2008 Finn Gold Cup at Sail Melbourne

2008 Finn Gold Cup at Sail Melbourne - Day 4

by Corinne Rolland-McKenzie 27 Jan 2008 09:49 GMT

Jonas Christensen on day four of the 2008 Finn Gold Cup at Sail Melbourne © Jeff Crow / Sport the Library

Slater under pressure

Two races sailed Sunday in the Finn Gold Cup, are bringing the regatta favourites close together. Dan Slater (NZL) is starting to really feel the pressure, he is still leading the championship but on equal points with Ben Ainslie.

2005 World Champion and World #1 sailor, Jonas Hoegh-Christensen is only 5 points behind the leader after a 6th and a victory in the last race. 2007 World vice-champion, Pieter-Jan Postma capitalised on the windier conditions today with a 1st and a 2nd place bringing the Dutch into serious contention for the title, 1 point behind the Dane and 6 from Slater. Greek sailor Emilios Papathanasiou has slipped from 3r to 8th overall after collecting a second disqualification on the first race and placing 36th on the second.

Race 6 started with a 12 knots unsettled sea breeze. The start was delayed on the water to adjust to the wind shifts. After a general recall, the race started under black flag very close to the shore…too close for Michael Maier’s liking. “I capsized before the start and I broke my mast on the reef”, complained Maier back ashore. The pin end was favoured but the fleet quickly crossed to the right. All but Dan Slater who decided to continue under the cliff to the left side. “It just kept getting worse! Then there were not many opportunities to pass. I must have gained a few boats downwind”, but not enough for the New Zealander, who collected more points in this race than all the others combined! Pieter-Jan Postma leaded the race from start to finish. Marin Misura (CRO) collected his first top ten results crossing the line in second place in front of Rafal Szukiel (POL).

Finally, the strong conditions expected for so long found their way to Port Phillip Bay. The wind had increased to 18/20 knots for the second race sailed with Oscar flag and a triangle course. Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) headed the fleet to the top mark then kept increasing his lead to the finish. “The regatta is really open now, I look forward tomorrow and more breezy races” declared the Dane. Pieter-Jan Postma was second in front of Ed Wright and Ben Ainslie. Gasper Vincec (SLO) who has collected irregular results was 5th on the finish with Dan Slater 6th.

“The other guys are coming into the loop too. It isn’t just between Ben and I, many are in the game. With another race and then the medal with double points, we still have a long way to go!” declares Slater when asked about being on equal points with Ben Ainslie.

Monday’s last fleet race will see a fight to qualify among the top 10 for the medal race.

Australian Anthony Nossiter is on the hot seat in 10th position overall on 77 points. He is tailed by Peer Moberg from Norway on 79 points, British junior Giles Scott on 81 and Tapio Nirkko 83. Current World Champion Rafael Trujillo (ESP) is racing well below his habitual form in 14th place.

The battle for Olympic qualification is going on with the 6th and last place strongly fought for. Ali Kemal Fekci (TUR) is getting closer to qualifying Turkey for the last spot after a good day placing 10th in the first race. Fekci has gained 9 places on the overall qualification in 35th position and 6th “unqualified nation”. However, Olexei Borisov from Ukraine, only 6 points behind is his most direct threat.

In the Junior division, the top 3 remain unsettled with Giles Scott well ahead in 12th position. Piotr Kula (POL) is 2nd Junior in 36th and Federico Melo 3rd in 42nd overall. Current Junior World Champion, Jan Kurfeld gained 5 places today to still be in contention for the podium.

One last fleet race is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Tuesday will be the championship final day with the Medal Race planned to start after the last race for those sailors placed 11th or more.

Results after Day 4: (7 races, 1 discard)

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1	NZL1	ASB	Dan Slater	1	1	4	3	16	[32]	6	31
2	GBR3	RITA	Ben Ainslie	4	13	1	[18]	1	8	4	31
3	DEN2	HEMPEL-DONG	Jonas Christensen	8	4	[14]	11	6	6	1	36
4	NED842	-	Pieter Jan Postma	11	3	13	[20]	7	1	2	37
5	CAN41	CAN41	Chris Cook	15	19	5	1	2	[26]	13	55
6	SWE736	NA33	Johan Tillander	9	6	[48]	9	20	4	11	59
7	GBR111	TECH ADVANT	Edward Wright	21	11	6	4	15	[24]	3	60
8	GRE7	NA18	Aimilios Papathanasiou	6	2	11	7	4	[83F]	35	65
9	CRO524	NA6	Ivan Kljakovic	[26]	12	9	5	12	19	9	66
10	AUS221	DUGONG	Anthony Nossiter	10	15	3	21	9	[30]	19	77
11	NOR1	JEPP	Peer Moberg	5	10	21	6	13	[29]	23	78
12	GBR41	NA11	Giles Scott	28	5	[31]	16	11	13	8	81
13	FIN218	PORT OF HELSINKI	Tapio Nirkko	7	[44]	8	13	24	9	21	82
14	ESP100	MARAJA	Rafael Trujillo	[42]	16	19	17	8	17	12	89
15	SLO5	FINN	Gasper Vincec	[54]	14	12	29	3	38	5	101
16	POL7	NA30	Rafal Szukiel	[32]	24	15	8	30	3	24	104
17	CRO25	NA34	Marin Misura	14	[58]	16	39	10	2	30	111
18	GBR625	NA13	Ed Greig	22	[38]	27	31	17	15	7	119
19	POL12	NA28	Waclaw Szukiel	19	[45]	17	14	23	28	27	128
20	FRA73	PANTAENIUS	Guillaume Florent	20	31	[62]	23	5	11	39	129
21	GBR88	TEVA	Mark Andrews	16	35	[59]	10	19	18	36	134
22	ITA101	NA22	Riccardo Cordovani	18	18	30	28	28	12	[34]	134
23	SWE11	SKF	Daniel Birgmark	33	20	[42]	15	27	25	14	134
24	ITA117	HARKEN	Giorgio Poggi	3	7	[45]	32	26	36	33	137
25	RUS9	NA4	Eduard Skornyakov	12	33	32	22	29	[35]	10	138
26	AUT3	WOLF	Florian Raudaschl	17	22	[83O]	38	31	20	18	146
27	IRL5	DOLMEN STOCKBROKERS	Timothy Goodbody	25	29	[51]	33	21	23	16	147
28	FRA69	NA10	Jonathan Lobert	24	34	22	25	34	[37]	15	154
29	CYP19	NA7	Haris Papadopoulos	2	[43]	18	42	33	33	32	160
30	USA4	NA39	Zach Railey	46	39	34	2	14	27	[83B]	162
31	CZE1	MAJCUS	Michael Maier	41	32	2	44	[47]	21	22	162
32	GBR634	NA14	Andrew Mills	[66]	8	36	19	36	34	29	162
33	GER174	NA16	Matthias Bohn	47	9	7	49	51	16	[62]	179
34	CHN1	NIKE	Peng Zhang	30	40	[57]	48	22	7	38	185
35	TUR211	SENSEY	Ali Kemal T Fekci	[57]	42	23	50	42	10	31	198
36	POL17	BRUGMANN	Piotr Kula	43	37	[83O]	27	25	47	20	199
37	ITA925	NA24	Michele Paoletti	35	30	33	[52]	18	43	41	200
38	UKR21	NA36	Oleksiy Borysov	34	21	10	[83C]	83R	41	17	206
39	FRA972	AQUARELLE	Ismael Bruno	44	26	35	41	39	[60]	25	210
40	CHN226	NIKE	Bo Liu	23	[51]	43	12	44	42	50	214
41	NZL21	NA27	Nik Burfoot	48	17	[83O]	34	37	57	26	219
