Finn World No.1, Laurent Hay of France won the 2024 Finn World Masters at PuntAla Camp & Resort, Italy.
It his first ever major championship in the class after three times coming second and three times third.
Hay finished with 9 pts and a one point advantage over countryman Valerian Lebrun in second, with Martijn van Muyden from The Netherlands completingthe podium on 12 pts.
In the end the world title came down to a brilliant split-second decision from Hay, 50 metres from the finish line, to overtake two boats and cross in second place, with his bow less than 1 metre from disappointment.
Yellow and Blue groups on the North course were able to start first and were almost finished by the time the Red group was started on South course. Giocomo Giovanelli won the Yellow group and Roberto Strappati won the Blue group, but title challenger van Muyden could only manage a sixth place. So the title came down to Lebrun and Hay.
To win, Lebrun needed to win the race and he did just that in the Red group, leading from the first reach for a comfortable win.
Behind him in the Green group, regatta leader Laurent Hay needed to finish top two to secure the title. However, it didn’t go to plan and he struggled to find the front, sometimes as deep as 12th.
The race was won by Antal Szekely, but on the final downwind Hay went wide, passed eight boats and then rounded the final gate mark fourth, behind Szekely and two Dutch boats.
The Dutch boats fought for second place and just metres from the finish, one took the other high, which gave Hay the opportunity he needed. He immediately dived low, caught a wave and all three boats crossed the line in seconds.
Hay thought he had crossed third, but he had actually done enough and crossed in second. He had won the Finn World Masters by less than a second and less than a metre at the finish.
Hay had finally done it; after 14 years he had lifted a major Finn title.
At the epic prizegiving the biggest cheers are always for the Legends of the class. Everyone aspires to be sailing Finns in their 70s, but also this year there were six Super Legends.
All were honoured at the start of the Prizegiving. Rodrick Casander won the Super Legends, while Rob Coutts was the runaway winner of the Legends.
European Masters champion, Peter Peet, won the Great Grand Master, Hay the Grand Masters and Lebrun the Masters. All great sailors and champions.
Next year the event heads to Medemblik, The Netherlands with planning already underway for 400 boats. Now that would be quite something.
Overall Final results
1st FRA 75 Laurent Haÿ 9 pts
2nd FRA 111 Valérian Lebrun 10 pts
3rd NED 6 Martijn van Muyden 12 pts
4th NED 98 Nanno Schuttrups 13 pts
5th NED 148 Peter Peet 20 pts
6th GER 711 André Budzien 21 pts
7th GBR 790 Nick Craig 24 pts
8th GBR 5 John Greenwood 24 pts
9th HUN 50 Akos Lukats 26 pts
10th GBR 74 Lawrence Crispin 28 pts
All results available here . . .
Super Legends
1 NED 8 Rodrick Casander, NED
2 GBR 777 Howard Sellars
3 FRA 23 Daniel Chédeville
Legends
1 NZL 9 Rob Coutts
2 NED 11 Hendrik de Jager
3 AUS 68 Jay Harrison
Great Grand Master
1 NED 148 Peter Peet
2 GER 711 André Budzien
3 GBR 5 John Greenwood
Grand Masters
1 FRA 75 Laurent Hay
2 NED 6 Martijn van Muyden
3 GBR 790 Nick Craig
Masters
1 FRA 111 Valérian Lebrun
2 NED 98 Nanno Schuttrups
3 POR 21 Filipe Silva
Ladies
1 AUT 852 Claudia Maria Graber
2 AUT 330 Tina Weinrich
Crutch (11th)
POR 21 Filipe Silva
Best Nation
The Netherlands
Best Club
WSV Het Witte Huis, The Netherlands
