OCTOBER 2004 - Finn

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Runners and riders Before the first race got underway, many spectators were trying to predict the medal positions and those likely to be in with a chance. For once, the pundits were not far wrong. Mateusz has a point to prove in Athens. After winning Olympic Gold in Savannah in 1996, he was shunted out of the medals into fourth in Sydney and will be looking to bounce back this time around. The 29-year old Polish athlete from Warsaw, who started sailing an Optimist at the age of 10 has had a string of successes over the years and recently returned to pretty awesome form in order to peak when it matters in Athens. This year he won the ISAF Grade 1 SPA Regatta as well as the European Championship in La Rochelle. Kusznierewicz has over the last couple of years been living in the shadow of three time World Champion Ben Ainslie, but with recent form now leads the ISAF World Sailing Rankings and must rate as one of the strongest medal contenders in a competitive fleet in Athens. The Finn fleet, as well as being full of veteran campaigners who will be looking to push their ability to the limits in the difficult Athens conditions, includes a number of athletes making their Olympic debut in Athens. Of the strong fleet of 25, ten athletes have never before competed in an Olympic Sailing Competition. First time contenders include the familiar face of Americas Cup skipper Dean Barker. Following time out from the Team New Zealand syndicate, in which Ben will be joining him shortly after the Olympic Games, Barker returned to his dinghy sailing roots and successfully won the right to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games. The fleet certainly has its share of champions around the different facets of the world of sailing. No fewer than six athletes have represented their country at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships over the years, and two of those, Ben and Dean, have both won Gold medals at the event. Other representatives include Jonas Hoegh- Christensen, Mateusz, Richard Clarke, Kevin Hall and Alejandro Colla. Kevin is a prime example of the depth of talent in the fleet. Having won the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in 1986, he continued his efforts and Olympic aspirations. A first campaign in the Finn Class for the 1992 Olympics did not result in selection but was the start of his Olympic path. It was then onto the Laser Class for 1996, but he again missed US selection, before swapping classes to the 49er. Having won the bronze medal three times at the 49er World Championships (99, 98, 97), Kevin and helm Morgan Larson seemed to be onto a sure thing, but with the ‘do or die’ single event trials, despite a top performance throughout their Olympic campaign the pair missed out for the 2000 Olympic Games. After a stint of Americas Cup sailing, Kevin returned to the Finn last year, and earlier this year won the US Trials with a race to spare. His first Olympics, his fourth Olympic campaign - and a phenomenal pool of talent and experience from which he will draw when he gets to the start line in Athens. Since his migration from the Single-handed Dinghy Open after winning the Gold Medal in Sydney, Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie jumped into the shoes of long time friend and team mate Iain Percy, who has himself moved into the Star Class. With much to live up to, but with the legacy of Percy’s campaign giving him an initial boost, Ainslie took the class by storm and has won the last three World Championships on the trot. This feat immediately puts him somewhere near legendary status, but proof will be in his ability to cope with the renewed pressure of another Olympic Sailing Competition, an event unlike any other. Rafael Trujillo will be making his Finn debut Photo © François Richard in Athens next month and following his third placed finish at the ISAF World Championships in Cádiz in 2003, he has looked strong and consistently fast. A victory at Kiel Week this year and a third place in Hyéres has confirmed his position as one of the world’s best and he’ll be fighting the top two of Mateusz and Ben all the way. Local hero Emilios Papathanasiou will be sailing on his home waters in the Saronic Gulf and for that reason he is considered a real chance for a medal. After an indifferent 2003 season, he has settled into a pattern this year and in winning the ISAF Grade 1 Semaine Olympique Francaise and finishing fifth at Kiel Week has shown that Greece has a good shot at medal. Emilios currently lies 18 in the ISAF World Sailing Rankings but with the home support things could well go his way. Croatian Sailor Karlo Kuret will be at his fourth Olympic Games when he arrives in Athens, the only sailor in the fleet to hold this accolade. The 34-year old athlete from Split on the Adriatic Coast, has improved in every Olympics. In his first, Barcelona in 2002 , he finished 22, before a good tenth place finish at Sydney in 2000. A regular within the top ten over the last 12 months, he will be looking for a solid performance in Athens. 