42	POR5	NA3	Frederico Melo	[65]	23	44	47	35	52	37	238
43	CHN11	NIKE	Tianyu Ren	38	27	28	55	53	[67]	49	250
44	GER771	NA17	Jan Kurfeld	36	[71]	63	40	32	39	40	250
45	GBR99	NA15	Henry Bagnall	40	50	47	26	45	50	[56]	258
46	NED80	FLEURIE	Sander Willems	[73]	36	58	65	46	31	28	264
47	CHN7	NIKE	Lei Gong	51	55	20	30	49	[66]	66	271
48	NED41	NA26	Karel Van Hellemond	29	56	40	[64]	40	53	54	272
49	CZE9	PK OIL S.R.O.	Michal Hruby	31	47	60	35	56	[83B]	43	272
50	TUR7	NA35	Akif Muslubas	49	54	24	45	43	59	[63]	274
51	RUS14	NA31	Dmitrii Tereshkin	39	46	46	46	[57]	51	47	275
52	CRO11	NA1	Josip Olujic	37	[73]	50	24	68	48	51	278
53	AUS243	TBA	Warwick Hill	[68]	62	25	57	41	58	42	285
54	ESP1	NA8	Diego Fructuoso	53	41	[83O]	43	52	14	83B	286
55	HUN6	NA19	Gaszton P L	[72]	25	54	59	50	40	58	286
56	AUS226	BILLS BOAT	Michael Williams	45	61	[83O]	56	59	22	48	291
57	IND1	NA20	Nitin Mongia	13	53	55	62	[71]	56	55	294
58	CHN563	NIKE	Aiming Chen	62	59	61	[68]	64	5	52	303
59	UKR5	NA37	Andriy Gusenko	59	49	41	36	[62]	61	57	303
60	USA9	NA40	Ian Cook	55	57	29	54	63	46	[67]	304
61	BUL24	NA5	Mihail Kopanov	50	[69]	39	61	48	44	64	306
62	IND11	NA21	Nachhatar Johal	[67]	28	52	53	65	54	60	312
63	EST7	NA9	Harles Liiv	52	52	53	60	61	[83F]	44	322
64	VEN1	VEN1	Johnny Bilbao	61	60	64	37	54	49	[83F]	325
65	HUN5	ANDREA	Tibor Pallay	27	66	[83O]	58	60	45	71	327
66	AUS223	SPRUCE GOOSE	James Paterson	[69]	48	49	69	69	63	45	343
67	NED29	NA25	Bas De Waal	58	72	26	[75]	72	70	59	357
68	AUS2	SHAKE AND BAKE	Rob Mcmillan	60	67	[83O]	83C	38	65	46	359
69	ITA40	FINN	Marko Kolic	63	65	[71]	63	55	55	69	370
70	ITA70	NA23	Francesco Lubrano	71	68	38	66	66	64	[72]	373
71	AUS3	AUS3	John Shallvey	74	75	56	[77]	58	71	53	387
72	AUS234	SQUID INK	Christopher Pratt	[77]	64	66	67	67	68	61	393
73	GER262	HEIMATLIEBE	Uwe Barthel	70	76	37	72	74	72	[83F]	401
74	POR310	TUBA V	Rodrigo Quina	76	[83C]	70	70	70	62	65	413
75	224	SORCERER	Geoffrey Francis	[79]	70	67	76	73	69	68	423
76	AUS8	MATCHBOX	Anthony Wood	[78]	74	73	74	76	73	70	440
77	AUS228	DARK SECRET	Dirk Seret	75	[79]	68	71	78	76	73	441
78	SVK11	NA32	Robert Poor	80	78	65	73	75	74	[83F]	445
79	ITA1	SONATA	Luca Devoti	64	[83C]	83C	51	83C	83C	83C	447
80	AUS241	XTSEA	Brendan Casey	56	63	[83C]	83C	83C	83C	83C	451
81	AUS203	NA12	Edward Thorburn	[82]	77	69	79	77	75	74	451
82	AUS233	LONGBOARD	Brian Reynolds	81	80	72	78	79	[83F]	83C	473