Finn Gold Cup at Takapuna Boating Club, New Zealand - Day 5
by Robert Deaves 28 Nov 2015 07:54 UTC
21-29 November 2015
Double bullet for Jonathan Lobert as Scott secures third Finn world title in Takapuna
Giles Scott (GBR) has secured his third Finn Gold Cup with two races to spare after the final fleet racing day in Takapuna, New Zealand. Going into the day with a 52 point margin, he picked up a third in the first race to put the world title beyond doubt before making extra sure with a second place in the next race. Both races, in the windiest conditions of the week, were won by the London 2012 bronze medalist Jonathan Lobert (FRA) who moves up to second overall. Andrew Murdoch (NZL) posted a fifth and third to move up to third overall, with just the medal race to sail.
For the first time this week the sailors had a new wind direction to play with. An offshore, shifty 12-16 knots made the day very interesting, but most of the same faces were up the front. Lobert excelled leading race 9 from the downwind gate and race 10 from the top mark and was never really threatened in either race for two fantastic victories.
Alican Kaynar (TUR) led round the top in race 9 from Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) and Murdoch. Once passed by Lobert, Kaynar managed to extend on the fleet for a great second place finish, while Scott moved through the fleet to cross in third. Scott then rounded the top mark in race 10 just behind Lobert, but couldn't find a way past the fast Frenchman. Max Salminen (SWE) was initially in third, but got passed by Murdoch on the final downwind.
It was a day of many upheavals as several sailors were fighting hard for every point towards Olympic selection. Ioannis Mitakis (GRE) had a poor first race but recovered to 37th, and followed that up with a sixth to just make the top 10 and secure a place for Greece in Rio. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) continued his great run with a sixth and seventh to go into the medal race in seventh overall, also securing his place in Rio.
There was also a notable performance from the 2013 World Champion, Jirge Zarif (BRA) who placed fourth and tenth to move into the top 10.
Of the four places available in Rio here this week, the first three go to Netherlands, Greece and Estonia. Netherlands and Greece are in the medal race and cannot be passed. Estonia is 64 points ahead of the fifth placed nation and cannot be passed. The fourth nation place is occupied by Uruguay, in 17th. Then there is a 25 point gap to Italy, with Russia and Spain not far behind. The final race on Sunday, for everyone except the top 10, will decide which of these nations will qualify for Rio.
Mitakis explained his day. "We had two really good races in fantastic weather. In the first race I struggled a bit after the start and didn't have a good race. In the second race I had a solid start in the middle and rounded the first mark in the top ten, so after that it was quite easy and I finished sixth."
"The goal of this regatta was just to qualify the country for the Olympics. It was quite hard as many countries are trying to qualify but I think I had a really good regatta and finishing in the top 10 is very satisfying. In the middle of the regatta I had one day I had a bad race in the first one and in the second I had a second yellow flag, so it was not a good day. But after that day I managed to recover quite well." On Greek selection for Rio, "It is not announced yet but I hope I will be the one."
Lobert was delighted with his performance, "Today was a good day for me. I had two bullets. The wind was very shifty so my strategy was quite simple. I tried to have good starts and then just play the shifts. Both times I started at the pin end boat and I was really quick on starboard tack and both times I managed to cross the fleet and then I was in front so then it was easy. I liked this kind of conditions with sideways waves."
Going in to the medal race, "Tonight I am second overall so tomorrow I could get the silver medal. I am a few points in front of Murdoch but it's still quite tight. I have two times been on the podium before the medal race so I hope this time I will make it."
About Scott's performance he said, "Giles was just sailing in a different league to us this week. Not making any mistakes, he has no big scores so again winning before the last race and the medal race, so it's pretty big, but I will try to get the silver and slowly slowly we we get close to him to maybe beat him in the Games."
Scott was typical modest about his own performance. "I am really happy with the way I sailed this week. It's certainly gone to plan. Winning in the way I have done this week is certainly the best way to win a regatta. But it's it's a very gradual feeling, it doesn't just come as a shock, so trust me I am over the moon to have won my third Finn Gold Cup. As a class we are incredibly lucky to have such a historic world championship with so many great names on the trophy before, so to win it three times is such a huge honour."
About the day he said, "The wind shifted round to the left from where it was all week and we had reasonably windy offshore conditions, so a bit of a change."
He still needs to turn up tomorrow to win the title but said, "I think the forecast is quite light, but I'll go out there and do my best to try and win it and see how many points I can win by. It's a very nice position to be in, very stress free. I think it's quite a close battle for silver and bronze so will be interesting to see how it all pans out."
On the week in general he said, "I think the major difference with Finn Gold Cup, racing in a fleet of 76 this week, is that there is an incredibly large scope for winning races by large way and well as losing races by a large way, so consistency in these types of regattas always ends up coming out what wins, and if you can constantly put in top ten finishes, chances are you are going to be in a medal position. And that's what I have been focusing on this week and I think I have been sailing in a manner that's allowed me to do that. I've tried to stay risk free where possible."
Racing on Sunday is scheduled to start at 11.00 with the medal race for the top 10 and the final race for the rest. The conditions in the morning will decide which fleet is started first.
