2008 Olympic Games Finn Preview

Olympic Games preview – Finn class

Going for Gold in China

If all goes according to plan, on August 16 the 15^th set of Olympic Finn medals since 1952 will be decided on the waters off Qingdao, China. The Finn class has the distinction of being chosen for the Olympic regatta more times consecutively than any other class. First sailed in 1952 in Helsinki when Paul Elvström won the second of his four gold medals, 2008 marks the class’s 15^th appearance on the Olympic stage.

Qualification

For most Finn sailors competing in China, the campaign trail started at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Portugal in July last year. In Cascais the first 19 countries qualified for a place in Qingdao. Many of those assembled in Cascais had recently finished sailing in the 32^nd America’s Cup, just across the border in Valencia and had been training hard on their days off to prepare for what turned into a challenging week of racing. Rafael Trujillo (ESP), silver medalist in 2004 in Athens went on to win his first major championship, after a thrilling medal race. The depth of the fleet was underlined by the fact that the other 18 places for China all came from with the top 26 overall, making it very difficult to qualify at the first try.

One man who was absent from Cascais was the 2004 Olympic champion Ben Ainslie. Ainslie didn’t reappear on the Finn scene until the Olympic Test Event in Qingdao a few months later after he was able to put in enough training to be confident with his performance. He needn’t have worried as he won the event, although perhaps not as decisively as he had the year before, when he won with an almost unbroken string of first places. But Ainslie was back and the other sailors were set the challenge of raising their game if they were to stand half a chance.

Six months after Cascais, on the other side of the world at Black Rock YC on Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, Australia, the final six places were decided, while China, as host got a guaranteed place to make up the 26 starters. In the run up to the 2008 Finn Gold Cup, Ainslie took the Sydney International Regatta, the Australian Nationals and Sail Melbourne before going on to win an unprecedented fifth Finn Gold Cup as well as his berth for China.

Following Melbourne, two countries whose sailors had technically qualified for a place failed to confirm their participation in China. First Germany turned down their place and this was offered to India. In the past two year, this fledging Finn nation has produced two Finn sailors, both challenging for an Olympic berth. Trials were organised in India with a two boat race off between Nachhatar Johal and Nitin Mongia. Each day they won one race apiece. On the final day, Johal took the race win and with it the ticket to Qingdao. Johal was the first of two sailors who received assistance from the IFA's FIDeS development programme as part of his campaign for China.

The other sailor in Qingdao whose place wasn't confirmed was Florian Raudaschl (AUT). He had to wait until his 9^th place at the Delta-Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik to assure himself a place. However after finishing 18^th in Kiel, his national Olympic Committee reversed the decision. Only as late as 23 July did the final place out of the 26 get allocated. It finally went to Johnny Bilbao (VEN) on the basis of his performance at the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne. Bilbao also received help from FIDeS in attending the Olympic qualifier in Melbourne.

Back in Europe, Ainslie took Palma, Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN) took Hyeres, Trujillo took the Delta Lloyd Regatta while Ed Wright (GBR) took Kiel Week. Ainslie returned for the European Championship, which he won after a thrilling medal race to reverse an eight point gap between himself and Guillaume Florent (FRA). If ever there was an indication of Ainslie’s complete competence in the Finn, this was it, overcoming what seemed like an impossible task.

About the Finn

The Finn came into being as the result of a 1949 design competition to produce a singlehanded dinghy for Scandinavian and Olympic competition. It was then first used at the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952. The Finn used to be one of the few classes that had supplied gear at the Olympics. Up until 1976 the Olympic organisers supplied all the gear, but from 1972 onwards sailors were allowed to bring their own rigs, and since 2000 their own hulls as well. While hulls are largely standard production models these days, the key to developing speed in the Finn has always been for careful selection of masts and sails as sailors tailor their rigs to their own weight and individual sailing styles.

Rumours coming out of Qingdao so far indicate that a few sailors are testing new gear for the Olympic competition, though whether any of it will actually be used in anger remains to be seen. Also with many sailors having reduced weight for Qingdao, they have also had to modify the response of their rigs to match – and this is much harder to do in practise than in theory. However the weight loss is more often an attempt to be more physical around the boat than for any advantage by being lighter in the boat.

Conditions

While many pundits are predicting light, shifty and current focussed racing in Qingdao, the sailors know anything can happen and most are prepared for whatever the conditions happen to be and expect at least one or more days of significant breeze. The wind has been over 20 knots on more than one occasion in the past month, so the sailors should get a good mix of conditions.

