The first two races of the Pata Boats Finn Junior World Championship for the Jorg Bruder Cup have taken place at Balatonfüred in Hungary. Runner up in the Junior competition at the recent Finn Gold Cup in Denmark, Jorge Zarif (BRA) leads the 51 boat fleet from Alican Kaynar (TUR) and the top local boat Róbert Bakóczy (HUN).
The first official day of the Championship started with a postponement, so the sailors had to pass the morning with table tennis and soccer. In the early afternoon the wind finally arrived, and the fleet started the first race in a SW 4-5 m/s wind. There was huge scramble at the first start, so the general recall did not cause a big surprise. On the second start, thanks to the black flag, they got away with only one casualty.
Andriy Gusenko (UKR) started well, along with Ian Cook (USA) and Róbert Bakóczy (HUN). This was also the final order round the first mark and Gusenko still led at the gate, with Jorge Zarif close behind, followed by Bakóczy. By the second upwind mark Zarif had taken the lead which he held to the finish. Gusenko came in second, while Egor Larionov (RUS) climbing to third. Bakóczy finished fourth.
For the second race the wind came from the south and had increased slightly. The sailors basically copied the first race, and the race finally got underway under black flag, with four boats pulled out. At the top mark Egor Terpigorev (RUS) arrived first, followed by Yiannis Mitakis (GRE) and Alican Kanynar (TUR). Bakóczy was fifth. The big loser of the first downwind leg was Terpigorev who picked up a yellow flag and dropped three places. At the second upwind mark Mitakis led from Kanynar and Zarif.
The finish was very exciting with the Turk, taking the lead and winning the race. The fight for the second and third positions was settled by the judges, who showed the yellow flag to Zarif just 20 metres from the finish for pumping. After his turns he had lost second to the Greek. Fourth was Terpigorev and to the great pleasure of the hosts, Bakóczy crossed in fifth.
Róbert Bakóczy, sailing with Pata boat, said after the race: “I am happy and satisfied with these two good positions and go into tomorrow in third place. I think I took advantage of my knowledge of the lake and in this SW wind I did what was effective up to now. I hope to do my best here and finish the Championship in the top 10.”
Gábor Antal Hungarian manufacturer of Pata boats emphasised: “It is fantastic for us to see the bright face of young Finn sailors. It reminds me of my own youth and the time when I started to build Finn boats. I did not think that this dream could ever come true. I am very proud to be the main sponsor of the World Championship. It makes me especially happy to see how much young sailors are interested in the main prize of the Silver Cup and I am also glad that I can show them the innovations I applied in this boat.”
After the hot moments of the race, the sailors ended the day with cold water melon and the winners of the day received some nice gifts from the organizer Balatonfüred Yacht Club, a cell phone and a book.
