Giles Scott to defend European Finn title in Gdynia, Poland

Giles Scott will return to competitive Finn sailing for the first time since the Worlds last December in Melbourne.

Since finishing fourth in that event Scott has been mainly involved with his INEOS Team UK America’s Cup commitments, but he has managed to train regularly in the UK.

Scott explained . . . “We have been doing a couple days a week over the past eight weeks after the UK restrictions opened up. So Henry [Wetherell] and I have done a reasonable amount of two-boat sailing. It will be interesting checking in with the rest of the fleet.”

But he stresses it was important for everyone to get at least one regatta in this year.

“For me personally it’s a big deal getting one event in as I’m shortly off to Auckland for the America’s Cup. So this will be my last check-in with the fleet before, probably, April next year.”

The event Scott and Wetherell are heading to is the 2020 Open and U23 European Championship which will take place in Gdynia, Poland, with a series of 10 races from 2 to 6 September.

The fleet sizes are smaller than usual, about 40 entries, but there was a huge desire on the part of the class, the sailors and the organizers for the event to go ahead.

Scott won the Europeans last year and was also a winner in 2011 and 2014.

Among the challengers to retaining title are Nicholas Heiner, from the Netherlands, Max Salminen from Sweden, Alican Kaynar, from Turkey and Zsombor Berecz, from Hungary.

He commented . . . “But in all honesty that feels a lifetime ago with everything that has happened since.” And he stresses how important it is for everyone to get at least one regatta in this year.

Scott won Gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and will represent Britain at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, now scheduled to take place in August 2021.

In addition to the Finn Europeans the 2020 Masters European Championship will be held simultaneously with about 30 entries.