waal, from The Netherlands. He remains fifth in the World Rankings, just behind Marega, who moved up three places to fourth.
The events included in the new World Rankings are:
- The Nord Cup in Górki Zachodnie was won by Tadeusz Bartlewski
- Warnemünder Woche was won by André Budzien
- The Olympic Regatta 2026 in Tihany was won by Kristóf Kaiser
- The Mid-Winter Championship in Brisbane was won by Mark Perrow
- The Memoriál V. Porubského in Šamorín was won by Domonkos Németh
- The Airisto Regatta in Turki was won by Jesse Kylanpaa
- The North American Masters in Marblehead was won by Darrell Peck
- The Norwegian Championship in Larvik was won by Anders Pedersen
- Open Belgian Championship in Scharendijke was won by Peter Peet
- The combined Danish and Swedish Championship in Varberg was won by Otto Strandvig
- The MCR Finn Memoriál Láznicky in Lipno was won by Ladislav Hyrš
- The Sola Cup in Karlstad was won by Martin Pluto
- The Open Nordic Championships in Tampere was won by Joonas Harju
- The Schweizer Meisterschaft in Silvaplana was won by Simon Bovay
- The Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaft in Berlin was won by André Budzien
- Pacific Coast Championships in San Diego were won by Bob Martin
- Coppa Italia 2026 Talamone was won by Alessandro Marega
- Mistrzostwa Polski Finn in Puck was won by Bartosz Szydlowski
- The Dutch Championship in Medemblik was won by Martijn Van Muyden
- Országos Bajnokság on Balatonföldvár was won by Kristóf Kaiser
- The International Finn Cup in Malcesine was won by Deniss Karpak
- The Paulista Finn in Ilhabela was won by Pedro Lodovici
- Otvoreno Prvenstvo Srbije in Donji Milanovac was won by Zlatko Atanasov
- The Spanish Championship in Los Alcázares was won by Vale´rian Lebrun
- The Finn European Masters in Los Alcázares was won by Filipe Silva
See the new interactive World Ranking list HERE
Or see the full World Ranking List No. 13 HERE
Historical results can be found HERE