2001 World Champion Sebastien Godefroid has seemed a little off the pace in recent months. After the silver medal he won behind Mateusz in 1996, he could only finish seventh in 2000. A disappointing result by his own standards, a 17 at the 2004 World Championship in Rio, Brazil earlier this year, has pummelled him to pick up his game. With performances that go in peaks and troughs, Godefroid looks to be on the way up and the potential for inconsistent conditions in Athens could well be to his liking. FINNFARE OCTOBER 2004
Finn sailing from around the world UNITED KINGDOM British Nationals 2004 Royal Torbay Yacht Club June 2004 By Phil Laycock The Torbay Nationals was the first without the UK squad for some time as they were out in Athens preparing. This made it wide open and for very competitive sailing. Torquay was a great venue and the Royal Torbay Yacht Club a very helpful club supplying the Finns with a race officer who did not put a foot wrong and despite the occasional general recall he managed to keep his black flag in it's bag. The winds were up and down and very variable all weekend with a force 4/5 on Friday, 2/3 on Saturday and 1 / 2 on Sunday. There were some very big shifts and every beat required a crucial decision in terms of right or left. To get it wrong was to lose big style. Ed Greig showed his potential as a future Olympian winning 5 of the 7 races showing excellent boats speed and with the ability to rescue his position sometimes from mid fleet starts. His knack of spotting the shifts and to consistently pick the right side of the racecourse both upwind and downwind gave him a substantial lead in the races that he won and his only slip was a 2nd in race 2. The next three places were a battle between Allen Burrell, Mark Andrews and Tim Carver, which went right down to the wire with the last day's light and fluky conditions proving costly for Tim. Mark had been involved in a protest which led to him being thrown out of race 2 for a collision with Tim and this and a bad result in the last race cost him second place to Allen who was dynamite when it blew but less consistent when it went light. Behind these three the battle for the next 5 places was again very close with Russell Ward, Justin Chisholm, Robert Deaves (the last race winner) and Tony Lock all being narrowly beaten by Dave McGregor who at his first nationals was very consistent and deserved his 5th place. FINAL RESULTS – BRITISH NATIONALS 2004 1 GBR 6 Ed Greig 1 2 1 1 1 1 33 7 2 GBR 2 Allen Burrell 3 1 4 3 4 3 5 18 3 GBR 88 Mark Andrews 2 33 3 2 2 4 10 23 4 GBR 8 Tim Carver 4 3 2 13 8 7 2 26 5 GBR 40 Dave McGregor 6 10 8 5 11 10 7 46 6 GBR 23 Justin Chisholm 9 5 18 7 10 8 12 51 7 GBR 611 Tony Lock 17 15 13 4 12 2 6 52 8 GBR 10 Robert Deaves 8 6 15 8 17 15 1 53 9 GBR 4 Russ Ward 7 12 9 6 3 17 33 54 10 GBR 5 Graeme MacDonald 33 18 5 15 5 9 3 55 11 GBR 51 Phil Laycock 62 12 GBR 572 Mark MacDonald 65 13 GBR 77 Howard Sellars 76 14 GBR 15 Alistair Evans 86 15 GBR 599 Andy Dennison 92 16 GBR 598 Stuart Glover 96 17 GBR 1 Sander Kooij 98 18 GBR 595 Ed Thorburn 99 19 GBR 33 Graham Page 101 20 GBR 617 Andrew Wylam 109 21 GBR 603 Grant Simmons 113 Ed Greig – new UK National Champion All photos by www.fotoboat.com 22 GBR 596 Keith Fedi 114 23 GBR 58 Nick Daniels 119 24 GBR 61 Matthieu Du Verdiere122 25 GBR 44 Gordon Watson 124 26 GBR 100 Matthew Walker 125 27 GBR 612 Lawrence Maudsley 138 28 GBR 536 Dave Ludgate 140 29 GBR 493 Mark Petty-Mayor 146 30 GBR 14 Ian Kay 198 30 GBR 55 Nick Bridges 198 30 GBR 576 James Wyburd 198 22
Page 1 and 2: OCTOBER 2004 Athens Olympic Regatta
Page 3 and 4: Opening shot: last race of the 2004
Page 5 and 6: FINN NEWS - FINN NEWS - FINN NEWS I
Page 7 and 8: FINAL RESULTS - SINGLE-HANDED DINGH
Page 9: The breeze had been building all da
Page 12 and 13: David Burrows (IRL) sailing his Fin
Page 14 and 15: weather mark. USA is again doing we
Page 16 and 17: Finn Gold Cup - Rio de Janeiro Febr
Page 18 and 19: American, it was never an issue. Bu
Page 22 and 23: The winds were such that many other
Page 24 and 25: SWITZERLAND Swiss Championship 2004
Page 26 and 27: Australian Finn sailors enjoying th
Page 28 and 29: INTERNATIONAL RACING CALENDAR 2004
Page 30: Photos: Getty Images, ISAF Official

OCTOBER 2004 - Finn

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