ROLf elsässer INTERVIEW - GER 202
we are on
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Finn sailor since 1981, Rolf Elsässer has been on the A Masters Committee since it was first instigated in 2004. He has seen three Masters Presidents come and go, so has a unique perspective of the Finn Masters. Though he started sailing at birth, after a gap of some years he came back to the sport at age 30.
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It started in a Pirat dinghy. “My parents bought a dinghy, a Pirat (a German national class), in the year of my birth and I was always included when they went out sailing. Later we had a small keelboat, located on Lake Constance. After my parents stopped sailing and the boats were sold, I also stopped sailing and started competitive skiing and worked as a ski trainer.” “A parent of one of my students, who was a sailor, took me to a regatta. It was great fun, and some weeks later I started to look for a dinghy. In order to be flexible it had to be singlehanded with regattas within easy reach and without long journeys. The answer was a Finn. I bought a used one, which turned out later to be non-compliant, without any idea how to sail such kind of a boat. But I learned fast, on and in the water.” “This happened in 1981 when I turned 30. I like competitive singlehanded sailing with friends at interesting locations. Since you sail alone, it’s always your fault.” The Finn Masters has special importance. “I like the international atmosphere, the very competitive races, the friendships with Finn sailors from all over the world, and not least enjoying some drinks with friends from all over the world after a nice day on the water.” He also enjoys yacht racing. “Yacht sailing is always a pleasure. I have enjoyed trips with friends in the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea. Once I crossed the Atlantic, which was a very special experience. I like short races, cruising along a coast, and to see very different landscapes and places.” Rolf cannot remember how many Masters he has competed in but thinks it is around 20, since his first in La Rochelle, in 1996. “I can remember almost all of them, but it is hard to identify the best memory. I remember every Masters for something awesome. La Rochelle in 1996 was my first Masters, first time on the Atlantic and with an impressively enormous tide. Kingston, Canada, in 2001, was the smallest fleet ever. In Barbados, sailing in the Caribbean Sea with sea turtles and flying fishes, in huge waves and strong winds are probably the most impressionable memories. Sopot and La Rochelle were challenging, and the friendliest atmosphere was in Kavala, and so on. For any venue I can remember something special.” COMMITTEE The Masters Committee was founded in 2004 to assist the President as the event started to outgrow its original size. As well as Rolf, it consisted of Rolf Lehnert as President, David Branch, Mike Till, Jean Paul Gaston, Jiri Outrata and Henk de Jager. “In the beginning the Masters were more or less a kind of fun regatta. Friends decided to have racing and fun in the sun. But the fleet became bigger and bigger and it was obvious that we had to take the organisation to another level.” “At the Annual Masters Meeting that year, the audience were asked for volunteers to join the committee. By chance I was sitting in first row, and the German Finn President, Friedrich Müller, sitting beside me, dragged me on stage, to be elected. We started almost from scratch, and developed
FINN MASTERS MAGAZINE & YEARBOOK 2021
