1959
For the first time in the history of yachting more than 100 boats gathered for a regatta -at the 1959 Gold Cup in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen, in front of the home of Elvstrom. Paul was the host and dominator of the event. At the AGM it was decided not to collect any payments for one year, since there was no good use for the money already collected in the previous years. Everyone agreed that a Finn bulletin as required in the Finn rules would be a good thing. However nobody was prepared to be the Editor.   
Bengt Hornevall
third President
1960-1962
 Harald Bredo Eriksen
fourth President
1962-1964
 Vernon Stratton Secretary 1961-1964 President 1964-1971
 
There was a basic discussion about the one-design status of the Finn Class. One view was, you may only do what the rules allow and nothing else, the other, you may not do what the rules specifically forbid, but you can do anything else. In the following years the Class adopted the latter option which allowed the Finn to remain the leading centreboard class. In order to allow more modern construction methods, the need was recognised to control the centre of gravity. By 1959 Richard Creagh-Osborne previously only known as a good helmsman started to help the IFA secretary Richard Murray on technical matters. On specific questions Rickard Sarby was asked for advice.
 1960
The Finn was well established internationally by 1960, being the Olympic monotype for the third time. Participation at the Gold Cup in the UK suffered from the preparations of many nations for the Olympics in Italy only two months later. Also at the AGM only 8 nations were represented. Bengt Hornevall, therepresentative of Sweden and organiser of the 1957 Gold Cup, was elected as the third president of the IFA. Richard Murray was reelected as secretary. Again a serious attempt was made to produce a Finn Bulletin. Richard Murray asked each nation to answer a sort of questionnaire. From the responses he hoped to be able to put together a Finn Bulletin. However he never received any replies.
 
A campaign resulted in the selection of the Finn as the Olympic monotype for 1964.
In about 1960 a double clew at the tack of the sail was developed in order to control the shape of the sail, later called the Cunningham.

1961
At the 1961 Gold Cup plastic boats were allowed to participate for the first time. Because the first three boats were made from GRP many owners felt that their old wooden hulls were inferior. The US built plastic boat of Fred. H. Miller jr. caused great concern because of superior speed. However Fred did not only bring a sensational boat but also a startling magazine 'FINNFARE'. Up to that time the official United States bulletin, it was adopted as the official IFA publication.

Richard Murray resigned as secretary and after some discussion Vernon Stratton agreed to take the job. Bengt Hornevall was reelected as President. In order to pay for an assistant to the Secretary and also for the publication of FINNFARE more money was needed. The dues remained at 5 shillings for each boat but was to be collected from each active Finn sailor. A proposal to hold the Gold Cup outside Europe in regular intervals was defeated.

After the Gold Cup many sailors ordered new GRP boats from HVM (Holland) or Elvstrom (Denmark). In addition to the irritation because of the superiority of the plastic boats over wooden hulls, Richard Creagh-Osborne discovered severe discrepancies between the official table of offsets and the official templates. The IYRU became concerned about the one-design status of the Finn Class.

1962
When the measurement committee at the 1962 Gold Cup discovered some hidden lead in the plastic boat which Arne Akerson had bought from Fred H. Miller the year before, the chaos was perfect and the Class about to fall apart. Bengt Hornevall resigned as president. The moral host of the Gold Cup Harald Bredo Eriksen, vernacular Big Apple, accepted the vacant position on the condition that a capable Technical Committee be formed to cope with the pending measurement problems. The Englishman Richard Creagh-Osborne was elected Chairman, Rickard Sarby and Ole With (Norway) members. The Technical Committee had to draft new rules for wooden and plastic boats alike in order to assure the one-design status of the Finn. The obsolete table of offsets had to be replaced by a new template-system. Uniform instructions for measurers had to be issued. The IYRU and the forthcoming Olympics in Tokyo put a tremendous time pressure upon the work of the honorary members including President Eriksen who actively participated in the drafting of the new control system.
 
 

Rickard Sarby was pessimistic that a workable set of rules could be enforced. Sarby had sailed against the ex-Miller Newport Finn in Sweden and observed that it responded twice as quickly to waves than a conventional wooden boat or a plastic boat with normal weight distribution. Rickard came up with the suggestion to control the location of the centre of gravity athwart by a leaning test and later also longitudinally by controlling the bow weight with the hull supported at station 3. We now know that these rules did not solve the problem technically: not until ten years later when Gilbert Lamboley provided the technically correct answer. However the centre of gravity rules coped with the situation psychologically. The owners of conventional boats felt that the one-design principle was secured. And the leading forces within the IYRU were put at ease and kept the Finn as the Olympic monotype. Rickard Sarby most likely had sensed these correlations intuitively but remained silent until the proper new rules were adopted in 1974.

