DAY 0 Huge Finn fleet ready for season opener in Palma

Category: News

A huge fleet of 99 Finns from 30 nations

has registered for the ISAF Sailing

World Cup Mallorca, which starts on

Monday, the traditional start of the

European season. The Finns have

amassed the second largest entry out of

all the 11 fleets in Palma and includes

almost every top sailor currently in the

class. It also marks the start of a six

month lead up to the ISAF Sailing World

Championship in Santander, Spain,

where half of the country allocations for

the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing

Competition will be decided.

SWC Mallorca therefore represents an

important test for the season ahead to see

which of the current sailors have benefited

from winter training and gear development.

In effect, it is the first real test of the

Olympiad where everyone who wants to be

in Rio in 29 months time will be out to

prove themselves.

The line up includes the new world number

one Oliver Tweddell (AUS), along with the

2013 European Champion Vasilij Zbogar

(SLO) and world champion Jorge Zarif

(BRA). Also sailing are the winners of the

SWC Miami (and last years winner here in

Palma), Giles Scott (GBR), and of the

SWC Melbourne Björn Allansson (SWE).

Other names to watch include 2010 world

champion Ed Wright (GBR), London 2012

Bronze medalist Jonathan Lobert (FRA)

and double European Champion Ivan

Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO).

The Russians are fielding the largest team

with 12 sailors in Palma, while the Italian

team are not far behind with 10 sailors. The

British are as usual here in strength and

numbers also with eight sailors including

Scott, Wright, Andrew Mills (GBR), Mark

Andrews (GBR) and four younger sailors.

South America is well represented with not only regulars Zarif and Bruno Prada (BRA), but

also sailors from Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Oliver Tweddell will be sailing his first regatta as the world No 1. He said, "It is pretty cool to

be ranked number 1 in the World as it is a reflection of a solid 2013/14 season. However, the

main focus this year is qualifying the country for the Olympics in Santander, and from there

continually improving my performance towards Rio. For me Palma is a training regatta

where I am aiming to implement some new techniques and regatta processes in the lead up to

Santander. Santander is the peak event for the season, so everything I do between now and

then is all focussed at being the best prepared I can for that event."

"Since Miami, we have had a few training camps back home, and a little bit of time off to rest

and recover. I have got a new Devoti hull for this season and have been really pleased with its

performance so far." Reflecting a lot of new mast and sail development in the class, he said,

"A lot of sailors are using different makes and models now, so we are just checking in to see if

there are any potential benefits for us."

Australia has a strong and developing Finn team with Jake Lilley (AUS), silver medalist at

last year's Silver Cup (Junior Worlds) also here in Palma. Tweddell continued, "Jake and I

work really well together, we both push each other hard in training on and off the water. We

complement each other well with different strengths and weaknesses, which in turn will only

help us both improve in the long run. Our aim is to be the best Finn squad in the world, so we

will continue to work together to achieve that goal."

Giles Scott, who took the SWC Miami from Tweddell in a medal race thriller is looking to

continue his winning streak that includes the EUROSAF event in La Rochelle in October, the

Copa Brasil de Vela at Rio in January and then Miami. "There's a massive fleet here so

presumably we'll be racing in fleets which will make a bit of a change to the norm and

obviously with those numbers comes a lot of great sailors. For sure it seems this cycle has

stepped up a gear with the ISAF Worlds only a few months away. Not too sure what the

criteria is for Santander qualification but for me nothing really changes. I just want to sail

well here in Palma."

"I've done about 10 days in Palma since Miami but other than that I've not been up to too

much, chilling at home in the cold. But the British Finn fleet is in a pretty good place at the

moment with a good group of young lads coming though as well as the rest of us who have

been doing it a while now. It's a pretty big group so James 'Dr Dre' Gray has taken on

coaching the younger guys which is great as it keeps a big group working well without

anyone loosing coaching attention."

One of the new sailors to the class in 2013, Josh Junior (NZL) comes into 2014 as the new

New Zealand champion after a busy season down under over the European winter.

He said, "It's been a really good summer for me down in New Zealand. I had a great season

last year, so we have just been trying to build on that. We spent a bit of the summer trying to

gain a better understanding about how the rigs and sails worked, as well as competing in our

local regattas."

"The result here is not to important. but it will be good to see how far we have come over the

summer, and like all events I always like to go well, so I will be looking for a good result."

"Everyone seems to be here for this event, and I think everyone has put a lot of work in over

the winter. It will be interesting to see how everyone has developed, but for sure the standard

will be higher this year than last year."

Racing for the ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca / 45th Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia starts on

Monday with a 12 race series for the Finns, ending in the medal race for the top 10 next

Saturday.

