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"470 Europeans: A Good Day For The Greeks "Finn Gold Cup: Wright and Trujillo battle for supremacy; Railey Tied for 5th "Zack Railey sits in Second Place at the Finn Gold Cup
"470 Europeans: A Good Day For The Greeks
As the 2010 Open 470 European Championships shifted from the qualification stage to the finals, the Greek teams moved up the rankings.
In the morning the two men’s qualifying fleets headed out to decide their final of six heats before they were reshuffled into Gold and Silver for the finals.
It was light, medium, strong all at the same time, depending on where you were on the race course, as the breeze poured over the top of the high-rise flats on the Asian side of Istanbul. Massive wind shifts meant no one could ever consider themselves safe. However Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl of the USA took an early lead in their heat, and held their nerve for victory.
In the other fleet, French team Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion finally showed some of the form that has won them every major Junior 470 title, winning their side of the draw. However, after retiring from a race yesterday with a broken mast, that qualifying race win was still not sufficient to drag the young French up into the Gold fleet. “Now we have to see if we can win the Silver fleet,” said Mion, who went on to win the first race of Silver and now lies in second, a point behind the Silver leaders, Joonas and Niklas Lindgren from Finland.
At the end of qualifying, defending European Champions Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic of Croatia had moved into a narrow lead, and then the men’s fleet relaxed ashore during the early afternoon while some protests were heard.
Meanwhile the women were out on the water battling through three long and gruelling races. At the end of those three races, the reigning European Champions, Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol of Italy are still leading, but not by as much as they might have hoped. They started well enough with a 1,2, but fell from grace in the final, windiest race of the day with a 17th. Although they can discard this result at the moment, the Italians have been forced to count a 16th from the first race of the regatta. “We didn’t start the race so well, we weren’t that fast, and we got held up from hoisting the spinnaker on the first reach,” explained Micol. “But still we are 10 points ahead of the Danish and so really we should be happy.”
The Danish team of Henriette Koch and Lene Sommer moved up to 2nd overall with a solid day in very challenging conditions. “It was about being in the right place at the right time, using the pressure when you could find it. You had to sail your own race but stay with the fleet too,” said Koch.
Aside from the Italians, the other two race winners in the women’s fleet were a mix of the young and the not so young. Former Optimist World Champion Tina Lutz, sailing with Susann Beucke, won the seventh race of the series by a country mile. These two German sailors are still young enough to be racing in 470 Junior competition but this year have been focusing on the big senior regattas.
Meanwhile the Austrian team of Sylvia Vogl and Carolina Flatscher are dipping their toe back into 470 racing after taking more than a year’s break. The lay-off seems to have done them little harm, as the veterans led round the first mark of today’s final race, hoisted their spinnaker and shot down the track. They got a bit worried when no one was hoisting behind them. “Sylvia kept asking me if we were sailing to the right mark,” said Flatscher, “but luckily we were going in the right direction and we extended the gap.” The conservatism of the rest of the fleet played into the hands of the Austrians, which was just as well for them. On the second upwind leg, their mast puller broke and they could no longer control the mast as they would like, and they started slowing down. Even so, they held on to win the race and now move up to 6th overall.
In the afternoon, with the men’s fleet divided into Gold and Silver, the men set about racing in the strong and shifty breezes blasting off the Istanbul shore. Some likened it to the Meltemi breeze of Athens, which is perhaps why the Greeks looked so good today. After the three-bullet dominance of British sailors Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell yesterday, the scores over the last five races of 1,2,2,1,2 are now starting to make Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis look like the class act of Istanbul. They have now moved to the top of the leaderboard, displacing the Croatians by a single point.
The Israeli team, Gideon Kliger and Eran Sela, hold third place but breathing hard down their necks is another Greek team in fourth overall, Panagiotis Kampouridis and Theodoros Polychronidis, thanks to 2,3 scores in this afternoon’s Gold fleet racing.
“A great day,” said Pavlos Kagialis. “We had good speed, we enjoyed the shifty breeze, and if you are fast it becomes easier. We like the strong winds, we like it very much. Good fun. It is great that our team mates are doing well too. We have the same coach and we train together all the time.”
Just as the Austrian girls profited from the excess caution of their rivals down the spinnaker reach, so too did the Greeks throw caution to the wind, hoisting their spinnakers immediately and sailing underneath and through their less daring competitors. Where some sailors looked out of sorts in the massively windy and shifty breezes, the Greeks looked right at home. But with just 15 points separating the top seven, Istanbul has plenty more surprises in store over the coming days.
