Finn Gold Cup - Light wind medal race for finale

by Lindsey Bell on 29 Nov 2015 British sailor, Ed Wright secured a top eight finish on the closing day of Finn Gold Cup racing in Takapuna on Sunday (29 November), while Giles Scott could sail a stress-free medal race having secured event victory a day in advance.

Bournemouth’s Wright, who won the World Championship title in 2010, finished second in the medal race to elevate his overnight position one place to eighth overall, while Scott finished the final ten-boat race in eighth, already safe in the knowledge that he’d be taking the esteemed Gold Cup home with him again after a dominant display on the Hauraki Gulf this week.

With a light wind forecast for the sixth and final day of competition, there was some initially some doubt as to whether the fleet would see any racing at all on Sunday.

The one scheduled race for those outside of the top ten came to nothing in shifty conditions and a strong tide, but the race team managed to get the medal racers underway in the six - eight knot mid-afternoon breeze.

Wright hailed it his ‘best result of the week’, finishing second in the finale after a penalty at the start left him at the back of the pack and fighting.

“I wanted to go out and win the race and also keep an eye on the guys that I needed to beat,” said Wright afterwards. “I wasn’t going to take them out, but I wanted to go and have a good race.”

“It was pretty light. I had a penalty at the start which was a bit upsetting but it just made me work a little harder and I got through to second in the end.”

“I’d kind of geared up everything towards a windy regatta,” Wright reflected, having started the regatta with the intention of adding a world title to his 2010 crown.

“I didn’t really want to focus too much on the light winds and they’re not predominant here. That’s probably a mistake I made there, but I sailed pretty well in the light early on in the week, in the medium I struggled. In the one big shift per beat scenarios I was struggling to pin those down.

“My downwind speed wasn’t as good as Giles’s, who was able to just sail really consistently. A great regatta for himself, sailing fast, starting well and picking through the downwinds. It was really impressive to see him so consistent in such tricky conditions,” said Wright of his teammate, who adds a third World Championship win to his victories in 2011 and 2014.

Portland-based Scott himself remarked that the medal race was held in tricky conditions. Already with gold in the bag, silver went to France’s Olympic bronze medallist Jonathan Lobert with Vasilij Zbogar overtaking the host’s Andrew Murdoch in the medal race to claim the third step of the podium.

“It was looking pretty marginal as to whether we’d race or not,” Scott said. “They had a good go of it for the fleet race this morning and they canned them early. We got out there and got our medal race in six - eight knots.

“[It was] pretty shifty conditions and it would have been a tricky one had the points been different, that’s for sure. It was quite nice to have it all squared away beforehand.”

“I’ve been really happy with the way I’ve been sailing. I managed to put together a very consistent series, which is kind of what this sort of racing is all about,” the 28-year-old continued.

“We’re certainly in a good place, but I’m still very much aware that we’re geared towards Rio. It’s great to have won a third Gold Cup and it’s a huge honour, but ultimately it’s all about next year.”

Exmouth’s Ben Cornish, who trains alongside Scott, was happy to finish his second Finn Gold Cup in 13th place overall.

“I think my expectations probably got the better of me part way through the week. I put myself inside the top ten for a lot of the week so I raised my expectations and wanted to stay there,” the 24-year-old explained.

“I went out a little bit confident yesterday that I could stay there – maybe that was the right or wrong way of looking at it, but still it’s a good result. I’m happy to come away with that.”

“It’s huge benefit to be able to line up with Giles,” Cornish continued.

“We can see from his performance here that he’s ahead of the game. For me to be able to line up every day that we go training and compare where I’m at and how I’m progressing against him is invaluable and I think everyone in this boat park would want that opportunity. I’m really fortunate.”

James Hadden concluded what was his final Finn regatta in 46th.