Clinic

Over the last few days a small group of Finn sailors and ISAF judges have been taking part in

a Rule 42 clinic, organised and arranged by the Finn Class and ISAF. One of the chief

objectives of the clinic was to start to build a library of video clips to train judges and sailors

on the nuances of Rule 42 decisions. In all, 36 situations were outlined and attempted on the

water including sculling, pumping, rocking, tacking and gybing. It is worth noting that around

half of the actions outlined were permitted actions to train judges not to penalise a legitimate

action.

The panel of sailors was a good mix of new, elite and experienced sailors across the age

range, and representing 10 nations. The weather didn't quite play along with high winds on

Saturday precluding any on the water sessions, but the clinic concluded Saturday afternoon

with a lively discussion and presentation of the clips obtained on Friday. These clips will be

made available through the Finn Class website in due course and will be supplemented during

the year.

Follow the ISAF SWC Mallorca at: http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org

DAY 1 Four races, four winners on opening day in Palma

Category: News

Thomas Le Breton (FRA) heads the 92 boat

Finn fleet after four tricky races were sailed

on the opening day of the ISAF Sailing

World Cup Mallorca. Le Breton took the

final race of the day, while other race wins

went to Luke Lawrence (USA), Andrew

Mills (GBR) and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic

(CRO).

An early postponement to wait for the bay to

fill with wind was rewarded with 5-8 knots

of patchy and shifty breeze that mixed up the

fleet and made for some tough racing. The

fleet was split into two colour groups and

two out of the three scheduled races were

sailed. With windward-leeward courses, it

was a tough day for some while others found

some amazing consistency.

First up was the Yellow Fleet starting in a

very light onshore wind. The pressure was

clearly stronger on the right but the deciding

shifts came from the left. Race winner Luke

Lawrence said, "I started off in the first race

by fouling Bambi [Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic]

and doing a couple of spins, but after I got

that over with I found a clear lane out

across ducking a few boats. I stuck my nose

out clean and came back across to the left

and managed to control it from the left from

there. It seemed to be left favoured, so I just

tried really hard to make sure nobody got to

my left at all and I locked it up."

Lawrence was third at the first top mark

behind Zsombor Berecz (HUN) and Caleb

Paine (USA). "They gybed and split from me

downwind so I took my own pressure down

the outside of the course and rounded the

gate in front of both of them." Lawrence

then led round the remaining lap to take the

first winning gun of the event.

In the Blue fleet Andrew Mills (GBR) had to

fight for his win until the final mark. "It was a very tricky day with the breeze swinging

between a gradient and a sea breeze. There was some big pressure differences and some big

shifts out there as well. In the first race I thought I would be rounding about 15th or so after

the first beat and then I nailed a couple of shifts absolutely perfectly. The pressure differences

and shifts were that big that you could round everyone and go from 15th to first. That was the

main gain and I fell back to second at one point, but then got the French guys back on the last

run." He won from Le Breton and Jonathan Lobert (FRA). He then got a fourth in the second

race. "I was just trying to get off the line without too much risk and stay in middle and keep

my options open."

The second set of races started very quickly with a very slight increase in wind. Ivan

Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) has come back this year with renewed enthusiasm and led the race

from start to finish. He said, "It was quite a difficult day. In the second race a couple of

minutes before the start I was looking at the pressure and there was a big righty, but everyone

was at the pin end. So I started at the committee boat in a big right hand shift clear with no

one around me. I had a really nice beat keeping clear of everyone and got control in the first

half of the race. The rest was just about completing the task."

"Actually in both races I did really well. In the first race I started clear at the pin end and

played the shifts on the left and it turned out really good. I was top five at the first mark.

Everything was really nice and I was quite happy for a while, as I knew it was going to be a

really difficult day and quite oscillating. I was trying to keep a simple and clear game, but

unfortunately on the last run I got a penalty, which was quite a surprise for me as I was clear

of the group behind." He ended up eighth in that race.

The final race for Blue fleet ended with a thrilling match race between Le Breton and Tapio

Nirkko (FIN) into the final mark. Le Breton said, "It was a nice race. I had a good start and I

had a nice fight with Tapio. We were both quite quick I think. We had a good gybing battle to

keep the inside lane to the last mark, but I managed to keep the lead."

Speaking on the pressure differences across the course he said, "I was quite fast today with

nice starts, but sometimes you also have to be a bit lucky as well. I just tried to get a good

start and have clear air and then stay in the pressure."

More wind is forecast for Tuersday, building as the week goes on. After four races the fleet

will be split into gold and silver fleets for the final three days before the medal race next

Saturday.

