Sea, Sail & Surf news
Finn Gold Cup
Ben Ainslie secures sixth Finn Gold Cup
vendredi 18 mai 2012 –
The forecast for the day was never very encouraging but racing did look possible. After a short postponement, the medal race was started in 6-8 knots. However within five minutes it became clear that things were going wrong as the wind switched off on the left, leading to the race officer Peter Reggio pulling the plug. He waited another hour or so, but then sent the fleet in as the wind had all but gone and showed no sign of putting in a late appearance.
As far as Olympic selection goes Poland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Turkey and China join he 18 nations that qualified in Perth and Great Britain as host. Many also have to satisfy national requirements so the final line up is not definite.
Ben Ainslie (GBR) was presented with the Finn Gold Cup for a record Record #sailingrecord sixth time. He previously won the Finn crown in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008.
“Winning this year is the most special [of all six titles] for me personally because it’s where I grew up and learnt to sail and I have so much history here. And with the Olympics just around the corner it’s a great time to go out and win a world championship.”
Is it his last Finn Gold Cup ?
“That’s a good question. There’s a chance it could be. I have had 10 fantastic years in the Finn and I’m not sure how much longer I can keep going at this level, but I haven’t made any decisions yet on any future Finn racing. I will see how things go this summer and what else happens and make a decision then. But I would miss the Finn if I gave it up. It’s a fantastic boat. It’s a great fleet, great sailors, and great camaraderie. And I think it’s a real true test of sailing, ability and fitness.”
Silver medalist Ed Wright (GBR) said,
“It was a great week out there. I really had a lot of fun. The sailing was exceptional yesterday it was amazing ; an epic day. And I really really enjoyed it. I am happy to come away with the silver but maybe a tad disappointed I didn’t win but Ben has had a great week and is sailing really consistently – first, first, first, first, first … that’s hard to beat really, just great great sailing from him.”
Bronze medalist Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) said,
“ I think I had a decent, good week. I sailed parts of pretty much all the races quite well but I did make a lot of mistakes. I averaged about eighth so I am quite surprised to end up with the bronze. But my consistency gave me the extra to be ahead of the other guys. Ben and I were actually quite close together in most of the races but then I would make a mistake and he would go and win the race. That’s pretty much how it happened all week. He sailed an almost flawless regatta ; it’s impressive.”
Final results after nine races (1 discard)
- 1 GBR 3 Ben Ainslie 10
- 2 GBR 11 Edward Wright 30
- 3 DEN 2 Jonas Høgh-Christensen 64
- 4 CRO 524 Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 72
- 5 FIN 218 Tapio Nirkko 72
- 6 POL 17 Piotr Kula 80
- 7 GBR 88 Mark Andrews 81
- 8 GBR 85 Andrew Mills 82
- 9 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 85
- 10 USA 4 Zach Railey 93
Full results : http://www.falmouthfinnfestival.com/goldcup-results/C1
Dans la même rubrique
49er Worlds : 4th world title for Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen
BACARDI Miami Sailing Week : Xavier Rohart and Pierre-Alexis Ponsot won the Star competition
Giltinan Championship : Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Scott Babbage successfully defended their title in the Giltinan 18ft Skiff Championship
Rolex Miami OCR : Champions Crowned in Ten Olympic Classes
