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28.06.15 - 05.07.15

Finn Silver Cup, Finn Junior WM

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Silver Cup 2015 - IFA Live Reports

 

06.07.2015

 

Ondrej Teply wraps up Finn Junior World Title in Valencia
 
Ondrej Teply (CZE) has won the 2015 Junior Finn World Championship after a tense and exciting final day in Valencia. Nenad Bugarin (CRO) placed one higher than last year to take the silver while Lars Johan Brodtkorb (NOR) had a great final day to move up one place and take the bronze.
 
While the wind this week was never as strong as expected, perhaps because of the high temperatures, the full series was completed after two races were sailed in a solid breeze on the final day.
 
The main attention was on the two front-runners Teply and Bugarin, only two points apart and both carrying a letter score. Neither figured highly in the first race of the day while third placed Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) narrowed the gap with a second place finish. The race win finally went to Andre Hojen Christiansen (DEN), with Damis Duterte Ville (FRA) in third. Brodtkorb kept his challenge alive with a fourth.
 
It was still wide open going into the final race with Teply seven points ahead of Bugarin. Neither could make a mistake. In the end Teply wrapped up the championship the way he began it, with a race win. Brodtkorb crossed in second and Fabian Pic (FRA) in third. A ninth for Kistanov meant he dropped down to fourth overall, giving Brodtkorb the bronze medal.
 
Stig Steinfurth (DEN) made up slightly for his disappointment of Saturday’s only race to move back up to fifth overall with two top six finishes. While there were some new faces at the front today, the only other major change inside the top 10 were Hojen Christiansen climbing to seventh overall after his race win and Luke Muller (USA) clawing his way back into tenth after two excellent fifth places, one of the best scorelines of the day.
 
Teply, who still has two more years to sail as a Junior said, “It was tough day for me today with two races, but I managed to have a bit of an advantage after the first race today so in the second I felt quite relaxed and I won. The feelings are amazing so it’s time to celebrate.”
 
Bugarin commented on his day, and his last race as a Junior, “I did not present my best sailing today so at the end was very difficult to protect the silver medal. But I did it and I am happy because of that. My junior time is done so I hope I will be able to sail at a high level in senior competition.”

The Finn Silver Cup at the Real Club Nautico de Valencia has brought together 30 sailors from 14 nations and three continents. It has been a true world title battle between some of the sailors who will be challenging for space on the starting line in Rio in 2016 and perhaps for medals in Tokyo in 2020. Several of these sailors are already pulling in top results at the senior events and it is very encouraging to see the level of dedication and sporting maturity in some so young. The front end of the Finn class will be in good hands for many years to come.

The club in Valencia, along with race officer Maria Torrijo (ESO), has done an exceptional job in running fair and quality racing for the Finn juniors. The hospitality of the club's officials and members has been first class and the Finns look forward to returning in the near future. The success of the Finn class in Valencia is largely down to the efforts of Luca Devoti and his Dinghy Academy. Many of those competing this week use the Dinghy Academy as their training base and perhaps there can be no better recognition of the Dinghy Academy's programme than to have one of its sailors become 2015 Finn Junior World Champion. Congratulation to Ondrej Teply, and to all other competitors on a tough and challenging week's racing.
 
Results after 11 races (one discard)
1     CZE 5     Ondrej Teply  40
2     CRO 52  Nenad Bugarin 52 
3     NOR 9    Lars Johan Brodtkorb 55     
4     RUS 6     Arkadiy Kistanov    59
5     DEN 31  Stig Steinfurth 65
6     GER 25   Max Kohlhoff 78
7     DEN 24  Andre Hojen Christiansen 80
8     ARG 48  Facundo Olezza      84
9     GER 259 Phillip Kasüske       87
10    USA 91 Luke Muller  94

 

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05.07.2015

 

Nenad Bugarin wins light wind race on fifth day at Finn Junior Worlds
  Nenad Bugarin (CRO) won the only one race sailed on the penultimate day at the 2015 Finn Junior World Championship for the Silver Cup in Valencia. He narrows the gap to the overall leader, Ondrej Teply (CZE), to just two points. A ninth for Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) was enough to move up to third for the first time this week.
 
As well as the lightest day of the week so far it was also the hottest with temperatures up to 36 degrees. The sailors were held onshore and afloat but finally got one race off in around 6-7 knots of breeze, which weakened by the finish.
 
Bugarin explained his race, "I had a fine start and soon after I was in a good situation to control the left side and my opponents. On the first mark I had a nice advantage and kept the situation under control until the finish."
 
Overall leader Teply crossed in second place. He said, "Today was quite light winds, but I managed to be fifth at the top mark and passed a few boats on the downwind to finish second. It's a good result for me especially in the tricky conditions like we had today. Generally I am happy how the regatta has gone. I am leading, and anyway it’s going to be a very close finish."
 
