The Finn World Masters in Helsinki, Finland was once against blessed with fantastic sailing conditions for the fourth day of competition. Current world champion, Pieter-Jan Postma, from The Netherlands put the Masters title beyond doubt by winning both races on Thursday for a clean slate so far with just one race left to sail on Friday.
Again, a solid wind of 12-18 knots and wall to wall sunshine welcomed the 120 boat fleet for a great day of racing. After the first race was abandoned on the first downwind due to a major wind shift the following two starts went ahead in the building breeze.
It seems whatever Postma does at the start, he is leading at the top and sails away from the fleet. His performance today highlights the difference between a seasoned Olympic campaigner and a bunch of very good sailors. However, they all love the fact that he is here and enjoying being part of the huge Finn family worldwide.
Filipe Silva was the best of the rest on Thursday with a 3,2, though the top three remain unchanged with Laurent Hay leading Peter Peet. The Dutch team also put on a consistent display with Sanders Willems picking up a 2,9, Jan Willem Kok a 5,4 and Karel von Hellemond an 8,8. The Dutch team look set to collect the Nations Cup this week.
The event concludes Friday with one more race scheduled against a forecast of light winds in the morning building to 7-10 knots by the afternoon
Results after 6 races
1 NED 842 Pieter Jan Postma 5
2 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 17
3 NED 148 Peter Peet 22
4 POR 21 Filipe Silva 25
5 NZL 111 Karl Purdie 40
6 BEL 7 Sebastien Godefroid 42
7 NED 80 Sander Willems 44
8 GBR 5 John Greenwood 55
9 NED 41 Karel Van Hellemond 59
Full results here:
More photos here:
