2024 Finnish Ranking – final

The Finnish 2024 ranking series concluded in late August with the HSS Autumn Cup. The one-day regatta saw ten teams competing in four races. The final result came down to the last race – the top three finished within 1.3 points (after protest hearings). Jukka Kotisalo with his crew Pekka Toija secured victory with particularly strong performance in the final two races.

The series this year consisted of five regattas. Participants were allowed to replace one domestic race with a result from an international race.

R1 – Kotka – 18.-19.05.

• Winner: Claus Carpelan, Risto Valjus

R2 – Short Course Championship – Tampere – 08.-09.06.

• Winner: Riku Vääriskoski, Salla Vadén

R3 – Nationals & Masters Championship – Helsinki – 28.-30.06.

• National Champion: Otto Dahlberg, Riku Vääriskoski
• Masters Champion: Ville Aalto-Setälä, Satu Salminen

R4 – Airisto – 10.-11.08.

• Winner: Mika Viinikkala, Mikko Mäkipää

R5 – Fleet 481 Championship – Helsinki – 01.09.

• Winner: Jukka Kotisalo, Pekka Toija

It is notable that we had five unique winners in five regattas! This goes to show how competitive the Snipe scene has become in Finland. In total, 25 skippers (with a total of 28 crew) took part in the 2024 series – 21 of them with their own boats. The remaining four put boats owned by the Finnish Snipe Sailing Association to good use. The skippers represent a total of 14 different clubs.

As is often the case, consistency was the key success. Among the top 5 overall finishers, only one skipper missed more than one regatta.

Ranking 2024 top five finishers:

FIN 31793 – Kai Saarhelo, Miro Sepäntalo, Matias Mikkonen – 10p.

• Kai is known internationally as an active and experienced sailor. His long-time commitment to Snipe is foundational to the Finnish organization.
• Kai took part in the Nordic Championship regatta in Norway finishing sixth with Matias as his crew.

FIN 30900 – Mika Viinikkala, Mikko Mäkipää, Satu Salminen – 15p.

• Mika and Mikko, relatively new to Snipe, show strong international potential finishing runner-up in the series.

FIN 30874 – Claus Carpelan, Risto Valjus – 17p.

• Claus “Clapa” Carpelan, a Kotka local won his 2024 home regatta with Risto. Clapa and Risto are among the most experienced teams. They share long history in Snipe and have scored several victories together – national championships included.

FIN 31031 – Sirkku Ala-Harja, Mai Järvinen, Hanna Heikkilä – 20p.

• Sirkku (along with Kai, Matias, Mika, Satu and Julianna!) is part of the 2025 board and helps organize events in the upcoming season.
• Sirkku also took part in the European Cup during the 2024 season.

FIN 31290 – Jukka Kotisalo, Julianna Perttala, Pekka Toija – 30p.

• Jukka, no stranger to international competitions, finds time for Snipe among his other sailing-related activities.

The winner, Kai, reflected on the past season in his own article (https://snipe.fi/fi/node/3035) as follows:

“I am grateful to be able to sail among great company in this versatile class. A special thanks goes to these young guys – Miro showed his excellence as crew in the ranking series and Matias in the Nordic Championships in Norway.”

A full listing of 2024 results is provided as an attachment.

The official 2025 Snipe season starts in Finland with a training camp in May. An important 2025 event is the Open Nordic Championships that will be hosted in Kotka, Finland in early August – NoR will be published in early 2025, stay tuned!