Finn Gold Cup at Split, Croatia - Overall

Jonas Hoegh Christensen has proved this week he really is the number Finn sailor in the World by winning the 50th Finn Gold Cup. He had to face some of the best sailors in a fierce competition where the smallest mistakes were paid dearly. One of the most disputed Finn Gold Cup in years; this edition assembled 99 sailors from over 30 countries on the same starting line.

Hoegh Christensen’s display of skills was impressive in a field of talented opponents and in varied conditions. He is winning by a small 3 points margin from Emilios Papathanasiou. The Greek won the last race with brio but his second victory in the Championship was not enough to overcome the Dane. The Bronze medal is going to Edward Wright who raced the most constant regatta scoring only top 10 results. He finishes in second position in this last race. Ed Wright has made a rapid progression after stepping from the Laser to the Finn last year. Also coming from the Laser is Daniel Birgmark who is acceding to 4th position after finishing 7th in the last race.

Rafael Trujillo was probably the fastest sailor in this regatta, the early leader won 3 races in the championship but the Bura wind has been fatal for the Athens Silver medallist who after collecting a 39th today misses the podium to step down to 5th position overall. Opposite situation for Guillaume Florent who after a slow start into the championship scored a 5th and two 4th places. He is placed in 6th position after taking one year off.

The best Croatian is yesterday race winner, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic in 8th position. He will pass on the Jorg Bruder Silver Cup to the new Junior World Champion, Mark Andrews (GBR). Second Junior is Henry Bagnall also from Great Britain. The third position in the Junior division has been fought for very hard during all week. After a very slow start into the Championship, Piotr Kula has reached the third place by distancing his teammates Krzysztof Dabkowski and Piotr Mazur by a few points. Piotr Kula is satisfied with his results, despite collecting two disqualifications, he is placed 50th overall in his first major Finn regatta. The 19 years old has realised his best results in Kiel Week finishing 18th after a few months in the Finn.

The Finn class is thankful to the Labud yacht Club and the Grisogono brothers who have provided the Finn sailors with a great championship.

Wright takes Finn world bronze (from Lindsey Bell, RYA)

British sailor Ed Wright took bronze today (Sunday) at the Finn Gold Cup in Split, Croatia, sending a warning signal that Olympic champion Ben Ainslie will face competition in the race for Beijing 2008 selection.

Ainslie rewrote the record books at the 2005 Finn Gold Cup, when he became the first sailor in history to win four world titles - all in consecutive years - but was disappointed to miss out on the chance to defend his crown in Split through commitments to the Emirates Team New Zealand America's Cup team.

In Ainslie's absence, Bournemouth-based Wright spearheaded the Skandia Team GBR challenge in Croatia, sailing a consistent regatta to take bronze - his best ever regatta result from the 99-boat fleet - just 18 months after moving on into the Finn from the Laser class.

Denmark's Jonas Hoegh Christiansen was crowned the new world champion, with Greek sailor Emilios Papathanasiou having to settle for silver for the second year in a row - he finished behind Ainslie at last year's event in Moscow.

Across the eight races in Split, Wright was the only sailor to place within the top ten in all of them, with his consistency providing the key to his success.

"I sailed pretty conservatively throughout the regatta, but I really wanted to go out and win the last race," Wright explained, poised fourth heading into Sunday's final day of racing.

"I led at the first beat, but then Emilios passed me on the run and from there it became a bit of a fight to the finish, with him crossing just in front of me."

It marks a lucrative year in medal terms for the 28-year-old Wright, who took gold at the French Olympic Sailing Week at Hyeres in April, and silver at the Holland Regatta in May before his podium triumph at the Finn Gold Cup.

"It's a huge step forward - definitely the best result of my career - and shows that the hard training I put in during the winter is paying dividends.

"I'm just really happy - it will make a huge difference to my programme funding, and I can really start planning properly for the winter."

Portsmouth's Matt Howard scored a notable tenth place, while Iain Percy, 2000 Olympic gold medallist in the Finn class, had a good workout back in his old boat, finishing 11th overall.

Wright was not the only Brit on the podium in Split, however, as Largs' Mark Andrews, 19, was crowned Junior World Champion, with Henry Bagnall of Royal London Yacht Club second in the junior fleet.

Skandia Team GBR Finn coach, David Howlett, was delighted with Wright's bronze, and with the overall British performance in Croatia.

"It's fantastic for British yachting that we've put on such strong showing here - not just with Ed's medal, but also a top ten finish for Matt, and the junior world title for Mark.

"It really bodes well for the future in this class."

Overall Results:

1. Jonas Hoegh Christiansen, DEN, (2,4,2,5,1,3,(33),6) 23pts
2. Emilios Papathanasiou, GRE (4,1,5,10,2,(DSQ),3,1) 26pts
3. Ed Wright, GBR, (1,(10),7,2,3,10,7,2) 32pts
Other GBR
10. Matt Howard (6,13,6,(68),9,13,13,19) 79pts
11. Iain Percy (7,3,21,12,4,8,28,(RAF)) 83pts
25. Ed Greig (38,26,11,(52),36,15,19,29) 174pts
31. Mark Andrews (24,27,24,34,35,29,(50),25) 198pts
43. Henry Bagnall (52,43,41,24,58,39,(62),15) 272pts
45. Peter Davidson (42,54,36,35,46,48,(61),45) 306pts
55. Andrew Mills (54,38,39,81,48,71,42,DNF) 373pts
92. Richard Hart (87,82,83,78,82,85,92,81) 578pts

For full results from the 2006 Finn Gold Cup, visit jklabud.hr/2006/index.php?regata=finn