Experienced New Zealand Finn fleet targets Australian and world titles in February
New Zealand will send one of its strongest Finn fleets in recent years to Brisbane this February, with a 12-strong team contesting three major international regattas at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron: the 2026 Australian Finn Championships, the Finn Gold Cup and the Finn World Masters.
A squad of proven performers and experienced campaigners, including Karl Purdie, Ray Hall, Richard Hawkins, Tony Bierre, Rob Coutts, Andrew Duncan, Paul Bamford, Chris Wells, Denis Mowbray, Mark Perrow and Joe Spooner, will take on the rest of the world across all divisions.
The Brisbane regatta series is expected to attract one of the strongest Finn fleets seen in the Southern Hemisphere in years. The Australian Finn Championships will lead into the Finn Gold Cup - the class's premier world championship - where the standard will be particularly high, with Olympians and world champions joining a strong European contingent making the journey down under. The programme concludes with the Finn World Masters, which is set to draw more than 100 sailors aged 40 and over from around the world.
New Zealand's campaign will be spearheaded by double world OK Dinghy champion and multiple class national champion Purdie, current national Finn champion and 2024 Sail Brisbane winner Hall, both of Plimmerton Boating Club, and 2023 national Finn champion Hawkins (pictured), also a multiple Ross 780 national title holder.
Hall said the 2026 campaign signals a growing confidence within New Zealand Finn sailing.
"This is one of the most capable and well‑prepared Finn teams we’ve sent overseas in years," he said. "The mix of experience, talent, and determination across the squad gives us real confidence heading into Brisbane."
The team will base itself in Queensland throughout February, training together between regattas. The Finn, long regarded as one of sailing's most demanding single-handed classes, has a storied history in New Zealand, with many of the country’s top sailors having tested themselves at the highest level in the boat.
Related news
Wild weather in the north of the country has brought an early end to the 2026 ILCA national championships at Bay of Islands Yacht Club, with torrential overnight rain across parts of Northland forcing the cancellation of the final day’s racing.
New Zealand's top ILCA sailors are in hot pursuit of the internationals after two days of racing at the ILCA national championships in the Bay of Islands, with the visitors leading in two of the fleets.
It’s tight at the top of the leaderboard after a challenging opening day of the New Zealand ILCA national championships in the Bay of Islands, with world-class names already locked in close contests across the fleets off Russell.