Stig Steinfurth (DEN) has been third for most of the week. Today that went wrong with a 20th place in the light winds, a result he had to count as he had a DSQ from earlier in the week. That dropped him to sixth, and leaves a sizable gap on the leaders.
 
He said, “For me it was a really bad race, which gave me 20 points extra, which was not what I needed. There were not many chances of a comeback. It has been a nice week, but I am a bit disappointed of the strength of the seabreeze here in Valencia. On the only day with more than 10 knots it was the gradient wind that build to a nice breeze.”
 
Third place in the race went to Hector Simpson (GBR) in his first season in the Finn, while fourth went to Max Kohlhoff (GER) in his last season as a junior.
 
Kohlhoff said, “I’m really happy about my performance today. It was a tricky race. Today some guys sailed some high points and I’m happy to be consistent so far.”
 
“My expectation for the week was to finish somewhere in the top ten. It’s my last junior event ever so I just wanted to have some fun. To finish in the top five would be great but of course I know that the points are really tight in the top and everything can happen. I’m looking forward to tomorrow."
 
There is just one day left at the Silver Cup and everything still to play for. With six boats in the top 10 already picking up a letter score, the battle is far from over. Mathematically six boats can still take the victory, or take a podium place. It will all come down to who wants it the most.
 
Results after nine races (one discard)
1     CZE 5     Ondrej Teply  29
2     CRO 52  Nenad Bugarin       31
3     RUS 6     Arkadiy Kistanov    48
4     NOR 9    Lars Johan Brodtkorb    49
5     GER 25   Max Kohlhoff 54
6    DEN 31  Stig Steinfurth 55
7     GER 259 Phillip Kasüske       59
8     ARG 48  Facundo Olezza      60
9    DEN 24  Andre Hojen Christiansen      72
10    GBR 96 Hector Simpson 72

 

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04.07.2015

German Finn team confident they are on the right course

Working within a tight group of like-minded sailors is a great model for success within the Finn class, and if hard work equals success then the German Finn team has a successful future ahead of it.
 
Under the ever-watchful eye of their coach Per Baggøe (DEN), Phillip Kasüske (GER), Max Kohlhoff (GER) and Simon Gorgels (GER) are competing in the Finn Silver Cup in Valencia this week. The other team member, Eike Martens (GER), is now too old to compete.
 
The levels of financial support in Germany are quite complex. As the most accomplished sailor within the group Kasüske gets the majority of the funding and this allows the group to have Baggøe as coach during the year. His recent results have also meant they get a team car to use for the year.
 
Baggøe explains, “Because of his results, Phillip is the only one getting extra money from the German Sailing Federation; the only one wearing the Audi shirts. He needs to be top 35 in the Europeans and then he will get money. This year he was 26th. It’s not much but now we also have a team car from Sailing Team Germany, a VW T5 for the year. The DSV also pay for me and provide the trailer so we are set up for three boats, which is ideal for here. We also have Finn Team Germany supporting us and the Heinz Nixdorf fund. Phillip is also in the military, and he gets money from them and also from his club in Berlin.”

Finn Team Germany is an independently funded group that supports young German Finn talent. Finn Team Germany also supports Lars Haverland (GER) who joins in at the regattas.
 
On the team’s progress Baggøe said, “This year we have been racing all spring since we started training in Palma. Since then we try to learn new equipment – new masts and sails – and get a lot of time on the water. Progress so far has been OK. Last year as newcomers they actually did quite well but the expectations for the next year couldn’t be the same.”
 
The team had a successful Kiel Week, which finished just before the Silver Cup, with Kasüske and Kohlhoff making the medal race. “Kiel week was pretty close. Philip was fourth the whole time and then got overtaken by one point and ended up sixth, so he’s up there, but so far this year he has not been doing that well. Max also had some good results also in Kiel with two seconds and a first, so he’s there with the speed. So I think we are comfortable with our equipment, we just need more hours on the water and that’s why we had to sail Kiel., otherwise we would have come before and done some training in Valencia.”
 
Kasüske described the advantages of working in a close group. “Working together as a team is really important because it’s a lot easier to get different opinions on things with four boats on the line when we are training. Four boats is the ideal number because if it gets too big it’s hard to get all the boats to regattas.”
 
“We share all our knowledge. If someone gets some special information from outside we always share this and try to find out as much as possible. We do all the gear development ourselves, though we get some information from David Howlett (GBR) who has joined the German team as head coach, so we can talk with him about some things.”
 
Baggøe is confident their approach is working. “Our strength is that we are in group and this group is getting better and better and getting to know each other so they can work better together, because if we don’t have this group and we can’t train all the time in Kiel together then we wont be able to beat anybody. However they are young, they are not experienced and you see that when they go into a European championship they make some mistakes. They are only 20-22 years old and they have to learn all the time, which they do, but sometimes they learn the hard way.”
 
