2015 Finn Gold Cup– Scott sees strong start to defend Finn world title

by Lindsey Bell on 24 Nov 2015 2015 Finn Gold Cup – Britain’s sailors saw a strong start to the 2015 Finn world title chase in Takapuna, New Zealand, on Tuesday (24 November), with defending champion Giles Scott tied on points at the top of the leaderboard after day one.

The 28-year-old Scott, hoping to round off a stellar season with a third Finn Gold Cup victory, enjoyed a solid first day posting a fifth and a third to sit just behind the host’s Andrew Murdoch after the opening two races of regatta.

The British Sailing Team’s 2010 World Champion Ed Wright also signalled his intent on a second world title, and is third overall after his opening day.

After an hour’s postponement waiting for the wind to settle, followed by two general recalls, World Championship racing finally got underway amid 8-10 knot conditions on the Hauraki Gulf.

Scott admitted he was happy to get the regatta started and was satisfied with how his opening day panned out.

“I certainly can’t complain. I’ve had quite a good start with a five and a three today. The wind out there was pretty tricky with big shifts left to right in the first one and then it settled down a little for the second. I’m happy to come away with a nice consistent day.

“You can’t win the Gold Cup on the first day but you can certainly lose it and I managed not to do that, which is good!”

“I tried to keep it as simple as I could,” said the 2011 and 2014 World Champion of his opening day’s strategy.

‘’In honesty the first race didn’t actually go too well – for the first beat I ended up being bounced around quite a lot, but at least managed to get clear for the second half. I think I might have rounded about 30th or so, so I had to pull through, but I think the ability to do that come the end of the week will be very valuable.”

Picking up a fourth in the first of the day’s two races, Ed Wright played the conservative card in a windier 12-13 knot second race, opting to take penalty turns at the second upwind mark for a perceived infringement, ending the race in 13th to sit third overall at the close of the day.

“Whether I was in the wrong, I don’t think so,” Wright explained, “but I just wanted to prevent myself being in the jury room all night so it was good to do the 720 and be safe.”

“In the first race I was actually going pretty fast and I got a nice couple of shifts on both the beats and downwind I held my own.”

While Scott’s own Olympic berth is secured for Rio, both he and Wright acknowledge that this regatta is a vital one for nations and sailors with designs on Olympic qualification as well as the world title, and some nerves were palpable on the racecourse.

“This racing is a bit different to the racing that we do for the rest of the year,” explained Scott. “It’s a really big fleet – we’ve got almost 90 boats so huge amounts of leverage and separation on the race course. There’s a lot to be gained and there’s also a lot to lose, so it certainly makes for interesting racing.”

“There’s a lot resting on this event for a number of guys and you can see it out there,” Wright added. “People even in the boat park are a little bit nervous.

“It was good to get out there and finally get the racing underway and I think from now one everyone will be a bit more relaxed.”

“For me, I really want to win to be honest, but Giles is sailing pretty well and he’s proven that again today, so I’m going to have to step it up a little bit and hopefully I’ll be able to challenge him at the end.”

Exmouth’s Ben Cornish is poised 12th after a seventh and 23rd for his opening two races, while Podium Potential sailor James Hadden is 41st overall.