The Finn class is delighted to have eight nations – two from Africa, two from Asia, three from the Americas including Bermuda, and one from Europe – participating in the Emerging Nations Program (ENP) in connection with the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018, the first qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Rockal Evans will compete against Luis Mario Suarez Manso, Cuba; James Dagge, Hong Kong; Ahmad Ahmadi, Iran; Constantin Hatzilambros, Namibia; Tihomir Zakic, Serbia; Dave Shilton, South Africa; Andreas Lage, Venezuela.
The eight ENP participants will benefit from coaching and support before and during the championship in Aarhus, which is the second most important regatta in the quadrennium, several have sailed Finns at an international level, some have sailed at a national level and a few are just starting in the class.
These eight sailors will join 92 other Finn sailors in Aarhus.
Due to the high demand for Finn places in Aarhus, the organizing authority increased the quota for Finns from 90 to 100 (compared with just 80 at the same event in Santander in 2014) and it is already fully subscribed. More sailors are also on the waiting list with MNAs requesting additional places.
The 100 entries represent sailors from 44 nations, which is the largest number of nations represented in any class in Aarhus, except the Laser and Radial. This compares with 36 nations during the whole 2016 qualification cycle, though the Finn was still then one of the top five classes when counting number of nations represented.
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