With the racing now back on schedule, tomorrow the race committee plans to hold two races for all fleets, starting at 1300 hours local time.
The 2010 Open 470 European Championships conclude with the Medal Race on 6 September. The regatta is organised by The Istanbul Sailing Club in co-operation with the International 470 Class Association and the Turkish Sailing Federation.
You can follow the racing live online, via the GPS tracking system, which will be displayed here: www.onlineracetrack.net
"Finn Gold Cup: Wright and Trujillo battle for supremacy; Railey Tied for 5th
After another two windy races, the top five at the Finn Gold Cup in San Francisco maintain their relative positions but Rafa Trujillo (ESP) who scored 1-2 and Ed Wright (GBR) who scored 2-5 increased their lead over the rest of the fleet. Giles Scott (GBR) hangs onto third place after placing 3-6, but it is fast turning into a battle for supremacy between Wright and Trujillo.
The big winds and close competition is also proving something of a hit on the internet with more than 9,000 internet users enjoying the live video stream provided by SailGroove this week. This can be watched this through the event website at www.finngoldcup.com with full commentary during the racing and shore interviews before and after racing. The website also includes all the in-depth regatta reports as well as a Twitter feed sponsored by MotionX by FullPower with comments, mark roundings and latest updates for those unable – or without the time – to watch the live streaming.
Race seven got underway under black flag on the third attempt and again turned into a drag race to the right. Rafa Trujillo (ESP) made the best of the upwind to round just ahead of regatta leader Ed Wright (GBR), Andrew Mills (GBR), Marin Misura (CRO) and Thomas Le Breton (FRA). Wright chose the left side downwind and found more pressure to move past Trujillo but the Spaniard chose more middle ground in the second upwind to retake the lead when Wright went further right. Le Breton moved up to third, but then suffered gear failure on the reaches to the finish to drop to 10th while Giles Scott (GBR) took advantage of that to take third.
Trujillo again led to the top mark in race eight followed by defending champion Jonas Høgh Christensen (DEN), Zach Railey (USA), Wright and Jonathan Lobert (FRA). With the winds topping 22 knots and a very nasty sea running it was probably the toughest race so far, but also according to Trujillo the most fun.
Høgh Christensen (DEN) took the lead on the second beat and the Dane led until the final thrilling stages of the fast spray filled second reach. He rounded the wing mark still in the lead and with the line in sight dug deep to maintain speed and stamina for the final few hundred metres. But coming from behind was Daniel Birgmark (SWE). He had already take Trujillo to leeward and catching a few waves better than Høgh Christensen, surfed through his lee to take the race win by a couple of boatlengths. It was the closest and most exciting finish of the week.
Birgmark said, “I am really enjoying sailing here in San Francisco though I think I am not the fastest upwind. There are about 10-15 boats that are much faster than me upwind, but now in the last race when there was a little bit more shifty conditions I was able to take advantage of that and I was faster on the reaches.”
“The last reach was a lot of fun. I like these broad reaches as it's quite tactical. You have to choose your track and take your chances to go down to get a good position to increase your speed. It's quite challenging. I passed both Rafa and Jonas to leeward and I managed to catch some really good waves to get good speed and I had a good track into the finish.”
“I don't remember winning a race at the worlds before, so I am very happy. Coming into the championship my goal was to be top three, but I had a cold at the beginning of the week and I didn't sail as well as I could have. I have still a lot of work to do but I hope to be top 10. ”
Trujillo said, “We had two really different races today. The first race was a really typical San Francisco race planning your start and trying to go as fast as you can to the right side. The second race was the most fun race of the week we had a lot of shifty conditions and you needed to play the middle. It was completely different and I enjoyed the second one much more than the first one, even though I didn't do as well. The first one was really hard for me with a hard fight with Ed.”
“I realised that the second race would be a key race because it would be easy to pick up a lot of points. I was leading but finished third, but that's OK as the objective for the day was two top 10s . I have a 35th and I cannot make any more mistakes. The legs were 1.8 miles long and Ed went to the left on the downwind and I stayed in the middle and he got better pressure and a shift into the gate and passed me. So I used this information on the second beat and passed him.”
“In the second race we had a lot more options and it was more fun, playing the shifts, looking forward, avoiding the holes. It was really fun.”
Australian growth
For the first time in more years than anyone can remember there is a substantial entry from Australia. An unprecedented eight Australians are competing this week, which is a reflection on the huge growth currently underway in the Australian Finn fleet.
As is often the case, the growth comes down to the enthusiasm drive and commitment of one person, in the case an ex-pat British Finn sailor, Rob McMillan (AUS). McMillan, a three time British National Champion in the Finn is currently lying in 45th position after a 33 and 23 today, his best results so far this week.