He said they are also sharing training with the Danish team. “It’s definitely Danish philosophy that we are doing it this way. That’s why we are training with them. We understand each other very well. They are young also and if we are training in a group then we will all get stronger together. We sail a lot and think we’re good but it's good to measure it with others in the group where you can trust the equipment, sails and information."
 
Kasüske said, “Training this year was difficult, harder than last year because it is harder to improve if you get better, but we try to keep improving. We tried a lot of things with new materials and sails and I think so far my season went pretty OK. I reached all my goals so far.”
 
“My target is top five at the Silver Cup. It’s important for me to get a good result in the juniors and maybe also to redo the results from the Junior Europeans where we had the same guys as here and I was fifth. So hopefully I can do the same or better here."
 
With Rio looming ever closer what is the focus of the team long term? Kasüske said, “For the Germans it’s really tough to get to Rio because the German qualification is so hard. First, though, we have to get a national spot in Takapuna [at the Finn Gold Cup in November]. So we will go for that first and then we’ll see if we can make the German selection.”
 
Baggøe added, “It’s possible. It’s a long time until Takapuna. We have four or five months to go so we could still do a lot of training in Germany. Now we have no regattas, so we are doing training camps with the Danes and Norwegians. We are in Arhüs twice and then we will do some in Kiel when they come to us.”

“For the long term planning we are looking at 2020, and learning all the time and sailing with the other juniors here and listening to all the sailors and trying to be in the regattas where the good sailors are and hopefully we’ll get enough money to go to Takapuna to learn even more.”
 
As the Finn Silver Cup reaches its conclusion, Kasüske has recovered from an indifferent start and now sits in sixth overall, just one place and three points from his goal for the week of fifth. Kohlhoff had the best start, including a huge race win in race 4, and is in seventh after eight races, just four points behind Kasüske. Gorgels is 13th after a pretty consistent week. Just three races remain in the series, which concludes Sunday.

 

 

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03.07.2015


Points close after fourth day at Finn Junior Worlds in Valencia


There is no change at the top of the leader board after the fourth day at the 2015 Finn Junior World Championship for the Silver Cup in Valencia, but after a tough day of light winds, the points at the top have compressed, setting up a thrilling final two days.

Ondrej Teply (CZE) has a three point lead over Nenad Bugarin (CRO), who has a five point lead over Stig Steinfurth (DEN). Race wins on day 4 went to Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) and Lars Johan Brodtkorb (NOR) and they are now in fourth and fifth, less than eight points off the podium. However the day really belonged to Brodtkorb [pictured above].
 
It was always going to be the trickiest day of the week and it was just that with an early postponement for an hour to wait for the breeze. It came back in at 10-12 knots for the start but then proceeded to weaken during the race to 6 knots by the finish.
 
Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) has had a slow start to the week, but recorded his second race win in two days, with a victory in race 7. After a black flag start, following two general recalls, he was followed home by Brodtkorb and Steinfurth.
 
Brodktorb explained the race, “I started at the boat end, just to leeward of Arkadiy. I didn't quite have the same speed as him, and he took quite a big lead. I went on the right but I think the left was better today, but I made a good effort from the right. At the top mark I rounded seventh.” Kistanov led round and had extended his lead by the gate with Andre Hojen Christiansen (DEN) second and Brodtkorb third. 
 
On the second upwind the gap was getting smaller with Steinfurth moving up to second and Brodtkorb up to third. On the last downwind Brodtkorb managed to pass Steinfurth just before the gate to take second.
 
For the second race the wind was back up to 7-9 knots with the left side favoured on the first upwind with a shift and more pressure. The last downwind had some gusts, but it was still quite light, though surfing was possible as the waves were quite steep.
 
Brodtkorb is normally very strong in light winds and he ended a great day with a win in race 8. He took out the second race from Phillip Kasüske (GER) and Facundo Olezza (ARG).
 
Brodtkorb continued, “The second race was a pretty optimal race for me, as I did not quite have the speed on the first upwind. I started near the pin end but with some distance to have a safe start. I tacked when I caught the wind and it also had the left shift. To begin with I was a bit under the layline, but soon we had lifted so much that I was pretty much on the layline, even a bit over.”
 
A few boats had gone even further left, while the boats on the right had less pressure. Brodtkorb rounded with a good gap in front of Olezza and Kasüske. Aftewr the downwind, Brodtkorb rounded the right gate followed by Olezza. Kasüske took the other gate and went to the right side. It nearly worked.
 
Brodtkorb said, “I tacked towards the centre as soon as I had passed the fleet, but soon the wind shifted a bit to the right. Midway up the second upwind the ‘Guarda Civil’ boat crossed right ahead of us, so we had a bit less wind for some time, but we got the waves to compensate.” Kasüske closed the gap from the right but Brodtkorb still led at the top and held it down to the finish, while Kasüske passed Olezza to take second.
 
