DAY 0 Huge Finn fleet ready for season opener in Palma
Transcript of DAY 0 Huge Finn fleet ready for season opener in Palma
DAY 0 Huge Finn fleet ready for season opener in Palma
Category: News
A huge fleet of 99 Finns from 30 nations
has registered for the ISAF Sailing
World Cup Mallorca, which starts on
Monday, the traditional start of the
European season. The Finns have
amassed the second largest entry out of
all the 11 fleets in Palma and includes
almost every top sailor currently in the
class. It also marks the start of a six
month lead up to the ISAF Sailing World
Championship in Santander, Spain,
where half of the country allocations for
the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing
Competition will be decided.
SWC Mallorca therefore represents an
important test for the season ahead to see
which of the current sailors have benefited
from winter training and gear development.
In effect, it is the first real test of the
Olympiad where everyone who wants to be
in Rio in 29 months time will be out to
prove themselves.
The line up includes the new world number
one Oliver Tweddell (AUS), along with the
2013 European Champion Vasilij Zbogar
(SLO) and world champion Jorge Zarif
(BRA). Also sailing are the winners of the
SWC Miami (and last years winner here in
Palma), Giles Scott (GBR), and of the
SWC Melbourne Björn Allansson (SWE).
Other names to watch include 2010 world
champion Ed Wright (GBR), London 2012
Bronze medalist Jonathan Lobert (FRA)
and double European Champion Ivan
Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO).
The Russians are fielding the largest team
with 12 sailors in Palma, while the Italian
team are not far behind with 10 sailors. The
British are as usual here in strength and
numbers also with eight sailors including
Scott, Wright, Andrew Mills (GBR), Mark
Andrews (GBR) and four younger sailors.
South America is well represented with not only regulars Zarif and Bruno Prada (BRA), but
also sailors from Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Oliver Tweddell will be sailing his first regatta as the world No 1. He said, "It is pretty cool to
be ranked number 1 in the World as it is a reflection of a solid 2013/14 season. However, the
main focus this year is qualifying the country for the Olympics in Santander, and from there
continually improving my performance towards Rio. For me Palma is a training regatta
where I am aiming to implement some new techniques and regatta processes in the lead up to
Santander. Santander is the peak event for the season, so everything I do between now and
then is all focussed at being the best prepared I can for that event."
"Since Miami, we have had a few training camps back home, and a little bit of time off to rest
and recover. I have got a new Devoti hull for this season and have been really pleased with its
performance so far." Reflecting a lot of new mast and sail development in the class, he said,
"A lot of sailors are using different makes and models now, so we are just checking in to see if
there are any potential benefits for us."
Australia has a strong and developing Finn team with Jake Lilley (AUS), silver medalist at
last year's Silver Cup (Junior Worlds) also here in Palma. Tweddell continued, "Jake and I
work really well together, we both push each other hard in training on and off the water. We
complement each other well with different strengths and weaknesses, which in turn will only
help us both improve in the long run. Our aim is to be the best Finn squad in the world, so we
will continue to work together to achieve that goal."
Giles Scott, who took the SWC Miami from Tweddell in a medal race thriller is looking to
continue his winning streak that includes the EUROSAF event in La Rochelle in October, the
Copa Brasil de Vela at Rio in January and then Miami. "There's a massive fleet here so
presumably we'll be racing in fleets which will make a bit of a change to the norm and
obviously with those numbers comes a lot of great sailors. For sure it seems this cycle has
stepped up a gear with the ISAF Worlds only a few months away. Not too sure what the
criteria is for Santander qualification but for me nothing really changes. I just want to sail
well here in Palma."
"I've done about 10 days in Palma since Miami but other than that I've not been up to too
much, chilling at home in the cold. But the British Finn fleet is in a pretty good place at the
moment with a good group of young lads coming though as well as the rest of us who have
been doing it a while now. It's a pretty big group so James 'Dr Dre' Gray has taken on
coaching the younger guys which is great as it keeps a big group working well without
anyone loosing coaching attention."
One of the new sailors to the class in 2013, Josh Junior (NZL) comes into 2014 as the new
New Zealand champion after a busy season down under over the European winter.
He said, "It's been a really good summer for me down in New Zealand. I had a great season
last year, so we have just been trying to build on that. We spent a bit of the summer trying to
gain a better understanding about how the rigs and sails worked, as well as competing in our
local regattas."
"The result here is not to important. but it will be good to see how far we have come over the
summer, and like all events I always like to go well, so I will be looking for a good result."
"Everyone seems to be here for this event, and I think everyone has put a lot of work in over
the winter. It will be interesting to see how everyone has developed, but for sure the standard
will be higher this year than last year."
Racing for the ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca / 45th Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia starts on
Monday with a 12 race series for the Finns, ending in the medal race for the top 10 next
Saturday.
