|
|
|
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
R6 |
R7 |
Total |
1 |
SWE 7 |
Fredrik Lööf |
2 |
5 |
9 |
2 |
23 |
2 |
1 |
21 |
2 |
ITA 1 |
Luca Devoti |
6 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
24 |
3 |
FRA 778 |
Xavier Rohart |
8 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
16 |
5 |
11 |
32 |
4 |
CAN 11 |
Richard Clarke |
13 |
4 |
19 |
10 |
11 |
3 |
4 |
45 |
5 |
BEL 7 |
Sebastien Godefroid |
3 |
12 |
11 |
21 |
1 |
7 |
15 |
49 |
6 |
AUT 1 |
Hans Spitzauer |
9 |
1 |
6 |
12 |
20 |
11 |
13 |
52 |
7 |
UKR 21 |
Juri Tokovoi |
16 |
6 |
16 |
8 |
5 |
21 |
2 |
53 |
8 |
POL 17 |
Mateusz Kusznierewicz |
1 |
22 |
18 |
4 |
36 |
4 |
5 |
54 |
9 |
GRE 6 |
Emilios Papathanassiou |
4 |
8 |
1 |
5 |
DNF |
31 |
16 |
65 |
10 |
GER 79 |
Michael Fellmann |
10 |
14 |
5 |
13 |
38 |
10 |
17 |
69 |
11 |
CRO 11 |
Karlo Kuret |
27 |
7 |
21 |
6 |
3 |
6 |
28 |
70 |
12 |
RSA 1 |
Ian Ainslie |
14 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
14 |
14 |
19 |
70 |
13 |
GBR 550 |
Richard Stenhouse |
22 |
17 |
2 |
14 |
OCS |
8 |
9 |
72 |
14 |
ESP 100 |
Rafael Trujillo Villar |
7 |
11 |
7 |
1 |
34 |
17 |
32 |
75 |
15 |
RUS 21 |
Oleg Khoperski |
5 |
16 |
8 |
17 |
15 |
16 |
22 |
77 |
16 |
GER 6 |
Andreas Buchert |
11 |
20 |
15 |
24 |
10 |
20 |
3 |
79 |
17 |
CZE 304 |
Michael Maier |
17 |
13 |
12 |
16 |
2 |
22 |
20 |
80 |
18 |
GBR 540 |
Iain Percy |
18 |
10 |
17 |
7 |
45 |
13 |
21 |
86 |
19 |
NZL 242 |
Ian Baker |
19 |
27 |
13 |
19 |
9 |
9 |
18 |
87 |
20 |
POL 4 |
Dominik Zycki |
12 |
24 |
24 |
37 |
26 |
15 |
10 |
111 |
21 |
SUI 456 |
Peter Theurer |
26 |
19 |
26 |
22 |
8 |
19 |
29 |
120 |
22 |
BEL 2 |
Philippe Rogge |
24 |
33 |
20 |
20 |
7 |
26 |
34 |
130 |
23 |
AUS 208 |
Paul McKenzie |
20 |
29 |
33 |
30 |
6 |
18 |
OCS |
136 |
24 |
POL 40 |
Dariusz Migacz |
50 |
52 |
14 |
15 |
18 |
12 |
39 |
148 |
25 |
USA 1144 |
Darrell Peck |
23 |
32 |
27 |
18 |
30 |
24 |
36 |
154 |
26 |
IRL 1 |
John Driscoll |
15 |
21 |
DNF |
27 |
49 |
38 |
7 |
157 |
27 |
ITA 55 |
Walter Riosa |
30 |
18 |
22 |
25 |
52 |
32 |
35 |
162 |
28 |
UKR 1 |
Igor Tkachuk |
33 |
28 |
23 |
33 |
DNF |
25 |
33 |
175 |
29 |
CRO 14 |
Nenad Viali |
44 |
31 |
30 |
29 |
47 |
23 |
26 |
183 |
30 |
RUS 14 |
Michael Apoukhtin |
36 |
36 |
25 |
26 |
41 |
33 |
27 |
183 |
31 |
CZE 479 |
Michal Hruby |
38 |
30 |
28 |
40 |
31 |
35 |
23 |
185 |
32 |
BRA 1 |
Bruno Prada |
35 |
34 |
45 |
31 |
12 |
29 |
OCS |
186 |
33 |
EST 8 |
Imre Taveter |
37 |
23 |
34 |
42 |
21 |
36 |
OCS |
193 |
34 |
GBR 548 |
Tim Carver |
32 |
44 |
29 |
39 |
13 |
40 |
DNF |
197 |
35 |
NZL 248 |
Clifton Webb |
25 |
42 |
36 |
51 |
35 |
37 |
24 |
199 |
36 |
UKR 11 |
Denis Knachtchina |
40 |
40 |
39 |
43 |
29 |
51 |
12 |
203 |
37 |
IRL 10 |
Colin Chapman |
42 |
39 |
32 |
44 |
22 |
27 |
45 |