Overall Results

Rank	Flag	Nat	SailNo	Bow	Fleet	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	Medal 29 Nov	Total	Nett
1st		GBR	41	3	Medal	O	Giles Scott	WPNSA	5	3	1	8	4	4	(15)	2	3	2	16	63	48
2nd		FRA	112	12	Medal	O	Jonathan Lobert	SNO Nantes	(45)	5	19	5	19	14	18	3	1	1	8	138	93
3rd		SLO	573	9	Medal	M	Vasilij Zbogar	Burja Izola YC	19	6	7	(36)	17	6	9	15	7	14	12	148	112
4th		NZL	16	20	Medal	O	Andrew Murdoch	TYPBC	1	7	17	(43)	37	9	6	9	5	3	18	155	112
5th		SWE	33	16	Medal	O	Max Salminen	GKSS	22	(24)	13	15	18	1	4	7	15	4	14	137	113
6th		NED	842	10	Medal	O	Pieter-Jan Postma	Delta Lloyd	27	29	5	23	(34)	13	1	6	6	7	2	153	119
7th		BRA	109	23	Medal	O	Jorge Zarif		24	20	8	(48)	13	17	11	8	4	10	10	173	125
8th		GBR	11	4	Medal	O	Edward Wright	Parkstone YC	4	13	10	10	(54)	26	14	21	9	24	4	189	135
9th		GRE	77	11	Medal	O	Ioannis Mitakis	YCG	3	27	2	33	(77 RET)	5	20	1	37	6	6	217	140
10th		FIN	218	24	Medal	O	Tapio Nirkko	EPS	11	11	(30)	6	3	16	17	26	18	20	20	178	148
11th		EST	2	15		O	Deniss Karpak	SK Karpak Sailing Team	14	(42)	4	1	12	21	27	25	23	11	0 -	180	138
12th		USA	6	7		O	Caleb Paine	St Francis YC	8	21	9	20	14	22	23	14	(36)	12	0 -	179	143
13th		GBR	91	14		O	Ben Cornish	Exe SC	7	23	24	11	5	(77 BFD)	21	10	14	35	0 -	227	150
14th		NZL	24	5		O	Josh Junior	WBBC	29	9	14	(54)	40	2	12	4	21	22	0 -	207	153
15th		CRO	69	22		O	Milan Vujasinovic	JK Split	6	15	15	38	7	(39)	7	33	16	23	0 -	199	160
16th		FRA	17	42		O	Fabian Pic	SRR	13	36	25	2	1	8	40	(41)	31	16	0 -	213	172
17th		URU	301	44		O	Alejandro Jose Foglia	YCPE	2	38	21	(56)	44	11	2	19	8	27	0 -	228	172
18th		DEN	2	40		O	Jonas Hogh-Christensen	Royal Danish Yacht Club	23	30	20	9	30	28	3	16	19	(77 DNF)	0 -	255	178
19th		AUS	41	2		J	Jake Lilley	RQYS	(56)	2	45	18	36	37	16	5	17	8	0 -	240	184
20th		CRO	524	1		O	Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic	JK Labud Fantasica	10	10	16	(77 RET)	24	25	8	77 BFD	11	5	0 -	263	186
21st		NOR	1	19		O	Anders Pedersen	DSSF	21	4	(77 BFD)	13	39	3	24	23	29	34	0 -	267	190
22nd		AUS	261	6		O	Oliver Tweddell	Sandringham YC	17	12	39	14	8	7	(42)	18	38	39	0 -	234	192
23rd		HUN	40	21		O	Zsombor Berecz	MVM SE	15	40	3	(45)	29	24	41	11	13	21	0 -	242	197
24th		ITA	117	18		O	Giorgio Poggi	SVGDF	35	25	32	(39)	15	12	13	20	24	26	0 -	241	202
25th		CRO	52	47		O	Nenad Bugarin	YC Labud	20	(41)	23	24	2	35	38	22	20	19	0 -	244	203
26th		SWE	6	8		O	Bjorn Allansson	GKSS	43	1	12	(58)	23	46	22	13	22	25	0 -	265	207
27th		RUS	2	67		O	Aleksey Borisov		25	26	35	7	6	41	10	35	25	(49)	0 -	259	210
28th		ESP	17	38		M	Pablo Guitian Sarria	C.N.ELCANO	(50)	37	38	3	11	23	36	30	10	28	0 -	266	216
29th		ITA	146	13		M	Michele Paoletti	SVBG	12	34	(77 BFD)	22	20	33	28	29	26	13	0 -	294	217
30th		USA	4	80		O	Zach Railey	St Francis YC	26	18	34	25	(43)	10	43	17	12	33	0 -	261	218
31st		CRO	1	56		O	Josip Olujic	JK Labud	18	(45)	31	41	16	36	5	12	43	17	0 -	264	219
32nd		RUS	57	28		O	Egor Terpigorev	CSP Hlebnikovo, Fantastica, CSKA VMF	36	16	29	21	33	32	30	28	(46)	9	0 -	280	234
33rd		CZE	5	30		J	Ondrej Teply	YCBrno	28	14	27	31	9	27	(46)	27	40	32	0 -	281	235
34th		TUR	21	32		O	Alican Kaynar	FenerbahAgeSK	(59)	31	6	49	38	15	34	32	2	31	0 -	297	238
35th		CAN	110	33		O	Martin Robitaille	CVL/RCYC	30	44	22	29	31	18	(47)	38	34	15	0 -	308	261
36th		ESP	2	26		O	Alex Muscat	Club Nautica Garraf	40	17	18	42	(52)	19	29	40	41	18	0 -	316	264
37th		EST	11	29		O	Lauri Väinsalu	ROPK/TREV2	33	(59)	28	16	10	38	31	36	33	42	0 -	326	267
