Finn Gold Cup at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Overall

by Royal Yachting Association 20 Feb 2004 19:42 GMT

Ben Ainslie wins the Finn Gold Cup for the 3rd time in succession © Rick Tomlinson

Unstoppable Ainslie wins gold for third year running

Ben Ainslie has been crowned the 2004 Finn class world champion making sporting history by becoming the first Briton ever to win three consecutive world titles in the class. This achievement will make him only the second person in the fifty five year history of the class to have done so (Brazilian Jorg Bruder won three consecutive world titles in the class in the early 1970s).

On the final day Ainslie played it safe in the shifty condition inside the harbour, covering his nearest rivals to make sure they did not get ahead of him. The tactic paid off and saw him cross the line in ninth place with David Burrows of Ireland fourteenth and the 1996 Olympic champion Mateusz Kuszneirewicz of Poland twentieth. This result was enough to see him win the title and would mean that he would not need to sail the final race as he could discard this as his worst score.

A delighted Ainslie commented, "Fantastic! It is a great feeling. It has been a really tough regatta as the conditions have been very light and shifty, so I am really chuffed to have come top and to have won three Finn world titles in a row."

He continued, "It is really great for my confidence for the rest of the year but the Olympics is that little bit different and there is still a lot of work and training to do to get ready for Athens - but I am really happy with this result!"

RYA Team GBR Finn coach Dave Howlett commented, "It is really satisfying to coach such prestigious talent but there is still plenty of work to keep ahead of everybody and succeed at the 2004 Olympic Games."

The battle for silver and bronze medals is still going on with the final race of the championship currently underway, therefore no overall results are available at this time.

The official event website is: www.atividade.com.br/finn.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	GBR 3	Ben Ainslie	5	17	3	6	1	12	3	8	DNC	55
2	CAN 303	Richard Clarke	11	4	19	11	12	13	7	5	5	68
3	IRL 8	David Burrows	33	7	11	9	7	5	10	14	15	78
4	POL 17	Mateuzs Kuzsneirewicz	3	16	7	2	27	6	14	19	13	80
5	CRO 25	Marin Misura	37	6	2	20	13	19	4	10	7	81
6	GBR 6	Andrew Simpson	20	36	16	1*	14	4	20	4	9	89
7	ESP 100	Rafael Trujillo Uillar	45	37	6	3	5	3	8	27	1	90
8	CRO 11	Karlo Kuret	6	13	17	7	9	20	DNF	16	2	90
9	BRA 10	João Signorini	21	21	8	10	20	15	5	13	10	102
10	DEN 7	Soren Holm	15	9	25	14	19	23	9	3	12	104
11	DEN 200	Jonas Hogh-Christensen	4	10	9	BFD	22	10	31	9	20	115
12	NZL 14	Dean Barker	32	5	44	27	8	11	13	11	14	121
13	AUS 221	Anthony Nossites	30	14	23	5	21	7	23	12	17	122
14	TUR 6	Ali Enves Adakan	18	34	22	16	2	9	38	15	11	127
15	NED 80	Sander E. Willems	17	2	1	25	3	42	42	7	33	130
16	CZE 1	Michael Maier	1	28	14	38	18	29	17	22	4	133
17	BEL 7	Sebastian Godefroid	24	3	20	BFD	4	14	36	25	18	144
18	GBR 15	Charlie Cumbley	8	11	12	34	24	24	18	21	28	146
19	FRA 73	Guillaume Florent	19	1	53	26	6	2	11	33	DNF	151
20	NED 6	Stefan de Vries	9	20	24	15	17	27	44	28	22	162
21	BRA 1	Bruno Prada	7	DSQ	15	8	15	33	1	30	BFD	164
22	NED 78	Jaap Zielhuis	2	8	29	19	23	40	46	24	21	166
23	SLO 5	Gasper Vincec	44	12	18	13	11	17	27	34	DNF	176
24	FRA 972	Bruno Ismael	26	33	36	24	10	22	DNF	2	27	180
25	HUN 1	Balazs Hajdu	23	38	38	18	25	8	19	20	30	181
26	CAN 41	Christopher Cook	DNF	18	37	21	31	25	21	35	3	191
27	GBR 550	Matt Howard	25	25	13	23	26	28	32	36	19	191
28	ARG 1	Alejandro Colla	41	40	10	4	32	21	26	38	23	194
29	CRO 14	Nenad Viali	49	32	41	29	41	16	6	17	26	208
30	POL 12	Waclaw Szukiel	27	23	4	17	29	32	24	BFD	DNC	211
31	SWE 736	Johan Tillander	14	35	28	30	40	31	15	26	36	215
32	BRA 109	Jorge Zarif	10	46	48	42	37	35	2	1	DNF	221
33	GRE 6	Emilios Papathanasiou	16	31	27	22	DNF	1	16	DNC	DNC	223
34	SUI 1	Othmar Mueller Von Blumenvon	28	39	5	39	30	34	41	40	8	223
35	IRL 10	Aaron O`Grady	13	45	42	32	34	30	25	18	32	226
36	ESP 107	Agustin Juarez Narrero	29	29	32	33	39	37	22	23	25	230
37	SUI 7	Bruger Christoph	31	24	30	36	16	18	28	BFD	DNC	238
38	GER 79	Michael Fellmann	22	43	39	28	OCS	RAF	40	6	6	239
39	CZE 22	Babicky Roman	38	19	26	43	43	46	30	41	16	256
40	ITA 15	Michele Marchesine	12	42	33	31	28	26	34	BFD	DNF	261
41	IRL 5	Youen Jacob	46	15	45	12	35	44	35	42	37	265
42	CAN 4	Mike Milner	43	26	40	40	36	41	12	DNF	34	272
43	HUN 5	Tibor Pallay	34	30	31	44	44	43	33	29	29	273
44	BRA 3	Henry Raul Boening	40	41	46	37	33	38	45	31	24	289
45	BRA 100	Maurício Bueno	36	44	34	41	42	39	29	37	39	297
46	FIN 216	Tapio Nirkko	51	22	21	35	38	36	DNF	BFD	DNC	313
47	BRA 18	Marco Aurélio de Sá Ribeiro	42	51	43	48	46	49	43	32	31	334
48	BRA 101	Jorge Rodrigues	35	49	47	BFD	49	DNF	49	39	35	358
49	USA 55	Philippe Kahn	50	50	49	47	48	45	37	44	42	362
50	GBR 1	Robert Deaves	48	52	51	46	50	50	39	45	38	367
51	GER 266	Michael Ellen	47	48	50	49	47	DNF	47	46	40	374
52	NED 8	Rodrick Casander	RAF	47	52	45	45	48	50	47	41	375
53	ITA 1	Luca Devoti	39	27	35	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	376
54	BRA 79	Gustavo Pereira Vaitsman	52	53	54	50	51	47	48	43	BFD	398