Skandia Sail for Gold day three Finns - Ainslie clears away

by Robert Deaves on 9 Jun 2011 A familiar pattern started to emerge on day three for the Finn class at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at Weymouth & Portland.

Two more wins for Ben Ainslie (GBR) has given him a useful nine point lead over Giles Scott (GBR), who moves up to second after a third and a second, while Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) drops to third after a sixth and fourth place.

After several postponements due to the wind shifting and strengthening, the first race of the day got away around 11.30 in 18-20 knots. World champion Ed Wright (GBR) started to produce the form he is famous for, leading round the top mark as the wind continued to increase. But regatta leader Ben Ainslie (GBR) wasn’t far behind and the chase was on. By the first leeward rounding Jonas Høgh Christensen (DEN) had taken the lead from Giles Scott (GBR), while Wright slipped to third. Ainslie had eased into third by the second windward mark and then cruised into first place on the second run to lead to the finish. Høgh Christensen held on for second while Scott took third. Early race leader Wright could only manage a ninth.

After a course move, the second race of the day – race five of the series – started in a gusty 18-20 knots of breeze and increased to more than 25 during the race. Ainslie was clearly intent on sending a clear message to the British selectors and led round the top mark with Wright and Dan Slater (NZL) close behind. Zach Railey (USA) moved up to third on the downwind and then Scott made his move into second with Railey hanging onto third. At the finish, Ainslie took his second win of the day – and the third of the week so far – with Scott still in second and Railey ending a great day in third.

With the wind now gusting to 30 knots on many parts of the Weymouth Bay the fleet was sent ashore, once again without catching up with the programme. The Finns are still one race behind.

Ainslie said of the day, 'We raced more inshore so it was a little shiftier on the first beats, though there was slightly more breeze than yesterday. In the first race I had a great second run which got me the lead and in the second race I was ahead from the first mark.'

'I feel okay about sailing in the windier conditions now. I'm quite small compared with some of these guys but my speed is okay. It's a bit of everything coming together well but it's also been tricky tactically.' Were they up for a third race? 'No, we were all pretty spent.'

'I come back in from a day like today and my body is aching, but it’s all about testing yourself so it is satisfying to get two good results. We have worked hard technically on the boat and physically on my fitness so it’s good to see that hard work paying off. I am happy with how things have gone so far but there is still a long way to go this week.'

Though Ainslie seems to have returned to the top of his form, second placed Scott is not phased by it. Is is happy with his own performance so far? 'Yes, I'm becoming increasingly happy, although I felt as if I was always on the come back from the first mark rounding. I need to start getting around the first mark in better contact with the leaders.' On the racing today, he said, 'I think the key today was being fast upwind and not making to many wrong decisions on the shifts.'

The World No 1, Zach Railey, also had a better day today. After some average results on Tuesday, he put himself right back into medal contention with a 4, 3 to move up to sixth overall.

'Moving course areas was a good decision by the RC. We raced on the 49er area today. I'm not sure we would have got the second race in on our course given that its usually windier on the outer course. So that was a great move today by the RC.'

'I used what I learned yesterday about the wind and did not make the mistakes again which was a huge positive from today. The wind is very difficult to figure out here. I still have some speed issues to work out but we will figure it out.'

Railey spoke about his preparation for this event. 'We have spent a good amount of time training in Weymouth. I missed the Delta Lloyd Regatta to train here during the event. As it is one of our trials venues and also the Olympic Games venue, knowing it well is a huge advantage. Weymouth is a very tricky place to sail and I don't think you can ‘figure it out’ but just spending time here makes you more comfortable with what you will be facing while racing here.'

How well does the team work together? 'We have really adapted to a new team process and we have been training as a team for a long-time now. I think it’s great and we are seeing the results improving all the time. We push each other to make each other better so that whoever goes to the Games has the best chance of success when they get there.'

Tomáš Vika (CZE) is the sole Czech entry this week in the Finn fleet, with the top Czech sailor and four times Olympian Michael Maier (CZE) concentrating on the defence of his World Masters title next week in Italy. He said 'I came to Weymouth straight from Medemblik. This area is perfect for sailing with stable wind conditions and is mostly windy. The only problem for me is that I feel always cold here. Both Portland and Weymouth are nice and the people are friendly; only the roads from the Academy to Weymouth centre is full of traffic jams.'

