Finn Gold Cup at Takapuna Boating Club, New Zealand - Day 2
by Robert Deaves, International Finn Association 24 Nov 2015 22:56 PST
21-29 November 2015
Defending champion Giles Scott slips into the lead
Defending world champion Giles Scott (GBR) has taken the lead at the 2015 Finn Gold Cup after winning the only race sailed on the second day in Takapuna, New Zealand after light winds disrupted proceedings. Andrew Murdoch (NZL) drops one to second while Ed Wright (GBR) remains in third.
It was a mixed day with several weather changes during the day including some light rain, but the wind also remained light under both black clouds and blue skies.
In his first Finn Gold Cup, André Hojen Christiansen (DEN) led round the top mark from the left, with Ioannis Mitakis (GRE), Alican Kaynar (TUR) and Philip Kasüske (GER) close behind. Mitakis took the lead on the first downwind to lead through the gate and extend up the second beat, rounding ahead of Kaynar and a fast approaching Scott.
As the wind got lighter on the final downwind, Scott closed up to the left of Mitakis and gained the inside overlap at the final gate to take the lead on the short leg to the finish to win the race. Mitakis crossed in second with Zsombor Berecz (HUN) passing Kaynar for third. The biggest gains went to Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) who had rounded the first top mark around 25th and gained on each leg to cross in fifth, just behind Deniss Karpak (EST).
The wind was never particularly strong, topping out at around 8-9 knots, but after the arrival of some dark clouds and rain towards the end of the race, the wind dropped out to 3-5 knots. After the finish the fleet waited afloat for conditions to improve enough to be able to start race 4, but an hour later the Race Committee sent the fleet ashore for the day.
Many battles are being fought out this week, not just for the World title but also for Olympic selection and for the four precious Olympic places.
Max Salminen (SWE) is battling with yesterday's race winner Björn Allanson (SWE) to be the Swedish rep in Rio. Salminen said, "We all want to aim for the best result possible and we try not think about it too much, just focus on the regatta and take it from there. We don't have a qualification that is based on maths so it's all about proving yourself as good as possible and you can't really do anything tactical."
He finished 13th today, just one place behind Allansson, "It was a good day for me. In this big fleet and quite light wind it's all about trying to keep the speed and keep single digits. There were no major shifts anyway and after the race we had a big shift to the left and less wind so I think it was the right decision to call it off."
"My hope for this regatta is doing a solid event and measuring my strength and my speed against all the others as this is the last Gold Cup I will do before the Olympics so I want to finish with a result I can be proud of."
In contrast Postma has met national qualification but has not yet secured the Olympic place. After some poor results on the opening day, a fifth today has boosted his confidence. "Yesterday was very disappointing. I was really struggling with the strategy, normally I never struggle with that so we had to change a few things and today was better."
On the day, "It was tricky racing with quite some current and you had to have a great start. That was the key. The pin end looked amazingly good so we started there well and tacked over. The whole fleet was downstairs and we crossed the fleet but it wasn't enough. There was too much current on the right side so we had to be early right, so at the top mark I think I was 25th. But from then on I caught up. On the first downwind I took 10 boats and the second downwind another 10, so it was a good race."
After three races Scott has taken the lead. He said, "The forecast was pretty bad early on and they did a good job getting us out there on time and getting one race in before the rain killed what little breeze there was. So that was a good thing. And I managed to come away with a victory which put a good spin on it for myself, so I am happy with how today went."
On taking the lead from Mitakis. "We were overlapped from about 40 boatlengths. I had been sailing reasonably well downwind. There was a bit of a left shift in the breeze and I managed to soak down in the breeze and he didn't early on and that brought me right up to him and from there I just protected the inside down to the gate, which worked well for me. The breeze was light and quite flicky with a long phase but generally there were little gains here and there to be had, which I managed to do quite well up the second beat which brought me to the front of that chasing pack."
On his event strategy, "I think you have to take it race by race and every race so far has gone well and you can't complain sitting at the top of the leaderboard, but there's a long way to go."
Three races are now scheduled for Thursday to try and catch up with the programme.
Results after Day 2: (top ten, 3 races, full results here)
1 GBR 41 Giles Scott 9pts
2 NZL 16 Andrew Murdoch 25pts
3 GBR 11 Edward Wright 27pts
4 GRE 77 Ioannis Mitakis 32pts
5 SLO 73 Vasilij Zbogar 32pts
6 CRO 69 Milan Vujasinovic 36pts
7 CRO 524 Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 36pts
8 USA 6 Caleb Paine 38pts
9 BRA 109 Jorge Zarif 52pts
10 NZL 24 Josh Junior 52pts
Race win sees Scott take World Championship pole (from Lindsey Bell, RYA)
Giles Scott advanced to the top of the leaderboard on a truncated second of day of Finn Gold Cup racing in Takapuna, New Zealand, on Wednesday (25 November).
