On August 28-30 the Finnish Formula 18 Championships where held in Helsinki. 21 catamarans participated including 4 boats from Estonia. Dani von Weymarn and Nicolas V. Flittner did well all weekend and ended up first overall. Mikko Räisänen and Ollie Hartas made it onto the podium again after their good results at the Nordic Championship two weeks earlier. Jyrki Järvi (former 49er Olympic Gold Medalist) and Ain Roosma were third.
It was a very excellent weekend with very good wind and some awesome races. The first day races started in light conditions, but on second day a 20 knots breeze was on and steep waves made it very difficult for sailors. The last day conditions were light to medium again. It was a fight till the end between the overall winners Von Weymarn/Flittner and Räisänen/Hartas. Because of some poor results on Sunday and capsizing.
The ‘Lion of Finland’ will have their revenge next year
On Saturday Räisänen & Hartas were not able to keep their leading position. One capsize that day ruined their chances for the gold medal. Next year they’ll have their revenge. “In general we can say the Finnish fleet has improved a lot. We saw many different winners during the whole regatta. We hope more teams will join the international circuit soon, that would be really great!”, tells Mikko Räisänen. Their “Lion of Finland” team (with crew Ollie Hartas) has been the most active sailor abroad during the last couple of years and were 43th at the F18 Worlds 2015 in Kiel.
Top 3 results:
1. Dani von Weymarn and Nicolas V. Flittner (21 points)
2. Mikko Räisänen and Ollie Hartas (25 pojnts)
3. Jyrki Järvi and Ain Roosma (28 points)
Full results can be downloaded here.
How atlethic Finnish sailors are was demonstrated by Ida:
More info about Formula 18 sailing in Finland can be found on their website and of course their Facebook page.