'My goal is to improve my sailing and become familiar with the racing area. I gained 10 kg compared to last year, but I'm still fighting more with myself than the other competitors.' Vika lies in 36th place after an amazingly consistent 34, 34, 32, 32, 34 so far this week.

The race committee will again attempt to run three races on Thursday to catch up with the programme. There are just two more days of qualifying races left before the medal race for the top 10 on Saturday 11th June.

Results after five races:

Rank	Class	Nat	SailNo	HelmName	Total	Nett	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
1st	Finn	GBR	3	AINSLIE Ben	12.0	5.0	2.0	(7.0)	1.0	1.0	1.0
2nd	Finn	GBR	41	SCOTT Giles	23.0	14.0	6.0	3.0	(9.0)	3.0	2.0
3rd	Finn	CRO	524	KLJAKOVIC GASPIC Ivan	20.0	14.0	3.0	2.0	5.0	(6.0)	4.0
4th	Finn	NZL	1	SLATER Dan	27.0	17.0	1.0	1.0	(10.0)	10.0	5.0
5th	Finn	DEN	2	H?H-CHRISTENSEN Jonas	45.0	22.0	4.0	4.0	12.0	2.0	(23.0)
6th	Finn	USA	4	RAILEY Zach	42.0	25.0	5.0	(17.0)	13.0	4.0	3.0
7th	Finn	GBR	11	WRIGHT Ed	46.0	28.0	9.0	(18.0)	4.0	9.0	6.0
8th	Finn	FRA	112	LOBERT Jonathan	51.0	33.0	8.0	12.0	(18.0)	5.0	8.0
9th	Finn	GBR	85	MILLS Andrew	50.0	34.0	15.0	5.0	6.0	8.0	(16.0)
10th	Finn	GBR	88	ANDREWS Mark	52.0	37.0	7.0	11.0	7.0	12.0	(15.0)
11th	Finn	SLO	5	VINCEC Gasper	58.0	40.0	(18.0)	14.0	3.0	16.0	7.0
12th	Finn	NED	842	POSTMA Pieter-Jan	65.0	42.0	(23.0)	13.0	2.0	14.0	13.0
13th	Finn	SLO	573	?BOGAR Vasilij	72.0	42.0	10.0	6.0	14.0	(30.0)	12.0
14th	Finn	FRA	29	LE BRETON Thomas	76.0	48.0	21.0	9.0	8.0	(28.0)	10.0
15th	Finn	SWE	11	BIRGMARK Daniel	78.8	58.8	RDGa [15.8]	19.0	(20.0)	13.0	11.0
16th	Finn	FIN	218	NIRKKO Tapio	80.0	60.0	19.0	15.0	19.0	7.0	(20.0)
17th	Finn	ESP	100	TRUJILLO Rafael	82.0	60.0	16.0	(22.0)	11.0	19.0	14.0
18th	Finn	NZL	8	COUTTS Matt	99.0	63.0	(36.0)	8.0	16.0	20.0	19.0
19th	Finn	SWE	736	TILLANDER Johan	94.0	64.0	28.0	16.0	(30.0)	11.0	9.0
20th	Finn	AUS	1	CASEY Brendan	131.0	71.0	12.0	23.0	(BFD [60.0])	15.0	21.0
21st	Finn	USA	1140	PAINE Caleb	110.0	85.0	24.0	(25.0)	22.0	22.0	17.0
22nd	Finn	SWE	6	ALLANSSON Bjorn	119.0	87.0	(32.0)	24.0	15.0	21.0	27.0
23rd	Finn	NED	83	HAGOORT Timo	127.0	89.0	13.0	20.0	31.0	25.0	(38.0)
24th	Finn	ITA	123	BALDASSARI Filippo	127.0	90.0	20.0	(37.0)	17.0	27.0	26.0
25th	Finn	EST	2	KARPAK Deniss	151.0	91.0	30.0	10.0	(BFD [60.0])	33.0	18.0
26th	Finn	AUS	261	TWEDDELL Oliver	118.0	91.0	26.0	(27.0)	26.0	17.0	22.0
27th	Finn	CAN	5	DOUGLAS Greg	139.0	94.0	22.0	26.0	28.0	18.0	(45.0)