Of all the 26 sailors heading for Qingdao, only 12 have already tasted the Olympic arena, while 16 have won races at major championships, 18 have placed top ten in major regattas, and 11 have picked up a medal in the past four years either at the Finn Gold Cup, European Championship or Qingdao regattas. In addition, all except three of the top 20 in the world rankings will be in Qingdao. It could well prove to be one of the toughest Olympic Finn competitions of all time.

While the clear, clear favourite is the five times and current World Champion, four times and current European Champion, three times Olympic medalist and current Olympic gold medalist Ben Ainslie, the rest of the fleet is sure to have something to say on the matter. And while the conditions in Qingdao could best be described as tricky, a fourth medal for Ainslie is by no means a foregone conclusion, but perhaps it could be argued that he has the best chance of medaling than any other sailor across all of the other classes heading for China.

The sailors

SAY HELLO TO THE FINN SAILORS

At the 2008 European Championship in Scarlino, Itlay,

some of the sailors heading for China subjected themselves

to the video camera for a few brief words. Here is the result.

[the video clips in the right hand column are short (6-15 seconds long)

WMV files that play in a new page and are about 800k

to 3Mb in size. Click on the screenshots below to play.

Note that you need a fast connection for this to work..

Each one takes about 5-8 seconds to open into

your media player on a fast connection]

	AUS – Anthony Nossiter Age: 34 Current World Ranking: 9 Previous Olympics: 2000 (Finn – 13^th), 2004 (Finn - 6^th) Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 10^th, 2003 Finn Gold Cup -8^th 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 12^th, Delta Lloyd – 8^th; Hyeres – 7^th; Sail Melbourne – 9^th ‘Nocka’ has been sailing the Finn since 1998 with various forays into the Volvo Ocean Race and the America’s Cup, during which time he kept up with his Finn sailing. Although has had many top ten places over the years and world and Grade 1 regattas, never really made it as far as the podium. Big strong sailor who loves windy and wavy conditions, but capable of winning races in anything.
	BRA – Eduardo Couto Age: 24 Current World Ranking: 80 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2008 Europeans – 54^th, 2008 Delta Lloyd – 14th Only moved from the Laser to the Finn for the Brazilian trials earlier this year. He has already made an impression in a few races this year and as one of the lighter sailors in Qingdao may perform well in the lighter conditions. Finished a lowly 54^th at the Europeans this year but improving fast. Couto has only competed in four ranking events, hence his low ranking position of 80^th.	No clip
	CAN – Chris Cook Age: 24 Current World Ranking: 8 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2005 Finn Gold Cup 3^rd, 2007 Finn Gold Cup 7^th, 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 6^th, Europeans – 6^th, Palma 9^th, Hyeres - 8th Cook is a very physical flamboyant sailor who can perform equally well in light and windy conditions. He has been on good form so far this year and has been as high as second in the Finn rankings back in October 2006. Sailing at his best Cook could easily secure a medal in Qingdao.
	CHN – Peng Zhang Current World Ranking: 57 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2008 Finn Gold Cup – 34^th, 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 42^nd Zhang is one of a number of emerging Chinese Finn sailors who have put in a lot of time over the past few years. However they have struggled to produce any form internationally	No clip
	CRO – Ivan Kjlakovic Gaspic Age: 24 Current World Ranking: 4 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2007 Europeans – 2^nd,; 2007 Finn Gold Cup 8^th, 2007 Olympic test event – 4th 2008 Form: Europeans - 2^nd, Finn Gold Cup – 10^th, Delta Lloyd – 5^th, Hyeres – 6^th, Palma – 2^nd. Kjlakovic Gaspic is a focussed and hard working sailor who has performed well in the lighter conditions in the past two years. On the lighter end of the weight scale, he could easily be a medal contender in Qingdao. Famously capsized on the final leg while leading the medal race at the 2007 Olympic Test Event, which probably cost him the gold medal.
	CYP – Haris Papadopolous Current World Ranking: 54 Previous Olympics: 2004 (Laser - 28) Best Results: 2008 Finn Gold Cup 29^th, 2008 Finn Europeans – 31^st Only moved into the Finn last year from the Laser with a steep learning curve ahead of him. First event was last year’s Olympic Test Regatta. Has placed well in a few races but not yet in any regatta.
	CZE – Michael Maier Age: 44 Current World Ranking: 17 Previous Olympics: 1996 (Finn – 14th), 2000 (Finn – 19th), 2004 (Finn -15th) Best Results: 1998 Europeans – 2^nd, 2000 Finn Gold Cup – 5^th, 2005 Hyeres – 2^nd 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 30^th, Europeans – 25^th, Hyeres – 16^th, Palma – 25^th, Delta Lloyd - 13th Veteran of more Olympic campaigns than he can probably remember, Maier is back for a fourth attempt at an Olympic medal. His results peaked about 2000, and since then he has struggled to get into the top ten. However he is one of the most experienced sailors heading to China.
	DEN – Jonas Høgh-Christensen Age: 26 Current World Ranking: 1 Previous Olympics: 2004 (Finn – 9th) Best Results: 2006 Finn Gold Cup – 1^st, 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 4^th. 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup - 3^rd, Europeans – 5^th, Hyeres – 1^st, Palma - 7th Ranked as the world’s best Finn sailor since June 2006, Høgh-Christensen has only managed to win one major title in that time, the 2006 Finn Gold Cup, though he has regularly in the top 5 at most major events and so far this year has performed much better than previous years. A definite contender for a medal, he finished 5^th at the Olympic test event last year.	No clip
	ESP – Rafael Trujillo Age: 32 Current World Ranking: 3 Previous Olympics: 2000 (Star – 8th ), 2004 (Finn – Silver) Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup -1^st, 2006 Finn Gold Cup – 5^th, 2003 Finn Gold Cup - 2^nd. 2008 Form: Delta Lloyd – 1^st, Kiel Week – 2^nd, Sail Melbourne – 3^rd, Finn Gold Cup – 13^th, Europeans - 10^th. A definite favourite for a medal, Rafa has been at the front of the fleet for many years. He lost a lot of weight at the start of the season in preparation for Qingdao and spent a lot of time trying to get his rig adjusted to match. Some bad results, for him, earlier this year have been superseded by podium finishes at the final two regattas. Usually prefers breezy conditions, but has adapted well in the past year.
	FIN – Tapio Nirkko Age: 23 Current World Ranking: 16 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 12^th, 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 11^th, Kiel Week – 10th, Europeans – 12^th. A clever and strong sailor, Nirkko has struggled with consistency since he entered the class in 2001, but has produced a string of great race results at different regattas. If he could put it all together in the same series, he would be a contender for a medal.	No clip
	FRA – Guillaume Florent Current World Ranking: 23 Previous Olympics: 1996 (Laser – 15^th), 2004 (Finn – 8th) Best Results: 2006 Europeans -2^nd, 2004 Europeans - 3^rd, 2006 Finn Gold Cup - 6^th, 2003 Finn Gold Cup – 5^th. 2008 Form: Europeans – 3^rd, Finn Gold Cup - 21st Returned to the Finn this year after 18 months off and though placed a lowly 21^st at the Finn Gold Cup, was serious contender at the Europeans, leading until the final medal race where he was up against Ben Ainslie for the title, and came off second best. Also famously protested Ainslie out of the first race in the 2004 Olympic regatta.	No clip
	GBR – Ben Ainslie Age: 31 Current World Ranking: 28 Previous Olympics: 1996 (Laser – Silver), 2000 Laser –Gold)), 2004 (Finn – Gold) Best Results: World Champion 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008. European Champion 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup -1^st, Europeans – 1^st, Sail Melbourne – 1^st, Palma - 1st Campaign website: www.benainslie.com Although he took time out for an America’s Cup stint with Emirates Team New Zealand, Ainslie seems to have lost none of his form, having won the Pre-Olympics, the Finn Gold Cup, the Europeans and a host of other events since stepping back into the boat last year. Without doubt he is the absolute favourite for a medal, most likely gold coloured. Any other colour would look out of place.
	GRE – Emilios Papathanasiou Current World Ranking: 15 Previous Olympics: 1996 (Finn), 2000 (Finn – 12th), 2004 (Finn 5th) Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup 5^th, 2001 Europeans 1st, 2000-02 Finn Gold Cup – 3^rd; 2005, 2006 Finn Gold Cup – 2^nd. 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup - 8^th, Palma – 16^th, Hyeres - 38^th Had a rough season with injuries, and missed the Europeans but sure to be one of the favourites for a medal in Qingdao if he is on form. Fast and consistent across a range of wind strengths, Papathanasiou is one of the most experienced sailors in the fleet and is back for his fourth attempt at an Olympic medal.	No clip
	IRL – Timothy Goodbody Current World Ranking: 18 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 25^th, 2008 Europeans – 21^st. 2008 Form: Delta Lloyd – 11^th, Finn Gold Cup – 20^th, Europeans – 21^st, Palms - 17^th Only started in the Finn in 2005, and while producing a few promising individual race results has only made it into the top ten at a Grade 1 regatta on one occasion.
	IND- Nachhatar Johal Age: 29 Current World Ranking: 53 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2008 Finn Gold Cup – 57, 2007 Finn Gold Cup - 61st One of two Indian Finn sailors that have emerged in the past two years, Johal won a very tight trials against Nitin Mongia, with the two boat series going down to the final race. Moved across from the Laser, for which he was too heavy in January 2007 and was initially helped into the class by the International Finn Association’s development programme, FIDeS. He does have a lack of competition exposure though.	No clip
	ITA – Giorgio Porgi Age: 27 Current World Ranking: 18 Previous Olympics: None 2008 Form: Europeans – 16^th, Kiel Week – 12^th, Finn Gold Cup - 19^th. Has yet to place top 10 in any major event, but is improving all the time. Made the switch from the Laser in 2005 and had made steady progress.
	NED – Pieter-Jan Postma Age: 26 Current World Ranking: 6 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: Pre-Olympics 2007 - 2^nd, 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 2^nd 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup 4^th, Delta Llotd – 4^th, Hyeres – 4^th. Campaign website: www.pieterjanpostma.com Moved into the Finn from the Laser in 2005 and one of the best heavy weather sailors in the class, despite being lighter than most. Made big gains during the 2007 season and can be very focussed on his game. PJ is a definite favourite for a medal.
	NZL – Dan Slater Current World Ranking: 8 Previous Olympics: 2000 (49er – 8th) Best Results: 2005 Europeans - 2^nd, 2007 Finn Gold Cup 16^th, 2007 Breitling Regatta – 1^st, 2006 Kiel Week – 1^st. 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 2^nd, Delta Lloyd – 6^th, Hyeres - 8^th Campaign website: www.danslater-nz.com Only started in the Finn in 2005 where he showed great potential finishing second at his first major championship. Since then has put together a string of decent results, including wins in Holland and Kiel. Produced his best results at this year’s Finn Gold Cup, although he became a victim of Ben Ainslie in the medal race, after having led for most of the series
	NOR – Peer Moberg Current World Ranking: 13 Previous Olympics: 1996 (Laser – Bronze), 2000 (Laser – 10th), 2004 (Laser – 21st) Best Results: 2007 Olympic Test Event – 3^rd,, 2007 Rolex Miami OCR – 1^st 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 9^th, Palma – 8^th, Hyeres – 13^th Fourth Olympic regatta for Moberg, after three times in the Laser. Has shown moments of brilliance since he entered the Finn class in 2005, but has generally struggled with consistency. However he is used to the Olympic arena and could well be a fighting for another medal.	No clip
	POL – Rafal Szukiel Current World Ranking: 12 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2007 Europeans – 8^th, 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 234^th, . 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 16^th, Delta Lloyd – 7^th, Hyeres – 18^th, Palma - 12th Won a close trials against his brother Wacław. These two have dominated Polish Finn sailing since Mateusz Kusznierewicz moved into the Star class after the 2004 Olympics. Szukiel has produced some good race results in the past year, but has struggled to make top ten in more than a handful of regattas.
	RUS – Eduard Skornyakov Current World Ranking: 21 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2007 Europeans – 1^st, 2008 Kiel Week – 9^th, 2007 Finn Gold Cup – 31^st. 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 25th, Europeans – 22^nd, Palma – 33^rd, Hyeres - 14th Formerly a Laser and a 49er sailor, Skornyakov made the Finn world sit up and take notice after breezing to victory at the 2007 Europeans on Lake Balaton. However since then he has struggled to produce any more results and had to wait until the second Olympic qualifier in Melbourne to qualify Russia for a place in Qingdao.	No clip
	SLO – Gasper Vincec Age: 27 Current World Ranking: 5 Previous Olympics: 2004 (Finn – 20th) Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup 3^rd, 2007 Olympic Test event – 6^th, 2007 Kiel Week – 1^st. 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 15^th, Europeans – 4^th, Delta Lloyd – 2^nd, Hyeres – 3^rd, A recipient of the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity Scholarship, Vincec has improved year on year since the last Olympics and is now a regular sight on the podium. One of the top five contenders for a medal in Qingdao, he seems to perform equally well in the light and the heavy.	No clip
	SWE – Daniel Birgmark Current World Ranking: 7 Previous Olympics: 2004 (Finn – 14th) Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup 8^th, 2006 Finn Gold C up 4^th, 2007 Europeans – 7^th. 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 17^th, Europeans – 7^th, Palma – 5^th, Hyeres - 5th Switched to the Finn in time to sail at Athens in 2004 after failing to qualify for the Laser in Athens. Birgmark is regularly in the top 10, but has only made the podium on one occasion in a Grade 1 event. Apart from the Gold Cup in Melbourne he has produced a string of top 7 places this year, and could be in the hunt for a medal if things go his way.
	TUR Ali Kefal Tufekci Current World Ranking: 58 Previous Olympics: 2000 (Laser - 28th) Best Results: 2008 Finn Gold Cup – 39^th, 2008 Finn Europeans – 18^th, 2008 Palma - 23^rd. First sailed the Finn in the mid-1990s before switching to the Laser and now back in the Finn again since early 2008. Won a close trials against long time Finn sailor Akif Muslubas.
	USA – Zach Railey Age: 24 Current World Ranking: 11 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2007 Europeans - 5^th, 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 28^th, Europeans – 9^th, Palma – 3^rd, Kiel Week – 5^th, Hyeres – 9^th. Campaign website: www.zachrailey.com Struggled with consistency last year, but this year, has produced a string of top 10 finishes, apart from a disappointing 28^th at the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne. Could well be peaking at the right moment in Qingdao. One of the youngest in the Finn fleet and also one of the few sailors going to China who had to win a one-off home country based closed trials event.
	VEN – Johnny Bilbao Age: 34 Current World Ranking: 69 Previous Olympics: None Best Results: 2007 Finn Gold Cup - 50th 2008 Form: Finn Gold Cup – 53^rd, Palma – 37^th, Hyeres – 39^th, Delta Lloyd - 18th Only confirmed in late July for a place in China after Austria turned down its place, Bilbao entered the Finn scene in mid-2007 after getting too big for the Laser. He also received assistance from the IFA's FIDeS development programme to qualify for the Olympics and is the first Venezuelan Finn sailor ever to appear the the Olympics.	No clip

Past medalists

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1952, Helsinki, Finland:	Paul Elvstrom, Denmark	Charles Currey, Great Britain	Rickard Sarby, Sweden
1956, Melbourne, Australia	Paul Elvstrom, Denmark	Andre Nelis, Belgium	John Marvin, United States
1960, Naples, Italy	Paul Elvstrom, Denmark	A. Chuchelov, USSR	Andre Nelis, Belgium
1964, Enoshima, Japan	Willy Kuhweide, Germany	Peter Barrett, United States	Henning Wind, Denmark
1968, Acapulco, Mexico	Valentin Mankin, USSR	Hubert Raudaschl, Austria	Fabio Albarelli, Italy
1972, Kiel, West Germany	Serge Maury, France	Elias Hatzipavlis, Greece	Victor Potapov, USSR
1976, Kingston, Canada	Jochen Schumann, DDR	Andrei Balashov, USSR	John Bertrand, Australia
1980, Tallinn, USSR	Esko Rechardt, Finland	Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Austria	Andrei Balashov, USSR
1984, Long Beach, USA	Russell Coutts, New Zealand	John Bertrand, United States	Terry Neilson, Canada
1988, Pusan, Korea	Jose Luis Doreste, Spain	Peter Holmberg, US Virgin Is	John Cutler, New Zealand
1992, Barcelona, Spain	Jose Maria van der Ploeg, Spain	Brian Ledbetter, United States	Craig Monk, New Zealand
1996, Savannah, USA	Mateusz Kusnierewicz, Poland	Sebastien Godefroid, Belgium	Roy Heiner, Netherlands
2000, Sydney, Australia	Iain Percy, Great Britain	Luca Devoti, Italy	Fredrik Loof, Sweden
2004, Athens, Greece	Ben Ainslie, Great Britain	Rafael Trujillo, Spain	Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Poland

Class website: www.finnclass.org

Photos: Robert Deaves