No
racing was possible on the fourth day at the Finn Silver Cup in Hoorn
as strong winds caused the abandonment of all racing. The fleet was sent
out on time for the scheduled start at 12.00 but it soon became
apparent that the wind was above sensible limits with many boats
capsizing in the fierce gusts. After one postponement the race officer
abandoned racing as the wind hit 31 knots and sent the fleet back to the
harbour, where racing was eventually abandoned for the day later in the
afternoon after the wind refused to moderate.
However
the sailor's enjoyed the brief sail with a long taxing beat back to the
club through some steep, short waves, as the photos show.
The
2012 Junior World Champion, Martin Robitaille (CAN) reflected on his
week so far. He is one of three Canadians here this week. “We are
three junior Canadians training together. We had some awesome training
this spring. Two of the guys have only joined this year and they have
made huge improvements and I'm really glad to be there to give them some
advice on the Finn, but so far I'm pretty happy for them where they
are. I have been having a bit of a hard time here this week. I'm still
in the fight, so I just need more races, but I can't force it.”
“Kyle
Martin (CAN) and Riley Finch (CAN) are still in High School, but they
are both showing great potential. They are not going that quick here. I
have been able to adapt better, but in training they are both a similar
speed to me. They are both from the Laser, just 19 and 20, so both
young, but still very big. We eat well in Canada.”
This is Robitaille's last year as a Junior. “Santander
is coming up and some training probably in Valencia at the Dinghy
Academy. I have made some huge improvements over the few months so the
fight for Rio is going to be tight, but I just need to do some more
racing I think. That's why I am happy to comeback to Europe and to train
with more Finn sailors. I've already been in Valencia at the Dinghy
Academy with Luca Devoti. Luca is great. He has a really good gig going
for all the athletes. I have a lot of gratitude for what he does for all
the athletes. It's really good.”
Coming to Hoorn, did he expect to regain the Junior World title he won two years ago. “Yes,
I believed I could. But I just had a hard start here. I can't change
the past so right now I'm just looking to get the most, best races I can
until the end of the event. Who knows what will happen. I broke my boom
today, so it can be about things you can't control.”
On the decision to abandon, “I
think it was a good decision. We are all Juniors we are all under very
limited budget, so if we break a mast it's very hard for us to recover
from that. I capsized today and I touched the ground. My mast was only
five feet under the water. And I was walking beside my boat. So it was
definitely the right decision.”
In
the evening the sailors enjoyed the 'Captain's dinner' at the WSV Hoorn
clubhouse attended by many local dignitaries including Cees Baas,
Chairman of WSV Hoorn, Elvira Sweet of Provincie Noord Holland, Rob
Franken of Watersportverbond (Royal Dutch Yachting Federation) and Ben
Tap of Gemeente Hoorn, who expressed their pleasure at welcoming the
young Finn sailors to Hoorn and how important it was to inspire the
local youth to take up sailing to hold events of this nature.
While
the forecast seems to be changing hourly, Thursday's weather is
predicted to be a return to summer, with light winds and high
temperatures in Hoorn. In a change to the schedule again, three races
are planned from 11.00. The Finn Silver Cup will conclude on Friday 11
July.
Results after six races:
1 NOR 1 Anders Pedersen 8
2 RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov 10
3 CRO 52 Nenad Bugarin 33
4 POL 16 Mikolaj Lahn 35
5 DEN 5 Jacob Stachelhaus 39
6 CAN 110 Martin Robitaille 40
7 GBR 29 Peter McCoy 40
8 CAN 2 Kyle Martin 46
9 CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 49
10 POL 111 Jakub Marciniak 52
2 RUS 6 Arkadiy Kistanov 10
3 CRO 52 Nenad Bugarin 33
4 POL 16 Mikolaj Lahn 35
5 DEN 5 Jacob Stachelhaus 39
6 CAN 110 Martin Robitaille 40
7 GBR 29 Peter McCoy 40
8 CAN 2 Kyle Martin 46
9 CZE 5 Ondrej Teply 49
10 POL 111 Jakub Marciniak 52
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