“It's my first year back in the class. I had a 10 year break but the objective is steady sailing this year and back to full time sailing next year. But just to be out there competing and racing against these guys is for me an enormous privilege and I wouldn't miss it for the world.”
“We are currently building a really good fleet of Finns in Australia. I am importing Finns down there and we are certainly finding, especially with the Masters, that there is a real niche for the boat and encouragingly for people like Oliver Tweedell, at 19, at his first Gold Cup having come third at the Silver Cup last week and sailing really well in 35th place this week. It's great to see some Australian kids get into the boat.”
“There is a lot of fleet building going on. We have sold around 20-30 boats this year. Some of those are upgrades but some are new people and from a real diverse spectrum and I think we've certainly got the opportunity to sell another 25-30 this year alone. I am hoping we are going to see a Nationals this year with 40-50 boats which will be a massive step change from recent years.”
What keeps him coming back to the Finn, “Well, look, I have sailed the boat for so many years now. My first regatta in the Finn was at Hayling Island in the UK in 1983; I think it was the UK Nationals. There is no other boat like it. The evolution of the boat has been sensibly controlled. The advent of free pumping brings a level of athleticism that is unique to the Finn and the boat today is just such a pleasure to sail. You can still compete as long as you are reasonably fit, so what else would you want to be doing at the weekend or a couple of nights a week, but go sail a Finn. Sounds pretty good to me.”
Crucial races
The final two qualification races are scheduled for Friday before Saturday's medal race. The top five boats have created a 32 point cushion over the rest of the fleet, with just eight points separating the next five boats. Both Wright and Trujillo have a high score they will want to avoid counting so Friday's two races will be crucial for both of them, and with another 10 boats or so looking to make the cut into the top 10, it's going to be an exciting day.
Follow it online at www.finngoldcup.com with live boat tracking from Kattack, live video feed from SailGroove, and live Twitter and blog updates from the Finn Class.
Results after 8 races:
1 GBR 11 Edward Wright 16
2 ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo 26
3 GBR 41 Giles Scott 33
4 FRA 115 Thomas le Breton 38
5 USA 4 Zach Railey 38
6 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 70
7 CRO 25 Marin Misura 72
8 GBR 85 Andrew Mills 73
9 GBR 88 Mark Andrews 75
10 AUS 1 Brendan Casey 78
About the event
The Finn Gold Cup, the world championship of the Olympic Finn class runs from Monday 30 August to Saturday 4th September, with two races scheduled each day at 12.00 each day until Friday and the medal race for the top 10 and the final race for the rest on Saturday.
"Zack Railey sits in Second Place at the Finn Gold Cup
Thomas Le Breton (FRA) takes the lead at the Finn Gold Cup in San Francisco after two third places on Tuesday. Zach Railey (USA) stays in second place while the day belonged to third overall Ed Wright (GBR) after dominating and winning both races.
The day started misty and calm and by 12.00 it was a beautiful sunny day with 5-6 knots on the race area. However the heavy mist rolling in through the Golden Gate was a foreteller of things to come later in the day with a cold breeze quickly building on the first leg to peak out at 22 knots.
Race three started after a general recall with most of the fleet immediately tacking onto port to head to the right hand side. This proved to be the best decision as half way up the beat it was apparent that a massive change was about to take place. While the left side was still experiencing light winds, on the right, it started to increase and when the boats tacked they easily cleared the left.
Emerging from the middle right, Alexey Selivanov (RUS) led round the top mark from Piotr Kula (POL) and Ed Wright (GBR) and Ioannis Mitakis (GRE). Oscar flag for free pumping was raised at the top mark as the wind had already increased from 6 knots to 12 knots. Wright flew down the run to round the gate in the lead from Selivanov, while Gasper Vincec (SLO) had climbed to third.
Again favouring the right hand side, Wright extended on the second upwind, while Vincec climbed to second and Thomas Le Breton climbed to third. The positions stayed the same down the final run as the wind kept increasing to 18-20 knots for some spectacular downwind sailing.
Several of the front runners had a bad race with regatta leader Rafa Trujillo (ESP) climbing from the 50s at the top mark to 35th at the finish, Jonas Høgh Christensen (DEN) finishing 38th and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) in 37th.
After a second general recall race four started in 18-22 knots with the right side again being the most popular, though there were also big gains to be made on the left on the second upwind. Wright and Mark Andrews (GBR) led to the right hand corner, tacked and led round the top mark from Le Breton and Greg Douglas (CAN). Andrews got past Wright on the first downwind while Railey climbed to fourth.
