2025 Finn Sailing Academy Vilamoura experience (By Sander Jorissen)

Finn Sailing Academy Vilamoura experience

Sometimes you get lucky in life. It happened to me during the Dutch masters
championship last may – I won a week training at the Finn Sailing Academy in
Vilamoura. That turned out to be a fantastic experience with Felipe Silva ! Felipe, who won the
master worlds in 2023, has a huge experience in the Finn and enjoys transferring his
knowhow to others. Also, Felipe has some houses in Vilamoura so the group stays
close together.

Spring starts in Vilamoura in February. Daily temperatures in the high teens, water
about 15C, and moderate winds make life very nice indeed. Vilamoura is a big sailing
centre, with a number of national sailing teams training in the 49ers and ILCA
dinghy’s to escape the winter cold in their own countries. You can’t blame them !
As an experienced racing sailor but not very experienced in the Finn, I was looking
forward to getting some proper instruction. Felipe starts the day at 11 with a briefing,
followed by about 3 hours on the water. Especially the first day we had to cope with
the remnants of a big storm, yielding a swell of 3 metres – challenging if this is your
first time with the Finn at sea!

Felipe is always close on the water, giving advice and filming to be able to show your
performance on video later on. The boats are a mix of Fantastica’s and Classics and
all in good shape. Everybody changes boat every day to feel the differences between
them. Short races for boat handling and longer upwind / downwind stretches to
improve your boatspeed are part of the programme.

Every evening at 6 we have a 2 hr debrief, going over all aspects of Finn sailing, from
basic trim, downwind sailing to tackticks. One evening is dedicated to sailmaking,
another on the video’s of the day – sometimes very confronting if you see yourself
messing up. Evenings are filled with nice dinners in one of the restaurants in the neighbourhood,
getting to know your Finn friends better.

Conclusion: Weather you are a Finn beginner or an experienced racer, you will leave
a training week in Vilamoura as a happy and better Finn sailor!

Sander Jorissen
NED 966