38th		POL	17	17		O	Piotr Kula		38	19	(77 BFD)	17	22	29	32	34	32	45	0 -	345	268
39th		ITA	66	25		O	Enrico Voltolini		(48)	8	36	46	27	34	33	31	27	30	0 -	320	272
40th		RUS	6	31		J	Arkadiy Kistanov		9	43	33	35	25	(77 BFD)	25	39	30	36	0 -	352	275
41st		GER	259	34		J	Phillip Kasueske	VSaW	34	28	11	40	35	30	35	37	47	(52)	0 -	349	297
42nd		ITA	123	27		O	Filippo Baldassari	SVGDF	41	39	26	26	42	(48)	19	24	45	40	0 -	350	302
43rd		RUS	7	68		O	Vladimir Krutskikh	Fantastica	16	32	43	12	46	(55)	44	45	51	50	0 -	394	339
44th		ITA	147	53		O	Simone Ferrarese	Circola Vela Bari	37	51	40	(57)	21	42	37	42	44	29	0 -	400	343
45th		POR	5	37		O	Frederico Melo	Cncascais	32	35	41	52	64	20	39	(77 BFD)	28	38	0 -	426	349
46th		GBR	18	46		O	James Hadden	WPNSA	42	33	54	4	49	51	57	44	(60)	46	0 -	440	380
47th		CHN	1225	51		O	He Chen	Chinese YA	39	53	37	32	47	31	(54)	47	48	51	0 -	439	385
48th		CZE	1	55		O	Michael Maier	YCR	52	55	44	30	(56)	40	49	48	50	37	0 -	461	405
49th		NZL	8	82		O	Matt Coutts	MBBC	31	47	(77 BFD)	27	28	49	45	77 DNF	55	47	0 -	483	406
50th		DEN	24	54		J	Andre Hojen Cristiansen	SNV	47	52	42	19	(68)	52	61	53	56	48	0 -	498	430
51st		CAN	2	36		O	Kyle Martin	Royal Vancouver	58	49	53	47	48	45	52	(77 BFD)	39	41	0 -	509	432
52nd		CHN	1226	39		O	Lei Gong	Chinese YA	60	22	(77 BFD)	67	60	43	26	77 BFD	35	44	0 -	511	434
53rd		ARG	1	62		J	Santiago Falasca	YC Argentina	44	48	52	(66)	58	44	56	43	42	57	0 -	510	444
54th		ESP	717	57		O	Victor Gorostegui	RCM Santander	53	46	55	(69)	26	50	51	54	57	54	0 -	515	446
55th		AUS	22	41		J	Joseph McMillan	WSC	54	56	56	28	(77 RET)	47	50	51	52	56	0 -	527	450
56th		NZL	111	60		M	Karl Purdie	WBBC	49	54	(59)	34	55	59	58	46	58	43	0 -	515	456
57th		NZL	21	58		M	Nik Burfoot	TBC	46	50	46	53	51	54	53	52	(61)	53	0 -	519	458
58th		AUS	26	43		O	Ian Mckillop	R. Prince Albert YC	(64)	60	47	51	32	56	62	49	59	58	0 -	538	474
59th		FIN	225	49		O	Mikael Hyrylainen	NJK	51	57	50	64	(77 RET)	53	55	50	49	60	0 -	566	489
60th		USA	11	35		O	Philip Toth	USSTS	62	61	51	55	50	57	48	55	54	(64)	0 -	557	493
61st		AUS	10	48		GM	John Condie	Yarra Bay 16' Skiff SC	(68)	64	60	37	41	58	60	58	65	61	0 -	572	504
62nd		FIN	99	65		O	Jesse Kylanpaa	RPS	55	(67)	48	50	59	63	63	56	62	55	0 -	578	511
63rd		FRA	42	79		O	Brendan McCarty		66	(70)	49	59	45	60	66	61	68	63	0 -	607	537
64th		NZL	7	61		O	Bradley Douglas	WBC	57	63	63	65	66	61	59	57	53	(77 DNF)	0 -	621	544
65th		NZL	9	59		GGM	Rob Coutts	RAYC	70	58	(77 BFD)	61	53	64	65	59	63	59	0 -	629	552
66th		NZL	20	69		GM	Chris Wells	NPC	61	62	57	68	61	62	65	60	(71)	65	0 -	632	561
67th		NZL	10	64		GM	David Hoogenboom	WYC	67	(77 DNS)	61	44	63	68	68	62	67	62	0 -	639	562
68th		NZL	22	66		GM	Dirch Andersen	WYC	69	69	65	62	57	65	(72)	65	64	68	0 -	656	584
69th		RUS	212	71		GM	Lanfranko Cirillo	Fantastica	63	68	62	60	65	67	67	63	69	(77 DNF)	0 -	661	584
70th		NZL	19	83		GM	Denis MOWBRAY	NPC	65	66	58	(70)	67	66	69	64	66	69	0 -	660	590
71st		NZL	265	72		M	Mike Pearson	CBYC	71	71	64	63	62	71	(74)	67	73	66	0 -	682	608
72nd		NZL	88	74		M	Gerard Lelieveld	WYC	(72)	65	66	72	69	69	70	68	70	70	0 -	691	619
73rd		NZL	23	73		GGM	Alan Dawson	WYC	74	72	67	73	70	72	71	66	(75)	67	0 -	707	632
74th		NZL	3	70		L	Ben Winters	CBYC	73	73	68	71	71	70	73	69	72	(77 DNF)	0 -	717	640
75th		NZL	193	87		GGM	Gerrit BEARDA	WYC	(77 DNF)	74	69	74	72	73	75	70	74	71	0 -	729	652
76th		NZL	2	63		M	Ray Hall	WBBC	(77 DNC)	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	77 DNC	0 -	770	693