2022 Finn World Masters

Just two months after winning his first ever Finn Gold Cup, Pieter-Jan Postma from The Netherlands has become the first person in history to also win the Finn World Masters in the same year. He put together a picket fence score line to take the 2022 title over Laurent Hay (FRA) in second while Peter Peet (NED) was third. Racing was held July 4-8 in Helsinki, Finland.

Postma joins an elite group that have won the Finn World Masters with straight wins, and stood on the original podium from the 1952 Olympics which was used to mark the end of an event that was created to celebrate 70 years since the Finn was first included in the Olympic Games.

Age knows no bounds in the Finn class and the first presentation was for the Super Legends, those over 80 years old. Richard Hart from Britain won again, though again said it was probably his last event, something he has been saying for 10 years. Once a Finn sailor…

Hans Fatzer retained the Legends prize that he won last year, while John Greenwood won the Great Grand Masters and Laurent Hay the Grand Masters. Postma was of course top Master. While there are many age categories in the Finn Masters, they all race as one fleet, with inclusivity and community an important ingredient in what makes this event so successful.

This year was the first time the event has been in Finland and the furthest north it has ever been. Next year, the event goes far down south to Kavala in Greece where already the class is expecting in excess of 250 entries, bringing it back to somewhere near pre-COVID numbers.

Event details – Results – Photos

Final results (Top 10 of 120; 7 races, 1 discard)
1 NED 842 Pieter Jan Postma 6
2 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 25
3 NED 148 Peter Peet 35
4 POR 21 Filipe Silva 42
5 NZL 111 Karl Purdie 55
6 NED 41 Karel Van Hellemond 66
7 NED 25 Gert Van Der Heijden 72
8 GBR 5 John Greenwood 74
9 FIN 234 Ville Aalto-Setälä 84
10 NED 80 Sander Willems 85

Age categories:
• Master (40-49 years old)
• Grand Master (50-59)
• Grand Grand Master (60-69)
• Legend (70-80)
• Super Legend (80+)

Source: Finn Class