The 2013 Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn, Estonia was opened Sunday night amid a spectacular location with
outstanding hospitality, beautiful singing, great food, and a moving presentation to one of the absolute class legends. As soon as the Finn sailors arrived in
Estonia, they knew they were in for something special. Tallinn
Bay has a long history of Finn sailing and the idyllic conditions over
the past few days have enamoured the whole fleet to the beautiful area.
Sailors
have been training here for many weeks and have come to love the town,
the culture and the people. It is an inspiring place to be.
The opening ceremony did nothing to dispel
this impression. A special open top bus service was laid on
to transport the sailors from the club to the Seaplane Harbour
(Lennusadam) a maritime museum of epic proportions and ambition that
both surprised and
amazed in large doses. There was a typically warm Estionian welcome by
the President of the Estonian Yachting Union, Mr Andrus Poski, the Vice
Councillor of the Minister of Culture, Mr Tȏnu Seil, and the Race
Director Mr Ants Väinsalu. Mr Balazs Hajdu replied for the International
Finn Association before the championship was declared open, in Estonian,
by the Mayor of Tallinn, Mr Edgar Savisaar. This was intermixed by
performances by the beautiful and talented Estonian singer Liis Lemsalu.
The other highlight of the evening was the
award to Gus Miller (USA) of a Medal of Honour from the
Estonian Yachting Union. Gus Miller has befriended, supported,
encouraged and coached Estonian sailors for more than 30 years after
first coming to
Tallinn for the pre-Olympics ahead of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The full
story of his involvement with Estonia will be published later this
week, but
his impact on the development of Finn sailing in Estonia is immeasurable
and tonight the Estonians said thank you.
In presenting the award, Ants Väinsalu
said, “Before we proceed to the Gold Cup racing one
very important thing needs to be done. There is one very special person
among us right now who has done an incredible amount to help Estonian
sailing
and Estonian Finn sailors. For almost 40 years this man has been our
friend and active promoter. Already in 1978 he wanted to bring the Gold
Cup to
Estonia. Politics made it impossible for 15 years, but in 1994 his dream
became true. He has provided valuable help, advice and support to many
Estonian Finn sailors over decades. He also had a big part of bringing
this 2013 Finn Gold Cup to Tallinn. Without him Estonian Finn sailing
would not
be what it has become. For his outstanding contribution to Estonian
sailing, the Estonian Yachting Union has decided to award him the
official Badge
of Honour.”
Miller said, “This morning I woke up about
4.00, maybe excited by the racing, but thinking back
around 35 years of coming to Estonia. When I first started travelling
internationally I made a rule for myself that I would allow enough time
that I
would spend 50 per cent of the time away from yacht club, away from the
Finn and away from the race course, getting to see new places and new
people
and to learn from them. When I think back to those I met in 1978 when I
first came to Estonia - back then it was the Soviet Union - I did not
realise
Estonia was not Russian. It didn't take long for the difference to be
explained to me. The people I met and the influences from my first time
here had
a great impact and brought me back many times. It's been a great
adventure. I see old friends here, I recognise the face, but not sure I
remember the
names but it is great to see them and it's wonderful to be back here.”
Practice race
At the end of registration 95 sailors from
30 nations are entered, making this the largest Gold Cup
fleet for nine years. About 25 of them made it out to the practice race
on Sunday afternoon, which was a short affair. The fleet got away first
time
in a light offshore breeze in some nice sunshine and sailed the first
leg before heading for home. Andrei Gusenko (UKR) led Matts Coutts (NZL)
and
Josh Junior (NZL) around the top mark after a sizeable right hand shift
that eventually led the PRO, Madis Ausman (EST) to abandon the race.
Meeting
On Saturday night the class held its
international Annual General Meeting, which is always a lively
gathering. The assembled sailors heard about the ongoing development of
the class both numerically and technically. Discussions centred around
use of
new technologies and controlling the existing construction materials as
well as clarifying hull local reinforcement and using flags at Finn
major
events. The meeting heard that the process of inspecting new moulds
before they went into production was working well. Future development
such as the
introduction of moulded sails, carbon booms or the use of basalt fibre
was thoroughly discussed but not adopted.
The meeting also confirmed that the London
2012 bronze medalist, Jonathan Lobert (FRA) would join the
Executive Committee as Vice President Development, replacing Zach Railey
(USA). Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) was also congratulated on his
appointment to
the ISAF Athletes Commission.
Then voting took place for future events
with the 2015 Finn Gold Cup going to Takapuna, New Zealand and
the 2015 Europeans returning to Split, Croatia. Split is a regular host
for Finn championships, while Takapuna last hosted the Finn Gold Cup in
1980,
so a return to New Zealand is long overdue.
Regarding the 2016 Olympic Games, the
meeting recommended to keep the existing format while trying to
further improve the presentation of the sport. The decision was also
taken to recommend to ISAF to allocate one place per continent, in order
to
support the Finn development progress across the world.
Ready
After three years of planning, and weeks of
preparation, the 2013 Finn Gold Cup is ready to start on
Monday 26 August. The opening series of ten races will be followed by
the medal race fot the top ten and the final race for the rest next
Saturday, 31
August.
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