Finn Gold Cup: Maloney leads, two Kiwis in top five after Day 1

Andy Maloney leads after Day 1 of racing in the 2021 Finn Gold Cup in Porto © Robert Deaves / Finn Class

Two of the Emirates Team New Zealand America's Cup winning crew lie in the top five overall, in the Finn Gold Cup, after the first day of sailing in Porto, Portugal.

Andy Maloney leads the series by just a single point, after three races where he finished in 3, 2, 8 places. Second overall is young Spanish sailor Joan Cardona, who also leads the U-23yr old division.

Defending champion, and fellow Emirates Team New Zealand member, Josh Junior lies fifth overall, after Day 1, with a 10,5,10 scorecard and is 12 pts behind his compatriot.

Light to moderate breezes again prevailed in Portugal, which has just seen the conclusion of the European 470 championships, won by the New Zealand crew of Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox.

Consistency was the name of the game on Day 1. Within the top five overall, only two, Joan Cardona (ESP) and Zsombor Berecz (HUN) scored race wins in the three races sailed. Maloney was the only sailor in the top ten who did not score a double-digit placing of the opening day of the series.

Sufficient races have not been sailed to allow the discard of a worst race score. However were that allowed the top two places only would change. As the leaderboard stands Maloney as an 8pt margin over the third placed boat, and he along with Cardona will be looking to build on that gap on Day 2.

A strong fleet of 52 boats is contesting the world championship for the Heavyweight One Person dinghy in Tokyo 2020, which is also the last chance for countries to qualify for the Olympic event.

Three races were sailed today instead of the two originally two scheduled due to an expected large swell on Sunday and Monday which may not be safe for racing. Racing will start on Sunday at the earlier time of 1030hrs, or earlier in the hoped of getting at least one race away.

Results and Online Notice Board: 2021.finngoldcup.org