Having already won the event a day early, Arkadii Kistanov, from Russia, comfortably won the final race of the International Finn Cup at Malcesine, Italy, on Sunday. Christoph Burger, from Switzerland, took second while Matteo Iovenitti, took third and won the XVII Andrea Menoni Trophy as the first Italian. Thirty-four sailors from eight nations took part.
It was an early start on Sunday with the fleet launching around 08.20 for a single race in a light northerly. With the pressure off, Kistanov won the pin end of the start and dominated the left to lead round the top to go on to record his fourth race win of the event.
Behind him the battle was on for second and third and the Menoni Trophy. Roberto Strappati rounded second just ahead of Iovenitti with all the other contenders close behind. Strappati stayed ahead to place second while Juan Ignacio Perez, from Mexico, had a great final run to move up to third.
A jury protest at the final mark disqualified Italy’s Marko Kolic, which left Burger and Iovenitti, in fifth and fourth, and on equal points overall, broken only on the fourth countback. Burger took second overall while Iovenitti had to settle for third, but as top Italian won the coveted Andrea Menoni Trophy, held this year for the seventeenth time to remember the famous Italian sailor and coach. It was presented by his son Nicola Menoni, who also competed in the event again.
Burger was also top Master, Gerhard Weinreich, from Austria, was top Grand Master, Marco Buglielli, from Italy, was top Grand Grand Master, and also from Italy, Bruno Fezzardi was top Legend.
The Swiss team of Burger, Michael Beyeler and Peter Kilchenmann took the team prize, an innovative idea that weights the scores of sailors in different age categories to give some extra incentive throughout the fleet.
Final results
1 RUS 6 Arkadii Kistanov 6
2 SUI 7 Christoph Burger 26
3 ITA 1071 Matteo Iovenitti 27
4 ITA 115 Roberto Strappati 28
5 SUI 20 Michael Beyeler 33
6 MEX 1 Juan Ignacio Perez 34
7 AUT 333 Gerhard Weinreich 37
8 ITA 2 Marco Buglielli 42
9 ITA 234 Tommaso Ronconi 44
10 ITA 67 Gino Bucciarelli 52
Full results here: http://fragliavela.sailti.com/it/default/races/race-resultsall/text/international-finn-cup-2020-trofeo-menoni-coppa-italia-it
Full photo galleries here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos
– Robert Deaves
