Meet world's best match racing skippers | Ruairi Finnegan

Editor’s note:

The 2023 World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) Shenzhen•Bao'an Final and World Bay Area Regatta came to a close Sunday. Twelve of the world’s best match racing skippers from nine countries competed in the final. Between intense training and matches, the skippers gave us interviews, talking about their training, their goals and their observations during their visit to Shenzhen.

编者按：

2023世界帆船对抗巡回赛深圳•宝安总决赛暨世界湾区帆船赛已落下帷幕。来自九个国家的12位世界顶级水平的帆船赛事船长和船队参加了这场赛事，给本地居民呈现了一场近距离、高竞技、强对抗，观赏性极强的顶级帆船比赛。在紧张的训练和比赛间隙，12位船长们接受了我们的采访，畅谈赛前训练，比赛目标以及他们在深圳的所见所闻。

Video by Liu Xudong

Ruairi Finnegan（鲁伊里•费尼根）

World Sailing Ranking 世界帆联排名: NO.36

Leaderboard of World Match Racing Tour 世界帆船对抗巡回赛排名: NO.16

Nationality 国籍: Ireland 爱尔兰

Team 队名: Craic'n Racing

Crew 队员: Noah Fisher, Daniel Little, Ryan Fitzgerald

Ruairi Finnegan, an Irish sailor from the Waterford Harbour Sailing Club in Dunmore East, Waterford, began sailing at the age of 4. He swiftly progressed to a high level of competition, representing Ireland in both the Optimist and Laser classes on the national squads at European and World championships. In 2020, he moved to Boston, USA, where he started match racing and quickly began receiving invitations to compete in the US Grand Slam Series, a member of the WMRT, in 2021 and 2022. This year is Ruairi’s first full campaign on the WMRT, competing in numerous European and USA Tour events.

A fun fact about Ruairi: he was born in the Matilda Hospital in Hong Kong and lived there for 4 years. This upcoming visit will be his first return to Hong Kong since leaving in 2000, and he plans to revisit the Matilda Hospital to place his handprint on the wall. This will also be his first time sailing in China!

鲁埃里（Ruairi）是一名爱尔兰水手，来自沃特福德东邓莫尔的沃特福德港帆船俱乐部（Waterford Harbour Sailing Club）。他 4 岁起就开启了他的航海生涯。2020 年，他移居美国波士顿，开始参加对抗赛，并很快收到了2021 年和 2022 年美国大满贯系列赛（WMRT 的一部分）的邀请。鲁埃里已经在欧洲和美国参与了多场巡回赛，今年他将首次参加WMRT的完整赛事。

关于鲁埃里的一件趣事：他出生在香港明德医院，在香港生活了 4 年。即将到来的这次访问将是他自 2000 年离开香港后首次重返故土。他计划重访明德医院，在墙上留下自己的手印。这也将是他第一次在中国扬帆启航！