The approach of an Olympic Games normally has a positive influence on activities in the host country
and this is proving to be especially true of the Finn class in Brazil. Just over four years ago we reported on
the joint initiative between Brazil, Pata Boats of Hungary and
the International Finn Association to import a mould into Brazil to
start building boats there for the first time in more than three
decades. The success story of that initiative
continues and the class recently held its most successful National
Championship in many decades.
While numbers are still small compared to
some European countries, it attracted 26 boats, out of a total of 36
Finns
actively racing in the country, to three days of competition on the
Guarapiranga Lake, in Sao Paulo.
The strength of the class was underlined
by fact that most of the boats being raced were new boats
built in Brazil on the back of the 2008 initiative. While there are
still some imports from Europe, the sheer cost – in terms of duties and
transport charges – and complexity of this has meant the unmitigated
success of the home build project. Before 2008 the class had very little
growth because the cost of importing a boat was almost the same as the
cost of the boat itself.
The fleet at Guarapiranga included boats from the three centres of Finn sailing in Brazil. There were
boats from Rio, Sao Paulo, and from the fledging fleet growing in the capital Brasilia.
There was a complete mix of conditions
over the three days, but favourite, the 2012 Olympian Jorge
Zarif, took the title from the returning Bruno Prada. Andre Mirsky ended
up third after Prada sailed a great last day to snatch second place.
Zarif took six race wins out of the seven
races (Prada took the other race win) to dominate the
competitive and expanding fleet. Further growth is expected over the
next three years as the country and the fleet prepare for the Olympics.
New boats
The man behind the 2008 project was Jorge
Rodrigues, though most of the new boats were built by the
local boatbuilder Holos under his guidance. Jorge is now the new
National secretary of the class as well as being involved in ‘Apoio Rio
2016’, a training support organisation for sailors and federations
wishing to locate in Rio.
After the first dozen of so boats were
built Jorge felt that the boat could be improved, so set about
designing and building a new boat. Because the cost of Holos doing the
work was so high, he started work himself and the first boat has
recently been
launched.
“I started to work by myself to develop this new boat last year. It took me 10 months of hard
work to complete the job, but right now I have a new set of moulds for this new model.”
“I built a single hull to test it as a
prototype. The new boat was sent to sail in the
windiest region in Rio for a good structural test, and the boat went
without any problem and without a single drop of water inside the hull. I
am
right now working with the class to see how will we measure and approve
the new boat to allow me to sell it to our market.”
“We also built a few masts here and
we are still working to have a competitive mast for
sailors in all weight ranges. We produced good masts for light or heavy
sailors, but we still need to produce a mast with good numbers for the
average
sailors, from 90 to 100 kg.”
“The first mast built here was very
soft and only performs well for light sailors and in
light winds. The second mast, after some fine tuning, sanding some areas
and reinforcing in others was very good, and this mast won a local
regatta in
Rio with four races and nine boats competing.”
“After this we went to Brasilia to
race there and a local sailor, Juliando Camargo, liked the
mast performance and decided to buy it. Some time ago Juliando also
bought the first boat that we built and is the first helmsman to compete
with both
a boat and mast nationally built for a long time. He went to compete at
our nationals and he got the best race position of all the boats we have
built.”
“Unfortunately, on the last leg of
the first race of our Nationals, a very strong wind caused
many sailors to capsize or rip their sails, and Juliando lost his
precious sail that was perfectly matched to his mast. He finished fifth
in the race
but the sail was not usable, though he had proved the mast was fast.”
Jorge says the mast project is a bit behind schedule, but a new mould is being planned, maybe built by
Holos, and masts should be readily available in Brazil soon.
As for sails, one local sail builder tried to develop a sail but most sailors prefer to buy their sails
from North Sails Argentina.
History
Brazil has a long history and tradition
in the Finn class. Its most famous Finn sailor was Jorg Bruder
who was tragically killed in a airplane crash in 1973 while travelling
to Brest to defend his world title for the third time. The country has
twice
hosted the Finn Gold Cup, the last time in 2004 when Ben Ainslie
famously equalled Bruder’s record of three consecutive wins that had
stood for
30 years.
