9. The Finn, a True Olympic Class |
by David Leach |
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The International Sailing Federation (formerly IYRU) has chosen the Finn as the Olympic Singlehanded class consistently since it was first used in the 1952 Games. The reason is that the Finn is different from the other singlehanders and typifies what an Olympic class should be. The competition and requirements of the class are truly Olympic in nature.
Former Finn sailor and well-known British yachting writer, Jack Knights once wrote "The cult of the International Finn Monotype may seem strange to some people, uncomfortable, masochistically so to others. But to us devotees, there is nothing else remotely like it. The Finn probably offers the most purely athletic form of yacht racing and is, therefore, the most fundamentally competitive. The Finn gives thrills, frustration and pleasure in roughly equal measure. It offers the rewarding opportunity of doing a difficult thing well. There are lightnings and such for the rest, but there will always be those who aspire to be master of a Finn."
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The Olympic Games are made up of many varied athletic events, each designed to test the athlete's ability to perform in his chosen field. The winners are the ones who have worked many years building up their strength, skills, stamma and mental competence. Events are not based upon luck or chance but on ability and hard work and are a test of the ability to perform.
Classes for the Olympic yachting events are not chosen on the basis of popularity or their design. The classes to be used in the Olympics are selected on the basis that the competition in those classes will best test the sailors in their ability, stamina, and competence to perform, based upon hard work and training. The Finn is just such a class.
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The winner of the event is a person who knows how to best tune a boat and has the stamina and ability to sail it fastest, just like a track or field event. Notice that you will see a couple of Finn sailors pacing each other trying to adjust their boats to go faster and improve their stamina, much more often than you see them in a 'fun' race: just like a long-distance runner practising for a field event.
The Finn competition in the Olympics offers a true test of sailing skill, requiring stamina, mental competence, and long periods of hard training and practice. No other class demands more devotion, training, and stamina, like an athlete, than the Finn Class.
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SAIL Magazine wrote, 'The Finn is the ultimate challenge and racing anything else, fun as it may be, is not just the same.' The competition in a true Olympic class should be the 'ultimate challenge'. The question is: Are you ready for the ultimate challenge?
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