Kuva: Jorma Rautapää

Kuva: Jorma Rautapää

 

Finland is the home of the five-point-five class as an international racing class. The 5.5's first appeared in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where Britton Chance Jr. took the gold with Complex II. In 1952 the five-point-fives still raced alongside the sixes, but by 1960 Rome and the Naples regatta the 5,5's had become a ruling Olympic keelboat class.

Also the famous Scandinavian Gold Cup has Finnish roots. It was instituted by the oldest yacht club in Helsinki, NJK, in 1919. Today the Gold Cup is one of the oldest active sailing trophies in the world alongside the America's Cup and the One Ton Cup.

The first 5.5 m World Cup was organized in 1961 in Helsinki alongside the 100 year anniversary of NJK and this event was celebrated again in 2011 when the WC was hosted by the Finnish 5.5 m association.

The Finnish fleet consists mainly of classics from the 1950's and 60's with one or two modern yachts. Currently the most well known Finnish 5.5 yachtsman is Johan Gullichsen with an Olympic regatta and two Gold Cup wins under his belt. Also Matti Muoniovaara with Chaje III have achieved remarkable success in the class.

The Finnish classics race annually in some of the regattas of the Finnish season, usually with a finalé in the biggest classic yachting regatta in the Baltic, the Viaporin Tuoppi in early August.

 

You can contact the fleet at secretary(a)5point5.fi.