Results after 2 races

1 FRA 29 Thomas le BRETON 1

2 CRO 524 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC 1

3 GBR 85 Andrew MILLS 1

4 USA 40 Luke LAWRENCE 1

5 FIN 218 Tapio NIRKKO 2

6 RUS 6 41 Arkadiy KISTANOV 2

7 HUN 40 Zsombor BERECZ 2

8 GBR 41 Giles SCOTT 3

9 EST 11 Lauri VAINSALU 3

10 FRA 112 Jonathan LOBERT 3

Full results:

http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/laregata/vertodoslosresultados/id/1/idsc2r/29

Further photos (free of rights for editorial use) will be available at:

www.flickr.com/finnclassphotos

Other media on finnclass.org

Video: Greg Douglas does a 360 the hard way: http://youtu.be/8jdt6JsoD4M

Photos from Rule 42 clinic: http://www.finnclass.org/media-finn/photo-galleries/608-photo-

gallery-isaf-rule-42-clinic

Palma Preview: http://www.finnclass.org/news/607-palma-opener

Latest FINNFARE: http://www.finnclass.org/finnfare/current-issue

DAY 2 Le Breton unstoppable in Palma as he extends lead

Category: News

Thomas le Breton (FRA) extended his lead at

the top of the Finn fleet at the ISAF Sailing

World Cup Mallorca after an impressive

display on the second day in Palma. Tapio

Nirkko (FIN) is in second with Deniss

Karpak (EST) in third. Three sets of races

were held after the fleet waited, first ashore

and then afloat, for more than three hours for

the wind to build.

When the wind finally arrived it kicked in at

a solid 8-10 knots ad Oscar was raised at the

first mark and more or less stayed up all day.

The shifty winds kept the sailors busy all day

with bands of wind up to 14 knots and down

to 6 knots coming down the course area.

Thomas Le Breton (FRA) capitalised on a

good start yesterday to place 6, 1, 1 to take a

nine point lead at the top. Second placed

Tapio Nirkko (FIN) won the opening race in

his group before rounding up the day with a

9, 2. Deniss Karpak (EST) added two second

places to his Monday's scores to sit in third,

on equal points with Nirrko. Other race wins

went to Jonathan Lobert (FRA), Ivan

Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) and Piotr Kula

(POL).

Le Breton said, "It was nice today I was

going well in the shifts, and had good speed

downwind for sure. I made a nice comeback

in the last race after a bad start. In the

second race I had a nice battle with Deniss,

while in the first race I had a good start but I

missed something and dropped back. It was

not an easy day, but at least it was sailable."

Le Breton is working on a training group that

includes 2012 bronze medalist Lobert, 2012

Star Olympic gold medalist Max Salminen

(SWE) and double Olympian Nirkko. "I think

we did a good job this winter, though it's

only the beginning of the season so there's a

long way to go. But it's great to start like

this. We are quite confident with our speed."

Greg Douglas (CAN), star of the 360 video (http://youtu.be/8jdt6JsoD4M) had a good day

with a 2, 3, 9. He said, "I stayed consistent on a day that was tough to stay consistent. There

were some big shifts today and the key was keeping your head out of the boat and being able

to do what you needed to do. That meant starting so you could tack when you needed to and

keeping clear and free from the rest of the fleet. Upwind I definitely had some speed which

allowed me to get punched and hit the shifts when I wanted to, and then going quick

downwind and stay with the boys."

Last race winner Piotr Kula (POL) rounded out an excellent day after a 4, 2 said "I knew it

was quite late in the afternoon so I was prepared for some big shifts. Not the shore shifts but

the big ones so I was expecting for something big to happen and indeed it did. We had a big

left hand shift on the first beat and I was on the right side. I mean I was on the left side, which

is where you wanted to be and was first to the top mark. Then I pumped like crazy so I gained

quite a big advantage over the fleet."

However it wasn't quite in the bag yet as on the final downwind the wind dropped to 5-6 knots

for a while. "I was quite in front of everyone and I was thinking what to do because I was out

of any wind and it was coming from behind, so I was expecting the fleet would catch me, But I

used a little bit of one gust to take me to another one and I kept my place, though not the big

lead. It was tricky and it's pretty tough to pump without any wind. You need to wait for the

sail to go back with the expander and pump again. But it was a tough day in all."

The Finn fleet is now split onto gold and silver fleet for the final three days before the medal

race on Saturday. Forecasts are for a lot more wind later in the week.

Results after 5 races

1 FRA 29 Thomas le BRETON 5

2 FIN 218 Tapio NIRKKO 14

3 EST 2 Deniss KARPAK 14

4 GBR 41 Giles SCOTT 16

5 CRO 524 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC 18

6 POL 17 Piotr KULA 18

7 CAN 5 Greg DOUGLAS 18

8 HUN 40 Zsombor BERECZ 18

9 GBR 85 Andrew MILLS 21

10 SLO 573 Vasilij ZBOGAR 21

Full results:

http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/laregata/vertodoslosresultados/id/1/idsc2r/29

Further photos (free of rights for editorial use) will be available at:

www.flickr.com/finnclassphotos

DAY 3 Giles Scott jumps to front after double bullet on

day three in Palma

Category: News

Giles Scott (GBR) stormed to the top of

the Finn fleet after two emphatic races

wins on the third day at the ISAF Sailing

World Cup Mallorca. In the increased

wind he displaced Thomas Le Breton

(FRA) from first place, while Deniss

Karpak (EST) remains in third.

While the forecast was for wind later in the

day, the fleet was again kept onshore with an

early postponement, followed by a further

wait afloat when they were finally released.

However it was worth the wait with an

onshore 12-16 breeze allowing the fleet to

stretch their legs. Scott moves into a one

point lead from early regatta leader Le Breton while Karpak sits a further 12 points back with

five races still to sail. Behind them it couldn't be tighter with the next seven boats all within

eight points.

The harsh reality of the mid week split hit home this morning as the 92 boat fleet was

separated into gold and silver fleets for the next stage of the regatta, the finals series. The top

40 boats went into the gold fleet, with the remaining 52 trying to salvage some honour in the

silver fleet.

In the Gold fleet Scott dominated race 6 for a big win from world champion Jorge Zarif

(BRA) and Jonathan Lobert (FRA). Regatta leader Le Breton posted a 12th but just held onto

the overall lead for another race. Zarif had so far failed to produce much form this week, so a

second place in strong winds will be an encouraging boost. Scott then made it a double to win

race 7, this time from Josh Junior (NZL) and Ioannis Mitakis (GRE).

In the silver fleet, Tomas Vika (CZE) of the newly established Czech Sailing Team won from

Junior European Champion Peter McCoy (GBR), and world junior silver medalist Jake Lilley

(AUS). Much more was expected of these two juniors this week so they will both be

disappointed to be sailing in the silver fleet. Vika also won the next race with 2012 Junior

World Champion Martin Robitaille (CAN) in second and Lilley again in third.

Junior described his day, "Today we had very challenging conditions which meant a lot of

hard work upwind. Though once we had rounded the top mark there were some great rides to

be had on the way down."

"I struggled up the first beat of race 1, but found some good waves on the downwind to claw

my back to finish ninth. Then I had a good start in race 2 and protected the left. And again I

had good pace on the downwind and found myself in a comfortable second place. I am very

happy with my day, and am looking forward to the next few days of racing. Bring it on." As a

result of today's form, with a 9,2, Junior moves up to fifth overall.

World No 3 Björn Allansson (SWE) hasn't had the best start to the week but started to make

amends today with a 6, 11. "The week had a rough start, but today I managed two solid

results, which brings me back from the dead in the results. Sailing in the breeze was good fun

and I look forward to the upcoming races. It's a long week and everything can still happen."

"In the first race I made an OK start at the left of the line and had good speed in the

increasing wind. I was able to play the left which paid off well. In the second race I had a

nightmare start and had to fight real hard to find a good line and try to positions myself

tactically against the fleet." Allansson now moves up to 22nd.

After a disappointing event in Miami, Caleb Paine (USA) posted two seventh places today to

sit in ninth overall. "I felt the conditions were moderate with massive pressure differences,

though no real huge changes in direction. My results were good but improvements on my

downwinds are a must. I found it hard to stay in the groove."

"In terms of equipment I am using, the sail I'm using seems to go well in a variety of

conditions and my 2010 boat seems to be a bit stiffer than my 2003. Overall better confidence

with my gear is making it easier for me to perform."

New regatta leader Scott summed up his day. "We had a long wait, and then very quickly 16

knots filled in, and we had two nice stable breeze races. I was very happy to get two race

wins. I felt pretty happy with my boat speed which was nice."

"The first race was very windy with a slight right wind shift resulting in most people sailing

out to just below the port lay line. I managed to round first hold the gap on Lobert downwind

and cover the fleet. Race two was a little more shifty. With early right paying, however the

leader came from the left. I rounded fourth and got past Piotr Kula (POL) downwind. Josh

was a bit of a threat on the left up the second beat."

The Finn fleet has four more races scheduled in the finals series, before the medal race on

Saturday. Forecasts are for a lot more wind at the end of the week, so there could be a lot

more still to come.

Results after 7 races

1 GBR 41 Giles SCOTT 18

2 FRA 29 Thomas le BRETON 19

3 EST 2 Deniss KARPAK 31

4 GBR 11 Edward WRIGHT 33

5 NZL 24 Josh JUNIOR 34

6 SLO 573 Vasilij ZBOGAR 35

7 FRA 112 Jonathan LOBERT 35

8 POL 17 Piotr KULA 39

9 USA 6 Caleb PAINE 39

10 CRO 524 Ivan KLJAKOVIC GASPIC 41

Full results:

http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/laregata/vertodoslosresultados/id/1/idsc2r/29