Brodtkorb analysed his day. “I don't remember anything I could have done much better in regards to where I went on the race course today, as I seemed to find the good spots all day. I would rather like to comment a bit on yesterday, as I think it was the toughest day of sailing I have ever had. After the first race I did not have any energy left, and I was quite disappointed with my second upwind in that race, where I went from 5th to 14th. Yesterday was really tough, so I was happy to have a bit less wind today.”
 
Second overall, Bugarin, who placed fourth and seventh today, said, “Today was a hard day for me. We had around 9 knots with big waves and my speed was fine upwind and great downwind. My tactics were to be on the better side and close to my opponents but I did not manage that well so I had to fight during both races to be in better position. I feel confident and relaxed and I just need put some small things on the right place and I am sure that everything will be just fine.”
 
Kistanov consolidated his race win with a fourth place in race 8 to climb two places overall to fourth and within four points of the podium. A second and a third for Brodtkorb moves him up to fifth and also within striking distance.
 
Kisanov said, “It was another nice day. Could be bit more wind to have more fun downwind, but it is still OK. In the first race I just had a nice start and led until the finish. The second race was not perfect for me, but still OK.”
 
The three top sailors had conservative days, all in the top 10 each race but just enough to maintain their overall positions. Each one has a letter score already so conservative sailing is a sensible strategy at this stage.
 
Kasüske had the best day after the two races winners and his second solid day in a row to climb to sixth, just three points off his goal of fifth overall. He passed team mate Max Kohlhoff (GER), now in seventh who also had a good day while continuing good form from Olezza keeps him in the top 10.
 
There are just three more races left in the schedule, two Saturday and one on Sunday. It’s heading for a tight finish.
 
Results after eight races (one discard)
1     CZE 5     Ondrej Teply  27
2     CRO 52  Nenad Bugarin       30
3     DEN 31  Stig Steinfurth 35
4     RUS 6     Arkadiy Kistanov    39
5     NOR 9    Lars Johan Brodtkorb    43
6     GER 259 Phillip Kasüske       46
7     GER 25   Max Kohlhoff 50
8     ARG 48  Facundo Olezza      53
9     FRA 17   Fabian Pic      57
10    DEN 24  Andre Hojen Christiansen      62

 

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02.07.2015

Teply back on top but Russians win the day at Silver Cup in Valencia
 
Ondrej Teply (CZE) is back on top at the Finn Junior World Championships for the Silver Cup in Valencia after two more races in moderate winds. Nenad Bugarin (CRO) is second with Stig Steinfurth (DEN) in third after all three were able to drop a letter score when the discard came into effect. Race wins went to Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) and Anatoly Korshikov (RUS).
 
While most of Europe basked in the heat wave, and many sailing races were cancelled with no wind, racing was possible again in Valencia. The day began with another postponement, but filled in up to 12-15 knots for some great sailing conditions, though still pretty shifty at times.
 
Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) went out today determined to better his scoreline so far. The 2011 Junior World Champion and current European Junior Champion has had a lacklustre start to the week, finding himself on the wrong side of the course too many times. He managed to get it all right in race 5 though with a race win from Fabian Pic (FRA) and Philip Kasueske (GER). However it went wrong in race 6 as he did some turns off the start line and could only recover to 11th and now stands 21 points off the lead.
 
The second race of the day went to Kistanov’s Fantastica teammate Anatoly Korshikov (RUS) who revelled in the stronger breeze. Pic ended the day strongly with another second while Nenad Bugarin (CRO) kept his title hopes alive with a third place.
 
Kistanov said, “It was nice day, with good wind. For me the first race was just about getting a good start and leading from the first mark to the finish. The downwinds were really cool with nice swells.”
 
“Just before the second start I did a 720 and was really deep at the first mark. I managed to have some comeback before the finish. Anatoly was probably third at the top mark, but moved up to first after a good second upwind on the right side.”
 
Kasueske said, “After yesterday was almost as bad as day 1, today I sailed very well. A third and a fourth brings me back in the top 10, but we still have five races to go.”
 
“Today was a tough day, like all the other days before, with lots of windshifts and pressure changes. My key was to stay mostly on the left side and just go with the shifts. But I also had a really good downwind speed in free pumping conditions.”
 
“My target is top five at the Silver Cup. It’s important for me to get a good result in the juniors and maybe also to redo the results from the Junior Europeans where we had the same guys as here and I was fifth. So hopefully I can do the same or better here.”

Pic had the best day out of anyone with two second places to lift him to fourth overall. He said, "The conditions were good for me, a little bit more than the others days. I was quite fast again with an average start in each race. I did my best to be always top five at the upwind mark to be sure not to have a bad result. I think my tactics were not so bad downwind. In the first race I was fighting against Ondra. Arkadiy was a bit more in front. In the second I did a great come back at the last downwind from sixth to second.”