28th	Finn	BRA	109	ZARIFF Jorge	132.0	98.0	11.0	31.0	25.0	(34.0)	31.0
29th	Finn	POL	7	SZUKIEL Rafal	130.0	101.0	25.0	28.0	24.0	24.0	(29.0)
30th	Finn	GER	151	MILLER Matthias	143.0	102.0	(41.0)	21.0	23.0	26.0	32.0
31st	Finn	POL	17	KULA Piotr	163.0	103.0	14.0	(DNF [60.0])	21.0	29.0	39.0
32nd	Finn	GER	771	KURFELD Jan	137.0	104.0	(33.0)	30.0	27.0	23.0	24.0
33rd	Finn	CAN	110	ROBITAILLE Martin	168.0	128.0	(40.0)	36.0	36.0	31.0	25.0
34th	Finn	RUS	1	SELIVANOV Alexey	174.0	131.0	31.0	32.0	29.0	39.0	(43.0)
35th	Finn	AUT	3	RAUDASCHL Florian	174.0	132.0	27.0	29.0	38.0	38.0	(42.0)
36th	Finn	CZE	52	VIKA Tomas	166.0	132.0	(34.0)	34.0	32.0	32.0	34.0
37th	Finn	CAN	902	WILTON Brendan	182.0	140.0	39.0	35.0	33.0	(42.0)	33.0
38th	Finn	EST	11	V?NSALU Lauri	177.0	140.0	(37.0)	33.0	35.0	35.0	37.0
39th	Finn	AUS	2	MCMILLAN Rob	188.0	141.0	(47.0)	39.0	34.0	40.0	28.0
40th	Finn	AUS	235	CASTLES Timothy	194.0	146.0	(48.0)	40.0	39.0	37.0	30.0
41st	Finn	GER	127	MASSLER Julian	219.0	159.0	38.0	(DNF [60.0])	41.0	45.0	35.0
42nd	Finn	SUI	5	CHRISTEN Christoph	210.0	160.0	(50.0)	43.0	37.0	44.0	36.0
43rd	Finn	SUI	84	HOFER Silvan	207.0	162.0	35.0	(45.0)	40.0	43.0	44.0
44th	Finn	TUR	35	KUYUMCU Efe	218.0	165.0	(53.0)	41.0	43.0	41.0	40.0
45th	Finn	USA	40	LAWRENCE Luke	226.0	166.0	29.0	(DNF [60.0])	DNC [60.0]	36.0	41.0
46th	Finn	CAN	26	BRIKIS Paul	223.0	175.0	45.0	38.0	45.0	47.0	(48.0)
47th	Finn	IRL	4	HAMILTON Ross	233.0	181.0	(52.0)	44.0	44.0	46.0	47.0
48th	Finn	GER	712	FROH Christoph	235.0	185.0	44.0	49.0	46.0	(50.0)	46.0
49th	Finn	USA	21	LAMPHERE Gordon	246.0	186.0	42.0	48.0	47.0	49.0	(DNC [60.0])
50th	Finn	NZL	7	DOUGLAS Bradley	257.0	197.0	49.0	46.0	42.0	(DNF [60.0])	DNC [60.0]
51st	Finn	GBR	18	HADDEN James	256.0	201.0	(55.0)	51.0	50.0	51.0	49.0
52nd	Finn	CAN	9	HEMMING Rob	263.0	203.0	51.0	50.0	48.0	54.0	(DNF [60.0])
53rd	Finn	USA	74	SPRAGUE Henry	265.0	205.0	43.0	42.0	(BFD [60.0])	DNF [60.0]	DNC [60.0]
54th	Finn	SUI	63	GAUTSCHI Thomas	266.0	206.0	57.0	52.0	49.0	48.0	(DNC [60.0])
55th	Finn	AUS	11	WELLS Shaun	271.0	211.0	54.0	54.0	(DNF [60.0])	53.0	50.0
56th	Finn	FRA	21	COLIN DE VERDIERE Mathieu	270.0	212.0	(58.0)	55.0	51.0	55.0	51.0
57th	Finn	LTU	7	RYMONIS Tauras	273.0	213.0	46.0	47.0	(DNC [60.0])	DNC [60.0]	DNC [60.0]
58th	Finn	GBR	23	BRIDDON Harry	281.0	221.0	56.0	53.0	(DNF [60.0])	52.0	DNF [60.0]
59th	Finn	USA	81	REVKIN Joshua	300.0	240.0	(DNC [60.0])	DNC [60.0]	DNC [60.0]	DNC [60.0]	DNC [60.0]

Race by race results here
Event website here