Delta Lloyd Regatta day 1 Finn shared lead

by Robert Deaves on 25 May 2011 Delta Lloyd Regatta, Holland is the fifth leg of the ISAF Sailing World Cup 2011.

A sturdy 20 knot wind kicked up choppy waters for the Finn class on the IJsselmeer and the day was dramatic. With a first and second each Ed Wright (GBR) and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) share the lead after day one. Greg Douglas (CAN) is third.

The Finns had a late start to the racing, and didn't get their second race off until nearly 17.30. However the sailors reveled in the challenging conditions for a great start to the week.

There are quite a number of notable absentees at this year’s regatta in Medemblik, with many of the top sailors taking a break between training camps at Weymouth, prior to the all important Sail for Gold Regatta in two weeks, which many are using as a crucial event in their selection series for 2012.

Even the usually dominant Skandia Team GBR have only one entry in the form of world champion Ed Wright (GBR). Wright, who generally enjoys the stronger wind conditions placed second to Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) in race one. Gasper Vincec (SLO) won thebattle for third place from Greg Douglas (CAN) and fellow Slovenian Vasilij Zbogar (SLO).

Kljakovic Gaspic is the current European Champion and the winner in Medemblik last year and usually prefers the lighter conditions. Wright turned the tables in race two to win from Kljakovic Gaspic with World Masters Champion Michael Maier (CZE) in third. Maier will be keen to defend his World Masters title in Punta Ala in Italy next month against a pre-entered fleet of some 308 Finns.

Local hero Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) picked up a fourth in the race while Douglas rounded out a fantastic day for him with a fifth place.

Douglas is really the surprise package of the day. Having placed 33rd in last year's Finn Gold Cup in San Francisco, and 15th at the Rolex Miami OCR, this is his first major international regatta since then. Douglas competed in the 2008 Olympics in the Laser class before moving into the Finn in 2010 and is improving all the time.

The fleet of 66 Finn sailors from 24 nations again has a number of new faces and some sailors returning to the class. The Delta Lloyd Regatta also attracts a sizable amateur contingent who enjoy the challenge of racing against the class stars.

Fleet racing continues to Saturday with the medal race for the top 10 boats on Sunday 29 May.

Results after two races:

Results - FINN

Rank	Country	Sail Nr	Start Nr	Helmsman	R1	R2	Points
1	GBR	11	5	Edward Wright	2	1	3
2	CRO	524	1	Ivan Kljakovic Ga	1	2	3
3	AUS	1	20	Brendan Casey	6	4	10
4	CAN	5	64	Greg Douglas	4	6	10
5	NED	842	14	Pieter-Jan Postma	10	5	15
6	SLO	5	16	Gasper Vincec	3	13	16
7	SLO	573	15	Vasilij Zbogar	5	12	17
8	CRO	25	6	Marin Misura	8	10	18
9	CZE	1	41	Michael Maier	14	7	21
10	POL	17	19	Piotr Kula	7	14	21
11	CZE	52	34	Tomas Vika	11	17	28
12	POL	7	75	Rafal Szukiel	12	19	31
13	CHN	1	25	Zhang Peng	13	22	35
14	NED	841	55	Hein van Egmond	20	16	36
15	UKR	5	33	Gusenko Andrrii	9	30	39
16	TUR	21	43	Alican Kaynar	24	15	39
17	AUS	2	32	Rob McMilllan	21	18	39
18	UKR	1	51	Oleksiy Borysov	32	8	40
19	AUS	235	26	Timothy Castles	16	24	40
20	NED	83	35	Timo Hagoort	17	23	40
21	BRA	109	39	Jorge Zarif	15	27	42
22	CHN	8	36	Cheng Cheng Kong	25	20	45
23	TUR	211	42	Ali Kemal Tufekci	26	21	47
24	CHN	6	24	Gong Lei	19	31	50
25	GER	64	44	Lennart Luttkus	23	28	51
26	CHN	42	38	Ai Ming Cheng	18	34	52
27	USA	619	68	Caleb Paine	42	11	53
28	DEN	46	50	Kaspar Andresen	22	33	55
29	HUN	6	28	Gaszton Pal	27	32	59
30	IRL	4	31	Ross Hamilton	34	26	60
31	AUS	261	29	Oliver Tweddell	54	9	63
32	CAN	26	65	Paul Brikis	35	29	64
33	EST	11	47	Lauri Vainsalu	29	38	67
34	NED	29	72	Bas De Waal	33	35	68
35	NZL	1	10	Dan Slater	BFD	3	70
36	CAN	110	63	Martin Robitaille	46	25	71
37	USA	21	48	Gordon Lamphere	30	41	71
38	AUS	11	30	Shaun Wells	28	44	72
39	TUR	7	46	Akif Muslubas	31	42	73
40	HUN	8	22	Marton Beliczay	38	36	74
41	CHN	43	37	Li Zhen	40	39	79
42	NED	909	59	Simeon Tienpont	39	40	79
43	DEN	262	49	Bo Teglers	36	45	81
44	GRE	41	54	Panagiotis Kotsovos	43	43	86
45	HUN	10	61	Richard Hirschler	37	50	87
46	NED	787	76	Nanno Schuttrups	45	48	93
47	BUL	855	74	Dimitar Vangelov	41	53	94
48	GBR	18	23	James Hadden	47	47	94
49	NED	54	69	Joos Bos	50	46	96
50	GER	501	45	Fabian Lemmel	48	49	97
51	USA	81	40	Joshua Revkin	44	55	99
52	NED	724	58	Stefan Marechal	49	52	101
53	NED	7	73	Cees Scheurwater	51	51	102
54	POL	1	71	Jakub Dumara	DNF	37	104
55	GRE	71	53	Panagiotis Davourlis	52	54	106
56	NED	50	67	Jan Zetzema	53	56	109
57	GER	129	70	Walter Siemers	55	57	112
58	NED	8	60	Rodrick Casander	DNF	DNF	134
59	NED	110	56	Diederik Sarels van Rijn	DNF	DNF	134
60	NED	835	27	Jaap Goede	DNF	DNF	134
61	NED	941	57	Pim Mommersteeg	DNF	DNF	134
62	SVK	15	52	Slavomir Sopuch	DNF	DNF	134
63	USA	56	62	Charles Heimler	DNF	DNF	134
64	USA	74	66	Henry Sprague	DNF	DNF	134
65	NED	100	77	Arend van der Sluis	DNF	DNF	134
66	NED	22	21	Peter Hubregtsen	DNF	DNF	134

Delta Lloyd website
Finn Class website