23/09/2003 22:51 Finn Report
Single-handed Dinghy Men - Finn

With three possible World Championship winners going into today’s final race in the 2003 Finn Gold Cup, competitors were made even more nervous by being held on shore until 1300 hours and then having to wait on the water until 1500 before there was a steady enough wind to be able to start. Sailing a brilliant race, Alejandro Colla (ARG), competing in his first Gold Cup led the fleet at the first mark and went on to win in fine style. The drama that was being played out behind him was the stuff of legends.

After one general recall the fleet finally got underway at 1535, just 25 minutes short of the time limit. The wind was at 6-7 knots and patchy in places with a fairly flat sea. The race initially followed a similar pattern to previous days with Mateusz KUSZNIEREWICZ (POL) starting at the committee boat and tacking off to the right. He was followed by Andrew SIMPSON (GBR) and Jonas HOEGH-CHRISTENSEN (DEN). Mateusz tacked back towards the left after a while, which saw him round the windward mark in 10th. Both Andrew and Jonas were well down.

Further down the line, regatta leader Ben AINSLIE (GBR) got buried out of the start and had difficulty finding clear lanes. His main rival for the title, Rafael tRUJILLO (ESP) did find the right shifts to round the top mark 6th. However the man who could do no wrong was Alejandro COLLA (ARG), who emerged from the middle right with a substantial lead.

He was followed by Kevin HALL (USA), Guillaume FLORENT (FRA), Emil TOMASEVIC (CRO), Marin MISURA (CRO) – who was again OCS - and Rafael, accompanied by the now standard cheering from the local crowd. Ainslie rounded in 23, accompanied by shocked silence from the British supporters. Surely even Ben couldn’t recover from that position?.

The first downwind was the key leg of the race. Ben tells his side of the story. "There was no one on the left of the course. I saw Rafa doing well down there and I really needed to catch up. So I went left and fortunately it worked well and I picked up a lot of ground." In fact he took over ten places on that leg alone. There was now very much a race on.

By the next windward mark, Alejandro had extended his lead and Rafael had moved up to second place. Anthony NOSSITER (AUS ) and Martijn VAN MUYDEN (NED) were up in third and fourth, while Ainslie had taken more places to move into seventh.

The right was generally paying on the beat and at the end of the next downwind, during which Ainslie had inevitably moved up to fifth, Alejandro led a group to the right, while Ainslie led another group round the right hand mark to the left of the course. Ben emerged round the top mark just behind Rafael and after three offwind legs, with the positions unchanged, he had retained the title he had won in Athens last year.

Alejandro won his first Finn Gold Cup race after much promise at the start of the regatta. He said afterwards, "I dedicate this win to my mother, who died a year and a half ago. My boat is named Mami in honour of her. This win will give me the incentive I need to improve and come back to La Rochelle to qualify Argentina for the 2003 Olympics."

Second in the race and the Silver medal winner, Rafael, was pleased the regatta came down to the last race. He said, "I am very pleased because normally the winners have all been decided before the last race, and there has always been a clear winner, so this year was good because we didn’t know until the very end. I am glad about that. It made for a good competition."

Third in the race and Gold Cup winner, Ben AINSLIE concurred, "The last race was very exciting for spectators. There was a lot going on. It has been very hard because both Rafa and Bart (Andrew) have been sailing very well. I was a bit worried after the first mark, and it was really tough to get back into the race. I am very pleased."

Behind Ainslie in third were Martijn VAN MUYDEN (NED), Anthony NOSSITER (AUS), Guillaume FLORENT (FRA) and Kevin HALL (USA).

Meanwhile, the race for the Bronze Medal looked over at the first mark with both Andrew and Jonas somewhere in the 50s.

However, Jonas’s phenomenal ability to make comebacks saw him take boat after boat and overtake Andrew on the final offwind to finish 17th. However, Andrew stayed close enough to be sure of the Bronze Medal.

Andrew later commented, "I had a good gap beneath me in the points, so I decided to take a risk and go to an extreme to try and get a result. I had to do something spectacular if I was a going to win, so decided to take the risk. However it didn’t really pay off. I wasn’t really aware of where Jonas was and he got past me when I wasn’t paying attention. However that woke me up and I started trying harder again and kept in touch with him to stay in third overall."

Twice former world champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz ended, what for him was a poor regatta, in sixth place. After having a bad start to the week with a 17 and 18, he has been trying to understand what was going wrong. He revealed, "I have been having bad upwind speed all week. I don’t know why. I need to look at things and make some improvements I think. After my terrible first two days though, I am delighted with sixth overall." On the future for him he commented, "I will sail in Brazil next year and then in Athens, but then I will give up sailing the Finn. I might be tempted to come back for the Moscow Gold Cup as it sounds like that will be good."

In the Junior Finn Gold Cup Marin MISURA (CRO) finished in 30th place, ahead of Edward GREIG (GBR) in 39th and Tapio NIRKKO (FIN) in 59th.

The Medal Ceremony was held by the swimming pool of the Hotel Yacht Club in Puerto Sherry with the World Championship Medals awarded by ISAF Vice-President, Fernando BOLIN.

The eleven countries qualifying for the 2004 Olympic Regatta from the 2003 Olympic Regatta are: Denmark, Australia, Turkey, Netherlands, Slovenia, Canada, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, USA, New Zealand

Source: Robert Deaves