Finn Gold Cup - Double bullet for Lobert as Scott secures third title

by Robert Deaves on 28 Nov 2015 2015 Finn Gold Cup - 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 nine 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 nine 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 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 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 10 races (one discard)

1 GBR 41 Giles Scott 32
2 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 85
3 NZL 16 Andrew Murdoch 94
4 SWE 33 Max Salminen 99
5 SLO 73 Vasilij Zbogar 100
6 BRA 109 Jorge Zarif 115
7 NED 842 Pieter-Jan Postma 117
8 FIN 218 Tapio Nirkko 128
9 GBR 11 Edward Wright 131
10 GRE 77 Ioannis Mitakis 134

Overall

Rank	Flag	Nat	SailNo	Bow	Division	HelmName	Club	R1 24 Nov	R2 24 Nov	R3 25 Nov	R4 26 Nov	R5 26 Nov	R6 27 Nov	R7 27 Nov	R8 27 Nov	R9 28 Nov	R10 28 Nov	Total	Nett
1st		GBR	41	3		Giles Scott	WPNSA	5	3	1	8	4	4	(15)	2	3	2	47	32
2nd		FRA	112	12		Jonathan Lobert	SNO Nantes	(45)	5	19	5	19	14	18	3	1	1	130	85
3rd		NZL	16	20		Andrew Murdoch	TYPBC	1	7	17	(43)	37	9	6	9	5	3	137	94
4th		SWE	33	16		Max Salminen	GKSS	22	(24)	13	15	18	1	4	7	15	4	123	99
5th		SLO	73	9		Vasilij Zbogar	Burja Izola YC	19	6	7	(36)	17	6	9	15	7	14	136	100
6th		BRA	109	23		Jorge Zarif		24	20	8	(48)	13	17	11	8	4	10	163	115
7th		NED	842	10		Pieter-Jan Postma	Delta Lloyd	27	29	5	23	(34)	13	1	6	6	7	151	117
8th		FIN	218	24		Tapio Nirkko	EPS	11	11	(30)	6	3	16	17	26	18	20	158	128
9th		GBR	11	4		Edward Wright	Parkstone YC	4	13	10	10	(54)	26	14	21	9	24	185	131
10th		GRE	77	11		Ioannis Mitakis	YCG	3	27	2	33	(77 RET)	5	20	1	37	6	211	134
11th		EST	2	15		Deniss Karpak	SK Karpak Sailing Team	14	(42)	4	1	12	21	27	25	23	11	180	138
12th		USA	6	7		Caleb Paine	St Francis YC	8	21	9	20	14	22	23	14	(36)	12	179	143
13th		GBR	91	14		Ben Cornish	Exe SC	7	23	24	11	5	(77 BFD)	21	10	14	35	227	150
14th		NZL	24	5		Josh Junior	WBBC	29	9	14	(54)	40	2	12	4	21	22	207	153
15th		CRO	69	22		Milan Vujasinovic	JK Split	6	15	15	38	7	(39)	7	33	16	23	199	160
16th		FRA	17	42	J	Fabian Pic	SRR	13	36	25	2	1	8	40	(41)	31	16	213	172
17th		URU	301	44		Alejandro Jose Foglia	YCPE	2	38	21	(56)	44	11	2	19	8	27	228	172
18th		DEN	2	40		Jonas Hogh-Christensen	Royal Danish Yacht Club	23	30	20	9	30	28	3	16	19	(77 DNF)	255	178
19th		AUS	41	2	J	Jake Lilley	RQYS	(56)	2	45	18	36	37	16	5	17	8	240	184
20th		CRO	524	1		Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic	JK Labud Fantasica	10	10	16	(77 RET)	24	25	8	77 BFD	11	5	263	186
21st		NOR	1	19		Anders Pedersen	DSSF	21	4	(77 BFD)	13	39	3	24	23	29	34	267	190
22nd		AUS	261	6		Oliver Tweddell	Sandringham YC	17	12	39	14	8	7	(42)	18	38	39	234	192
23rd		HUN	40	21		Zsombor Berecz	MVM SE	15	40	3	(45)	29	24	41	11	13	21	242	197
24th		ITA	117	18		Giorgio Poggi	SVGDF	35	25	32	(39)	15	12	13	20	24	26	241	202
25th		CRO	52	47	J	Nenad Bugarin	YC Labud	20	(41)	23	24	2	35	38	22	20	19	244	203
26th		SWE	6	8		Bjorn Allansson	GKSS	43	1	12	(58)	23	46	22	13	22	25	265	207
27th		RUS	2	67		Aleksey Borisov		25	26	35	7	6	41	10	35	25	(49)	259	210
28th		ESP	17	38		Pablo Guitian Sarria	C.N.ELCANO	(50)	37	38	3	11	23	36	30	10	28	266	216
29th		ITA	146	13		Michele Paoletti	SVBG	12	34	(77 BFD)	22	20	33	28	29	26	13	294	217
30th		USA	4	80		Zach RAILEY		26	18	34	25	(43)	10	43	17	12	33	261	218
31st		CRO	1	56		Josip Olujic	JK Labud	18	(45)	31	41	16	36	5	12	43	17	264	219
32nd		RUS	57	28		Egor Terpigorev	CSP Hlebnikovo, Fantastica, CSKA VMF	36	16	29	21	33	32	30	28	(46)	9	280	234
33rd		CZE	5	30	J	Ondrej Teply	YCBrno	28	14	27	31	9	27	(46)	27	40	32	281	235
34th		TUR	21	32		Alican Kaynar	FenerbahAgeSK	(59)	31	6	49	38	15	34	32	2	31	297	238
35th		CAN	110	33		Martin Robitaille	CVL/RCYC	30	44	22	29	31	18	(47)	38	34	15	308	261
36th		ESP	2	26		Alex Muscat	Club Nautica Garraf	40	17	18	42	(52)	19	29	40	41	18	316	264
37th		EST	11	29		Lauri Väinsalu	ROPK/TREV2	33	(59)	28	16	10	38	31	36	33	42	326	267
38th		POL	17	17		Piotr Kula		38	19	(77 BFD)	17	22	29	32	34	32	45	345	268
39th		ITA	66	25		Enrico Voltolini		(48)	8	36	46	27	34	33	31	27	30	320	272
40th		RUS	6	31	J	Arkadiy Kistanov		9	43	33	35	25	(77 BFD)	25	39	30	36	352	275
41st		GER	259	34		Phillip Kasueske	VSaW	34	28	11	40	35	30	35	37	47	(52)	349	297
42nd		ITA	123	27		Filippo Baldassari	SVGDF	41	39	26	26	42	(48)	19	24	45	40	350	302
43rd		RUS	7	68		Vladimir Krutskikh	Fantastica	16	32	43	12	46	(55)	44	45	51	50	394	339
44th		ITA	147	53		Simone Ferrarese	Circola Vela Bari	37	51	40	(57)	21	42	37	42	44	29	400	343
45th		POR	5	37		Frederico Melo	Cncascais	32	35	41	52	64	20	39	(77 BFD)	28	38	426	349
46th		GBR	18	46		James Hadden	WPNSA	42	33	54	4	49	51	57	44	(60)	46	440	380
47th		CHN	1225	51		He Chen	Chinese YA	39	53	37	32	47	31	(54)	47	48	51	439	385
48th		CZE	1	55		Michael MAIER	YCR	52	55	44	30	(56)	40	49	48	50	37	461	405
49th		NZL	8	82		Matt COUTTS	MBBC	31	47	(77 BFD)	27	28	49	45	77 DNF	55	47	483	406
50th		DEN	24	54		Andre Hojen Cristiansen	SNV	47	52	42	19	(68)	52	61	53	56	48	498	430
51st		CAN	2	36	J	Kyle Martin	Royal Vancouver	58	49	53	47	48	45	52	(77 BFD)	39	41	509	432
52nd		CHN	1226	39		Lei Gong	Chinese YA	60	22	(77 BFD)	67	60	43	26	77 BFD	35	44	511	434
53rd		ARG	1	62	J	Fernando Sanjurjo	YC Argentina	44	48	52	(66)	58	44	56	43	42	57	510	444
54th		ESP	717	57		Victor Gorostegui	RCM Santander	53	46	55	(69)	26	50	51	54	57	54	515	446
55th		AUS	22	41	J	Joseph McMillan	WSC	54	56	56	28	(77 RET)	47	50	51	52	56	527	450
56th		NZL	111	60		Karl Purdie	WBBC	49	54	(59)	34	55	59	58	46	58	43	515	456
57th		NZL	21	58		Nik Burfoot	TBC	46	50	46	53	51	54	53	52	(61)	53	519	458
58th		AUS	26	43		Ian Mckillop	R. Prince Albert YC	(64)	60	47	51	32	56	62	49	59	58	538	474
59th		FIN	225	49		Mikael Hyrylainen	NJK	51	57	50	64	(77 RET)	53	55	50	49	60	566	489
60th		USA	11	35		Philip Toth	USSTS	62	61	51	55	50	57	48	55	54	(64)	557	493
61st		AUS	10	48		John Condie	Yarra Bay 16' Skiff SC	(68)	64	60	37	41	58	60	58	65	61	572	504
62nd		FIN	99	65		Jesse KYLANPAA	RPS	55	(67)	48	50	59	63	63	56	62	55	578	511
63rd		FRA	42	79		Brendan MCCARTY		66	(70)	49	59	45	60	66	61	68	63	607	537
64th		NZL	7	61		Bradley Douglas	WBC	57	63	63	65	66	61	59	57	53	(77 DNF)	621	544
65th		NZL	9	59		Rob Coutts	RAYC	70	58	(77 BFD)	61	53	64	65	59	63	59	629	552
66th		NZL	20	69		Chris Wells	NPC	61	62	57	68	61	62	65	60	(71)	65	632	561
67th		NZL	10	64		David Hoogenboom	WYC	67	(77 DNS)	61	44	63	68	68	62	67	62	639	562
68th		NZL	22	66		Dirch Andersen	WYC	69	69	65	62	57	65	(72)	65	64	68	656	584
69th		RUS	212	71		Lanfranko Cirillo	Fantastica	63	68	62	60	65	67	67	63	69	(77 DNF)	661	584
70th		NZL	19	83		Denis MOWBRAY	NPC	65	66	58	(70)	67	66	69	64	66	69	660	590
71st		NZL	265	72		Mike Pearson	CBYC	71	71	64	63	62	71	(74)	67	73	66	682	608
72nd		NZL	88	74		Gerard Lelieveld	WYC	(72)	65	66	72	69	69	70	68	70	70	691	619
73rd		NZL	23	73		Alan Dawson	WYC	74	72	67	73	70	72	71	66	(75)	67	707	632
74th		NZL	3	70		Ben Winters	CBYC	73	73	68	71	71	70	73	69	72	(77 DNF)	717	640
75th		NZL	193	87		Gerrit BEARDA	WYC	(77 DNF)	74	69	74	72	73	75	70	74	71	729	652
76th		NZL	2	63		Ray Hall	WBBC	(77 DNC)	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	770	693