2015 Finn European Champs – Light winds again for Day 3 in Split

by Robert Deaves on 15 May 2015 Once again, only one race was sailed at the Finn European Championship in Split, Croatia. While Deniss Karpak (EST) led at every mark to win the race, Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) extended his lead at the top to 11 points. Josh Junior (NZL) moved back up to second while Ioannis Mitakis (GRE) drops one to third.

After a short postponement, race four got away under black flag following one general recall. Like yesterday the corners didn't pay again with race winner Deniss Karpak (EST) leading round the top mark, after playing the middle, with a narrow lead over Michele Paoletti (ITA) and Ioannis Mitakis (GRE). Karpak extended on the first downwind to hold a lead of more than a minute at the gate as the wind became lighter. Ondra Teply (CZE) rounded second from Oliver Tweddell (AUS).

Not much changed on the second upwind, but then on the final downwind, pressure from behind and the right allowed a few boats to make up places. Karpak almost lost his lead, on the wrong side of the course. However, he just held on to win from a fast approaching Zsombor Berecz (HUN) after some last minute tactics to cross in front of the fleet. Teply finished in third. Josh Junior (NZL) made up a few places on the final approach to climb to seventh and move up to second overall while a 14th from Mitakis was just enough to stay in the top three.

After the finish the wind all but died and just over an hour later the fleet was sent home for the day. With four races sailed, the championship is now valid, but one more is needed before a medal race can be sailed. Kistanov has maintained his overall lead and extended it to 11 points. He said, “It was a tight race for me. I had a nice start. I went the wrong way on the first upwind, going too much to the left, but after that I made a good comeback to finish eighth.”

Third overall Mitakis, said, “I managed to find a good way upwind to round in the top three, then I had a penalty on the first downwind, but I got back to seventh on the second upwind. On the last downwind I lost about 10 places, but it was OK for me as it was a lot worse for some guys. There were a lot of up and downs. Everyone thought the wind was going to turn right, but in the end the puff was from the left so some guys got past.”

After winning both races on the first day, Junior is back up to second overall. “I had a bit of a lucky race today. We had seven to eight knots at the start and a pretty square line. I got away to a good start and then it was really tricky up the first beat with the middle right paying, which is where the leaders came from. On the downwind I chipped away, and then on the second upwind, the wind went really funky, quite light and the pressure came out of the left. I ended up really deep and had to catch up and got back to about 15th at the top mark. Then there was an opportunity right before the finish when the front guys just dropped into no pressure so I made a bold move to try and sail round the outside. I went hard right looking downwind and managed to get round six or seven of them to cross in seventh, so I am happy with that. I came away with a good race.'

“The Russian junior is sailing really well so far. It's definitely going to be windy tomorrow. Heavy weather sails, a bit of a hike off. Bit of a change.”

Anders Petersen (NOR) is sailing his first full season in the senior fleet after winning the Junior World Championship last year. He will keep the title for just a few more weeks before the 2015 Finn Silver Cup takes place in Valencia at the end of June. His main opposition from last year, and one of the favourites this year is Kistanov.

“I wish I was still a year younger so I could do the Juniors again. In most races we sail with the seniors so it's not that much difference, but at the youth championship everything is easier and there is more room at the start. In the seniors there are many more guys pushing. I think this year's Silver Cup will be pretty tough though, especially with Arkadiy in first place here.”

“I had a very good race today. The start was OK, but then I got rolled by NZL 16. I attacked my way into the course and I was lucky on the first beat to catch some wind and rounded the top in tenth. I had a good downwind and on the second beat I was far out to the left and got up to ninth, and then I managed to go round some guys on the downwind to finish sixth.'

Race winner Karpak mused on his race win after a disastrous race on Wednesday. “Yesterday was a pity. I was ninth at the first mark, then touched the mark, got a penalty, did my turns, but they were too late, so hopefully I got all the bad things in one race.” He later retired from the race.

“Today, I had good speed and the first upwind was great. The middle was the way to go. There were too many shifts to go to one side. I wasn't in the first place 200 metres from the mark and then a few tacks later I was leading.”

“On the downwind I went left and got away to a lead of more than one minute at the gate. But I almost lost it. I finished just metres ahead of the Hungarian. There was no wind at the finish, and everyone came back at me with more pressure. At one point, I gybed and crossed at almost 90 degrees to the course to catch the Hungarian. If I had continued to go straight to the finish I would have lost the race. Then the wind died after we had finished.”

