The Finn

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, whic ...

is a single-handed,

cat-rigged A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are ...

sailboat, and a former

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

class for men's

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

. Since its debut at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, the Finn has featured in every summer Olympics, making it the longest serving dinghy in the Olympic Regatta and one of the most prolific Olympic sailboats, currently filling the slot for the Heavyweight Dinghy. The Finn is a physically demanding boat to race at the highest levels, especially since the class rules now allow unlimited boat rocking and sail pumping when the wind is above 10 knots. The event will not feature on the Olympic programme from 2024.

Design

The Finn was designed by Swedish canoe designer, Rickard Sarby, in 1949 for the Helsinki Olympics. in 1952 the hulls were built of timber and the sails were of cotton. Initially there was little understanding of the role of a mast which could bend to reduce power. However over time the Finn sailors learned how to plane timber off the front of their masts for heavy winds and to glue on strips of timber on the front of the masts for lighter winds. personal experience Although the Finn

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

has changed little since then, there have been developments to the rig. The original

spars The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...

were made of wood until the late 1960s and early 1970s, when there was a gradual change to aluminum masts. Aluminum masts are significantly more flexible and allow more control over sail shape, and became commonplace after the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

when they were first supplied to Olympic sailors. More recently,

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

masts have become commonplace in competition Finns. The sails, too, have evolved and are now commonly made of various

laminate Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materia ...

s such as

Technora Technora is an aramid that is useful for a variety of applications that require high strength or Chemical resistance, chemical resistance. It is a brand name of the company Teijin Aramid. Technora was used on January 25, 2004 to suspend the NASA ...

, polyester, and

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

. The class rules are overseen by the International Finn Association.

Events

Olympic Games

Finn Gold Cup

The Finn Gold Cup serves as the World Championship for the Finn class.

Finn Silver Cup

Continental Championships

* 2006 Finn Open European Championship

References

External links

International Finn Association
{{Authority control Classes of World Sailing Dinghies Olympic sailing classes 1940s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Swedish designers Sailboat types built by Newport Boats Sailboat types built by W. D. Schock Corp