With so many letter scores already, day 3 was the day everyone was waiting for to see how the cards were really falling. Even now there are seven boats in the top 10 with an OCS or a DSQ. From here on in every point will count and one more mistake from any of the seven will cost them dearly.
 
The championship is also just passed its half way stage. Two races are planned on each of Friday and Saturday before the final race on Sunday, and the way things have gone so far it will be the deciding race.
 
 
Day 3 video is here: www.youtube.com/watch
 
Results after six races (one discard)
1 CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 13
2 CRO 52 Nenad Bugarin 19
3 DEN 31 Stig Steinfurth 24
4 FRA 17 Pic Fabian 27
5 RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov 34
6 ARG 48 Facundo Olezza 34
7 GER 25 Max Kohlhoff 35
8 GER 259 Kasueske Phillip 39
9 NOR 9 Lars Johan Brodtkorb 40
10 DEN 24 Andre Hojen Christiansen 40

 

 

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01.07.2015

Young Argentinean Facundo Olezza leads Junior Finn Worlds

The second day of the 2015 Finn Silver Cup was an historic day for Finn sailing in Argentina as Facundo Olezza (ARG) moved to the top of the leader board after four races in Valencia. Lars Johan Brodtkorp (NOR) moves up to second while Andre Hojen Christiansen (DEN) remains in third.
 
The wind was lighter than the first day and there was even a 30 minute postponement on shore to wait for the wind to settle. It was also a day of mistakes for some with two front runners overnight picking up letter scores, which though not disastrous at this stage allows no room for further error in the 11 race one discard series.
 
Nenad Bugarin (CRO) won the opening race from regatta leader Ondrei Teply (CZE) and Andre Hojen Christiansen (DEN). Then Max Koklhoff (GER) pulled out a huge lead on the fleet to win race 4. Fabian Pic (FRA) continued his good form with a second while Lars Johan Brodtkorp (NOR) crossed in third.
 
Koklhoff said, “Of course I am happy with my performance today. But we still have seven races to go and everything can happen, so I will try to keep my fast mode switched on for the rest of the regatta.”
 
Race 4 produced some big changes at the top. Teply threw away a clear overall lead after failing to fully complete a 720 degree penalty following a Rule 42 flagging for pumping, while Stig Steinfurth (DEN) picked up a DSQ after a start line infringement. However there is no discard yet, and with so many letter scores, – four in the top 10 alone – that will dramatically change the landscape when the discard comes in after the next race.
 
Facundo said, “I felt pretty good with my speed upwind and downwind, and I was more conservative than usual because the wind was not clear at all, especially in the second race. I got a yellow flag in the last race so unfortunately I went from third to seventh. I am quite happy with my results and consistency. I hope I can keep on this way, but it’s a long way to go and anything can happen.”
 
After four races and only two months of Finn sailing, Olezza find himself leading the Junior World Championships. He might struggle to stay in the top five when the discard comes in but for the moment the young Argentinean is sailing really well and is enjoying the moment. He says his performance has been boosted by his colleagues at the Dinghy Academy offering better gear for him to use. Sailors have lent him a new hull and a mast to use at the Silver Cup and so far it is paying off. He is very happy with the speed improvement.

Racing in Valencia continues until Sunday, with seven more races scheduled to decide the title.
 
Results after four races
1  ARG 48 Facundo Olezza 26
2  NOR 9 Lars Johan Brodtkorb 27
3  DEN 24 Andre Hojen Christiansen  31
4  RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov 34
5  CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 35
6  USA 91 Luke Muller 36
7  GER 25 Max Koklhoff 40
8  GBR 96 Hector Simpson 40        
9  CRO 52 Nenad Bugarin 42
10  DEN 31 Stig Steinfurth  42

 

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30.06.2015
Ondrej Teply opens Finn Silver Cup in Valencia with perfect score

Ondrej Teply (CZE) has started the 2015 Finn Junior World Championships for the Silver Cup in the best possible way, after winning both races on the opening day. Stig Steinfurth (DEN) is second with Andre Hojen Christiansen (DEN) in third.

The breeze built during the first race and early in the second from 9 knots to around 12-13 knots, before dropping slightly on the final downwind. The weather of the past few days continued with very hot conditions taxing the sailors as they tried to find the shortest route around the course.

The left side generally proved favoured all day with Lars Johan Bordtkorp (NOR) coming out of the left corner on the first beat to lead round from Teply and Steinfurth. Nenad Bugarin (CRO) made gains on the downwind to challenge the leaders but Bordtkorp still led at the gate and at the final upwind mark. However he gybed away from the pack to take the left side of the final downwind and Teply and Bugarin found more pressure on the right to take first and second.

