Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS), the 2011 Finn Junior World Champion, has taken the lead the 2014 Finn Silver Cup after a difficult day afloat on the second day in Hoorn, The Netherlands. Only one race was sailed as the breeze faded during the race and eventually switched off after the first boats finished. Nenad Bugarin (CRO) is up to second with Jacob Stachelhaus (DEN) in third. The race was won by Dimitar Vangelov (BUL).
After a tough opening on Sunday in strong winds and rain, the sailors woke to blue skies and light winds. Race 3 got under way after one general recall with three boats pulled out on the second start under the black flag. While the forecast was for the wind to veer during the day, on the first upwind in 5-6 knots, those boats who took the right side sailed out of the pressure, while the wind came in from the left in the second half of the leg.
Peter McCoy (GBR) emerged from the middle left to round ahead from Dimitar Vangelov (BUL), Arkadiy Kistanov (RUS) and Kyle Martin (CAN). Soon after the leaders rounded, the wind dropped significantly with the rest of the fleet struggling to get round. The front group sailed away in more wind creating a large split in the fleet. The increase in pressure from the left meant the downwind turned into a reach and from the gate a new windward mark was set. On the very light downwind, McCoy picked up a yellow flag and dropped to sixth. Then Kistanov took the lead just before also being given a penalty to drop from first to fourth.
Round the gate the new breeze had strengthened as a dark cloud crossed the course. Michael Kamp (NED) was left in the lead and most of the leaders tacked off to the right. The breeze again lasted until the leaders had rounded the top mark and the front five created a huge gap on the rest. Vangelov sailed a brilliant upwind to round with a significant lead which he held down to the finish, as the wind completely disappeared. Kamp crossed in second with Lars Johan Brodtkorb (NOR) in third.
There was around a 10 minute gap between the fifth and sixth place finishes, with the tail enders actually crossing the line outside the time limit of 20 minutes.
The fleet waited afloat for a while before being sent shore to wait. Some new breeze arrived but didn't last and finally at just after 16.00 further racing was abandoned for the day. There was also some controversy with a multi-boat protest on the lack of race committee signalling of the mark change, which resulted in the Jury giving redress by extending the time limit for those who were originally scored DNF. So everyone who finished was given his finishing place.
Vangelov explained his race, “A lot of guys went to the right looking for the shifts but I was on the left looking for the pressure. I was the furthest to the left and there was one big cloud over there and thought the pressure would come from there. There was a lot of shifts in the race, and pressure on one side and then the other. The downwind turned into a reach but on the second upwind I found the best pressure and shifts again.”
“This is the first time I have won a race in the Silver Cup and I think it's also the first international race I have ever won in the Finn.”
Among the new sailors here this week is Lars Johan Brodtkorb (NOR), the current Europe class European champion. He was also awarded the 'Sailor of the Year' by the Norwegian Sailing Federation for his strong performance last season in the Europe dinghy. “I started in the Finn in the Norwegian National Championship last year, and then I didn't sail again until Spring this year. I am enjoying the Finn very much. I am used to sailing the Europe, and they are very similar. It's fun to sail, just a bit bigger. Right now I am not so fast in the heavy winds. I really like sailing downwind, very equal to the Europe which is no surprise, but surfing is always fun.”
“Today I had a really nice start. The wind went left, but I managed to recover to third. But the racing is fun, no matter how it goes.”
On his future plans, “I am going to try and get a new boat and sail the Finn more. After this regatta I will sail the Europe worlds, and after that I will probably order a new boat and then we'll see. I haven't had that much time to train so far.”
On the change from Europe to Finn, “The knowledge is the same; usually I am one of the heavier sailors but now I am the lightest, so it is different because my sailing trim is a bit different as I now have to depower more. I have to do what I am telling the lighter sailors in the Europe to do.”
Strong winds are set to return on Tuesday with lots of rain as well, so everyone is making the most of the sunny evening. In a change to the schedule, there are three races planned, starting at the slightly earlier time of 11.00. The Finn Silver Cup consists of a series of 11 races up until Friday 11 July.
Extensive photo gallery at: www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/
Results after three races:
1 RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov 10
2 CRO 52 Nenad Bugarin 16
3 DEN 5 Jacob Stachelhaus 24
4 NOR 1 Anders Pedersen 25
5 GBR 29 Peter McCoy 29
6 POL 16 Mikolaj Lahn 33
7 POL 111 Jakub Marciniak 33
8 GER 595 Simon Gorgels 35
9 NED 972 Tobias Kirschbaum 36
10 CAN 2 Kyle Martin 37
Joe McMillan (AUS) had a 25th place to be 20th overall.
Full results at: http://wsvhoorn.nl/?page_id=902
– Robert Deaves
