Gladesville sailor Finn Alexander rings in new year with a world championship

Gladesville’s Finn Alexander welcomes in 2017 with national and world sailing titles

Finn Alexander at the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships. Source: Pedro Martinez/ Sailing Energy/ World Sailing

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Not many people have had a better start to 2017 than Finn Alexander.

The 18 year-old sailor from Gladesville kicked off his year by claiming first place in the U/21 category of the Australian Laser Nationals in Adelaide.

This was just mere days after celebrating New Years by winning gold in the Laser Radial Boys Class at the 2016 Youth Sailing World Championships in New Zealand.

“It was an amazing experience,” Finn said.

“The World Championships is set up a lot like the Olympics, with 600 of the best athletes in the world.

“Overall it was a great way to start off the year.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Finn, however, as he had to overcome a disqualification on the first day of competition.

Finn getting some practice in on the water at Riverview. Picture: David Swift

“A Danish sailor filed a protest against me, which was definitely a little bit of a surprise,” he said. “I got home that night pretty frustrated but I knew I had to just get on with it and from then on I couldn’t sail a bad race.

“It’s something I’ve been working towards for a long time, so I knew I was going to come out pretty well.”

After enjoying a couple of weeks of well-earned rest and relaxation at home, Finn says he’ll get back in the boat towards the end of the month to prepare for the season ahead.

“There’s some competitions in France, Italy and Holland this year, so I’m sure it will be a pretty good adventure.”