The wind picked up slightly for race 2 with the left side again favoured. Oscar flag was raised at the top mark to allow free pumping downwind as the wind increased past 10 knots with some nice waves now in place. Steinfurth rounded first from the left with Fabian Pic (FRA) in second and Facundo Olezzo (ARG) in third. Teply rounded in fourth and soon took the lead again downwind to take another race win. Steinfurth crossed in fourth but with Pic and Bugarin OCS, picked up a second place with Hojen Christiansen also benefiting from the six boats that were OCS to take third.

Teply said, “I had quite a good day. I had quite OK upwinds so I managed to be top five at the first mark, and then I had very good downwinds, where I got into the lead and then just maintained my position. I saw there was more pressure on the left hand side. I am local here so normally I think the left side would pay in these conditions. Then if the wind increases a bit it slowly turns to the right.”

On his goal for the week. “After last year's Juniors I don't have any goals. It can be a strange regatta sometimes. But I have started very well so I am happy with that. I was going quite fast during training here but for sure it's a surprise to win both today.”

Steinfurth explained his day. “It was a good day for me with a fourth and a second. I was a little worried about the yellow flags, so I was not so aggressive on the downwinds, but as soon as we had the free pumping in the second race, it was full on. In the second race I rounded in first, but I lost some boats on the second upwind, and I was not happy about that.”

On the conditions, “Today the wind picked up so we could do some free pumping. The first three days I was here we have been sailing at the same time as the start and there hasn't been 10 knots. So I was happy it built today. It's what makes Finn sailing so much fun.”

“I think it is important to look for the pressure, and also where the ships are at the top mark and to look which side the wind is coming from. I lost some metres at the end of the upwind because the wind was coming from the left side. Otherwise out of the start I had pretty good speed.”

One of the favourites here, and a former champion, Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) made hard work of his first day to round deep in both races before recovering to sixth in each. “Today was a bit strange for me. I kept going to the wrong side. It thought being a land breeze and it would go right, but both races it was still on the left and second race there started to be some current from the right. Both times I rounded the first mark really bad, but managed to pass some boats before the finish for two sixth places. I am not really happy with my sailing today but I am still in the race.”

Luke Muller (USA) is sailing his first international Finn regatta, “It was great, really fun, and it was really great that we had downwinds without and with free pumping. That really gave me an idea of where I am at. I had some really good downwinds on the free pumping and then tried to stay with the group on the shifts upwind and it worked out OK. Speed wise I am matching them, but just need to get off the line so I can stick with them. It's not fast to be spinning when everyone is going upwind. Hopefully I have learned my lesson for the event.” He took a penalty on the start line of the first race and trailed for a while before getting back into the race.

Racing continues in Valencia until Sunday. In total, 11 races are scheduled in the series.

Results after two races

1 CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 2
2 DEN 31 Stig Steinfurth 6
3 DEN 24 Andre Hojen Christiansen 12
4 RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov 12
5 NOR 9 Lars Johan Bordtkorp 13
6 ARG 48 Facundo Olezza 13
7 GER 595 Simon Gorgels 14
8 GBR 96 Hector Simpson 21
9 USA 91 Luke Muller 23
10 RUS 7 Anatoly Korshikov 24

 

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29.06.2015

 

Finn Class Rule 42 Clinic held in Valencia before Silver Cup


A three day Rule 42 clinic was run by the Finn Class just before the Silver Cup in Valencia. Around 20 sailors competed at some point including the Juniors preparing for the week ahead as well as some seniors who were in Valencia for training.

Four on-the-water sessions were carried out along with de-briefings with videos from each day with detailed explanations from the judges. The clinic ended with two umpired medal races to give the sailors some experience of direct judging and the processes involved.

Corinne McKenzie (FRA), Executive Director of the Finn Class explained why the clinic was run and its importance to the sailors. “It was really interesting and the objective was to teach the Finn sailors how they can find the limit and sail fairly within the rules. For the judges it was very promising to see the three of them were judging Rule 42 the same way. Now we have a lot of work to edit lots of mini-clips on different Rule 42 actions and post them on the Finn Class website and perhaps for ISAF race officials for training videos for sailors and judges. These three days were very beneficial and the sailors came out of it with the feeling they learned so much. We are trying to do this at least once a year before a major event.”

The clinic was managed and run by John Doerr (GBR), who will also be Jury Chair for the upcoming Silver Cup, starting on Tuesday. He explained his objectives and what he hoped the sailors and the jury would get out of the three days. “The most important thing is to get the judges and the sailors on the same page. Judges don't like giving penalties for Rule 42, we don't like giving penalties at all, but obviously we have to look after the guys who sail within the rules and penalise the guys who break the rules. Rule 42 is quite difficult to know where the line is between what is OK and what is not OK. So the purpose of the clinic is to get a common understanding."