Clinic
Over the last few days a small group of Finn sailors and ISAF judges have been taking part in
a Rule 42 clinic, organised and arranged by the Finn Class and ISAF. One of the chief
objectives of the clinic was to start to build a library of video clips to train judges and sailors
on the nuances of Rule 42 decisions. In all, 36 situations were outlined and attempted on the
water including sculling, pumping, rocking, tacking and gybing. It is worth noting that around
half of the actions outlined were permitted actions to train judges not to penalise a legitimate
action.
The panel of sailors was a good mix of new, elite and experienced sailors across the age
range, and representing 10 nations. The weather didn't quite play along with high winds on
Saturday precluding any on the water sessions, but the clinic concluded Saturday afternoon
with a lively discussion and presentation of the clips obtained on Friday. These clips will be
made available through the Finn Class website in due course and will be supplemented during
the year.
Follow the ISAF SWC Mallorca at: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org
DAY 1 Four races, four winners on opening day in Palma
Category: News
Thomas Le Breton (FRA) heads the 92 boat
Finn fleet after four tricky races were sailed
on the opening day of the ISAF Sailing
World Cup Mallorca. Le Breton took the
final race of the day, while other race wins
went to Luke Lawrence (USA), Andrew
Mills (GBR) and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic
(CRO).
An early postponement to wait for the bay to
fill with wind was rewarded with 5-8 knots
of patchy and shifty breeze that mixed up the
fleet and made for some tough racing. The
fleet was split into two colour groups and
two out of the three scheduled races were
sailed. With windward-leeward courses, it
was a tough day for some while others found
some amazing consistency.
First up was the Yellow Fleet starting in a
very light onshore wind. The pressure was
clearly stronger on the right but the deciding
shifts came from the left. Race winner Luke
Lawrence said, "I started off in the first race
by fouling Bambi [Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic]
and doing a couple of spins, but after I got
that over with I found a clear lane out
across ducking a few boats. I stuck my nose
out clean and came back across to the left
and managed to control it from the left from
there. It seemed to be left favoured, so I just
tried really hard to make sure nobody got to
my left at all and I locked it up."
Lawrence was third at the first top mark
behind Zsombor Berecz (HUN) and Caleb
Paine (USA). "They gybed and split from me
downwind so I took my own pressure down
the outside of the course and rounded the
gate in front of both of them." Lawrence
then led round the remaining lap to take the
first winning gun of the event.
In the Blue fleet Andrew Mills (GBR) had to
fight for his win until the final mark. "It was a very tricky day with the breeze swinging
between a gradient and a sea breeze. There was some big pressure differences and some big
shifts out there as well. In the first race I thought I would be rounding about 15th or so after
the first beat and then I nailed a couple of shifts absolutely perfectly. The pressure differences
and shifts were that big that you could round everyone and go from 15th to first. That was the
main gain and I fell back to second at one point, but then got the French guys back on the last
run." He won from Le Breton and Jonathan Lobert (FRA). He then got a fourth in the second
race. "I was just trying to get off the line without too much risk and stay in middle and keep
my options open."
The second set of races started very quickly with a very slight increase in wind. Ivan
Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) has come back this year with renewed enthusiasm and led the race
from start to finish. He said, "It was quite a difficult day. In the second race a couple of
minutes before the start I was looking at the pressure and there was a big righty, but everyone
was at the pin end. So I started at the committee boat in a big right hand shift clear with no
one around me. I had a really nice beat keeping clear of everyone and got control in the first
half of the race. The rest was just about completing the task."
"Actually in both races I did really well. In the first race I started clear at the pin end and
played the shifts on the left and it turned out really good. I was top five at the first mark.
Everything was really nice and I was quite happy for a while, as I knew it was going to be a
really difficult day and quite oscillating. I was trying to keep a simple and clear game, but
unfortunately on the last run I got a penalty, which was quite a surprise for me as I was clear
of the group behind." He ended up eighth in that race.
The final race for Blue fleet ended with a thrilling match race between Le Breton and Tapio
Nirkko (FIN) into the final mark. Le Breton said, "It was a nice race. I had a good start and I
had a nice fight with Tapio. We were both quite quick I think. We had a good gybing battle to
keep the inside lane to the last mark, but I managed to keep the lead."
Speaking on the pressure differences across the course he said, "I was quite fast today with
nice starts, but sometimes you also have to be a bit lucky as well. I just tried to get a good
start and have clear air and then stay in the pressure."
More wind is forecast for Tuersday, building as the week goes on. After four races the fleet
will be split into gold and silver fleets for the final three days before the medal race next
Saturday.
