Finn Europeans at Lake Balaton, Hungary - Day 5
by Robert Deaves 8 Jun 2007 21:06 BST
1-9 June 2007
Two boat race for Finn European title
Going into tomorrow's medal race, the 2007 Finn European Championship will be decided between Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO). Both are guaranteed a medal. Skornyakov will get gold or silver, Kljakovic Gaspic will get Silver or Bronze. Only Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) can take the silver away from Kljakovic Gaspic. However the fight for bronze is wide open with only five points separating the next six boats.
Today on Lake Balaton sailors experienced the best winds of the week so far, again in soaring temperatures and blue skies. Windward-leeward courses were sailed again in 8-12 knots which even allowed for one free pumping leg when the wind rose over 12 knots.
Race six
The sixth points race got away first time in 10-12 knots of breeze. Race winner Anthony Nossiter (AUS) takes up the story. “The line was about 15 degrees biased towards the pin end. I started about 15 boats up. Everyone was bow to bow so it was hard for anyone to tack, however I had made a nice little gap so managed to get onto port first and took a long tack out to the right hand side. I led round the top mark and from then it was easy to stay there.”
Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) started right on the pin and also tacked across to the right hand side. He rounded the top mark in second in front of Gasper Vincec (SLO), Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) and overnight leader Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE). On the first downwind the Oscar flag was raised for unrestricted pumping so the Finn sailors could finally enjoy themselves downwind in the strengthening breeze. However this was all they got as the wind then moderated, but stayed about 8-10 knots for the rest of the day.
Vincec took the lead briefly at the bottom mark, but Nossiter reclaimed it on the second beat to lead down the final run to the finish with Vincec in second, Hoegh Christensen in third and Papathanasiou finishing fourth.
Race seven
The final qualifying race also got away first time in slightly less wind. Championship leader Papathanasiou started right on the committee boat as normal and headed towards the right hand side. He rounded the top mark somewhere in the 30s, but never really recovered, eventually finishing 31st and ending his chances of winning the title.
With the left hand side paying this time, a lot of new faces appeared at the first mark. First round was Alberto Vadell (ESP) followed by Zach Railey (USA), Karel van Hellemond (NED), Daniel Birgmark (SWE), Rafal Szuikiel (POL) and Tapio Nirko (FIN). Positions didn't change much on the downwind.
On the final upwind leg, over 75 per cent of the fleet favoured the right hand side of the course. Vadell and Railey were still very close together at the windward mark, so close in fact that Vadell's tack inside Railey was too close so he ended up doing penalty turns and letting Railey escape down the final leg to win the race. Behind Railey and Vadell were Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), Birgmark, Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) and Joao Signorini (BRA).
Nossiter shared, “It's been a tricky regatta, although not as random as we all first thought it would be. It's been a bit light though. I had to use moisturiser on my behind yesterday as I've spent so much time sitting on the traveller.” “Does the world really want to know this?” I asked. “Sure,” he replied. After the end of the +39 America's Cup campaign, Nossiter is now full time in the Finn to try and qualify his country and himself for the Olympics in China.
Railey summed up his day, “It's been a really great day for me today with a sixth and a first.” This has lifted him in to the medal race with a chance at the bronze tomorrow. “The goal tomorrow is to go and have a really good race and then see where the points fall. It's certainly going to be an exciting one to watch.”
On the US Olympic selection trials this October he said, “I'm really pleased about this week. I have learned a lot about light airs and shifts and that's really important. There are ups and downs for everyone and the trick is to be consistent by minimising the bad races and making as many of the points count as you can. Our trials in Newport, California will probably be sailed in similar conditions, and the other guys are also going well, so it will be really tough. The trials are at a club that has had an explosion of Finn growth in the past year with some 25 to 30 boats there, so it will be good for them as well.”
Junior Finn Europeans return home
Lake Balaton was where it all started 41 years ago. Due to the problems at that time associated with transferring eastern European membership fees to the International Finn Association, Hungary proposed that these funds be used to organise local regattas. It was also suggested that any event aimed at Juniors would be welcomed by the authorities who would be only to keen to offer additional support. Therefore, in 1966 the first ever Junior Finn European Championship was held at Balatonfured, just across the lake from the Spartacus Sailing Club in Balatonfoldvar where the 2007 championship is currently taking place.
That first event also suffered from a lack of wind, but they still managed to get in seven races. The winner was Serge Maury (FRA), who later went on to win the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic regatta in Kiel. The Junior European Championship has provided a springboard for many other successful sailors across range of classes. 1992, it survived as an independent event, but in 1993 it was considered no longer financially viable, so it was combined with the senior event.
In the late 1990s, the number of juniors started growing again and there was a call from them to have their own world championship. This was first sailed for in 1999 in Melbourne and has been a popular event ever since, albeit combined with the senior world championship – the Finn Gold Cup. However in 2007 for the first time ever, the Juniors will have their own world championship, sailed in Moscow using 40 of the 100 Finns bought in for the 2005 Finn Gold Cup. Demand for these places is high and the event already looks likely to be oversubscribed.
Finn Foundation
Part of the reason why there are so many juniors sailing at this event – 26 Juniors are present in Balatonfoldvar – are the ongoing efforts by both the International Finn Association and the national associations to develop youth sailing across the world. Many youths are now joining the class quite young as they outgrow other traditional youth boats. Some of the stories are quite heart warming.
