OCTOBER 2004 - Finn

gone into another universe, extending his
lead on every leg to win by 600 meters. GRE,
ESP and CRO followed. GBR climbed boat
by boat from 10th to 3rd and BRA went from
15 to 6. FRA had problems and fell from 7th
to 16th.
Day seven
“It is really hard out there but then this is the
Olympics.” DEN. “The Olympics is a lot of
great sailors having a difficult time.” AUS. “It
is the pressure that you put on yourself.”
Glenn Bourke, AUS.
It is hard to find yourself here. There are team
officials micro managing, coaches on ego
trips and the media hyping things out of
recognition. There are many sailing
professionals here and when things aren’t
going well they sit around and commiserate
with tales about their Volvo, America’s Cup
and rich owners adventures.
GBR’s performance today gives him the best
shot at the Gold but will have to sail the last
race with a finish better that 16.
BEL and AUS took themselves out of the
Medal contention in race nine. BEL had to
bail out of a reasonable start, looked as if he
were headed for the Greek Islands and was
DFL until he passed GER on the final beat.
GRE got back in Medal contention by winning
race nine going away and then destroyed his
chances with a very poor job in race ten.
Race 9 Wind 5 to 7 knots from 195 backing
to 160 at times. It was a difficult course with
the good angle on the left and the good
pressure on the right. DEN hit the pin anchor,
had to do circles and then went up the middle
where he got neither a good angle or
pressure. POL came out well from the pin
with GBR on his weather hip with equal speed.
GRE, CRO, CZE, ESP, RUS, BRA, IRL and
CAN went right into the pressure. GRE in the
lead was gone. CZE, CRO, ESP, GBR and
RUS were next. GBR passed ESP on the
reach, CRO on the run and CZE on the next
beat. EST who has been improving each race
came out of the right and was 12th for his
best mark position yet.
Race 10 Wind 7 knots from 185 building to
14 knots as the seabreeze backed to 160.
GBR got the lead early and held it comfortably.
CRO was right behind but was passed by
POL on the first run. ESP was 10th at the
reaching mark, passed NZL and IRE on the
run, passed Can and SLO on the second
beat, passed FRA and AUS on the run to
finish 4th and keep his Silver possibility alive.
DEN was up and down going from 24 at the
first mark to 10 on the second beat, dropping
to 19 on the run and back to 10th on the next
beat to finish 8th.
Tomorrow is a reserve day and Finns will rest
and worry. ESP will have to pick up 15 points
on GBR for Gold. POL will have to pick up
15 points on ESP for Silver. CRO will have
to pick up 5 points on POL for Bronze.
Day nine
This Olympic Finn Regatta is history. Race
11 Wind between 5 and 9 knots from around
175, swinging right to 185 and backing to
160. For this race the pressure was off and
the general area of finish already determined.
USA and CAN cut loose and were 1, 3 at the
top mark. POL was 5th at the top mark, moved
up into first on the run and kept it all the way
to the finish as he had to do. When he got
the winner’s horn he visibly relaxed, stood
with a whoop and leapt into the water for a
swim. USA couldn’t keep pace offwind and
dropped to seventh. CAN finally could keep
pace offwind, moved up to second and held
it to the finish. CRO who needed to get four
boats on POL was 7th at the top mark and
moved up to finish 5th for the Leather Medal.
GBR had a bad/conservative start and was
13th at the top mark to ESP’s 6th. GBR caught
and passed ESP on the second beat and
then covered to push ESP down in the fleet.
Going into the short reach to the finish GBR
was a boat length ahead when he relented
and let ESP pass to keep the Silver Medal.
The Medal Ceremony occurred just after
sunset. IOC President Jacques Rogge came
just to present the Finn Medals. When he
was finished, they took a few pictures and
then whisked him off.
Why did GBR win the Finn Ben was better
prepared in every way. He was the most
physical. His rig and kit (mast and sail) was
far more developed to his style than anyone’s.
He had better training partners. He had more
training sessions on the water in Athens than
anyone. He had better coaching; there is no
other Finn or Star coach as good as David
Howlett. He had better confidence with three
successive FGC wins. His concentration is
better than any others; a Tibetan Monk would
love to have him as a student for this reason.
His success hasn’t gone to his head; when
Percy needed help preparing his Star, there
was Ben with a polisher in his hands helping.
I’ve never seen a team with the kind of spirit
and mutual support the Brits have and that
is part of the story.