“Tomorrow will be a hard day as the forecast is windy.” Three more races are now scheduled for Friday from 11.00, with the some strong winds forecast to be arriving overnight. After one more race the discard comes into effect, which should change the leader board somewhat though perhaps not as much as three windy races. It should be a big day for everyone if the forecast is correct.

Kistanov still leads both the Seniors and the Juniors and has not only extended his lead on the seniors but also the juniors, after both Jake Lilley (AUS) and Nenad Bugarin (CRO) had results in the 20s. In the Seniors, only 10 points separates the next seven places, so Friday will be a crucial day for some.

The opening series of 10 races concludes on Saturday, before the medal race and the final race for the rest takes place on Sunday.

Full results

Rank	Country	SailNo	Name	BowNo	Division	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	RUS	6	ARKADIY KISTANOV	12	Junior	2.0	10.0	5.0	8.0	25.0
2	NZL	24	JOSH JUNIOR	56		1.0	1.0	27.0	7.0	36.0
3	GRE	77	IOANNIS MITAKIS	59		5.0	15.0	3.0	14.0	37.0
4	ITA	146	MICHELE PAOLETTI	46		17.0	14.0	4.0	5.0	40.0
5	NZL	16	ANDREW MURDOCH	43		24.0	4.0	1.0	12.0	41.0
6	HUN	40	ZSOMBOR BERECZ	35		8.0	6.0	26.0	2.0	42.0
7	GBR	11	EDWARD WRIGHT	51		10.0	5.0	10.0	18.0	43.0
8	CRO	524	IVAN KLJAKOVIC GASPIC	19		26.0	3.0	2.0	15.0	46.0
9	CRO	69	MILAN VUJASINOVIC	25		29.0	11.0	8.0	4.0	52.0
10	AUS	41	JAKE LILLEY	38	Junior	11.0	7.0	21.0	21.0	60.0
11	CRO	52	NENAD BUGARIN	54	Junior	4.0	23.0	7.0	27.0	61.0
12	GBR	91	BEN CORNISH	2		12.0	8.0	28.0	16.0	64.0
13	NOR	1	ANDERS PEDERSEN	63		25.0	16.0	20.0	6.0	67.0
14	CZE	5	ONDREJ TEPLY	13	Junior	27.0	34.0	16.0	3.0	80.0
15	SLO	573	VASILIJ ZBOGAR	32		15.0	12.0	36.0	17.0	80.0
16	URU	301	ALEJANDRO FOGLIA	50		22.0	20.0	9.0	32.0	83.0
17	GER	259	PHILLIP KASUESKE	17	Junior	33.0	33.0	13.0	11.0	90.0
18	EST	2	DENISS KARPAK	53		13.0	13.0	72.0 ret	1.0	99.0
19	GBR	96	HECTOR SIMPSON	39	Junior	23.0	38.0	19.0	20.0	100.0
20	ITA	66	ENRICO VOLTOLINI	55		19.0	26.0	24.0	34.0	103.0
21	CRO	1	JOSIP OLUJIC	7		18.0	9.0	58.0	24.0	109.0
22	SWE	6	BJORN ALLANSSON	37		9.0	21.0	50.0	33.0	113.0
23	RUS	57	EGOR TERPIGOREV	8		3.0	2.0	72.0 dsq	38.0	115.0
24	GBR	18	JAMES HADDEN	3		47.0	40.0	6.0	22.0	115.0
25	UKR	5	ANDRII GUSENKO	6		41.0	31.0	33.0	10.0	115.0
26	ITA	123	FILIPPO BALDASSARI	67		54.0	27.0	18.0	19.0	118.0
27	ITA	147	SIMONE FERRARESE	26		16.0	30.0	12.0	63.0	121.0
28	ESP	8	PABLO GUITIAN SARRIA	48		6.0	25.0	48.0	43.0	122.0