206 |
38 |
ESP 105 |
Javier Aguado |
46 |
15 |
31 |
DNF |
53 |
28 |
38 |
211 |
39 |
POR 81 |
Henrique Anjos |
28 |
45 |
DNF |
23 |
48 |
39 |
30 |
213 |
40 |
NED 701 |
Martiyn van Muyden |
49 |
41 |
35 |
32 |
58 |
34 |
25 |
216 |
41 |
SVK 1 |
Marek Valasek |
29 |
46 |
42 |
50 |
33 |
30 |
42 |
222 |
42 |
USA 1121 |
Brian Huntsman |
21 |
50 |
37 |
47 |
24 |
49 |
DNF |
228 |
43 |
IRL 8 |
David Burrows |
31 |
37 |
48 |
28 |
40 |
44 |
50 |
228 |
44 |
USA 1078 |
Andrew Kern |
54 |
49 |
41 |
41 |
19 |
41 |
41 |
232 |
45 |
USA 1146 |
Michael Deyet |
47 |
35 |
56 |
35 |
46 |
42 |
37 |
242 |
46 |
GBR 549 |
Rowan Chaplin |
43 |
56 |
40 |
38 |
32 |
61 |
40 |
249 |
47 |
BLR 1 |
Vladimir Zuev |
53 |
48 |
54 |
55 |
43 |
55 |
8 |
261 |
48 |
SUI 440 |
Danial Brun |
DNF |
47 |
47 |
45 |
17 |
54 |
51 |
261 |
49 |
CZE 19 |
Jiri Hyza |
48 |
54 |
43 |
36 |
42 |
53 |
43 |
265 |
50 |
USA 1139 |
John Callahan |
52 |
55 |
38 |
59 |
28 |
48 |
47 |
268 |
51 |
NED 707 |
Marc Blees |
59 |
60 |
46 |
54 |
51 |
47 |
14 |
271 |
52 |
GER 81 |
Jan-Dietmar Dellas |
55 |
26 |
44 |
53 |
62 |
63 |
31 |
271 |
53 |
USA 9 |
Chic Parsons |
39 |
53 |
51 |
34 |
63 |
43 |
OCS |
283 |
54 |
ITA 15 |
Michele Marchesini |
45 |
25 |
49 |
48 |
DSQ |
45 |
DNF |
294 |
55 |
CAN 1 |
Jeremy Millar |
57 |
43 |
50 |
46 |
57 |
52 |
46 |
294 |
56 |
TUR 44 |
Akif Muslubas |
63 |
62 |
53 |
52 |
39 |
46 |
49 |
301 |
57 |
NED 702 |
Jan Willem Kok |
34 |
65 |
58 |
57 |
37 |
56 |
61 |
303 |
58 |
HUN 1 |
Balazs Hajdu |
41 |
38 |
DNF |
49 |
DNF |
50 |
52 |
312 |
59 |
POL 12 |
Waclaw Szukiel |
61 |
59 |
55 |
61 |
25 |
64 |
56 |
317 |
60 |
POL 7 |
Rafal Szukiel |
60 |
57 |
59 |
62 |
27 |
57 |
57 |
317 |
61 |
BRA 10 |
Fabio Bodra |
56 |
51 |
52 |
56 |
59 |
59 |
48 |
322 |
62 |
POL 41 |
Andrzej Czapski |
51 |
61 |
61 |
60 |
44 |
58 |
54 |
328 |
63 |
USA 1138 |
Scott Griffith |
DNC |
58 |
57 |
58 |
50 |
62 |
44 |
329 |
64 |
GBR 544 |
Charley Cumbley |
64 |
63 |
62 |
66 |
54 |
60 |
DSQ |
369 |
65 |
NED 706 |
Ewout Meijer |
65 |
72 |
60 |
63 |
55 |
70 |
62 |
375 |
66 |
TUR 11 |
Sinan Sumer |
62 |
64 |
64 |
70 |
65 |
69 |
53 |
377 |
67 |
POL 75 |
Jaroslaw Gorski |
68 |
66 |
65 |
67 |
60 |
68 |
55 |
381 |
68 |
USA 1128 |
Mo Hart |
DNC |
67 |
63 |
64 |
70 |
65 |
59 |
388 |
69 |
POL 73 |
Tomasz Karczewski |
69 |
76 |
66 |
65 |
61 |
71 |
65 |
397 |
70 |
USA 975 |
Gus Miller |
72 |
74 |
69 |
73 |
56 |
73 |
58 |
401 |
71 |
GBR 545 |
Tony Lacey |
66 |
68 |
72 |
68 |
DSQ |
67 |
60 |
401 |
72 |
POL 10 |
Przemyslaw Nawrocki |
77 |
73 |
71 |
72 |
64 |
74 |
63 |
417 |
73 |
SWE 699 |
Petter Ivarsson |
71 |
77 |
70 |
69 |
68 |
75 |
64 |
417 |
74 |
EST 13 |
Dag Trink |
70 |
71 |
DNF |
DNF |
66 |
66 |
67 |
422 |
75 |
POL 1 |
Marcin Wojtoniak |
67 |
70 |
67 |
71 |
DNF |
72 |
DSQ |
429 |
76 |
ITA 851 |
Roberto Upazzoli |
73 |
75 |
68 |
74 |
73 |
76 |
69 |
432 |
77 |
GBR 331 |
Richard Hart |
74 |
79 |
74 |
75 |
67 |
78 |
68 |
436 |
78 |
ESP 128 |
Jose Vives Sivera |
75 |
78 |
73 |
DNF |
69 |
77 |
66 |
438 |
79 |
NED 695 |
Wierd Snieder |
58 |
69 |
DNF |
DNF |
DNF |
DNF |
DNF |
455 |
80 |
POL 16 |
Robert Andrzejak |
78 |
80 |
75 |
76 |
72 |
80 |
DNF |
461 |
81 |
POL 11 |
Machal Szymankiewicz |
76 |
DNF |
76 |
DNF |
71 |
79 |
DNF |
466 |
On Sunday 6 July the 1997 Finn Gold Cup officially began. During the day the practice race was held, which consisted of one triangle for most people. The fleet just went to have a look, find out what the starting vessel looked like, and sailed two reaching legs. Then it was time to get back to working on the boat and get scrubbed up for the Opening Ceremony, a very formal affair, which took place in the Town Hall of the beautiful old town of Gdansk.
Race 1 - First Race to Olympic Champion
In a 15-18 knot breeze and huge waves, fast sailing wasn't easy. The size of the waves even got the better of some sailors' stomachs. After a general recall the upwind speed of Rafael Trujillo got him to the first mark in first place, followed by Fredrik Lööf, Sebbe Godefroid, Luca Devoti and Mateusz Kusznierewicz. They then had trouble finding the gybe mark, which seemed to be drifting. Freddy adjusted best and was leading when they found it, with Emilios Papathanassiou in second place, and Dominik Zycki in third. Dominik was passed on the 2nd reach by Mateusz Kusznierewicz.
On the second beat there was more wind on the right, and it was Sebbe and Mateusz who gained the most, rounding the top mark in first and second place. Mateusz then overtook Sebbe on the run. "It was fun to sail downwind, and I'm fast on the run, but I nearly capsized as well" said Mateusz. On the final beat he managed to retain control to win the first race. Freddy Lööf came second, followed by Sebbe and Emilios. European Champion Luca Devoti finished in 6th place. He was happy, but said he had been really sick for the last 10 days and had no energy.
Race 2 - Hans Spitzauer shows great form
He may not have been the fastest man out there, but "Hansi" Spitzauer certainly showed the fleet that his winning Kiel Week a week before was not coincidence.
After yesterday's lesson of "GO RIGHT, GO RIGHT", a large part of the fleet put their heads down and went right. In the difficult conditions however (10-16 knots and smaller waves), there were light patches, and there appeared to be more wind on the left. Behind Spitzauer, Xavier Rohart finished second and Luca Devoti third. Another happy camper was Rafael Trujillo from Spain, who is relatively new to the class and is being coached by Jose Maria van der Ploeg.
After two races, Fredrik Lööf was leading the table with 7 points, followed by Luca Devoti with 9, and Xavier Rohart and Hans Spitzauer with 10 points each. Mateusz Kusznierewicz seemed to be under a lot of pressure being the local hero (so far he had appeared on TV Gdansk every night) and did not get beyond 22nd place.
Race 3 - Emilios wins his first Gold Cup Race
In 20 knot winds the fleet produced 2 general recalls, after which Race Officer Andy Reyman did not want to waste any more time and hoisted the Black Flag. Emilios Papathanassiou reached the top mark first after a 26-minute beat, followed by Luca and Michael Fellmann. The other favourites were not far behind.
The reach looked like a bunch of fun. The jury was very visible but understood that the huge waves allowed heaps of freedom and the whole fleet was able to work hard and enjoy the ride. And the rule remains simple: "The harder you work, the faster you go!" Particularly impressive were Luca Devoti, Richard Stenhouse, Ian Ainslie and Xavier Rohart. Emilios retained his lead by staying to the left of Luca, which gave him a LOUD inside overlap at the gybe mark. By the time they reached the leeward mark Luca allowed Hans Spitzauer an inside overlap, while Richard Stenhouse moved up to 4th. Emilios was still happily leading on the run, but all sorts of things were happening behind him. Luca lost his vang and lost 3 places in the last 200m to the leeward mark.
The last beat was a hard hike for most people. Emilios closely covered Richard. "He almost let me escape once", said Richard, "or maybe he was getting tired. I know I was!" Emilios won, followed by Richard, Xavier and Luca.
Race 4 - Rafael wins his first race too!
Race 4 went to Spanish Rafael Trujillo Villar, the big man from Spain who spent most of the race in 2nd place, and then trucked past race leader Freddy Lööf on the last beat.
It was windier still, up to 22 knots, and the waves didn't look any smaller either. Luca Devoti, Gus Miller, and Chic Parsons more or less port-tacked the fleet and Gus was very happy to end the first leg in the middle of the fleet, but Luca had more in mind, and rounded the top mark in first place. Moaning as usual before the start ("it's when Luca DOESN'T shake his head that something is REALLY wrong", said one of the coaches), he showed excellent boatspeed. He was still leading at the bottom mark, when he slipped, fell into his boat and nearly capsized. It cost him 7 places, he hurt his back, and eventually dropped to 11th. On the second beat Freddy - while in 2nd place - went hard left, while the top group chose to stay just left of the middle. It looked like a dangerous thing to do but he reached the top mark with a small lead over Rafael and Xavier Rohart.
The run was a wild one once again, requiring some gybing half way through. On the final beat, it looked as if it was all over, as Freddy had considerably extended his lead on the run. He went left again, but didn't cover as closely as he should have. And big Rafael is superfast in the heavy stuff, so that break was all he needed. With one quarter of the beat left to go he had Freddy where he wanted him and that was that. Xavier Rohart finished an excellent 3rd, which made him the series leader overnight.
Race 5 - Sebastien wins shifty race
The day began with less wind (6-10 kts) and less sunshine, but still pretty big waves from the day before. The race started with a couple of recalls. Then three quarters of the way up the beat there was a huge windshift to the right. After the first boats were well around the top mark and reaching, the Race Committee decided to abandon the race and start again. Darrell Peck, who was leading at the time: "I couldn't believe it. Here I was... leading the boat race, and suddenly I see them pick up the gybe mark and take it away. Aaagghh!"
So they started again. This time the shift came right after the start, and those who had started at the committee boat end began to look very good. Sebastien Godefroid, who ended up winning the race, said: "Maybe I sailed 85% of the first beat on starboard tack and only 15% on port." Luca Devoti did good business, finishing 4th. With his back still painful, he had a conservative start on the right: "I sailed conservatively throughout the race, and I'm very pleased with my 4th. Now I'm in 2nd position, so there isn't as much pressure as when you're leading."
Ahead of Luca after 5 races was Xavier Rohart, who finished 16th. Said Xavier, “ You don't have to win any race to win the Gold Cup, as long as you are always up there. It would be nice to win, though! I've been second too often!" With two races to go and all to play for, there was only 2 points in it between the top five boats.
