Norway’s Anders Pedersen extended his lead at the Porsche Centre Brisbane 2026 Finn Gold Cup with two more race wins in somewhat hairy conditions on the second day of the event. The event is being very ably hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, in Brisbane, Australia. The top three remain the same with Alessandro Marega from Italy in second and Australia’s Anthony Nossiter in third.
With a forecast of 15-25 knots, with gusts on the water of up to 28 knots, the slightly reduced Finn Gold Cup fleet set sail for two more races in Moreton Bay. Some boats turned around and went home due to the stiff winds, but conditions moderated as rainclouds approached and the second race was sailed in steadier 15-18 knots, accompanied by intermittent sunshine.
Australia’s Kane Sinclair led the first race of the day in the longest first upwind in living memory at 2.2 nautical miles, rounding ahead after a large left shift from Pedersen and Australia’s Rob McMillan. However, Pedersen took the lead on the second, much shorter beat, finishing ahead of Marega and Australia’s Brendan Casey.
The second race was more typical, with Pedersen starting well at the pin and building a sizeable lead around the course, winning from Nossiter and Spain’s Rafa Trujillo. Only 42 boats finished both races. However, the cold and wet weather has hopefully subsided with sailors pleased to see the return of sunshine and temperatures in the mid-20s.
Joe Spooner is back in the class for the first time in 28 years. He stated, “It was a tough day on the water today. I haven’t sailed these things for 28 years. My last Gold Cup was in Athens in 1998. It’s great to be back out there today. Not sure what we saw for max breeze but it must have been 25 to 30 knots at max peak. It was a tough course. The legs are still handling in. Good to go around the track and a really good fleet with quality sailing.” Spooner is currently in eighth overall.
On the rest of the week, Spooner expressed, “Looking forward to some lighter breezes but hopefully not too light so we can hike out. But yeah, it’s been good.” Brendan Casey commented on his fourth place position, stating, “Just finished Day 2 here at the Porsche Centre Brisbane Finn Gold Cup. What an amazing four races we’ve had. Anders from Norway, well how do I say this, he’s like the Porsche GTS Turbo. He’s won all four races and is doing great.”
Rafa Trujillo had a better day as he moved up to fifth. He noted, “We had a big shift in both races. The first race we had a 35-degree lefty that complicated the upwind even more. The second race featured a 10-degree shift with consistent wind over 18 knots. Anders is in another league. The rest of the competitors are tightly battling under tough conditions, trying to survive.”
A shout out goes to Valerian Lebrun from France, who risked his boat and himself to help a fellow sailor in trouble, who had capsized 400 metres downwind of the course area and was unable to right his boat. With a support boat assisting in the waves and high winds, Lebrun traded places, righted the boat, and got back to his own Finn just in time for the start of Race 4. Bravo, Valerian!
Pedersen has now won all four races, with two victories coming from behind and two by a significant margin. The event now moves into a new phase, with lighter winds expected as temperatures increase toward 30 degrees Celsius.
Racing continues on Tuesday with two more races scheduled, running through to Thursday. Three days and six races remain to determine the 2026 Finn World Champion.
Results after four races:
- NOR 1 Anders Østre Pedersen 4
- ITA 1103 Alessandro Marega 12
- AUS 221 Anthony Nossiter 19
- AUS 11 Brendan Casey 21
- ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo 26
- AUS 2 Rob McMillan 28
- FRA 111 Valerian Lebrun 32
- NZL 54 Joe Spooner 50
- AUS 37 James Bevis 51
- POR 21 Filipe Silva 51
For full results, visit here.
Day 2 gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720332039492
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