Finn Worlds start in San Francisco Bay in blustery breeze

by David Wells on 31 Aug 2010 Day 1 of the Finn World Championships (aka the Gold Cup) kicked off today in a blustery, but blue skied, San Francisco Bay.

Sailing out of the Olympic Circle near Berkeley, California the 87 competitors were greeted with 17-20 knots of wind and San Francisco Bay’s infamous voodoo chop in full swing. Two races were held on course B (a windward leeward first lap featuring a triangle for lap 2 with a downwind finish) and the sailors were itching to get at it. Perhaps a bit too itchy however as the first starting sequence resulted in a general recall with nearly a quarter of the fleet OCS.

After the fleet regrouped the start of race one saw an even distribution of boats along the length of the starting line with almost the entire fleet starting on starboard tack. The definitive strategy of most of the top boats was to start on starboard tack and get to port tack as quickly as possible. The local fleet has long had a saying of 'stay right at the circle' and most of the top sailors had this figured out early, including Spain’s Rafael Trujillo (ESP 100) and Slovak Republic’s Gasper Vincec (SLO 5). At the first windward mark Trujillo had charged to an early 20 boat lead over Vincec as they turned the corner to head down wind to the leeward gates. Greece’s Ioannis Mitakis (GRE 77), a junior sailor fresh of his second place finish at the Silver Cup, had a stunning first leg and found himself rounding the windward mark in third place. Local sailor Zach Railey was the first American rounding the mark in 10th place.

By the time they got to the first leeward mark Vincec had completely closed the gap and the two sailors simultaneously rounded opposite ends of the gates with Trujillo going back to the right side of the course and Vincec going to the left. As they returned the windward mark Trujillo had rebuilt his lead on Vincec and the two set off to the reaching mark pushing their Finn’s as fast they can go. With 20 knot winds on the beam and 2-3 ft rolling swells quartering on their sterns the boats where on screaming reaches planning in to a pluming spray of whitewater. Trujillo sailed too high of a line to the reaching mark forcing him to sail deep to make the lay line. This mistake allowed Vincec to again reel him in and as they jibed the mark it was an all out sprint to the finish line. Vincec had shown all race long he was going faster off the breeze while Trujillo was excelling upwind. With a deep reach to make the finish line it was just was Vincec was looking for and he sailed to the race one victory with Trujillo taking second. Croatia’s Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO 524) rounded out the top 3. Aussie Brendan Casey (AUS 1) and Zach Railey (USA 4) took fourth and fifth respectively.

After adjusting the weather mark for a breeze that had clocked 5 degree’s to the right race two was off. Most of the fleet had now figured out the right side of the course was favored making the starting boat end of the line a popular place to be with the bulk of the fleet packing it in. The strategy was again to get off the line clean and get on to port ASAP to get out to the right side of the course which was now even more favored. Once again Trujillo was off to a great start and rounded the mark first this time with Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN 2) hot on his heels, and Great Britain’s Edward Wright (GBR 11) rounding third. Marin Misura (CRO 25), Zach Railey, and Giles Scott (GBR 41) were all in the hunt.

As they approached the windward mark on lap 2 Trujillo had extended his lead while Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN2) had slipped from third back to sixth trading places with Brit Giles Scott who was now in second place. Trujillo held on for the win with Scott taking second and Wright making up for his race one 18th place finish with a third. Misura took fourth and a consistent Zach Railey came fifth.

And in a fleet this big consistency is going to be critical. Railey’s two fifth place finishes on the day put him in second place overall behind regatta leader Rafael Trujillo. Giles Scott’s 10-2 scoring line has him in third place overall. The story of the day however was Trujillo, who has already built an 8 point lead over second place.

Notable performance on the day however has to go to American Junior Sailor Caleb Paine (USA 619) who finds himself in 20th place overall with a 23-21 scoring line. Considering the big winds, and big waters, this is a big performance from a not so big guy in a boat that eats up big guys. Nice work Caleb!

Lots more sailing to come however with 2 more races scheduled for tomorrow and 5 more days of racing to go.

Complete Results

http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=342

Official Event Website

http://www.finngoldcup.com/