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Finn Gold Cup, Perth 2011 - 05.-11.12.2011
Übersicht - www.finngoldcup.org - www.perth2011.com
11.12.2011
Finn focus at the 2011 Finn Gold Cup, Perth
After a thrilling medal race
off the grandstand in Bathers Bay in Fremantle, Giles Scott (GBR) took the 2011 Finn Gold Cup, to add to his European
Championship title he won this summer.
Pieter Jan Postma (NED) led at every mark, and for most of the race had the one boat necessary between him and Scott to win the gold. However Scott
got passed Jonas Hoegh Christensen (DEN) on the final downwind to cross in second and snatch the title from Postma's grasp.
Defending champion Ed Wright (GBR) could only finish fifth in the race, after being over at the start, and had to settle for the bronze medal.
High emotion as Scott seals first Finn Gold Cup
The Finn medal race at the Finn Gold Cup at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship was a fantastic finale of the the first week of competition
in Fremantle, and it didn't disappoint. With three sailors capable of winning the coveted title and three more capable of snatching bronze, it was an
enthralling and exciting contest with a thrilling ending.
Giles Scott (GBR) took the title in the closing stages by just one point from Pieter Jan Postma (NED, who led the race from start to finish. Defending
World Champion Ed Wright (GBR) had to settle for the bronze medal.
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Fotos: Robert Deaves/IFA
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Sailed in a fitful sea breeze, Oscar flag was only raised at the second windward mark as the breeze topped 10 knots. Postma dominated the race from
the start, winning the pin end and protecting the left side to round the top mark ahead of Jonas Hoegh Christensen (DEN) and Scott. Hoegh Christensen
briefly took the lead in more pressure close to the sea wall on the first downwind but Postma just broke the overlap at the leeward gate and from
there on extended to lead throughout.
Scott was close on the Dane's heels throughout and at the final top mark had closed the gap enough to be confident in his downwind speed to the
finish. Scott went wider, and surfed through to the lead as the fleet passed in front of the cheering grandstand, and was closing on Postma towards
the finish. But second place in the race was enough to take the Finn Gold Cup for the first time.
Both sailors held their head in the hands after the finish and were clearly emotional. Postma had picked up another silver and for Scott, the
realisation that even as European and world champion, he would still not be going to the Olympics. For him it reindexs a hard pill to swallow.
Meanwhile, defending champion Ed Wright didn't have such a good day. At one point he was in last place but climbed to fifth by the finish to take the
bronze.
After winning the Europeans in Helsinki this summer, Scott had said he had felt “total relief”. Asked the same question again today, he said,
“The same, but more so. I don't really know why. Probably because it's the worlds. But when I crossed the line I was a bit of mess to be honest. And
it was a really weird feeling. There's five years to go to the next Olympics for me, though I am not really sure I have though about it too much.”
On today's race he said, “I made things difficult for myself today. PJ did a brilliant job, as he has done all week, of getting off the pin end of
the start line and getting the first shift right and he has almost led every race to the top mark, so as soon as I saw him do that I knew I had a bit
on. I was just thankful that I rounded so well.”
On catching Hoegh Christensen on the final downwind, “I thought that if I got round on his tail I had a decent chance of taking his wind and surf
over the top of him. Fortunately I was able to do that. Jonas did well on the first downwind coming into the wall and I thought he'd end up in the
lead so was quite surprised when PJ got water at the mark, and that made things a bit more difficult for me as well.”
Asked to describe the event in three words, the only word Scott could come up with was, “Emotional, really emotional. Rafa came over to me earlier
and gave me a hug and said welcome to the Finn Gold Cup Club It's quite funny but it's great to be a part of that.”
Wright commented on the race,“Today was harder: lighter and more shifty. I made some mistakes. I probably was a bit too much confident. At the start
I was too eager, so I made a show for the public,” he joked. “I crossed the line, was clearly over and came back. I thought my first beat was good
and that I had gained some places but the racing was so tight that I was last at the top mark. It was good racing, very close and tricky, it took me
the full three laps to catch up.”
You have to feel for Postma. After picking up a silver in 2007, many thought he was a real threat this year and and lost again by the smallest of
margins, after dominating the medal race, his fifth race win of the week. “I missed the title by a point and it is hard, but I gave it all and more
importantly I have greatly enjoyed the process. The racing was fantastic and fun, and that's the most important part. Giles had a better preparation
than me, and is benefiting from a good programme. Working with the British Finn squad is a real advantage as he is always training with the top four
guys in the world. They push each other constantly. The British are a step ahead.”
About racing in front of the crowd on Centre Course, “I loved it. The supporters cheering during the racing are bringing lots of positive energy. It
makes sailing more lively even if I stay focussed on what I am doing!”
So there is a new name on one of the most hard to win trophies in the sport of sailing. The fleet reconvenes in just five months time for the next
Finn Gold Cup at Falmouth in the UK, the home waters of Ben Ainslie, so that is going to be really interesting.
Follow the Finn racing on the class blog again at: http://www.finngoldcup.org/
All you need to know in one place.
Results after medal race (medal race results in brackets):
1GBR 41Giles Scott30 (2)
2NED 842 Pieter Jan Postma31 (1)
3GBR 11Ed Wright45 (5)
4DEN 2Jonas Hogh Christensen54 (3)
5ESP 100Rafa Trujillo65 (8)
6FRA 112Jonathan Lobert70 (9)
7GBR 85Andrew Mills81 (7)
8EST 2Denisss Karpak84 (4)
9 USA 4Zach Railey88 (10)
10 CRO 524Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic93 (6)
Event website: www.perth20122.com ( http://www.perth20122.com/ )
Class website: www.finnclass.org ( http://www.finnclass.org/ )
Class blog: www.finngoldcup.org
Finn Class Twitter: twitter.com/Finn_Class
Finn Class Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Finn-Class/110408332633
Finn Channel on YouTube: www.youtube.com/thefinnchannel
© International Finn Association 2011
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