JM Finn & Co continues Finn Class sponsorship

The JM Finn, Finn UK National Championships 2011 will be held at Christchurch Sailing club on the UK's south coast over the long weekend of 6-8 May. Eight races will be sailed over three days to decide the 2011 UK Finn National Champion.

The National Championship is the second event in the year long JM Finn Gold Cup Qualifier Series to select the British team for the 2012 Finn Gold Cup, which is being held in Falmouth, UK. The Finn Gold Cup was first sailed for in Burnham-on-Crouch, UK in 1956 and was instantly recognised at the world championship of the class. It is one of dinghy sailing's oldest perpetual trophies, and was last held in the UK in 2000.

The first event in the series, the UK Inland Championships was held at Roadford L ake on 16/17 April with 31 boats competing for the title. After the National Championship, the qualification series takes in six more events up to early Spring 2012, before the world championship is held in May 2012.

JM Finn & Co has been a great supporter of the British Finn Association since 2007, as the title holder sponsor of the UK Championships, and we are very pleased that this has been extended through 2011. We are all looking forward to three day's great racing on Christchurch Bay, and are hoping to attract a sizable international contingent. More than 50 entries are expected, with entries already in from Australia and France, as well as the strong UK fleet.

The Finn class is the Olympic single-handed dinghy for heavyweight men and has been on the Olympic programme since 1952, making it the oldest and most established of all Olympic dinghy classes. It is a 4.5 metre boat with a single mast and sail, and raced in upwards of 50 countries worldwide. Great Britain's Ben Ainslie is the current Olympic champion and hopes to defend his title at the Olympic regatta at Weymouth in 2012.