International Finn Cup XVII Andrea Menoni Trophy at Fraglia Vela Malcesine - Day 2
by Robert Deaves 3 Oct 20:13 BST
After three more races at the International Finn Cup - XVII Andrea Menoni Trophy at Fraglia Vela Malcesine, Italy, Arkadii Kistanov, from Russia, has secured the overall win with a race to spare.
Christoph Burger, from Switzerland, is up to second while Italy's Marko Kolic goes into the final day in third. The race wins went to Roberto Strappati and Kistanov.
It was a day of four seasons. Extremely strong winds from both north and south in the early morning gradually gave way to strong southerlies and a huge amount of rainfall. It was expected to clear early afternoon, but no one expected a warm afternoon of clear skies and light to moderate winds, which allowed three great races to take place.
Race 3 belonged to Italy. Veteran Finn sailor Bruno Fezzardi, pleased the home fleet no end by leading round the top mark from Strappati and Matteo Iovenitti. He held the lead until the second upwind when Strappati came past to take the win.
Burger found the front in Race 3 to lead at the top from Strappati and Kistanov. Strappati then had the best of the downwind to lead at the gate and up the second beat. However Kistanov took the lead at the final downwind mark to lead into the finish from Strappati and Burger.
Kistanov had found his edge in the final race to lead the fleet at e top and extend on every leg for a large win in the slowly dying wind. Tommaso Ronconi, from Italy, sailed a great race for second while Strappati rounded off the day with a third to record the best score of the day.
Kistanov is now 16 points ahead with just one race to sail, so is assured the overall win of the International Finn Cup. However there are just five points between second and seventh, leaving the bronze and silver, and the Andrea Menoni Trophy for the first Italian wide open.
Racing concludes on Sunday with one more race scheduled at 0900.
Results after 2 races:
1. RUS 6 Arkadii Kistanov 5pts
2. SUI 7 Christoph Burger 21pts
3. ITA 40 Marko Kolic 23pts
4. ITA 1071 Matteo Iovenitti 23pts
5. AUT 333 Gerhard Weinreich 24pts
6. SUI 20 Michael Beyeler 24pts
7. ITA 115 Roberto Strappati 26pts
8. MEX 1 Juan Ignacio Perez 31pts
9. ITA 2 Marco Buglielli 36pts
10. ITA 234 Tommaso Ronconi 37pts
Full results available here.