Wright applied pressure to Andrews on the second beat and both passed him and created a useful gap. The final two reaches to the finish were fast and furious as the boats planed and surfed the choppy waves in balls of spray. Railey moved up to third, but Le Breton took it back on the reach to take his second third place finish of the day.
Le Breton summed his his day. “I have a good start. I am sailing well and it's nice. I had to stop sailing for about two months at the beginning of the summer as I got sick, but I am OK now. I am enjoying the sailing, so maybe that's the reason I am doing well.”
“I started sailing the Finn two years ago and Jonathan Lobert (FRA) and I have been training together in that time. For sure it's a good way to improve your speed. “
Railey said, “It has been a pretty good start to the regatta for me. I just kind of put myself in a good position after the first couple of days. I've been fortunate to four consistent results. I was very happy about the first race today. I rounded the first weather mark about 30th and got back up to seventh so that was for sure a key race for me.”
I think the regatta as far as the points being so close is going to continue. I think everyone is sailing really well and all the top guys are here, so if everyone carries on sailing the way they are the points are going to stay close the entire time. There are a few boats behind us now with a larger drops but also have some really good scores, so that will change things after the drop race comes in. But we still have a lot of sailing to go.”
“This is definitely the first windy regatta of the season. We have had some windy days before but for the most part it's been a very light airs season so we have been working hard in the gym and I came out here for three weeks training in July to prepare for this and really working on my fitness and pumping. This is a very hard venue because you have long times on one tack to one side. The right has mostly paid, but a few times the left has paid, but you are spending 8-10 minutes on one tack, so it's just about you pushing the boat as much as you can. Everyone is going really fast out there so if you let off a little bit you fade away.”
Wright said, “It was a great day today. Two bullets for me and my coach did his good deed for the day finding a Finn sail sinking on the right side in the second race. I had two good starts and didn't make any mistakes like yesterday. Mark Andrews pushed me hard on the second race by using his acrobatics on the first run and passing me. But I hope for more speed again tomorrow.”
Old hand
The oldest sailor in the fleet is 75 year old Gus Miller (USA). He started his Finn career back in 1966 and has no intentions to give up just yet. Miller has seen the class evolve over more than four decades and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the boats and its sailors.
What keeps him coming back? “For me it has opened doors for me all over the world. The boat is a special boat. It is highly evolved but it's like having a little Maserati. It's so sensitive and such a good sea boat. As a kid up until I was 38 I sailed a hundred different types of boats, including 505 and oceans racers but when I sailed a Finn it was the best boat I had ever gotten in to.”
“It's a very powerful demanding boat and you need a lot of initiative and attitude that you're going to do it yourself. There are a lot of coaches out there now but basically you are out there on your own. And everyone realises the challenges is yourself not the other guys. The challenge is the boat and that understanding is the old idea “I love my competitor because he makes me better”. The guys here have enormous respect because the challenge of sailing the boat is so great. If one guy figures it out then the others guys are glad for him that he's been able to do it.”
“You see very talented new guys coming in and these guys are getting bigger and bigger. Nutrition has improved such that the Asians and others are getting bigger and stronger. And the Finn takes a big guy and a big smart guy and one of the characteristics of the Finn is that the Finn sailors has to be smart. If he's not smart big and strong then it's hopeless. You gotta have brains out there.”
How long does he think he will continue the sail the Finn. "Well I am staying on a yacht with a young Estonian and he was talking about having the Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn Bay and long ago I said I'd continue to sail the Finn until it was sailed in Tallinn Bay. So who knows. For a couple of decades now I have told my body, “just get me through one more regatta and I'll quit.” Well in the practice this week I came in one day and my body said to me, “You lied.” So as long as I can physically do it I will probably carry on."
The full video interview with Gus Miller is available on www.finngoldcup.com
Racing continues Wednesday with two more races and forecasts of slightly stronger winds coming through.
Follow it online at www.finngoldcup.com with live boat tracking from Kattack, live video feed from SailGroove, and live Twitter and blog updates from the Finn Class.
Results after 4 races:
1 FRA 115 Thomas le Breton 21
2 USA 4 Zach Railey 21
3 GBR 11 Edward Wright 23
4 GBR 41 Giles Scott 23
5 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 25
6 GBR 88 Mark Andrew 35
7 ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo 48
8 CRO 25 Marin Misura 52
9 GBR 85 Andrew Mills 56
10 ITA 146 Michele Paoletti 57
Full results at http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=342
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