Zsombor Berecz crossed the finish line of the 2018 Finn Gold Cup medal race at the Hempel Sailing World Championships 2018 in Aarhus, Denmark in first place. With his win he made history: he became the first Hungarian sailor to ever win a major Finn championship and the first to win in an Olympic class as well.
The fleet had been tight all week and going into the medal race any of eight boats could still win and everyone had a shot at a medal. However the weather cooperated with hot sunshine returning and a reasonably stable 9-12 knots onshore breeze. Berecz tried to put how he felt into words,
It’s amazing. I know what it means for me and I know what it means to my team and my country and I tell you it’s a big thing. Everybody who sails the Finn dreams about winning this. Now it came true. It’s amazing.
Berecz led all the way round the course to cross the line first, while defending champion Max Salminen took the silver while Pieter-Jan Postma won bronze. With Berecz’s historic win, Hungary is now on the 18th place on the all time rankings of the sport. Below, you can see the celebration as he arrives at Alsóörs, Hungary:
Berecz became the most successful Hungarian Finn sailor in 2016 with a silver medal at the European Championships, but this year has been hard for him. He broke his thumb just before the Europeans in Cádiz this March and he was out of sailing for four months recovering. He said after winning the race:
If someone told me I would win this event, I would not have believed them, because I had four months off because I broke my thumb, and it was a tough four months. I only had one and half months training before these worlds, but I spent it really well and it worked out.
The next Finn Gold Cup, in Melbourne, Australia, is not taking place before December 2019, so Berecz will be the world champion of the Finn class for at least one and a half year.
via index.hu, finnclass.org