Finn Gold Cup Overall
by Nigel Cherrie 16 Jun 2000 18:11 BST
POLE WINS WORLD TITLE AS GOLD CUP FLEET ARE FOG BOUND
A thick blanket of fog engulfed Weymouth Bay today, denying Great Britain's
sailors the chance to build on their overall standings at the Finn Gold.
Cup.
With the prospect of two races today, Iain Percy had refocused his sights
on a top ten position although the abandonment of all racing at 13.30-hrs
local time kept him in an uncustomary eighteenth overall.
It marked the end of a mixed week where his performance around the
racetrack justified his world class status although two DSQ's in a
one-discard series was crippling. "It's unfortunate I had the start I did
as I would have been up there with Mateusz (Kusnierewicz) and Sebastian
(Godefroid) but that's life. The Olympics only matter now," remarked Iain.
Charlie Cumbley also needed another race today to stand a chance of
retaining the junior world title. After Cumbley had led the fight for the
junior championship all week, George Kontogouris' fourth and fourteenth in
yesterday's two races gave the Greek a five-point buffer which the
inclement weather made unassailable. "It's annoying as I've been leading
all week and I beat him at the Europeans but I've gone from 38th last year
to 28th this time so overall I've had a good season and I've got a
springboard into the future," reflected Charlie.
Cumbley will now take a three-year break from full time competition to
complete a degree at the Southampton Institute. He will return to the Finn
in 2003 in an attempt to compete off the shores of Athen's in the next
Olympics.
At twelfth overall, National Champion Andrew Simpson led the World-Class
Performance squad home. Simpson, like Percy, is a graduate of the Laser
class, finishing fifth in the 1999 Laser World Championships but his stocky
frame makes him ideal for the Finn.
He has relished the new challenge the class has brought him. ""The yellow
flag at the start cost me a top ten but for my first major world
championship in an Olympic year its been a good, perhaps slightly erratic
but good. It's a completely difference style of racing than Lasers. As
well as technique, the beats are a lot longer so your not just
concentrating on one shift so the racing is really intense," said Andrew.
From here, Percy and Simpson move to Hayling Island for some intense
training before Percy leaves for Sydney and hopefully Olympic glory. The
Finn fleet now head for Kiel, the final class outing before Sydney.
On behalf of the RYA, Event Director Rod Carr commented: "UK Sport's World
Class event fund has allowed us to break the drought of getting world class
events to Great Britain. The Finn Gold Cup has proved that the combination
of the RYA, the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Acadamy and the Yacht Clubs
of Weymouth can match the race teams and facilities of any country in the
world."
Vernon Stratton, the first British winner of the Finn Gold Cup back in 1960
will present the coveted Gold trophy to Team Ronstan sailor Mateusz
Kusnierewicz at a ceremony on Portland later this evening.
Final results stand as of yesterday.
On the Baltic, 30-knot winds led to the abandonment of the penultimate day
of racing at the Laser European Championships. World Class Performance
squad member Paul Goodison leads Ben Ainslie in the overall standings with
three races planned for the Gold and Silver fleets tomorrow (Saturday) to
compensate for the lack of racing today.
WEYMOUTH; Finn Gold Cup after 6 days (after 7 races with discard):
1 Mateusz Kusnierewicz (Pol) 3,2,3,2,1,2,21 - 13pts
2 Sebastien Godefroid (Bel) 7,1,2,1,8,19,7 - 26pts
3 Emilos Papathanasiou (Gre) 15,8,4,5,42,1,11 - 44pts
British placings:
12 Andrew Simpson - 25,25,7,3,19,28,3 - 82pts
14 David Mellor - 2,20,23,10,16,18,75 - 89pts
18 Iain Percy - 90,90,1,3.25,2,9,1 - 106.25
28 Charlie Cumbley - 39,40,27,17,27,45,5 - 155pts
32 Richard Stenhouse - 40,22,29,11,33,50,38 - 173pts
41 Chris Brittle - 38,90,32,34,14,58,52 - 228pts
42 Dan Dixon - 33,52,37,43,36,40,42 - 231pts
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For further information, please contact Nigel Cherrie from the RYA on: