Light winds mix fleet on Day 4 at Finn Gold Cup in Miami

Light winds mixed the fleet on the fourth day of the 2023 Finn Gold Cup in Miami. Ed Wright from Britain extended his lead to 11 points from Domonkos Nemeth from Hungary, while Miguel Fernandez Vasco, from Spain is back up to third. The race wins went to James Golden, from the USA and Wright.

With winds never more than 8.-9 knots and patchy lanes all over the course the conditions played havoc with the fleet and many sailors paid a heavy price. On the flipside there were some new names at the front.

In Race 7, Jim Cameron, from Canada, led from the top from Michael Mark and James Golden, both from the USA. Golden was soon in the lead and sailed away from the fleet for a huge win. While Cameron slipped to ninth, Italy’s Marko Kolic moved up to second with Laurent Hay from France in third.

All the regatta leaders were deep at the top mark. Wright made the best recovery from somewhere in the 40s to 14th at the finish. Federico Colaninno, from Italy could only make it up to 20, which he must count after an earlier retirement. In addition, Vasco picked up a second yellow flag had had to retire from the race.

Vasco soon made amends and led round the top mark in Race 8, with Wright close behind. They rounded the gate overlapped but Wright pulled out on the second upwind to lead down to the finish as the wind dropped to 4-5 knots. Vasco crossed in second to move up to third overall, while Colaninno crossed third.

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Vasco said, “Today was a difficult day, because the light wind was terrible and very shifty. In the first race, when I was in 11-12, I got a second penalty by the jury right when I was crossing the finishing line, so I had to retire from the race.

“In the second race I started very well by the pin. I went straight to the left, and I arrived first at the top mark, but Ed Wright was super-fast and he overtook me on the downwind. In the second downwind we had a battle for the top and at the end I finished second. Right now I am sitting in third overall, tomorrow is the last day and it will be as difficult as today.

“Miami is fantastic, it's a super location for sailing and the organization is super. Every day we have free meal after the racing, and everything is perfect.

“The level of the fleet is so high; you can never breathe too much because in one tack you can lose so much.”

Hay had the best of the day with a third and a fifth to move up to fourth. Caio Gerassi, from Brazil, also had a great day with a fifth and a fourth, the second-best score of the day.

“Today we had light breeze, the conditions were tricky, sometimes we had six knots on one side and on the other one we had nine knots, the wind was never even on the entire course, so we had to go looking for the pressure to cross. This was the trickiest part, if you missed one pressure you felt behind very quickly. I think I did well by being in the pressure all the time. I was in low mode pretty much all the time, trying to get the next pressure and that worked out. I finally got back to my place, I got a fifth and a fourth, which is by far my best day.”

Ciao had his first Finn in 2012 in Brazil, Ilhabela. “Most of the time I was sailing in between the Finn and the Snipe, but now I am finally back to the class, and this is my first major regatta. Before this event I only sailed only national events, but never an international event.

“This event is being amazing, the people here have all welcomed me, especially the people from the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, which is actually what opened the door for me to come back sailing the Finn. It's been a pleasure sailing my biggest Finn event in this club, plus the conditions are amazing and sailing against the top guys is just amazing.”

The 2023 Finn Gold Cup ends on Tuesday with two more races scheduled. Most boats in the top 10 have a high score already, and only Hay now has only single digits. With more light winds forecast, another challenging day of racing in Miami beckons.

Results after 8 races
1 GBR 111 Ed Wright 11
2 HUN 80 Domonkos Nemeth 22
3 ESP 161 Miguel Fernandez Vasco 26
4 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 34
5 ITA 171 Federico Colaninno 35
6 USA 186 James Golden 59
7 USA 16 Rodion Mazin 61
8 BRA 53 Pedro Trouche 62
9 ITA 40 Marko Kolic 68
10 BRA 32 Pedro Lodovici 74

Full results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?

Full photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720305643107/

Don’t forget to follow the Finn Class social media feeds to get the latest updates from hot and sunny Miami.

 

Highlights from Day 4 (Click for video)

FGC2023 day4

 

Young guns close gap on Ed Wright on third day of Finn Gold Cup in Miami

After two days of very cloudy conditions, the Sunshine State started to live up to its name again on Bacardi Race Day, the third day of the 2023 Finn Gold Cup in Miami. Britain’s Ed Wright continues to lead the regatta, though race wins on from both Domonkos Nemeth, from Hungary, and Federico Colaninno, from Italy, have closed the gap on Wright, and created a fascinating three way battle at the top with two days of light winds expected.

Sunday’s forecast was for less wind, more sunshine and higher temperatures. On arrival at the race area there was a nice 13-14 knots warm breeze, which shifted and decreased through the day, Race 5 was sailed under Oscar for free pumping, but this was removed for Race 6 as the wind dropped to 8-9 knots and much more cloud cover.

Pedro Trouche, from Brazil, led at the first top mark in race 5, but Spain’s Miguel Fernandez Vasco moved from second at the top to a nice lead by the gate, He held it up the second beat, but on the final downwind Nemeth closed the gap and moved into the lead just before the finish. Wright crossed in third.

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Colaninno was the undisputed winner of Race 6, leading all the way for his second win of the week. Much of the fleet including Wright overstood on the left and though he rounded around seventh, was up to second by the gate, but couldn’t match the Italian’s pace. France’s Laurent Hay was also quick around the course in the lighter winds, to secure third place and end the day in fifth overall.

Nemeth said, “Today we had two good races, the first one was free pumping. I managed to do a good start and keep my pace. I scored a first by beating Miguel on the last downwind. I surfed pretty good, so it was nice. The second race was a bit more challenging because the wind dropped to 8-10 knots, so we didn't have pumping. It was very shifty, and you had to find pressure all the time. I didn't do very well in the first upwind, but I was very lucky because everyone was passing by and going over the lay line on the left line, so in the end I got fourth. I am not very happy with that one, but it's not a bad score. This day was quite good, I really enjoyed the first one.

“Miami is really cool. At home now it is really cold now, it's two degrees, I've never been in the US. And the organizers here are really putting their hearts in, everything is really good. I can't say anything bad.”

On the lighter winds forecast for the coming days, “In the lighter breeze it will be definitely more challenging for me and for Ed and Federico, as everyone else can be very good in the lighter breeze. It's going to be more challenging, but I am looking forward to it, this is what sailing is about.”

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Pedro Trouche, from Brazil, is in eighth place and thoroughly enjoying his return to Finn sailing this week.

I sold my boat in 2016 and I had the opportunity to sail this championship because my skipper in the Star class, Jack Jennings, let me use his boat, as he has two. I am super happy to be back in the class. I have a lot of friends in Miami, it’s a kind of second home for me and I am still learning about the racing area, which is very good for me as we have a lot of Star class events during the winter here, it's a very nice combo.

“It was a great day for me. I had a fifth in the first race and an 11th in the second one, I hope I am still in top 10, which is the goal for me. I was really trying to push as much as I could these three days because I know I am super heavy for the Finn, like 112 kgs, which is quite challenging, but I kind of like the light wind too. We are going to have 8-10 knots and hopefully it is not going to be too choppy because when it's choppy it’s not too good for me, but if it's flat water, it will be nice.

“I like Miami a lot, I have my family close-by, a lot of friends and the weather is super nice. I am kind of getting more knowledge about the racing area, which is super tricky, there's a lot of current, shallow water, we have the breeze, the islands...it's good to know more every day.”

After three days of good wind, the next two days look challenging with forecast predicting under 10 knots. Two more races are scheduled for Monday before the event concludes on Tuesday.

Results after 6 races
1 GBR 111 Ed Wright 7
2 HUN 80 Domonkos Nemeth 11
3 ITA 171 Federico Colaninno 12
4 ESP 161 Miguel Fernandez Vasco 18
5 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 26
6 USA 16 Rodion Mazin 34
7 AUS 22 Paul Mckenzie 39
8 BRA 53 Pedro Trouche 40
9 USA 186 James Golden 45
10 BRA 32 Pedro Lodovici 48

Full results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?

Full photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720305622524

Don’t forget to follow the Finn Class social media feeds to get the latest updates from hot and sunny Miami.

 

Highlights from Day 3 (click for video)

FGC2023 DAY3

Wright extends on Day 2 at Finn Gold Cup in Miami

It was breeze on in Miami for Day 2 of the 2023 Finn Gold Cup. After four races now sailed, Ed Wright, from Britain, extends his lead while Domonkos Nemeth, from Hungary stays in second. European champion, Miguel Fernandez Vasco, from Spain, moves up third.

The race wins went to Federico Colaninno, from Italy, who then dropped out of the second race with gear failure, while Wright picked up his third race win in Race 4.

With the windiest forecast of the week, it was a blustery day on Biscayne Bay with winds up to 17-18 knots, but still a lot of cloud cover and patchy sunshine. The wind was also further round to the east with slightly bigger seas. It was a tough, but exciting and exhilarating day for everyone, while the race management was top class.

Colaninno made the best of the first beat in Race 3 and rounded the first mark overlapped with Nemeth and these two sailed off downwind with Wright, who rounded fifth, chasing hard. Nemeth had the lead by the bottom, but then managed to capsize to windward approaching the gate. Wright and Colaninno split gate marks but the Italian had a good final upwind to lead down to the finish to win his first ever Finn Gold Cup race. Wright crossed second with Vasco in third. Nemeth finally crossed in fifth.

Race 4 started after a general recall and again Colaninno led at the top from Nemeth, with Wright very close in third. Unfortunately, Colaninno then had gear failure with his boom bolting exploding and pulled out. Wright passed Nemeth downwind and extended for a big win. Nemeth crossed second with Laurent Hay, from France, having a great race to cross in third.

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Colaninno was rueing his missed chances but ecstatic about a Finn Gold Cup race win.

Today I won the first race, after a tight battle with Ed Wright and I got a nice first place. On the second race I rounded the top mark in first and twenty seconds after my boom pin exploded. It something that unfortunately I can't control, it happens and now I can only think about tomorrow.”

But, “Winning a race in the Gold Cup is something special. It's an unbelievable feeling. I am really happy about the first race.”

“I think Miami is a fantastic venue. It's really cool to stay here in warm weather, it's windy and the conditions are beautiful.”

This Finn Gold Cup in Miami is supporting a revival of the class in the USA. A number of new boats were imported for this event and for charter, so the fleet has been boosted by these boats. In addition a new boat project during the pandemic is about to bear fruit and the first US built boats for a generation will soon be available. For many years the US built Vanguard was the boat of choice worldwide and it has been lovely to see Peter Harken around the boat park and talking to the sailors.

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The US Finn Secretary is Rodion Mazin. He is taking part this week and after a great day is now up to fifth overall.

“Today it was a tough day, very windy. The most important part was the start; it wasn't that shifty. The first race I started in the middle with Ed Wright and the boys, and I got to the upwind mark in third, finishing in fourth that race. In the second race I didn't really have a good start, the wind shifted on the right. Myself and ESP 161, Miguel, started at the Race Committee and unfortunately it didn't pay that much, and we struggled, but we managed to get up to fifth and sixth place. Having a good start was very important, you know what they say, it makes the 60 percent of the success, besides your speed.”

On the Finn. Gold Cup being in the USA again. “I absolutely enjoy having the fleet here. It's amazing, you know. First of all it's such an opportunity for the Finn fleet to show numbers in the US. We've already seen it in the last couple of years, how much Finn promotion is going on and how much stronger the US Finn fleet is becoming, so the more international events we have, the more people can look forward to competing in these events. It's like a pinnacle, Masters Worlds, Gold Cup. It's an amazing opportunity for us.”

On Miami, “Miami is a great venue. It's good weather, better than up north, we have below zero right now, like you European folks, it's below 32 degrees, it's freezing, so there's not much sailing going on up there, while here is champagne weather. We have 15 knots yesterday, we had 16-18 knots today, gusting to 20 knots today. It looks from the forecast that we are going to see all the kind of conditions, from 20 knots down to 8-10 knots on Monday and Tuesday.

“It's a great event, we are going to have a lot of fun here.”

On Saturday evening, Coconut Grove SC hosted a fantastic Cuban evening for the Finn sailors, with the Barcardi Bar open as usual.

Two more races are scheduled for Bacardi Race Day on Sunday with slightly lighter winds and sunnier skies forecast. The event concludes on Tuesday.

Results after 4 races
1 GBR 111 Ed Wright 5
2 HUN 80 Domonkos Nemeth 11
3 ESP 161 Miguel Fernandez Vasco 16
4 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 24
5 USA 16 Rodion Mazin 28
6 AUS 22 Paul McKenzie 28
7 BRA 32 Pedro Lodovici 39
8 BRA 53 Pedro Trouche 41
9 USA 186 James Golden 48
10 USA 91 Jack Jennings 58

Full results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?

Full photo gallery here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/finnclassphotos/albums/72177720305582255

Don’t forget to follow the Finn Class social media feeds (see below) to get the latest updates from hot and sunny Miami.

 

Highlight from Day 2 (Click for video)

FGC2023 day 2

Ed Wright opens 2023 Finn Gold Cup with two bullets

The 2010 Finn world champion Ed Wright, from Britain, has taken the early lead at the 2023 Finn Gold Cup in Miami, USA, after winning both races on the opening day at Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Domonkos Nemeth, from Hungary, is second, while Italy’s Federico Colaninno is third.

An overnight change in the weather brought much cooler conditions with moderate north-westerlies from 12-18 knots, and a lot of cloud cover. Both races got away first time with two windward-leeward courses for the 58 Finns from 16 nations.

Wright led around Race 1 in the strongest wind of the day with Nemeth recovering from around 15th at the first mark to place second, with Colaninno in third.

The wind had decreased and become more unstable for the second race. Initially the left was looking good then a big shift to the right changed the front. Laurent Hay, from France led from Peter Sangmeister and Colaninno. Wright rounded in sixth but gybed off down the run and was soon in the lead, extending for a comfortable win. Nemeth again finished second after a close battle with Colaninno

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The furthest travelled here is Ray Hall from New Zealand. He is in 14th after the first day.

“The first day of the Gold Cup was good and solid, we had long beats, a lot of energy to put into the boat. I love sailing the Finn, this is the reason why I do it. It keeps me fit and healthy. It’s my first time in Miami, I’m really enjoying the environment and I’m looking forward to day two. Finn sailing…been doing that for a couple of years, keep coming back, must be something wrong with me”

James Golden, from Annapolis, USA, only entered the event at the last moment and today was his first day ever in the Finn. He sits in ninth overall.

“I had a great time sailing. There was about 15-20 knots at the beginning of the day and then it dropped off to 10-12. I found a lot of success going to the left in the first race and in the second race hitting the right side at the right time seemed to be successful. It’s a very physical boat and I had a lot of good fun pushing the limits, working hard.”

He sails the Laser as part of the US Olympic development team and has represented the US in a few international events so far. “I am hoping to sail at the Olympics in 2024 and 2028.”

“I signed up just a few days ago, my friend Peter [Sangmeister] gave me an opportunity to come sailing and I had to do it. I was coming down here to sail in the Clearwater OCR next weekend, in the Laser and I was given an opportunity to go sailing this weekend and I had to do it. I’m just glad to be here.”

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Ed Wright has not sailed a Finn regatta since the 2019 Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne, but is very happy to be back in the boat.

“We had two lovely races today, maybe 10-15, maybe sometimes more. I scored two bullets, so starting the week off well.

“It’s lovely to be back in the Finn, I did some training last week and then I entered the Finn Gold Cup and I’m enjoying every minute so far.

“It’s very tricky out there. By the second race it was getting trickier with lots of shifts, lots of pressure differences and it was quite interesting to see those little bands going down. Actually, it adds to the fun, doesn’t it? I wouldn’t mind if we had a little more waves.”

“Miami is a great city, the sailing is great and I can’t complain about that.”

After two races there are eight nations in the top 10, with close racing throughout the fleet. Similar conditions are expected for Saturday, though slightly warmer.

Two more races are scheduled for Saturday. The event concludes on Tuesday.

Results after 2 races
1 GBR 111 Ed Wright 2
2 HUN 80 Domonkos Nemeth 4
3 ITA 171 Federico Colaninno 6
4 ESP 161 Miguel Fernández Vasco 8
5 FRA 75 Laurent Hay 13
6 AUS 22 Paul Mckenzie 15
7 BRA 32 Pedro Lodovici 16
8 USA 16 Rodion Mazin 18
9 USA 186 James Golden 19
10 BRA 53 Pedro Trouche 24

Full results: https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=15268&fbclid=IwAR12LCudEVKbhWL1VZ7SRX-PxsieAYusp9P2v1fPILTB3WnqV6khHp_h2Hw

 

Highlights (click for video)

FGC2023 DAY1

 

2023 Finn Gold Cup opens at Coconut Grove in Miami

It’s been a long time in the planning and a dream for the Miami fleet for an even longer time, but finally the 2023 Finn Gold Cup has been opened at Coconut Grove Sailing Club as a single canon was fired on the dock at the club.

The practice race was scheduled for 14.00 and despite the light and unstable winds, around 35 boats made the start and the race committee got in four starts before letting the fleet away. Federico Collanino, from Italy, made the best of the pin end and tacked away to lead round the first mark from Marc Allain des Beauvais, from France and Marko Kolic, from Italy. Most of the fleet carried on and sailed back to the club. A few went downwind only for the race committee to abandon the race.

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In the evening the opening ceremony commenced with the Bacardi Bar and a flag parade from the club’s youth sailors, who had given up their sailing to make space for the Finn Gold Cup.

Marc Allain des Beauvais, Vice President of the International Finn Association, began by saying. “The Finn class is a family. We have members everywhere in the world and we are honoured, pleased and glad to be hosted by the Coconut Grove Sailing Club.”

The Commodore of Coconut Grove SC, Dave Martin, said, “I want to start off by thanking the club. We had to make a lot of changes and the club has been transformed into a world class regatta event and I would like to thank everyone who's been part of it. Thank you to the Board and everyone that made this possible, and all the volunteers.”

Finally, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez made a very refreshing, encouraging and positive speech to the club. “I grew up sailing in this bay. I didn't sail the Finn, I sailed puffer boats. I had so many wonderful moments and memories about this bay and I can tell you that sailing is one of the most chill and recreational sports that anyone can engage. For me to be here with all of you at CGSC, which has been here since 1946 is thrilling. I really hope this is a wonderful Finn Gold Cup and hopefully one day my son and daughter will be sailing in this club and will enjoy the wonderful memories that I've enjoyed.”

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With a few late entries, the registered fleet now numbers 58 Finns from 16 nations. There are also five U23 sailors taking part in addition to the older generation. The age range is huge from 17 to 87. As always the Finn Gold Cup is a celebration of life as well as of sailing.

Racing is scheduled to begin on Friday with two races each day for five days.

Don’t forget to follow the Finn Class social media feeds (see below) to get the latest updates from hot and sunny Miami.

 

Highlights from Day 0 (click for video)

FGC2023 DAY0

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