While Paul himself had withdrawn from active Firm sailing by 1962, Elvstrom GRP boats, Elvstrom masts, and Elvstrom sails were the most common equipment in 1962. Andre Nelis remained also second behind Paul in the development of the HVM Finn. However the US built Newport Finns were said to be the fastest boats. Of the 133 boats at the Gold Cup 50 were made of plastic.
Aside of the problems with the Technical Committee, Big Apple Eriksen also had to cope with difficulties concerning the production of FINNFARE. Fred Miller was an idealistic enthusiast but unreliable and frequently entangled in fights with the US Finn Association. He constantly asked for money but never produced any receipts. To improve the situation the Secretary Vernon Stratton became European co-editor of FINNFARE.
A third problem plagued the Finn Class: pumping. The conservative sailors despised pumping, the young aggressive hot-shots practised it, and the responsible forces within the IFA and the IYRU could not agree upon an answer. 
Vernon Stratton (K 144) leads Hubert Raudaschl (OE 31)
 
 1963
The waves of the previous year were still heavily rocking the Finn. The Technical Committee was fighting a war on two fronts. Drafting the new set of rules and accompanying documents required tedious and attentive work in order to obtain the approval of the IYRU. At the same time eager boat builders urgently asked for instructions, and measurers asked for guidance in order to satisfy the high demand for new boats. There were already more than 3000 boats registered in 39 nations. The Gold Cup in Medemblik had 162 entries from 22 nations. Fred Miller kept up with his tradition of causing trouble at the Gold Cup. He developed a new boat on the basis of the Newport Finn with Wesco Marine in California and claimed it had such fabulous performance that it outmoded the existing 3000 Finns all over the world over night.
Fred Miller (left),
Henry Sprague (right)
 
Then he talked young gifted Henry Sprague into the adventure to transport that dinghy to the Gold Cup where it was measured, found not to be a Finn (breaking several rules), and was refused entry. The story ended with Fred H. Miller jr. fighting with everybody: with the Dutch measurers for only pecking at the Wesco Finn and letting 161 other illegal Finns sail; with Richard Creagh-Osborne for drafting rules and issuing interpretations specifically biassed against the Wesco Finn; with Wesco Marine for not following his instructions; and Sprague sr. and jr. because of the scandal in Medemblik.

The Europeans with Big Apple Eriksen as president and Vernon Stratton as secretary transferred the editorship of FINNFARE to Jack Knights in the UK. At the 1963 AGM, rules for the conduct of the Gold Cup and major championships were issued.
 

By 1963 the flexible Finn rig was developed to such a degree that lighter helmsmen were also able to compete successfully. The light-weight skippers gained an advantage over the heavy-weight people on the reaches and runs where Finn sailing became more dynamic.

By 1963 the new Technical Committee with Richard Creagh-Osborne as the Chairman was about to get the template problem under control. The shape of the hull was redefined on a sheet of aluminium by Fairey Marine under the direction of Charles Currey, silver medalist of the 1952 Olympics, and new templates were made.
 

1964
While the basic proposals of the Technical Committee to control wooden and plastic boats alike were approved by the IYRU in November 1963, the most significant contribution to the one-design credibility of the Finn Class was accomplished by an active sailor. Hubert Raudaschl won the 1964 Gold Cup with a homemade wooden hull, his homemade mast, and a homemade sail. For about 10 years wooden boats proved to be at least equal if not superior to plastic hulls: Kuhweide won the Gold Cup twice and later Bruder won it three times in wooden boats. This was before the Lamboley test was introduced, and gave the Finn Class time to digest the shock of the early sixties after the approval of plastic for the construction of the hull.

1964 also brought a change in the leadership of the IFA. According to Heidi Auer the Secretary Vernon Stratton lobbied successfully against the President and managed to be elected. In accordance with Vernon Stratton and the minutes of the AGM, Big Apple was unable to continue, Mr. Stratton initially refused but was finally persuaded to take the burden and Dr. Fred Auer accepted the post of Honorary Secretary. This was the beginning of a new eventful chapter of the IFA, earmarked to end with an even more dramatic coup d'etat. In that same AGM Vernon Forster was elected to fill the newly created position of Class Measurer as a paralysing horror for ingenious builders and top competitors.

At the 1963 November meeting of the IYRU it had been decided to announce a vacancy for a new singlehander. However, soon after the 1964 Olympics it was decided to keep the Finn as the Olympic monotype for  
Hubert Raudaschl
won the 1964 Gold Cup with a wooden boat
 
1968. The prolific work of the Technical Committee under Richard Creagh-Osborne had convinced the IYRU just in time that the Finn was still the best international singlehander.

1965
The crisis was under control. Vernon Forster gave the old boats at the Gold Cup in Poland which did not measure in every little detail according to the new rules one last warning. Two wooden boats from the German Democratic Republic came first and second in the world championship proving the one-design character of the Finn Class.
Since the Finn Class was expanding rapidly the Honorary President and the Honorary Secretary, even with the help of his indefatigable wife Heidi, were not able to cope with the work load. Therefore four so called link-officers were elected to support the executive committee. The energy or interest of Jack Knights to produce FINNFARE had faded away and the Auers had to do most of the work. So a new editor was found in Belgium: Manfred Schiller.

