For the third day in a row an early postponement was hoisted at the Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn, Estonia,
but unlike the first two days, the wind never built enough to start racing. Racing for the day was abandoned at 15.00. The early morning wind was offshore, and it
took some time for the developing sea breeze to kill this
off, but when the sea breeze arrived it struggled to increase to more
than 5 knots. The sailors were held onshore under just AP so they could
be ready
to go as soon as the wind arrived, but by 15.00 the PRO made the
decision that it wasn't going to happen, and abandoned racing for the
day.
There are lots of sailors here doing better than expected, but the tricky winds are playing havoc with
the established pecking order.
In his first year in the Finn Milan
Vujasinovic (CRO) is exceeding his expectations, sitting in fourth
place after four races. He said, “I am happy so far with my performance.
I was looking forward to some lighter winds because I am not at Finn
weight yet and just came to the class this year. So I am more happy with
lighter winds than strong winds.”
“I am also pretty happy with my mental preparation for this regatta, which I think has been most
important. These are really difficult conditions.”
“I am a bit surprised by my position so
far. My goal was top 15, which would have been a big
success for a first year, but so far it is looking good. It's only been
four races so far and we all know it's far from over. I am feeling
comfortable
in strong winds but so far the forecast is not saying that, so I am
happy so far.”
Several of the coaches here, and even one
of the sailors, were among the group that were denied the
chance to compete in the 1980 Olympic regatta by the western boycott of
the Moscow Olympics. There is a constant reminder of missed
opportunities
every day as the fleet sail past the Olympic flame cauldron and the
Olympic rings at the harbour entrance.
But all are happy to be in Tallinn. John
Bertrand (USA), the Australian coach said, “I hadn't
really thought about it much until I got here this year. I really love
Tallinn for obvious reasons. It's a great place to sail, and the
Estonian
people are wonderful. It's been really nice coming back and an
opportunity to maybe close that chapter.”
The Canadian coach Larry Lemieux (CAN)
added, “ I think partly I agreed with it at the time a
little bit because I was so ignorant, but I was just a young kid. In the
Olympics your window of opportunity to win a medal is not that big in a
sport
that is athletic. So that would have probably been one of my best
opportunities to win a medal.”
“But I am really pleased to be here after so long. Now I see what the conditions are like here
and everything else, it would have been great.”
Lemieux did four Olympic campaigns, but
hasn't raced for several years. “I'm not so keen on
getting back into competition any more. When you've done it for so long,
your body starts to get accustomed to reacting in a certain way to
stress,
and it's almost an automatic reaction. Even when I've tried to do just a
fun regatta, those feeling still come, and I just don’t like that. I
used to get the same reaction from coaching, when I first started. I was
nervous for them. I'd feel the stress before the race started. It's
really
weird how that happens. I did the Finn Masters for a while, and the last
couple of times I did it, after the first day of racing I'd just be
thinking
I can't wait for it to be over. That s not the way it should be be. You
should be looking forward to it and excited to race. I just don’t have
that desire any more and I think it's because I did it so hard for so
long.”
The full interviews with Bertrand, Lemieux and Gus Miller will be released later this week.
Despite the lack of wind, it was another beautiful sunny day in beautiful Tallinn, and the mood of the
sailors was good despite the lack of racing. Tonight a barbecue is being held in the regatta centre overlooking the harbour.
Racing continues, wind permitting, at 12.00
on Wednesday. The opening series of ten races will be
followed by the medal race for the top ten and the final race for the
rest on Saturday, 31 August. It can be followed in a number of different
ways
including the live video stream from ERR, GPS tracking from Trac Trac
and Twitter updates on @Finn_Class.
Results after 4 races
1 GBR 85 Andrew Mills 25
2 HUN 40 Zsombor Berecz 42
3 ITA 146 Michele Palette 42
4 CRO 69 Milan Vujasinovic 47
5 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 52
6 ITA 117 Giorgio Poggi 58
7 GBR 11 Edward Wright 59
8 EST 2 Deniss Karpak 59
9 AUS 261 Oliver Tweddell 65
10 BRA 9 Jorge Zarif 72
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