ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres - Unassailable Finn lead for Postma

by Robert Deaves on 26 Apr 2014 At the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres, Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) will go into the medal race with an unassailable 23 point lead after two second places on the final day of the opening series. Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) has climbed to second after winning the second race of the day while just three points behind is Thomas Le Breton (FRA). The first race was won by Josh Junior.

After a short delay for the wind, the final two races got underway to decide the top 10 for Saturday's medal race. Current World Champion Jorge Zarif (BRA) was first round the top mark in race 9, but Josh Junior (NZL) was not far behind and passed him on the run to extend to win by nearly half a minute. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) rounded the top mark in 11th but moved through the fleet to second on the final downwind. Third place finally went to Milan Vujasinovic (CRO).

This result left Postma with a 24 point lead at the top, but he still had to sail well in the final race as he was discarding that 58th from Thursday. Anders Pedersen (NOR) was fastest to the top mark in race 10, leading round from Caleb Paine (USA) and Ioannis Mitakis (GRE). Kljakovic Gaspic had a blistering first run to move into the lead, which he held to the finish. Postma again rounded 11th but was soon into second, which again he held to the finish. Paine finished third.

This leaves the medal race as a formality for most sailors with Postma just having to show up to take gold. The only real interest is the battle for silver between Kljakovic Gaspic and Le Breton, separated by just three points. Fourth placed Paine, has a mathematical chance of winning a medal but needs to win the race with Le Breton last. Barring disqualifications, nothing much else can change to the top three.

For Postma this is a milestone. His first major victory in the Finn class after years of hard work. The Frisian sailor said, 'This is a very special feeling. A big step. Up to today during major events something went wrong in the end. I set myself straight. This now feels like a break, I can win.'

'I have been in the gym a lot recently each day and I trained on a Volvo Ocean Race boat. But it is the sum of the experience, of all the training, being a little older, to know yourself better, more race experience. That has led to this victory.'

'I have put so much energy into it over the past decade. Despite the stress I was really strong this week. This growth has been in recent years. If you look at the Olympics, which of course was a huge thing, on sailing quality I deserved a medal but I failed to rise above. Now it feels like I have overcome. The process of sport is grandiose, heavy, but very special.'

Karpak commented, 'The week was perfect, with nice weather, 100% free pumping in all 10 races. So, the conditions were excellent for sailing. The race committee was very good, with no extra long postponements before and between racing.'

'Today was a hard day again, with full hiking and pumping. I’m happy with my eighth place so far, and being in the medal race again, after Palma, but I’m not happy with my speed, so I will try to improve that before the Europeans. It was nice training before La Rochelle.'

Allansson said,'The Race Committee made the right choice and postponed us ashore for a short while, which meant perfect sailing conditions once we got out there. In the first start I was a bit too conservative, which came at a high price, but the rest of my performance today I'm pleased with, especially my downwinds.'

'I'm real happy to have qualified for tomorrow's medal race. I will go in with a attitude to win the race - I guess I will not be the only one.'

The medal race line up looks like this:

Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) - Twice runner-up and last year's bronze medalist in the World Championships, Postma has sailed exceptionally well this week. Thrives under the pressure of the medal race and won the high pressure race at last year's Finn Gold Cup. Even though he is assured the overall win just by finishing, expect him to try to seal it in style.

Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) - The 2009 and 2010 European Champion is back in contention after taking most of the last year off. After a mediocre first day, he has only been outside the top three twice and historically does well in medal races. Expect him to keep Le Breton on a close rein in Saturday's race.

Thomas Le Breton (FRA) - After losing the 2012 Olympic trials to the eventual bronze medalist and training partner Jonathan Lobert (FRA), Le Breton has started the 2014 season in his best form yet. He has followed a silver in Palma with another great week here and is clearly on a roll.

Caleb Paine (USA) - Former world number one, Paine has had an exceptional week after one of his best performances to date with seven top 10 places. Has an outside chance of a medal but needs to win the medal race to stand a chance.

Josh Junior (NZL) - Apart from one slip up, Junior could have been competing for a medal here but has left himself to much to do. Otherwise a very good series from him with eight single digit placings and starting to emerge as the top kiwi.

Björn Allansson (SWE) - After a slow start in Hyères the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne winner has put together a great series and a great confidence boost in the Swedish selections. Too far adrift for a medal but will still be competing for a top four place.

