Finn class at World Cup Series Hyères Day 3: Heiner moves top after sunset sail for Finns
by Robert Deaves 26 Apr 2018 23:14 PDT
22-29 April 2018
After waiting ashore all day in the sweltering heat on the third day of the World Cup Series in Hyères on Thursday, the Finn fleet finally enjoyed two late sundowner races and returned to shore in the early evening. Nicholas Heiner, from the Netherlands, takes a one-point lead at the top from Brazil's Jorge Zarif and Turkey's Alican Kaynar. The race wins went to Croatia's Josip Olujic and Heiner.
After a never ending postponement and a flat sea most of the day, the prospect of racing looked slim, but late afternoon a light sea breeze began to develop and the Finn fleet was finally sent afloat just before 1700. By then a stable 7-8 knot sea breeze had become established and racing could finally begin. The first race was sailed in 6-8 knots, but the wind had increased to 8-10 for the second. The fleet returned to shore just as the sun was starting to set.
However the wait was worth it with two fantastic races in very nice conditions.
Josh Junior, from New Zealand, was in front at the first mark in Race 5, but unfortunately he was one of three early starters. Olujic rounded second and was soon in the lead downwind, never to be headed. He crossed the finish ahead of Zarif and Kaynar.
Heiner has been producing an average race score and a win every day so far and did it again today. Taking the lead in Race 6 on the second round, he led the fleet home for his third race win. Milan Vujasinovic, from Croatia, produced his best result so far with a second place, while Kaynar was on a charge and ended the day with another third place to move up to third overall and within four points of Heiner.
Heiner, "Another light day to start off with and a lot of waiting. For me the day wasn't too great. I had a good last one to save the day, but I wasn't really happy with the way I was sailing like the last two days. But I still made it count today, so it's OK."
Olujic, "In the first race the wind was about 6 knots. I had a pretty good start at the pin end side, went fully left and rounded the mark second. I won the downwind and in the end I was controlling the fleet to win."
"In the second race I made one mistake on the start. I was a few seconds late, which cost me the opportunity to have clear wind, so I rounded in the back of the fleet with no chance to recover."
On the race win, "It's perfect to win a World Cup race in such a good fleet so I am really happy with that and my speed and how I handled it."
There is little respite for the fleet after the very late finish, as they are first back on the water in the morning with racing scheduled to continue at 11.00 on Friday. The opening series concludes on Saturday ahead of Sunday's medal race.
Results after Day 3:
| Pos | Bow No | Sail No | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 33 | NED 89 | Nicholas HEINER | 1 | 11 | 1 | 9 | -13 | 1 | 23 |
| 2 | 6 | BRA 109 | Jorge ZARIF | 5 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 2 | -22 | 24 |