Race 6 - Luca wins by a whisker, and takes lead
The wind was 8-13 kts from the north with a confused wave pattern. The wind was very shifty before the start and after 2 general recalls, the black flag was hoisted, but then the wind shifted hard right again and Race Officer Andy Reyman made an excellent call by postponing the start in the last minute. A new starting sequence was begun and the fleet got underway after the third start (again under a black flag). Luca Devoti started right at the committee boat end, tacked onto port and didn't look back in the first 8 minutes. If you're fast, you have time to be smart, and so Luca executed the strategy he had planned: to sail conservatively. He tacked back until he was just to the right of the core of the fleet, and started playing the shifts. He never looked as if anyone could touch him. Polish Dariusz Migacz sailed an excellent first beat and rounded Mark 1 in 2nd place, followed by Chic Parsons, with Richard Stenhouse, Karlo Kuret, Michael Fellmann, Richard Clarke and Fredrik Lööf in hot pursuit.
By the time they reached the leeward mark Freddy had moved up to 3rd. The second beat was fought out more to the left of the course. It saw Freddy move up to 2nd but Luca was defending his lead well. Richard Clarke was now in 3rd place after slowly working his way forward boat for boat. Xavier was now in 6th. On the run, Mad Luca seemed to be running out of steam. With his back still painful he wasn't working anywhere near as hard as Fredrik Lööf and Richard Clarke and had to let them round the leeward mark ahead of him. But it wasn't over yet!
With Richard on the right, Freddy in the middle and Luca to the left, Freddy seemed to have the upper hand. Or did he? With only 300 m to go what Luca needed was for the wind to go a little left... And sure enough it did, giving Luca, who couldn't quite make the pin end of the line, the chance to tack on to port and straight back onto starboard right in front of Freddy's bow. What a finish! Xavier gained one more place and finished 5th.
Going into the final race, Luca had 18, Freddy 20 and Xavier 21. Luca is the European Champion, but as he says, he's never won a boat race outside Italy or Croatia! Freddy has won a Gold Cup (1994), but has also lost two on the last day (1991 and 1993).... and Xavier? Well, Xavier is just tired of being second!
Race 7 - Freddy takes race and Gold Cup
After a couple of nervous starts with a black flag eliminating 6 boats including Paul McKenzie (AUS), the fleet got underway at 11.45. The Finn sailing instructions allow black-flagged competitors to keep racing if they protest, so Paul flicked his little flag up and went on to win the race, but did not convince the jury that his OCS was an error of the race committee.
The wind was shifty but the left seemed favoured. That is when Luca and Xavier made their mistake. Freddy had started to the right of them and after a couple of tacks he decided to go left. He was some 30 metres behind both Luca and Xavier, who never saw him take their transom. Luca: "I wanted to go left! If I had seen him, I would have gone left too, but I thought that he was to my right."
At the first mark Fredrik was in 7th, Luca in 13th and Xavier in 23rd place. The three most excited guys in the fleet were Vladimir Zuev (Belarus), Denis Khashina (UKR) and Marc Blees (NED), who rounded the top mark in 3rd, 4th and 5th. Marc was supposed to catch a 6 o'clock flight and before the race he said he was going to retire if it looked as if he might miss his plane, but retire when you are in 5th place in a Gold Cup race? NO WAY!!
Fredrik kept edging his way forward while Luca and Xavier were frantically trying to catch up. In order to win the Gold Cup, Xavier needed to finish ahead of Freddy, while Luca could only finish two boats behind Freddy. Freddy wasn't going to let it happen. On the last beat he kept a loose cover on his rivals and even sailed past Juri Tokovoi. And with Paul out of the race, it was in fact Freddy who ended up collecting the days prize, and winning the regatta by 3 points. Juri finished the race in 2nd with Andreas Buchert in 3rd.
Great Racing and Great Prizes!
And so another Gold Cup came to an end. With seven terrific races in wonderful weather and good race committee work thanks to Andy Reyman and his team, it was also a very successful one. Thanks, Andy, for a job well done. A nice closing ceremony finished off the event. To his surprise Freddy ended up winning a Polish car, Luca received a beautiful mountain bike (Luca: "Freddy is fit, so he can sit in a car; I'm fat and not fit, so I really NEED a bike!"), and Xavier was given a colour TV. Not bad for a week's racing!
In his winner's speech Freddy thanked the organisers and the sponsors ("especially the car sponsor!!"), and then went on to thank Pat Healy, who is leaving the class as VP Development after 7 years, and your reporter who is retiring as Executive Director after 6 years. She was given a gorgeous bracelet by all the sailors - what a way to say goodbye.