1966
Willy Kuhweide won the Gold Cup with а wooden Raudaschl hull and Hubert the European Championship with guess what type of boat. Elvstrom still had 50% of the sail market. The Class had further expanded to 4000 sailors from 45 nations. A new rale book was issued as the climax of Richard Creagh-Osborne Technical Committee's endeavours. In order to create some trouble for the sake of excitement it was suggested to test new materials for making spars. The problems of the years to come were casting their shadows ahead.

The 1966 AGM acknowledged the actual power structure of the IFA by electing Dr. Fred and Heidi Auer as the Honorary Secretary. Vernon Stratton suggested to limit the duration of a presidency and remained president himself for another five years since no one wanted the job.
 
 
The first suggestions for the control of the distribution of matter in the hull were discussed already in 1966 which would allow for the further development of the Finn Class. In order to get hold of more financial support from eastern European countries the Junior European Championship was invented at the 1966 AGM.

1967
Publications about the Finn had a boom in 1967. Curd Ochwadt wrote his 'Finn Fibel Elvstrom and Creagh-Osborne published the 'Expert Dinghy Racing' with many references to the Finn and the AGM decided to print an IFA Handbook 'as soon as possible', although nothing was published until Peter Mohilla's FINNLOG nearly twenty years later. Earlier it was not possible. Paul Miller from the US kindly agreed to become the Class Record Officer and to publish that IFA Handbook.
 
The 1967 Gold Cup was the climax of Chief Measurer Vernon Forster's rale of horror. He discovered the secret of the fast Raudaschl wooden hulls, ruling out a hollow keel section at station 1. Even Willy Kuhweide had to plane down the aft section of his 'Darling'. However this did not prevent him from winning the Gold Cup for the third time.

Acknowledging the world-wide distribution of the Finn it was agreed that the Gold Cup should be organised outside of Europe every four years. Centre of gravity, double bottoms, thickness of hulls, sandwich construction and basically the control of the distribution of matter were the burning yet unsolved problems of the Technical Committee under Richard Creagh-Osborne in 1967. 
 
Dr. Roland Langer (Austria) started to work on a new constitution for the IFA but did not get too far. The task was taken over by others in the years to come and was completed in 1971.

1968
High points of the season 1968 were the successful Olympics in Acapulco and a disastrous Gold Cup in Whitstable, UK. The poor organisation of that Gold Cup caused the IFA to adopt new rules for the Gold Cup and the European Championships.

Vernon Stratton and the Auers stayed in power with 9 link officers to support them. The Technical Committee still chaired by Richard Creagh-Osborne was reinforced by Gilbert Lamboley. Mr. Michael Gilchrist was elected Editor of Finnfare unanimously never to publish a single copy. Vernon Stratton himself continued to do all the work. Paul Miller USA claimed to make progress with the Class records and the IFA Year Book but never to burst into print either. 
Heidi Auer, IFA secretary
 

By 1968 Bruder and Raudaschl developed a new mast-sail concept. They went back 15 years to stiff masts with relatively flat sails going fast and pointing high in light to medium winds. By making the top of the mast very flexible sideways the leach was freed in heavy weather, thus not overpowering a normal size skipper. Successful tests with aluminium and fibreglass masts and Raudaschl sails made of different material in the top section (tracked down and prohibited at the Gold Cup) were pointing in the direction of future development.

1969
Although the rules permitted aluminium and plastic masts in 1969 only Jack Knights brought a strange non-wooden mast to the Gold Cup in Bermuda. The AGM solved all the pending problems in regard with the constitution, the rales for the Gold Cup and the Major Championships, and the internal management of the IFA by referring the details to the subcommittee of the link officers. In accordance with the minutes of the AGM all the problems were solved: in reality hardly anything happened. The Auers suggested a Veterans Finn World Championship for sailors over 40 years of age.
 
 
Paul Elvstrom improved his Firm and turned up once again at the Gold Cup to take the cup for those over 40 years of age. By 1969 the old boom wedges were replaced by kicking straps between mast and boom. This resulted in a change of the sailing technique on the reaches and runs.

1970
By 1970 the Bruder mast and Raudaschl sail combination reached its climax. However David Hunt, with his star pilot Patrick Pym, was working hard to make the new aluminium Needlespar mast go fast. The big question mark of the time was which equipment would be used at the forthcoming 1972 Olympics in Kiel. The 1970 AGM was very concerned about the IFA accounts approaching bankruptcy.

Vernon Stratton was reelected president and Heidi Auer (for the first time not together with Dr. Fred) as secretary and treasurer. Richard Creagh-Osborne was not able to attend the AGM and Gilbert Lamboley was elected as the new Chairman of the Technical Committee. Dr. Fred Auer was elected as Chairman of the Link Officers. The proposed new constitution was rejected by the AGM. Dr. Fred Auer was asked to prepare a new suggestion with the help of two lawyers.
 
Gilbert Lamboley, Chairman of the Technical Committee 1970-1980

Rickard Sarby made a proposal to adopt a special smaller 'Storm Sail' for strong winds. Since the Contender was being considered as the monotype for the 1976 Olympics, suggestions were made to modernise the Finn with larger sails, longer masts, a shorter boom, and sliding seats. However the AGM refused all proposals to change the Finn dramatically and the boat remained in principle as designed in 1949.