Results after 2 races
1 FRA 29 Thomas le BRETON 1
2 CRO 524 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC 1
3 GBR 85 Andrew MILLS 1
4 USA 40 Luke LAWRENCE 1
5 FIN 218 Tapio NIRKKO 2
6 RUS 6 41 Arkadiy KISTANOV 2
7 HUN 40 Zsombor BERECZ 2
8 GBR 41 Giles SCOTT 3
9 EST 11 Lauri VAINSALU 3
10 FRA 112 Jonathan LOBERT 3
Full results:
http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/laregata/vertodoslosresultados/id/1/idsc2r/29
Further photos (free of rights for editorial use) will be available at:
www.flickr.com/finnclassphotos
Other media on finnclass.org
Video: Greg Douglas does a 360 the hard way: http://youtu.be/8jdt6JsoD4M
Photos from Rule 42 clinic: http://www.finnclass.org/media-finn/photo-galleries/608-photo-
gallery-isaf-rule-42-clinic
Palma Preview: http://www.finnclass.org/news/607-palma-opener
Latest FINNFARE: http://www.finnclass.org/finnfare/current-issue
DAY 2 Le Breton unstoppable in Palma as he extends lead
Category: News
Thomas le Breton (FRA) extended his lead at
the top of the Finn fleet at the ISAF Sailing
World Cup Mallorca after an impressive
display on the second day in Palma. Tapio
Nirkko (FIN) is in second with Deniss
Karpak (EST) in third. Three sets of races
were held after the fleet waited, first ashore
and then afloat, for more than three hours for
the wind to build.
When the wind finally arrived it kicked in at
a solid 8-10 knots ad Oscar was raised at the
first mark and more or less stayed up all day.
The shifty winds kept the sailors busy all day
with bands of wind up to 14 knots and down
to 6 knots coming down the course area.
Thomas Le Breton (FRA) capitalised on a
good start yesterday to place 6, 1, 1 to take a
nine point lead at the top. Second placed
Tapio Nirkko (FIN) won the opening race in
his group before rounding up the day with a
9, 2. Deniss Karpak (EST) added two second
places to his Monday's scores to sit in third,
on equal points with Nirrko. Other race wins
went to Jonathan Lobert (FRA), Ivan
Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) and Piotr Kula
(POL).
Le Breton said, "It was nice today I was
going well in the shifts, and had good speed
downwind for sure. I made a nice comeback
in the last race after a bad start. In the
second race I had a nice battle with Deniss,
while in the first race I had a good start but I
missed something and dropped back. It was
not an easy day, but at least it was sailable."
Le Breton is working on a training group that
includes 2012 bronze medalist Lobert, 2012
Star Olympic gold medalist Max Salminen
(SWE) and double Olympian Nirkko. "I think
we did a good job this winter, though it's
only the beginning of the season so there's a
long way to go. But it's great to start like
this. We are quite confident with our speed."
Greg Douglas (CAN), star of the 360 video (http://youtu.be/8jdt6JsoD4M) had a good day
with a 2, 3, 9. He said, "I stayed consistent on a day that was tough to stay consistent. There
were some big shifts today and the key was keeping your head out of the boat and being able
to do what you needed to do. That meant starting so you could tack when you needed to and
keeping clear and free from the rest of the fleet. Upwind I definitely had some speed which
allowed me to get punched and hit the shifts when I wanted to, and then going quick
downwind and stay with the boys."
Last race winner Piotr Kula (POL) rounded out an excellent day after a 4, 2 said "I knew it
was quite late in the afternoon so I was prepared for some big shifts. Not the shore shifts but
the big ones so I was expecting for something big to happen and indeed it did. We had a big
left hand shift on the first beat and I was on the right side. I mean I was on the left side, which
is where you wanted to be and was first to the top mark. Then I pumped like crazy so I gained
quite a big advantage over the fleet."
However it wasn't quite in the bag yet as on the final downwind the wind dropped to 5-6 knots
for a while. "I was quite in front of everyone and I was thinking what to do because I was out
of any wind and it was coming from behind, so I was expecting the fleet would catch me, But I
used a little bit of one gust to take me to another one and I kept my place, though not the big
lead. It was tricky and it's pretty tough to pump without any wind. You need to wait for the
sail to go back with the expander and pump again. But it was a tough day in all."
The Finn fleet is now split onto gold and silver fleet for the final three days before the medal
race on Saturday. Forecasts are for a lot more wind later in the week.
Results after 5 races
1 FRA 29 Thomas le BRETON 5
2 FIN 218 Tapio NIRKKO 14
3 EST 2 Deniss KARPAK 14
4 GBR 41 Giles SCOTT 16
5 CRO 524 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC 18
6 POL 17 Piotr KULA 18
7 CAN 5 Greg DOUGLAS 18
8 HUN 40 Zsombor BERECZ 18
9 GBR 85 Andrew MILLS 21
10 SLO 573 Vasilij ZBOGAR 21
Full results:
http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/laregata/vertodoslosresultados/id/1/idsc2r/29
Further photos (free of rights for editorial use) will be available at:
www.flickr.com/finnclassphotos
DAY 3 Giles Scott jumps to front after double bullet on
day three in Palma
Category: News
Giles Scott (GBR) stormed to the top of
the Finn fleet after two emphatic races
wins on the third day at the ISAF Sailing
World Cup Mallorca. In the increased
wind he displaced Thomas Le Breton
(FRA) from first place, while Deniss
Karpak (EST) remains in third.
