London Olympics 2012 - High Drama ahead for Finn class

by Rob Kothe and the Sail-World Team on 4 Aug 2012 The television ratings are set to soar this Sunday when Britain’s favourite sailor, Ben Ainslie attempts to win his fifth Olympic Gold Medal. Jonas Hogh-Christiansen (DEN) has finished the series just two points ahead of Ainslie and behind them Pieter-Jan (PJ) Postma (NED).

Today the two leaders analysed the situation.

‘The medal race is going to be exciting sail' Hogh-Christiansen explained.

‘Hopefully it won’t be too much. He might try and play some tricks before the start but as I said before we can’t finish nine and then the Dutch guy might win. We have to go race and I think that’s the best situation for us and also for the sport. Whoever is the best sailor in the last race will win the Olympics.

‘I got a hello from Paul Evstrom the other day. He was cheering me on and hoped that I could win Gold and defend his medal record. He just wished me good luck and hoped I would win.

‘Before the regatta my coach and I talked about being in a position where we can decide ourselves, who will win Gold. I put myself in that position. I would like more points on Ben but it didn't turn out that way and now we are going to have an epic battle.

‘I don't think we can’t go too much into the match racing. PJ Postma is only 14 points behind Ben and that means if he wins and Ben becomes eighth it means he wins the gold. We have to go and race and hopefully we will have an epic battle.'

Ben Ainslie said ‘It is going to be a fascinating race on Sunday. I am really looking forward to it.

‘There is a lot at stake for everybody. PJ has a chance for gold and silver and bronze. It’s up for grabs for a lot of the guys so it is not like anyone of these sailors can sit back and give anyone space.

‘I don’t think Jonas and I can sail each other to the back of the fleet and let him win. I like these situations. Jonas has sailed really well all week and I am impressed with that and its going to be a really tough battle.

‘It could be a massive battle between the two of us match racing. It might be that it’s more strategic fleet racing because the winds lighter and more difficult. I just don't know right now, but it will be fascinating.

‘Of course I would love to win it for everyone watching the race on television. All the supporters. Lots of kids have written from schools from all over the country. My family, sponsors, everyone who is into sailing in the UK. I would love to do it for them. I would love to do it for myself.

‘When you are out there racing you have just got to do the best you can.'

Pos	NOC	Crew	Race											Points
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	MR	Total	Net
1	DEN	Jonas Hogh-Christensen	1	1	2	7	1	2	(yes8)yes	4	5	3		34.0	26.0
2	GBR	Ben Ainslie	2	2	6	(yes12)yes	4	3	1	3	6	1		40.0	28.0
3	NED	Pieter-Jan Postma	5	10	3	4	(yes20)yes	13	2	2	1	2		62.0	42.0
4	FRA	Jonathan Lobert	9	4	4	2	6	7	5	(yes10)yes	3	7		57.0	47.0
5	CRO	Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic	3	3	7	9	5	6	3	7	4	(yes10)yes		57.0	47.0
6	SLO	Vasilij Zbogar	8	6	5	3	8	5	(yes9)yes	6	2	6		58.0	49.0
7	FIN	Tapio Nirkko	11	13	8	5	3	12	4	5	15	(yes17)yes		93.0	76.0
8	SWE	Daniel Birgmark	(yes17)yes	5	14	1	9	9	10	12	10	8		95.0	78.0
9	NZL	Dan Slater	7	11	1	6	(yes17)yes	11	6	15	8	14		96.0	79.0
10	ESP	Rafa Trujillo Villar	12	12	12	(yes23)yes	7	4	15	1	13	4		103.0	80.0