Cardona and Theuninck secured silver and bronze as the Finn U23 Worlds concluded in sunny Anzio on Saturday.
With the pressure off after securing the 2019 U23 Finn World Championship for the Jorg Bruder Finn Silver Cup, a day early, Oskari Muhonen, from Finland, led all the way in the final race to record one of the biggest winning margins of the week.
A third place finish from Joan Cardona, of Spain, was enough for the silver medal, while a second place for Nils Theuninck, from Switzerland, was enough for the bronze.
Like Muhonen, Liam Orel, from Slovenia, had already won the U19 gold, while behind him Italians Paolo Freddi and Roberto Rinaldi were fighting for the other medals.
Finishing next to each other in the final race, Freddi took silver with Rinaldi taking bronze for a double home medal.
James Skulczuk of Britain finished in seventh overall. Cameron Tweedle was 16th and Callum Dixon 22nd.
What is perhaps remarkable among this group of talented, committed, physical and intensely athletic young sailors is that many of them will be going head to head next year to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
At least nine have a realistic chance and are training full time ready for the final continental qualifiers. All are learning massively from the experience, believing that any time spent Finn sailing is better than anything else they could possibly be doing.
It is what the Finn is all about. It is a classroom for sailing skill and commitment as much as it is a lesson for life skills. No other class offers the kind of sailor development that happens within the Finn class.
It’s why sailors rush back after trying other things. It’s why young, big sailors dream of sailing the Finn, emulating the Finn idols across generations.
We keep saying it means something to say you are a Finn sailor. It means something to campaign a Finn for the Olympics. It is a life changing experience that anyone who has not done will not understand.
What is perhaps remarkable among this group of talented, committed, physical and intensely athletic young sailors is that many of them will be going head to head next year to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. At least nine have a realistic chance and are training full time ready for the final continental qualifiers. All are learning massively from the experience, believing that any time spent Finn sailing is better than anything else they could possibly be doing.
It is what the Finn is all about. It is a classroom for sailing skill and commitment as much as it is a lesson for life skills. No other class offers the kind of sailor development that happens within the Finn class. It’s why sailors rush back after trying other things. It’s why young, big sailors dream of sailing the Finn, emulating the Finn idols across generations.
We keep saying it means something to say you are a Finn sailor. It means something to campaign a Finn for the Olympics. It is a life changing experience that anyone who has not done will not understand. We have heard all week about the sailor’s disbelief and sadness about the dropping of the Finn from Paris 2024. They no longer have a pathway, the pathway they dreamed about when they decided to take up the Finn challenge. Olympic sailing is in danger of losing a generation of young talent.
At some point this message must hit home. That is why the class will fight for its Olympic place and why, like a true Finn sailor on a long beat to windward in 30 knots, we will not give up.
Finn – U23 final leading results after 11 races, 1 drop
1. FIN 8 Oskari Muhonen 34 pts
2. ESP 26 Joan Cardona 50 pts
3. SUI 1 Nils Theuninck, 52 pts
4. ITA 71 Federico Colaninno 57 pts
5. SWE 11 Johannes Pettersson 91 pts
6. FRA 9 Guillame Boisard 93 pts
7. GBR 81 James Skulczuk 96 pts
8. SLO 11 Liam Orel 100 pts
9. POL 1 Sebastian Kalafarski 110 pts
10. CYP 1 Panagiotis Iordanou 113 pts
U19 Top 3
8. SLO 11 Liam Orel 100 pts
17. ITA 115 Paolo Freddi 151 pts
18. ITA 5 Roberto Rinaldi 159 pts
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