While the forecast was for wind later in the
day, the fleet was again kept onshore with an
early postponement, followed by a further
wait afloat when they were finally released.
However it was worth the wait with an
onshore 12-16 breeze allowing the fleet to
stretch their legs. Scott moves into a one
point lead from early regatta leader Le Breton while Karpak sits a further 12 points back with
five races still to sail. Behind them it couldn't be tighter with the next seven boats all within
eight points.
The harsh reality of the mid week split hit home this morning as the 92 boat fleet was
separated into gold and silver fleets for the next stage of the regatta, the finals series. The top
40 boats went into the gold fleet, with the remaining 52 trying to salvage some honour in the
silver fleet.
In the Gold fleet Scott dominated race 6 for a big win from world champion Jorge Zarif
(BRA) and Jonathan Lobert (FRA). Regatta leader Le Breton posted a 12th but just held onto
the overall lead for another race. Zarif had so far failed to produce much form this week, so a
second place in strong winds will be an encouraging boost. Scott then made it a double to win
race 7, this time from Josh Junior (NZL) and Ioannis Mitakis (GRE).
In the silver fleet, Tomas Vika (CZE) of the newly established Czech Sailing Team won from
Junior European Champion Peter McCoy (GBR), and world junior silver medalist Jake Lilley
(AUS). Much more was expected of these two juniors this week so they will both be
disappointed to be sailing in the silver fleet. Vika also won the next race with 2012 Junior
World Champion Martin Robitaille (CAN) in second and Lilley again in third.
Junior described his day, "Today we had very challenging conditions which meant a lot of
hard work upwind. Though once we had rounded the top mark there were some great rides to
be had on the way down."
"I struggled up the first beat of race 1, but found some good waves on the downwind to claw
my back to finish ninth. Then I had a good start in race 2 and protected the left. And again I
had good pace on the downwind and found myself in a comfortable second place. I am very
happy with my day, and am looking forward to the next few days of racing. Bring it on." As a
result of today's form, with a 9,2, Junior moves up to fifth overall.
World No 3 Björn Allansson (SWE) hasn't had the best start to the week but started to make
amends today with a 6, 11. "The week had a rough start, but today I managed two solid
results, which brings me back from the dead in the results. Sailing in the breeze was good fun
and I look forward to the upcoming races. It's a long week and everything can still happen."
"In the first race I made an OK start at the left of the line and had good speed in the
increasing wind. I was able to play the left which paid off well. In the second race I had a
nightmare start and had to fight real hard to find a good line and try to positions myself
tactically against the fleet." Allansson now moves up to 22nd.
After a disappointing event in Miami, Caleb Paine (USA) posted two seventh places today to
sit in ninth overall. "I felt the conditions were moderate with massive pressure differences,
though no real huge changes in direction. My results were good but improvements on my
downwinds are a must. I found it hard to stay in the groove."
"In terms of equipment I am using, the sail I'm using seems to go well in a variety of
conditions and my 2010 boat seems to be a bit stiffer than my 2003. Overall better confidence
with my gear is making it easier for me to perform."
New regatta leader Scott summed up his day. "We had a long wait, and then very quickly 16
knots filled in, and we had two nice stable breeze races. I was very happy to get two race
wins. I felt pretty happy with my boat speed which was nice."
"The first race was very windy with a slight right wind shift resulting in most people sailing
out to just below the port lay line. I managed to round first hold the gap on Lobert downwind
and cover the fleet. Race two was a little more shifty. With early right paying, however the
leader came from the left. I rounded fourth and got past Piotr Kula (POL) downwind. Josh
was a bit of a threat on the left up the second beat."
The Finn fleet has four more races scheduled in the finals series, before the medal race on
Saturday. Forecasts are for a lot more wind at the end of the week, so there could be a lot
more still to come.
Results after 7 races
1 GBR 41 Giles SCOTT 18
2 FRA 29 Thomas le BRETON 19
3 EST 2 Deniss KARPAK 31
4 GBR 11 Edward WRIGHT 33
5 NZL 24 Josh JUNIOR 34
6 SLO 573 Vasilij ZBOGAR 35
7 FRA 112 Jonathan LOBERT 35
8 POL 17 Piotr KULA 39
9 USA 6 Caleb PAINE 39
10 CRO 524 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC 41
Full results:
http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/laregata/vertodoslosresultados/id/1/idsc2r/29