Results after Day 5: (top ten, 10 races, 1 discard, full results here)
1 GBR 41 Giles Scott 32pts
2 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 85pts
3 NZL 16 Andrew Murdoch 94pts
4 SWE 33 Max Salminen 99pts
5 SLO 73 Vasilij Zbogar 100pts
6 BRA 109 Jorge Zarif 115pts
7 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 117pts
8 FIN 218 Tapio Nirkko 128pts
9 GBR 11 Edward Wright 131pts
10 GRE 77 Ioannis Mitakis 134pts
Scott sweeps to early World Championship victory (from Lindsey Bell, RYA)
A dominant Giles Scott extended his winning streak to 25-months at the Finn Gold Cup in Takapuna, New Zealand, on Saturday (28 November), defending his World Championship crown with a day and two races to spare.
Scott now becomes one of only six sailors in the 60-year history of the Finn Worlds to claim a hat-trick of victories, with Ben Ainslie, whose Olympic title Scott is hoping to keep in British hands next year, the only man with more Gold Cup wins.
The 28-year-old Scott went into the penultimate day of racing on the Hauraki Gulf with an imposing 52-point lead, needing only one result within the top 18 from the day's two races to secure an early victory.
Looking comfortable from the first gun, Scott's second place in the first race of the day was enough to wrap up the win ahead of both the final fleet race and Sunday's double-points medal race.
In spite of that fact, there was no let up from the Portland-based sailor, who posted another second place in Saturday's second race to take an overwhelming 54-point lead over France's Olympic bronze medallist Jonathan Lobert into the final day of competition.
"I have been really pleased with my year and the way I've been sailing," Scott said modestly.
"The last couple of months have been tricky to manage because we've been testing these new boats that have just come out, so to be able to come here and show good form and win with a couple of races to go is great and I couldn't really ask for more than that.
"I've sailed a good, consistent week and it's come good early, which is great."
"I was trying to stay risk-free where possible and fortunately the racing panned out in a manner that rewarded that," continued Scott, who adds this 2015 Worlds victory to his successes in the 2011 and 2014 editions.
"I think that's a trait of the Gold Cup with racing in such huge fleets. You can get it right by taking a lot of leverage but you can also get it massively wrong. The majority of the fleet showed that with some high scores there. Being able to stay away from that was key to the week."
"Winning here wasn't like the shock emotion I had at the Test Event where the points were so close. It was more of a gradual thing, but I'll take winning in that manner every time. It's certainly the way to win a Championship!"
Scott's not only has his sights on Rio glory next year but also in making a further dent towards his America's Cup boss Ainslie's six-win Finn Gold Cup record.
"This event holds a huge amount of history and heritage to it and it's certainly a regatta that everyone wants to win. To be lucky enough to win it three times is great. There's another one before the Games next year so hopefully it's not my last Gold Cup win!"
British Sailing Team Finn coach Matt Howard paid tribute to his charge, but as he and Scott both admit, they're not a finished product yet.
"You get asked a lot about what sets these kind of people apart. For me, the biggest thing with Giles is that he's just a very good learner. Ultimately how well you learn, how you move forward, how you get better and learn to sail the boat, pick up new techniques and learn from your mistakes, is what sets apart the great from the good.
"Giles is very, very good at learning. The work rate and the effort and commitment he puts in is second to none. We work extremely hard and we will continue to do so despite the extent of this victory here."
"I've got a list of things for Giles to work on, but I couldn't possibly share it this close to the Olympics!" Howard smiled.
Elsewhere, Ed Wright qualified for Sunday's medal race in ninth place overall, while Ben Cornish narrowly missed out on the cut for the ten medal race spots. He's in 13th overall with a final race for the non-medal race contenders planned on Sunday giving him and James Hadden, in 46th, one final chance to push up the standings.
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Murdoch in the medal hunt going into final day of 2015 Finn Gold Cup (from Yachting New Zealand)
After an excellent day on the water New Zealand's Andrew Murdoch is well placed for a podium finish at the 2015 Finn Gold Cup which finishes tomorrow off Takapuna, Auckland.
Josh Junior is in 14th place overall at the end of today and as a consequence has missed the top ten cut for the medal race.
The gold medal is off the table after runaway Brit Giles Scott opened up enough of a points lead after race nine to ensure his title defence is secure. All he needs to do is show up.
Behind Scott, Jonathan Lobert of France is lying second overall, and nine points ahead of New Zealand's Andrew Murdoch now in third at the close of the penultimate day which provided brilliant blustery racing conditions. A fifth and a third in today's two races have lifted him in the standings after lying fifth going into today.
Behind Murdoch, Max Salminen of Sweden is five points adrift in fourth.
Tomorrow's programme includes a medal race for the top ten, worth double points, while those outside the top ten are scheduled to sail one final fleet race.
"It was good to get two races in the bag that were definite keepers," says Murdoch.
Following two poor races on Wednesday, dropping him as deep as 14th, Murdoch has been in catch up mode.
"It's a shame that day three didn't go the way that I wanted but I'm pretty proud of myself to come back out swinging from that and have a couple of good days," he says.
"That was the main goal after day three - to get myself back in contention for a medal again and I've managed to do that, and I'll be fighting hard for it tomorrow."
The forecast for tomorrow is not good, with an ominous light, variable prediction looking favourable for weekend beach goers but not for the Olympic Finn fleet.
Murdoch isn't concerned about racing in lights airs though; "On day three I think it was some of the choices that I made on the first beat that set me back. I came off the start really well in both those races. I don't think I've got any issues in the light airs, boat on boat I was more than fast enough."
"I think that I've shown myself that regardless of the conditions tomorrow I'll be well in the hunt for a medal."
Josh Junior was 21st and 22nd on the water today, and a good race tomorrow could see him improve with just three points to close on 13th.