| 3 | 40 | TUR 21 | Alican KAYNAR | (UFD | 10 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 28 |
| 4 | 11 | CZE 5 | Ondrej TEPLY | -10 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 28 |
| 5 | 20 | FRA 112 | Jonathan LOBERT | 2 | 3 | (DNF | 2 | 17 | 9 | 33 |
| 6 | 2 | AUS 1 | Jake LILLEY | 3 | 7 | 3 | 19 | -20 | 8 | 40 |
| 7 | 31 | GRE 77 | Ioannis MITAKIS | 4 | 4 | -24 | 8 | 19 | 11 | 46 |
| 8 | 9 | CRO 369 | Milan VUJASINOVIC | 14 | -16 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 49 |
| 9 | 16 | FIN 218 | Tapio NIRKKO | 9 | -26 | 17 | 3 | 24 | 6 | 59 |
| 10 | 38 | SWE 11 | Johannes PETTERSSON | 7 | 22 | -31 | 4 | 22 | 4 | 59 |
| 11 | 8 | CRO 1 | Josip OLUJIC | -32 | 6 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 29 | 62 |
| 12 | 36 | NZL 61 | Andy MALONEY | 8 | 14 | 14 | 12 | -15 | 14 | 62 |
| 13 | 21 | FRA 17 | Fabian PIC | 28 | 13 | -29 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 65 |
| 14 | 10 | CRO 52 | Nenad BUGARIN | 26 | -31 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 18 | 66 |
| 15 | 39 | SWE 33 | Max SALMINEN | 11 | 19 | 5 | 13 | 18 | -20 | 66 |
| 16 | 27 | GBR 71 | Henry WETHERELL | 20 | 20 | 2 | 18 | 8 | -28 | 68 |
| 17 | 35 | NZL 24 | Josh JUNIOR | 16 | 9 | 9 | 21 | (UFD | 15 | 70 |
| 18 | 29 | GBR 96 | Hector SIMPSON | 6 | -29 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 24 | 74 |
| 19 | 7 | CAN 18 | Tom RAMSHAW | 23 | -25 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 74 |
| 20 | 18 | FIN 8 | Oskari MUHONEN | 13 | -28 | 20 | 25 | 10 | 10 | 78 |
| 21 | 1 | ARG 48 | Facundo OLEZZA | 24 | 8 | (DSQ | 16 | STP | 25 | 86 |
| 22 | 28 | GBR 91 | Ben CORNISH | 25 | 2 | 21 | -28 | 21 | 26 | 95 |
| 23 | 34 | NOR 1 | Anders PEDERSEN | 27 | -32 | 18 | 27 | 6 | 19 | 97 |
| 24 | 3 | AUS 261 | Oliver TWEDDELL | -35 | 24 | 8 | 23 | 26 | 16 | 97 |
| 25 | 25 | GBR 11 | Edward WRIGHT | 17 | 18 | (UFD | 26 | 25 | 12 | 98 |
| 26 | 37 | SUI 1 | Nils THEUNINCK | 15 | 15 | 30 | 20 | (UFD | 21 | 101 |
| 27 | 15 | EST 7 | Harles LIIV | 21 | 12 | 13 | 35 | 32 | -40 | 113 |
| 28 | 30 | GBR 98 | Cameron TWEEDLE | 19 | 21 | 10 | -36 | 34 | 36 | 120 |
| 29 | 12 | DEN 24 | Andre HOJEN CRISTIANSEN | 29 | 27 | 25 | -33 | 16 | 23 | 120 |
| 30 | 4 | AUS 32 | Jock CALVERT | 12 | 17 | 28 | 37 | 35 | -39 | 129 |
| 31 | 13 | ESP 26 | Joan CARDONA MENDEZ | 18 | 35 | 22 | (DNF | 27 | 31 | 133 |
| 32 | 17 | FIN 225 | Mikael HYRYLÄINEN | 36 | -37 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 30 | 134 |
| 33 | 23 | FRA 9 | Guillaume BOISARD | -37 | 23 | 34 | 31 | 31 | 17 | 136 |
| 34 | 22 | FRA 75 | Laurent HAY | 30 | 33 | 26 | 30 | (RET | 33 | 152 |
| 35 | 19 | FRA 111 | Valerian LEBRUN | 34 | -39 | 32 | 24 | 33 | 35 | 158 |
| 36 | 5 | AUS 41 | Lewis BRAKE | 22 | 38 | 33 | 32 | (UFD | 34 | 159 |
| 37 | 32 | IRL 9 | Oisin McCLELLAND | 31 | 36 | 36 | 29 | 29 | -38 | 161 |
| 38 | 14 | EST 2 | Deniss KARPAK | (UFD | 30 | UFD | 38 | 28 | 27 | 164 |
| 39 | 24 | GBR 38 | Callum DIXON | 33 | 34 | 27 | -39 | 36 | 37 | 167 |
| 40 | 26 | GBR 703 | Markus BETTUM | 38 | -40 | 35 | 34 | 30 | 32 | 169 |