29	POL	16	MIKOLAJ LAHN	27	Junior	7.0	32.0	53.0	31.0	123.0
30	NED	842	PIETER JAN POSTMA	23		14.0	18.0	56.0	36.0	124.0
31	NOR	9	LARS JOHAN BRODTKORB	47	Junior	38.0	35.0	44.0	9.0	126.0
32	ITA	117	GIORGIO POGGI	11		28.0	22.0	37.0	42.0	129.0
33	RUS	7	ANATOLY KORSHIKOV	9	Junior	37.0	19.0	49.0	29.0	134.0
34	TUR	21	ALICAN KAYNAR	42		45.0	36.0	17.0	40.0	138.0
35	ESP	7	ALEX MUSCAT	22		72.0 ufd	24.0	32.0	13.0	141.0
36	POR	5	FREDERICO MELO	21		34.0	17.0	30.0	60.0	141.0
37	AUS	261	OLIVER TWEDDELL	71		20.0	72.0 ufd	22.0	28.0	142.0
38	CZE	1	MICHAEL MAIER	14		50.0	41.0	25.0	30.0	146.0
39	GER	595	GORGELS SIMON	24	Junior	36.0	39.0	31.0	41.0	147.0
40	POL	1	MILOSZ WOJEWSKI	65		40.0	42.0	47.0	25.0	154.0
41	GER	713	HAVERLAND LARS	5		42.0	28.0	35.0	50.0	155.0
42	ARG	48	FACUNDO OLEZZA	58	Junior	51.0	45.0	15.0	45.0	156.0
43	FRA	17	PIC FABIAN	49	Junior	46.0	29.0	46.0	35.0	156.0
44	GER	25	MAX KOHLHOFF	18	Junior	30.0	50.0	54.0	23.0	157.0
45	ITA	83	MATTEO SAVIO	33	Junior	52.0	43.0	11.0	52.0	158.0
46	CRO	7	TUDOR BILIC	16		49.0	37.0	43.0	49.0	178.0
47	ESP	717	VICTOR GOROSTEGUI ARCE	57		48.0	46.0	62.0	26.0	182.0
48	FIN	225	MIKAEL HYRYLAINEN	1		59.0	44.0	38.0	44.0	185.0
49	GRE	4	PANAGIOTIS KOTSOVOS	61		39.0	53.0	42.0	51.0	185.0
50	FRA	99	MARC ALLAIN DES BEAUVAIS	68		43.0	48.0	55.0	39.0	185.0
51	ARG	1	SANTIAGO FALASCA	28	Junior	55.0	54.0	23.0	54.0	186.0
52	EST	11	LAURI VAINSALU	31		44.0	72.0 ufd	14.0	61.0	191.0
53	ITA	175	ALESSANDRO VONGHER	4		35.0	47.0	64.0	46.0	192.0
54	POL	22	JEREMI ZIMNY	29	Junior	62.0	58.0	29.0	47.0	196.0
55	FRA	89	BENJAMIN MONTAGUT	62		32.0	49.0	59.0	56.0	196.0
56	POL	17	PIOTR KULA	44		21.0	72.0 ufd	51.0	53.0	197.0
57	USA	11	PHILIP TOTH	30		60.0	72.0 ufd	34.0	37.0	203.0
58	RUS	41	FELIX DENIKARV	41		53.0	56.0	41.0	57.0	207.0
59	GER	252	MARTENS EIKE	20		31.0	72.0 ufd	60.0	48.0	211.0
60	POL	171	PIOTR GIERCZAK	69	Junior	64.0	59.0	39.0	58.0	220.0
61	LTU	24	SARUNAS FELENDERIS	52		58.0	57.0	40.0	65.0	220.0
62	POL	14	PIOTR MAZUR	36		57.0	51.0	63.0	55.0	226.0
63	GRE	71	PANAGIOTIS DAVOURLIS	66		68.0	55.0	52.0	59.0	234.0
64	ITA	191	ALESSANDRO CATTANEO	15		56.0	52.0	68.0	62.0	238.0
65	GER	236	ANDREAS LOHMANN	72		63.0	72.0 dnf	45.0	67.0	247.0
66	SUI	63	GAUTSCHI THOMAS	64		65.0	62.0	57.0	64.0	248.0
67	POL	2	ANDREJ SKARKA	10		66.0	61.0	65.0	66.0	258.0
68	TUN	1	KARIM ESSEGHIR	40		61.0	63.0	66.0	69.0	259.0
69	POL	11	KACPER JAROCKI	70	Junior	67.0	60.0	67.0	70.0	264.0
70	CAN	110	MARTIN ROBITAILLE	60		72.0 ufd	72.0 ufd	61.0	68.0	273.0
71	ITA	212	LANFRANKO CIRILLO	45		72.0 DNC	72.0 DNC	72.0 DNC	72.0 DNC	288.0