Three German youngsters sailing here – Sebastien Kaule (GER), Jan Kurfield (GER) and Anian Schreiber (GER) – are all pat of a German youth initiative. President of the so called 'German Finn Foundation'. André Budzien said, “Seven older Finn sailors in Germany established the Foundation in Germany to promote Finn sailing to youngsters. It is designed to source equipment and provide coaching for promising young sailors with the aim of brining them up to the level necessary to receive support from the German Sailing Federation. Our big goal is getting them ready to represent Germany at the Olympics in 2012.” With a wink he adds, “and win a Gold medal!”
Currently there are 30 members of the Finn Foundation who provide support to the youngsters through annual subscriptions, gifts and it also acts as a platform for sponsorship. The Foundation has also received charitable status from the German Government.
Budzien continues, “Our biggest sponsor at the moment is the German Finn Association, but we are actively looking for a commercial sponsor to take things further. We are currently supporting four young sailors, three of whom are here, and all four will all be attending the Junior Finn World Championship in Moscow.” The impression from Budzien is that he feels it is absolutely essential for the future of German Finn sailing to support these youngsters in every way possible. “This is the first time in the history of the German Finn fleet that we have found the right way to support our young sailors.” Just perhaps it will act as a model for other countries to follow. They even have their own website at www.finnteamgermany.de, although currently it is just in German.
Going into the final race tomorrow 77this Kurfield is 61st Schreiber is 66th. We wish them all well.
First event
There are many new faces at this event. Of those attending their first ever major Finn Championship are David Evetovich (SBR) and Milos Balunoviæ (SBR). At just 16 years old, this would be a daunting prospect for many, but they are both engagingly enthusiastic and optimistic about competing in a major championship and racing alongside some of the biggest names in the Finn world.
Balunoviæ has had the more experience of the two having started sailing the Finn three years ago. Last year he claimed third junior in the Balkan Championship, sailing against many older and more experienced Finn sailors. However a motorbike accident has meant he has hardly sailed at all this year and he is still in recovery. “It's only the second time I have been able to sail this year, so I hope to gradually improve.”
Balunoviæ and Evetovich arrived at Balaton with their own fairly old Finns, however, IFA supplied Balunoviæ with a new Devoti Finn supplied through the International Finn Association's FIDeS programme (Finn International Development Support). Evetovich commented, “Milos is normally the better sailor out of the two of us, finishing just ahead of me, so it was natural for him to sail the FIDeS Finn, while I will sail my own older boat.”
Both are members of YK Palic in Serbia and came into the Finn class directly from the Optimist class, which they readily admit they were both already getting to big for. Balunoviæ continued, “Finn sailing in Serbia is relatively small, but it is growing and we were chosen to come because the others are a bit old.” He concluded, “I'd really like to thank IFA for giving me this opportunity to sail a new boat at this level. Corinne McKenzie has been really helpful in sorting everything out and we are very happy to be racing in such a good fleet.”
Final day
Skornyakov's seventh and fifth lifts him once again into the pole position that he held after day one. Kljakovic Gaspic scored the same results as the Russian today and moves up to second overall, while Papathanasiou drops to third with a 4th and a 31st. World Champion Hoegh-Christensen had a high score in the second race and drops to 10th. Such have been the conditions here that only two people in the medal race have actually won races this week, Papathanasiou and Railey.
The Junior title itself is still wide open. Overnight leader Marko Kolic (ITA) had a very bad day and dropped to 40th overall and is now fifth placed Junior. The new leader is Michal Struinski (POL) in 26th place. Frederico Melo (POR) rises to 31st place, 10 points back while third placed Junior is Piotr Kuzr (POL), another 19 points behind. Anything could happen in tomorrow's final race as all top three Juniors are already discarding a high score.
Tomorrow is the final day of the 52nd Finn European Championship and the 42st Finn Junior European Championship. For those that made the top ten, the medal race will be sailed first following by the final race for the rest of the fleet.
Results after seven races: (one discard)
1 RUS 9 SKORNYAKOV, Eduard MSS MOSCOW 4.0 8.0 29.0 19.0 3.0 7.0 5.0 46.0pts
2 CRO 524 KLJAKOVIC GASPIC, Ivan JK ZENTA 2.0 17.0 37.0 8.0 12.0 5.0 7.0 51.0pts
3 GRE 7 PAPATHANASIOU, Emilios OSFP 1.0 13.0 47.0 17.0 1.0 4.0 31.0 67.0pts
4 NZL 1 SLATER, Dan MBSC 17.0 21.0 2.0 2.0 BFD 12.0 18.0 72.0pts
5 SLO 5 VINCENC, Gasper JD Finn Slo 29.0 25.0 4.0 51.0 4.0 2.0 8.0 72.0pts
6 SWE 11 BIRGMARK Daniel GKSS 15.0 28.0 16.0 10.0 5.0 25.0 4.0 75.0pts
7 POL 7 SZUKIEL, Rafal AZS-UWH OLSZTYNn65.0 12.0 5.0 25.0 10.0 9.0 14.0 75.0pts
8 USA 4 RAILEY, Zach STFYC 47.0 11.0 26.0 16.0 16.0 6.0 1.0 76.0pts
9 BRA 10 SIGNORINI, Joao ICRJ 3.0 24.0 32.0 4.0 8.0 36.0 6.0 77.0pts
10 DEN 2 H. CHRISTENSEN, Jonas KDY 16.0 4.0 17.0 12.0 30.0 3.0 34.0 82.0pts