Ioannis Mitakis (GRE) - The early leader this week but a couple of high scores cost him dearly. Was the junior European champion in 2009 and 2010, before taking the senior European Championship in 2012, including winning the medal race. Historically better in light winds, but getting better in the breeze as this week has proven.

Deniss Karpak (EST) - Starting to put in some consistent performances but not enough single digits to be challenging the podium this week. Can move up to fifth with a good medal race.

Milan Vujasinovic (CRO) - Only in his second year of sailing Finns and improving all the time. Finished fourth at the 2013 Finn Gold Cup, but a bit inconsistent this week leaving him too much to do.

Jorge Zarif (BRA) - Current world champion, only made the cut on the final day here. Too far adrift to make much impact further up.

The medal races start at 11.00 Saturday. Live tracking can be found here.

Finn – Overall Results

Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	Race										Points
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Net
1	NED	NED842	Pieter-Jan Postma	5	9	1	2	1	1	(57)	6	2	2	86.00	29.00
2	CRO	CRO524	Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic	16	(20)	2	3	13	3	3	3	8	1	72.00	52.00
3	FRA	FRA29	Thomas Le Breton	9	(15)	5	1	10	4	12	1	9	4	70.00	55.00
4	USA	USA6	Caleb Paine	7	3	3	10	5	17	9	(18)	15	3	90.00	72.00
5	NZL	NZL24	Josh Junior	(60) BFD	4	9	7	8	2	29	7	1	7	134.00	74.00
6	SWE	SWE6	Björn Allansson	23	(33)	12	5	4	5	1	8	17	6	114.00	81.00
7	GRE	GRE77	Ioannis Mitakis	2	1	17	4	24	(60) BFD	16	4	10	5	143.00	83.00
8	EST	EST2	Deniss Karpak	14	13	13	6	2	13	7	(21)	13	11	113.00	92.00
9	CRO	CRO69	Milan Vujasinovi?	3	5	(22)	11	15	20	11	13	3	12	115.00	93.00
10	BRA	BRA109	Jorge João Zarif	18	(26)	6	16	6	23	4	16	6	15	136.00	110.00
11	SLO	SLO5	Gasper Vincec	12	23	(60) UFD	12	20	8	6	2	14	16	173.00	113.00
12	SWE	SWE33	Max Salminen	6	(34)	8	9	16	11	22	10	18	13	147.00	113.00
13	ITA	ITA117	Giorgio Poggi	(60) DNF	16	4	18	3	7	5	37	16	9	175.00	115.00
14	POL	POL17	Piotr Kula	17	6	(38)	28	17	10	18	17	4	8	163.00	125.00
15	NOR	NOR1	Anders Pedersen	11	(31)	11	21	12	16	21	5	19	10	157.00	126.00
16	AUS	AUS41	Jake Lilley	4	11	(60) UFD	17	7	21	8	12	25	25	190.00	130.00
17	ITA	ITA123	Filippo Baldassari	19	2	10	14	28	14	14	23	(42)	19	185.00	143.00
18	POL	POL1	Milosz Wojewski	8	10	(32)	19	26	12	2	26	29	26	190.00	158.00
19	AUS	AUS261	Oliver Tweddell	27	17	21	33	23	(35)	13	9	12	14	204.00	169.00
20	ITA	ITA146	Michele Paoletti	21	29	14	13	11	24	(60) DSQ	15	26	18	231.00	171.00
21	NZL	NZL16	Andrew Murdoch	(60) BFD	27	24	15	19	9	15	22	21	20	232.00	172.00
22	CRO	CRO1	Josip Olujic	15	8	33	26	(39)	37	10	27	5	23	223.00	184.00
23	RUS	RUS9	Eduard Skornyakov	20	14	23	(37)	18	29	19	28	22	21	231.00	194.00
24	DEN	DEN4	Mads Bendix	24	18	30	24	14	15	20	25	(39)	28	237.00	198.00
