Bas de Waal takes lead in Finn Grand Slam after Varberg Championship
by Robert Deaves 25 Aug 12:51 UTC
21-23 August 2026
Bas de Waal, from The Netherlands, has taken the overall lead after Leg 5 of the 2026 Word Tour for Finns Grand Slam. 44 Finns ventured to the Varberg Grand Slam in Sweden for seven races in a range of conditions from 5 to 25 knots.
Britain's John Greenwood moves up to second overall with former leader Valerian Lebrun, from France, down to third.
Grand Slam Varberg
The first ever combined Swedish and Danish Finn Championship opened in Varberg, Sweden, with some great conditions with two races in 10-15 knots and some steep, but short waves. While the race wins went to Finland's Aleksi Saarni and Sweden's Olof Lundqvist, Denmark's Otto Strandvig led overall after the opening day from Harald Weichert from Germany and Lundqvist.
Saarni made the best of the second day after two more races to take the overall lead. Fellow Finn Niklas Toroi won the opening race to move up to third, while Strandvig dropped one to second, despite winning the final race of the day. It was a day of two halves with a very light opening race, then a long wait before the forecast westerly came in at 10-12 knots and rapidly rising to 20-24 knots, after which the race committee sent the fleet home.
After three tough races on the final day, Strandvig did enough to win overall. With the breeze building through the day from 8 to 20 knots, it was another tough test. He was chased hard by a group of young and promising sailors with Saarni narrowly missing the title by just two points. Poland's Bartosz Szydlowski sailed the best last day to move up to third. The race winners on Sunday were Szydlowski, Sweden's Peter Overup and Strandvig.
The event was also the second and final leg of the Scandinavian Cup, taking in the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish Championships.
Silvaplana and Berlin are next
236 sailors have now taken part in at least one event with four more to go. The series continues with Leg 6: Grand Slam Silvaplana from 2-6 September, and Leg 7: Grand Slam Berlin from 7-11 September.
The inaugural WTF Grand Slam is a European-focused circuit featuring nine events across eight nations from April to October, showcasing some iconic venues and events. With the best four results counting toward the overall ranking, the series will ultimately lead into the Grand Final at the 2027 Finn Gold Cup in La Rochelle.
The ranking so far can be found here
Results after 5 Events: