The Finnish Snipe Sailing Season of 2025 is Underway!

The first event in the Finnish Snipe Sailing calendar of 2025 was the Vene25Båt Boat Fair in February. The fair held at the Messukeskus event fair in Helsinki was extremely popular with more than 67500 visitors during its 10-day opening.

Since mid-May, the Finnish Snipe Sailing Association has organized three major events:

• A Try-Snipe event for individuals who showed interest toward Snipe at the Vene25Båt Boat Fair in February
• A one-day training event ahead of the first ranking race
• The opening race of the 2025 Ranking series

Ranking R1 was organized by HSS with the sailors setting off from nearby HSK. The race was a one-day event and saw four action-packed starts. Mika Viinikkala and Mikko Mäkipää, who finished runner-up in the 2024 series, set off a storm warning with the strong result 2-2-1-1. The 2024 ranking winner Kai Saarhelo reflected on the race as follows:

“ The wind forecast was spot on as a fair 6-10 m/s north-eastern wind helped the Snipe season to a start at the HSS Snipe Ranking. With a surprisingly steady wind and an air temperature of nearly 20 degrees on the shore, the conditions were perfect for a sailing event.

An international aspect was also present as Italian Ettore Mancinelli sailed as crew for Sirkku Ala-Harja. The ever-young pair Clapa (Claus Carpelan) and Risto Valjus showed that the whisker pole is optional for high-speed sailing – theirs malfunctioned during the first start of the day. Perhaps with additional help from a new set of sails, Mika Viinikkala and Mikko Mäkipää set the standard with the results 2-2-1-1.

The event also offered a good chance for practise for those participating. There were four starts, each approximately 30 minutes in duration. As a nice way to end the day, the top three finishers parked their Snipes at HSS to receive their prizes. Thanks to Ben, Samir and other organizers!”

These early-season events were hosted by Fleet 481 in Helsinki. The season continues on in June with a short-track special event in Tampere, where a good number of boats and quality racing is expected. Also look out for news about R4 in the Finnish calendar: in addition to the Finnish Championship, the Open Nordic Championship is also up for contest!

Matias Mikkonen

Board Member, Snipe Sailing Finland