25	CRO	CRO7	Tudor Bilic	26	(42)	27	34	9	18	25	24	23	22	250.00	208.00
26	BRA	BRA-1	Bruno Prada	10	7	26	30	22	(60) BFD	24	31	32	30	272.00	212.00
27	FRA	FRA112	Jonathan Lobert	1	28	7	8	(60) DSQ	6	24 RDG	19.1 RDG	60 DNC	60 DNC	273.10	213.10
28	RUS	RUS57	Egor Terpigorev	25	47	16	29	37	(60) BFD	30	20	7	17	288.00	228.00
29	ITA	ITA66	Enrico Voltolini	22	25	18	(36)	25	22	28	33	20	36	265.00	229.00
30	POR	POR5	Frederico Melo	13	21	15	22	(60) BFD	19	17	60 RET	31	38	296.00	236.00
31	EST	EST11	Lauri Väinsalu	28	38	(40)	25	21	30	26	19	28	32	287.00	247.00
32	RUS	RUS1	Alexey Selivanov	35	24	29	23	30	25	38	(45)	27	27	303.00	258.00
33	CRO	CRO52	Nenad Bugarin	34	30	20	20	(60) BFD	27	44	38	33	31	337.00	277.00
34	POL	POL13	Michal Jodlowski	31	12	25	(60) BFD	27	39	45	32	38	37	346.00	286.00
35	RUS	RUS6	Arkadiy Kistanov	32	35	19	44	(60) BFD	60 RET	42	14	11	35	352.00	292.00
36	CZE	CZE1	Michael Maier	40	41	34	32	31	28	(43)	30	35	24	338.00	295.00
37	RUS	RUS8	Anatoliy Korshikov	29	43	28	27	35	(60) BFD	34	34	37	29	356.00	296.00
38	FRA	FRA177	Fabian Pic	30	22	35	38	(42)	32	32	40	34	34	339.00	297.00
39	POL	POL16	Mikolaj Lahn	36	(40)	31	35	32	33	39	29	30	33	338.00	298.00
40	POL	POL111	Jakub Marciniak	39	36	36	31	(60) BFD	60 BFD	23	11	24	39	359.00	299.00
41	DEN	DEN23	Martin Boidin	37	39	41	40	36	36	(46)	35	36	41	387.00	341.00
42	CRO	CRO6	Dan Lovrovic	46	19	39	41	38	38.1 RDG	41	43	(60) UFD	43	408.10	348.10
43	ITA	ITA 747	Simone Ferrarese	45	(48)	44	42	37 DPI	29 DPI	27	41	40	46	399.00	351.00
44	USA	USA21	Gordon Lamphere	43	(49)	45	45	29	31	33	46	45	48	414.00	365.00
45	RUS	RUS11	Kirill Luzan	47	32	42	46	(49)	38	35	36	49	40	414.00	365.00
46	FRA	FRA114	Thomas Morel	38	37	(60) DNF	60 DNC	33	34	36	44	41	42	425.00	365.00
47	FRA	FRA89	Benjamin Montagut	33	45	37	39	45	(60) BFD	37	39	47	45	427.00	367.00
48	FRA	FRA99	Marc Allain Des Beauvais	44	(51)	43	43	40	41	47	51	43	49	452.00	401.00
49	FRA	FRA75	Laurent HAY	42	46	49	47	43	42	48	42	44	(51)	454.00	403.00
50	EST	EST7	Harles Liiv	41	50	47	48	41	40	40	48	50	(60) DNF	465.00	405.00
51	USA	USA69	John F Dane	48	(52)	48	49	47	45	51	47	52	50	489.00	437.00
52	ITA	ITA83	Matteo Savio	(60) DNC	60 DNC	46	51	44	43	49	50	51	44	498.00	438.00
53	ITA	ITA191	Alessandro Cattaneo	49	44	51	(53)	50	49	50	49	48	52	495.00	442.00
54	VEN	VEN100	Johnny Bilbao	50	54	53 SCP	55 SCP	46	44	53	(60) DNF	46	47	508.00	448.00
55	SUI	SUI63	Thomas Gautschi	52	(56)	53	50	48	47	55	52	53	53	519.00	463.00
56	TUN	TUN1	Karim Esseghir	53	53	52	(56)	53	46	52	54	55	55	529.00	473.00
57	FIN	FIN226	Jukka Partinen	54	55	(56)	54	52	51	54	53	54	54	537.00	481.00
58	NED	NED100	Arend Van Der Sluis	51	58	54	55	51	48	56	(60) DNF	56	56	545.00	485.00
59	USA	USA2	Charles Heimler	55	57	55	57	54	50	58	(60) DNC	60 DNC	60 DNC	566.00	506.00

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