The current big name in the class is Jorge Zarif, and for anyone with aspirations to represent Brazil
in the Finn class in 2016, Zarif is currently the one to beat.
The recent return of former Finn sailor
and double Olympic Star medalist Bruna Prada has added a new
ingredient to the mix, and though he won the opening race in January at
the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, has yet to make a final decision on a
full
campaign. Though the numbers were low, it was a competitive week that
gave Zarif the bronze, while Prada finished in seventh. On their return
to
Brazil, Zarif was again dominant at the Brazilian Sailing Week in Rio,
winning nine of the ten race series.
Zarif said on his performance in Miami, “It
was good in general, and I was happy with the
bronze. It was hard because I was always coming from behind, so you have
to work harder in the free pumping to win positions. We always had the
same
guys in the front, one point was super important.”
“The downwind was nice, so I gained a few positions in critical moments, but the upwind was
not so good. We are working to improve that for Palma.”
He has not been full time since the Olympics saying, “I had some surgery in my knee after the
Olympics, so I have been training for just two months. The downwinds are much better than before.
“I am training with Bruno Prada and
coach Rafa Trujiillo in Rio. It’s been great for
us. Neither of us likes to lose so the training has been very hard. He
has experience and he knows very well what you need to do to have good
results,
so I am trying to learn from him. We are having good times training and
we are good friends. It helps a lot.”
Prada commented, “I am happy to be sailing the Finn again. After just starting to sail the
Finn two months ago I am happy with my upwind, and very impressed with the free pumping downwind, but I need to train a lot.”
Since he last sailed a Finn at the 2004 Finn Gold Cup in Rio, he has only sailed Stars and big boats.
Was it hard to come back? “I felt old...most of the sailors are at least 15 years younger. The biggest change has been the downwind free
pumping for sure. A nightmare…”
While his Star helm Robert Scheidt has already been making his mark back in Lasers, was there an
agreement between the two to try different classes for 2016? “Robert
needs to eat a little bit more to become a Finn sailor...he is 80kg. He
told me that he will try the Laser again. As I was nine years without
sailing dinghies, my plan is to do one year of hard sailing, and then
evaluate
if I am able to go ahead.” However, of course, both are still hoping for another chance in the Star.
“Jorge and I are training together. He is a big, young, talented sailor and with a lot of
motivation. It is very good training with him. Rafa Trujillo is coaching us. He is a great coach and he is helping a lot.”
Olympic training
To help sailors, both Brazilian and from overseas, familiarise themselves to the conditions both inside
and outside Guanabara Bay, the class is running its next three National Championships in Rio.
Rodriques said, “The class decided
that we will have the next three Brazilian Nationals
in Rio de Janeiro as a way to encourage all Finn sailors to get to know
the racing area for the Olympic Games of 2016, in Guanabara
Bay.”
“We are also interested in hosting
the 2015 Finn Gold Cup here in order to provide the Finn
sailors some regattas and training for those who will compete in 2016.
The idea would be to hold State Championships, Brazilian Nationals,
South
Americans and the Gold Cup in sequence, to provide various opportunities
for sailing here.”
He is also involed, together with fellow
Finn sailor Colin Reed, with the Apoio Rio 2016, (literally
‘Help Rio 2016’), initiative which offers help to sailors and national
authorities looking to train in Rio prior to the Olympics. He said,
“Apoio Rio 2016 has been set up to work in conjunction with FEVERJ
(Rio de Janeiro Sailing Federation) and other established Brazilian
sailing federations, to provide the operations side of team training
support.”
Describing some of the problems they will face, “At
present training facilities do not exist,
but there are resources available. It will also be virtually impossible
to find space for team containers on site in any of the host clubs. All
clubs
have very little spare space. It’s the one thing they don’t have.”
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento