Italy’s Alessandro Marega has won the Finn European Championship in Cannes after the final day brought even more drama and turnarounds. Valerian Lebrun, from France, ended up second, and also takes the European Masters title, while Hungary’s Kristof Kaiser wins the bronze. The Gold Fleet races were won by Lebrun and Australia’s Paul McKenzie.

Unfortunately, the only racing held was the two gold fleet races, amid forecasts of strong wind and storms, while the silver fleet were held on shore and then abandoned. Lebrun won the opening race in winds of up to 18 knots and big seas with Marega in second, setting up a final race showdown. The wind decreased a lot for the final race with some big shifts, and ended in heavy rain and 15-16 knots as the first front came through.

After a small delay on the water, Race 7 started with Lebrun getting the perfect start by the committee boat and rounded the first upwind mark, just behind Filipe Silva, after James Bevis took the wrong mark. The free-pumping conditions favoured Lebrun, who took the lead downwind, followed by Silva and Martijn Van Muyden. After a long second lap, Alessandro Marega hiked and pumped his way back in second place behind Lebrun and just ahead of Van Muyden at the finish.

The second race gold fleet got away after a small delay (and the abandoning of racing for the silver fleet at 12.15), in some really tricky conditions and everything came down to a fight in between Marega and Lebrun for the title. The duo started by the middle pin and produced some match-race kind of action, with Marega rounding four boats ahead of Lebrun at the first upwind. Nick Craig rounded the first upwind in first, followed by Mckenzie and Terol, in a seemingly dying breeze.

During the second upwind everything changed, a storm came in from the right, bringing rain and a big right shift, which also brought a course change. Unfortunately, the leading pack, still led by Craig, didn't see the new mark and headed to the wrong mark, while Christoph Burger took the right one and went for the lead, followed by Mckenzie and Marega. Mckenzie won his second race this week, followed by Burger and Marega and, with Lebrun in eighth, Marega became the new European Champion.

Marega said, “I am super happy and, in the end, I’m not the one the one that won European championship, but the whole process did, the commitment, the fatigue of this whole last year and I must say that sacrifices in the end do really pay off.

“Today we had a lot of storms big windshift and big waves that made everything quite complicated and I am super happy to get away with this title. The balance is super positive.”

Lebrun “I am happy that the event finished because it was quite a long week, we didn’t sail much, but I think the conditions were quite difficult. We had a lot of light wind with windshifts so I’m not tired physically but I’m tired mentally. It was really hard to manage.

“Today we had an extremely different day compared to what we saw the other days. We had lots of rain instead of the usual sun, the weather was more stormy with clouds, and the wind direction was changing quite a lot. The first race we had 18-20 knots with big waves, free pumping and a long course, I really enjoyed it. The second race was really tricky and during the second upwind the leading pack headed to the wrong mark which was a bit crazy, but this was today.

“Unfortunately, the silver fleet didn’t manage to sail, I think they could’ve gone on the water and I feel most of them are disappointed and hopefully next time everybody will get equal chance to race.”

Kaiser, “I actually can’t believe it. It was such a tricky day, the wind was extremely shifty, and I made a lot of bad decisions, but the other participants made them as well so yeah, it’s a pretty unbelievable feeling at the moment.

“We had a lot of boats at this class European championship 152, I believe that’s a record and I think it showed on the water too. It was really hard to find a gap on the starting line which led a lot of BFD and a lot of points. For now, I will rest and get ready for the next season. I’ll prepare for the next European championship in Napoli, but I would also like to race at the Finn Gold Cup.”

The 2025 Open Finn Europeans is the next major Finn event, to be held in Naples, Italy, just five months away.

Final results after 8 races
1 ITA 1103 Alessandro MAREGA ITA 16.0
2 FRA 111 Valérian LEBRUN FRA 23.0
3 HUN 808 Kristóf KAISER HUN 37.0
4 POR 21 Filipe SILVA POR 40.0
5 AUS 22 Paul McKENZIE AUS 46.0
6 SUI 7 Christoph BURGER SUI 50.0
7 NED 6 Martijn van MUYDEN NED 53.0
8 HUN 5 Tibor PALLAY HUN 67.0
9 GBR 790 Nick CRAIG GBR 82.0
10 NED 29 Bas de WAAL NED 82.0

Masters
1 FRA 111 Valérian LEBRUN
2 POR 21 Filipe SILVA
3 SUI 7 Christoph BURGER

Grand Master
1 AUS 22 Paul McKENZIE
2 NED 6 Martijn van MUYDEN
3 GBR 790 Nick CRAIG

Great Grand Masters
1 FRA 38 Michel AUDOIN
2 GBR 74 Lawrence CRISPIN
3 NED 703 Eric BAKKER

Legends
1 NED 50 Jan ZETZEMA
2 SUI 1 Hans FATZER
3 ESP 39 Jose Maria PUJADAS

U23
1 HUN 131 Svastits ATTILA
2 HUN 181 Gaál CSABA

Senior
1 ITA 1103 Alessandro MAREGA
2 HUN 808 Kristóf KAISER
3 POL 6 Bartosz SZYDLOWSKI

News from the International Finn Class

Photos by Robert Deaves