The defending world champion won the only race of the two originally scheduled races in a light and decaying breeze to take the yellow jersey and a 16 point lead into Thursday's third day of competition.
Ed Wright, the 2014 bronze medallist and 2010 Gold Cup winner, retained overall third with a tenth place from his race.
Light winds and a strong tide on the Hauraki Gulf provided a challenge for the race committee to get racing started, with boats struggling to stay behind the startline and giving rise to several abandonments and a general recall before the fleet finally got underway under the threatening black flag.
"That always puts a bit more pressure on the start," remarked Scott.
"I managed to stay reasonably clear and had a half decent lane out to the right side which worked out reasonably well."
"I think I was maybe around tenth at the first mark, but managed to sail reasonably smart from there to the finish. I slowly pulled my way back to the front of the fleet and managed to get the Greek guy just before the bottom gate to win.
"It was quite a tricky race with big tidal gains right and big shifts left halfway through, so there was an awful lot to manage but it came good for me in the end."
Exmouth's Ben Cornish earned his progression to the British Sailing Team's Podium squad at the European Championships in May, and is racing just his second Finn class World Championship this week.
He's 12th overall, with a 24th on the board today and is enjoying the different challenge that an 80-boat Finn Gold Cup startline brings about.
"As we expected it's going to be a high scoring regatta with such a big fleet out there," Cornish observed. "At the moment in the early stages it's just about trying to avoid any disasters and making sure I get to Friday and Saturday somewhere in touch with the top ten.
"There are challenges there, there are big opportunities but there are also big opportunities for it to go wrong," said Cornish of the larger fleet size tactics compared to World Cup series regattas.
"If you find yourself on the wrong side of the leverage from the startline, it's quite a long way back to try and work yourself back towards the front of the fleet."
"When it does go wrong, you just have to stay positive because there are always opportunities back. We're racing big 1.2 mile beats and it's pretty light breeze so far, so the race is long enough to try and find opportunities back if you stay in the game."
"I'm just trying to avoid anything too drastic at this stage. I'm not taking too much and hopefully that will start to pay off towards the end of the week."
British Sailing Team Podium Potential sailor James Hadden is currently 45th overall.
For news and British Sailing Team updates visit us at www.britishsailingteam.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.
Murdoch holds 2nd (from Yachting New Zealand)
Racing for the 2015 Finn Gold Cup continued off Takapuna as the large 75 boat fleet took to the water for day two of the six day regatta.
Conditions were light and just one race was possible in what were described as generally soft and tricky conditions.
NZL Sailing Team's Andrew Murdoch placed 17th in today's race and holds second overall at the end of day two unable to keep pace with Great Britain's Giles Scott who took a race win to his tally sending a message to the fleet on his intentions to defend his world title.
Today's win sees the British Sailing Team sailor open a 16 point gap on Murdoch from New Zealand, with Ed Wright (GBR) just two points further adrift.
Andrew Murdoch says, "It was a little bit of an expensive day today. I had a good start down the pin end and just couldn't tack over soon enough. The tide played a big factor in to over on the right hand side and the guys around that side got ahead, so I was deep at the top mark. I was able to pull in probably 20 odd boats during the race.
"You know 17th is not good, but in the conditions we had it's probably not too bad either. It's good to still be in second, but it's still early days. We've only had three races."
"Giles [Scott] did well to win that race. He's got a jump on us, he's the man to beat of course – defending champion. It would be good to close in on him and to be in contention for the title at the end of it."
Josh Junior placed 14th in today's race which sees him improve in the overall standings and break into the top ten.
Junior describes the day; "I think it was good, it was good to get another top 15 place on the board and that keeps moving you towards the top of the fleet so I'll just keep doing my best."
The young NZL Sailing Team campaigner describes the conditions and what impact that had on his day; "Similar to yesterday – light, seven to eight knots, and some big clouds kept coming off the shore and shutting the breeze down so it was really tricky to know where to position your boat relative to the clouds, and I got it right, and then I got it wrong - so that left me with an average result."
"I will be trying to tick off a few more top ten places."
Tricky day two (from Australian Sailing)
Racing for the 2015 Finn Gold Cup, the Finn Class World Championship, continued off Takapuna in New Zeland as the fleet took to the water for day two of the six day regatta.
It was a mixed day with several weather changes during the day including some light rain, but the wind also remained light under both black clouds and blue skies. The wind was never particularly strong, topping out at around 8-9 knots, but after the arrival of some dark clouds and rain towards the end of the race, the wind dropped out to 3-5 knots and in the end only one race was possible.
Both Australian Sailing crews had a tough day in the office with Australian Sailing Squad's Oliver Tweddell dropping from tenth into 19th place overall after posting a 39th in 76-boat fleet. Team mate Jake Lilley (QLD) struggled as well, posting a 45th in today's racing, which sees him in 38th overall after a total of three races.
After the finish of the first race the fleet waited afloat for conditions to improve enough to be able to start race four, but an hour later the Race Committee sent the fleet ashore for the day.