On working with the class. “The Finn class guys are great, especially in a clinic situation when there are no real penalties, so we can talk to them and get a much better relationship with them, and I think they understand when we have done a clinic we are all on the same side, we just want good sailing, good racing events and fair sailing for everybody. A clinic really helps that.”

“As always I learn and going back in my memory to when I was a Finn sailor, but refreshing is always good, and seeing the new techniques and exactly how they are sailing the boat is really good. There were a couple of surprises for the sailors, particularly sailing downwind in waves. Probably the biggest area of learning was that the amount you can rock and the amount you can pump has to be consistent with the size of the waves, and then understanding where the line is for the different sizes of waves, and that just takes practice.”

Two of the sailors who took part were Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) and Nenad Bugarin (CRO), both favourites for the week ahead. Kistanov said, “Probably for me the most interesting was some match racing between the boats and I tried to do a bit more gybing when I was in front.”

Bugarin said, “It was a great idea to run a clinic and I really improved in that area. We had great conditions on the water, and the jury was very good so it was very helpful. I learned about sculling at the start and rocking during the downwind, and I think these are the most important things.”

The major focus of the clinic was common start line infringements (sculling, rocking, crabbing), downwind (unconnected rocking and pumping) and upwind body movements (torquing, tacking and bouncing). All those who took part, both sailors and jury, agreed that they learned a lot through the constant repetition and practice of common infringement situations. Around four hours of video was taken and over the coming months this will be edited and post-produced to add to the existing Finn Class Rule 42 Library.

See a video of some clips here: http://youtu.be/NynKiO8w0Rs

The Finn Class would like to thank John Doerr (GBR), Peter Scheuerl (GER) and Michal Jodlowski (POL) for sharing their knowledge and experience in this very important area.

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29.06.2015

 Junior European Champion Kistanov aiming for the junior double

The Finn Junior European Champion Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) will begin his challenge for the Finn Silver Cup, the Junior World Championship on Tuesday when racing gets underway in Valencia. He will be up against 30 of the best Finn juniors in the world as he tried to win the title for the second time in his sailing career.

He first won the title as a relative unknown in 2011. Back then it was held on his home waters in Moscow. Last year in Hoorn, Netherlands, he finished a close second to Anders Pedersen (NOR) who is now too old to compete.

How confident is he ahead of this year’s event? “I am looking forward and feel good about this event. There will be a lot of good guys, but I hope I will can show some good sailing in Valencia. I have trained hard and I'm ready.”

“Four years ago I just didn't know so much about the Finn. I was weaker, but I had sailed a lot of hours in Moscow and I was 110 per cent ready for those conditions, and I just did 110 per cent of what I could do. Now, I think, my strengths are more varied and I can do more.”

He recently won the Junior European title in Split, but perhaps more importantly for him he also finished fifth overall in the senior event. “In the most of the previous competitions it looked like I have not done so well, but I think that I can sail better. I hoped that the European title would be my goal, but I really didn't think that I would be top five as well. So, I was really surprised and very happy with this result.”


He has come a long way in four years and is now part of the Fantastica Sailing Team. He described his development since 20111. “After the Silver Cup in 2011 a team of young Russians started to train in Europe with the old Russian Finn sailor Oleg Khopersky (RUS). We trained together for two years and we really spent a lot of time together training but there was not any real benefits afterwards. So, at the end of 2013 the team was split.”

“Then in the following January I came to Valencia to train in Luca Devoti's Dinghy Academy. I came here with my own money, and after three months, in January 2014, my money was gone. At that moment Lanfranco Cirillo (ITA) asked to me to join the Fantastica team. Initially I didn't want to change my training group in the middle of the training season, so, he just helped to fund me to stay here. I finished my work at the Dinghy Academy just before Palma last year and trained alone until Santander, when I joined the Fantastica team. And I'm really happy now that I did this.”



“Now we are all focussed on the Olympics. Egor [Terpigorev] will go to the test event. We still have to qualify the country in Takapuna this year, and selection between Russians will be based on Palma and Hyeres next year.”

“Egor is my main opponent in this selection. He has really good fitness and he is fast in stronger winds. He also can go well in other wind conditions. Also Anatoly Korshikov (RUS) can compete for the place at the Olympics, because when he is focused he is a dangerous guy.”

“After the Silver Cup I will continue my physical programme. I think I need to improve some of my hiking power and also I will work a lot on my downwind techniques. What I need is just to be ready and work at it 100 per cent, and I will do it.”


What else does he do besides Finn sailing? “I like cycling a lot, but it is not possible to have nice cycling in Moscow. Also I started a bit of windsurfing and I really like this. I`m reading a lot and I will soon go and do my PhD, so I can have a job.”

What conditions is he expecting for the week ahead? “I have spent a lot of time sailing in Valencia, but I haven't been here in summer. It will be hot and there will be sea breeze from 12 knots and more. I really like sailing in Valencia. Maybe it's a bit too hot at the moment, but you can have all conditions here during the year.”

Racing for the Finn Silver Cup in Valencia begins on Tuesday.

 

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28.06.2015
2015 Finn Junior World Championships opened in sunny Valencia

The Finn stars of the future (as well as some current stars) have gathered in sunny Valencia for the 17th Jorg Bruder Silver Cup, the Finn Class Junior World Championship. Around 30 sailors from 14 nations and three continents will compete in the championship, which is being hosted by the Real Club Nautico Valencia (RCNV).

Over the past week the sailors have been enjoying the fantastic conditions afloat with temperatures from 27-35 degrees and a regular sea breeze of 12-20 knots. These ideal sailing conditions led to two America's Cups being held here and also led Luca Devoti (ITA) to establish his Dinghy Academy in the grounds of the RCNV. Many sailors from the academy are competing in the championship.

The championship was officially opened in beautiful sunshine on the lawn overlooking the racing area. Corinne McKenzie (FRA) Executive Director of the Finn class said, “I really want to thank the yacht club for welcoming this regatta but especially welcome to so many Finn sailors over the past few years thanks to the great work of Luca Devoti at the Dinghy Academy here. This place is the home all year round of many Finn sailors and it plays a very important role in the development of the Finn class. We have here some of the athletes who are going to be the Finn heroes of tomorrow, and soon enough they will be on top in Rio and Tokyo and these guys are really fine Finn sailors. I think they are going to have great racing. It's a fantastic racing area.”

The President of the RCNV, Julian Vico (ESP), replied, “For me it is a great pleasure for us to host the competition of an Olympic class. You are here to compete is this great challenge in Valencia's waters. All of your struggle on the water is supported by the organisation and volunteers to make the event possible. I hope everything goes well and I wish you a great competition.”

Last year's winner Anders Pedersen (NOR) is now too old and the only other sailor here to have won the title before is Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS), one of the main favourites to take the title this year. He last won in 2011 and was a very close runner-up to Pedersen last year. He recently won the Junior European title in Split, Croatia and is definitely the one to watch.

How confident is he ahead of this year’s event? “I am looking forward and feel good about this event. I have spent a lot of time sailing in Valencia, but I haven't been here in summer. It will be hot and there will be sea breeze of 12 knots and more. There will be a lot of good guys, but I hope I will can show some good sailing in Valencia. I have trained hard and I'm ready.”

Some of those here have come straight from Kiel Week. Stig Steinfurth (DEN) overcame the other juniors and most of the seniors there to place second overall. Lars Johan Brodtkorp (NOR) and Max Koklhoff (GER) both won races, while Philip Kasueske (GER) also performed well to place sixth overall. Other top performers are likely to come from Nenad Bugarin (CRO), the bronze medalist from last year and who has been fast in training, Anatoly Korshikov (RUS), Ondrej Teply (CZE), and Mikolaj Lahn (POL), who was fourth last year.

Steinfurth was confident after his Kiel success, even though this is his first time in Valencia, “I am always going for the win, but I know there are a lot of good young guys here. I think we have a strong group here from Denmark, and also we use other Danish Finn sailors as coaches so we have a good group of experienced sailors.” He mentioned the London silver medalist Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) as an example. “He was back in Mallorca, and he was really good, explaining things to us as we came of the water, so for me it's been really good for my development, and also for the group.”

The Americas are well represented with two Canadians, Kyle Martin (CAN) and Riley Finch (CAN) back for a second year and joined by Luke Muller (USA). There are also two from Argentina, Santiago Falasca (ARG) and Facundo Olezza (ARG), who both train as part of the Dinghy Academy and are perhaps more finely tuned to the local conditions than many here.

Bugarin was also optimistic about his chances after placing third last year. “We have been training hard during the winter so I improved a lot, so I hope it will be a few steps up. It looks like we will ave the dame conditions every day, so it will be a nice regatta with nice conditions. I expect some great sailing here.” On his strengths he said, “First of all speed, I have great speed, so I think that that is the most important thing, so after that we will see what will happen.”

A Rule 42 clinic was held over the past three days, which was attended by up to 20 sailors and coaches. Four on-the-water sessions were followed by video debriefings each evening. The assembled footage will be edited and added to the Finn Class Rule 42 library (www.finnclass.org/racing/learn/rule-42-videos) in the coming weeks.

The practice race for the Silver Cup is scheduled for Monday afternoon followed by the first two races on Tuesday at 13.00. Two races are scheduled each day until Saturday July 4th with the final race on Sunday July 5th.

Video interviews: http://youtu.be/GMPkqh-76Ok

Event website

Photos: Robert Deaves

 

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