The
Finn World Masters ended with another day of strong winds, with the
final fleet races followed by the medal race for the top 12. Defending
champion, Michael Maier (CZE) could only finish fourth in the race but
it was enough to take a record sixth Finn World Masters title. Andre
Budzien (GER) had to settled for silver again, while Aleksandr Kuliukin
(RUS) placed third in the race to snatch the bronze.
After
a scoring correction Thursday evening, the number of sailors in the
medal race was increased to 12, with three boats on equal points to
tenth place. The medal race was sailed close to the shore, with large
shifts off the beach mixing up the fleet. Marc Allain des Beauvais (FRA)
sailed an almost flawless race to lead round every mark to take the
win. A lot of boats behind him were in trouble with Maier dropping to
fourth on the second beat. Budzien struggled upwind in the 20 knot
breeze, while Allen Burrell (GBR) had a shocker to drop from third to
sixth overall. Walter Riosa (ITA) crossed in second to take the silver
medal in the Masters category, while third place from Aleksandr Kuliukin
(RUS) took third in the race and also won the Masters category. He wins
the President's Cup, the first time this new cup has been presented.
Allain des Beauvais said, “The
wind was very shifty, I had a good start and selected to protect the
right because I thought it was more lifting at the end when arriving on
starboard. The race dictated me to go to the beach and when I tacked I
went over the layline voluntarily to capture some more wind and then it
was just about taking care and not stupidly capsizing, as I am able to
do. C'est la vie. Vive la France!”
Budzien explained how he got the race wrong on both upwind legs, “It
was a very tricky, short race. I started at the pin and unfortunately
the gusts came from the right side all the way so I couldn't go in the
middle and had to stay on the left side. Then it's very hard to get a
good position at the mark. On the second beat the left side was much
better and I went to the right side. It was not my day, but in the end
the Russian was third and I had to be seventh, so I am happy with the
silver.”
The
day began with the final Yellow and Blue races, less the top 12. Both
were very shifty races again, in winds around 15-20 knots with big
changes through the fleet as large black clouds moved down the race
course. Uli Breuer (GER) eventually took the lead in Yellow fleet for a
big win, while Tauras Rymonis (LTU) won the Blue fleet. Fittingly they
ended up 13th and 14th overall.
The
top Grand Masters were all in the medal race with Michael Maier taking
the title for the first time from last year's winner Andre Budzien. His
win in the medal race was enough for Marc Allain Des Beauvais to move up
from 10th to sixth, to claim the bronze medal.
Henry
Sprague (USA) has dominated the Grand Grand Masters all week, and an
impressive fourth place today moved him up to 15th overall. Former
winner Rob Coutts (NZL) was the next best in 34th, after some good
results in the windy races made up for some high scores earlier in the
week. Jan Zetzema (NED) took the bronze after a consistent week of good
sailing, ending up on equal points with last year's winner Henk de Jager
(NED).
The
Legends category was extremely competitive this year with three former
champions in the running to the end. Howard Sellars (GBR) started the
day with a narrow lead over Richard Hart (GBR). However in a bizarre
twist, both sailors, who are clearly old enough to know better, were
black flagged out of the start in Yellow fleet. Hart's determination to
complete yesterday's three gruelling races then paid dividends as he
then counted a top 50 while Sellars dropped to fourth Legend after his
retirement yesterday. Defending Legend champion Friedrich Muller (GER)
took the silver while Rodrick Casander (NED) took the bronze. All
Legends were honoured at the prizegiving with a special memento. An
emotional Hart received the loudest ovation from the massive crowd. It
was without doubt the most popular win of the event.
A
special prize was also awarded to Santiago Reyero (ESP) who abandoned
his race yesterday after finding an upturned hull with no sign of the
sailor or support boats and swam over to it to check to see if the
missing sailor was trapped inside. Thankfully, the sailor turned up
unharmed, but Reyero said, “I was quite frightened by what I would find
inside.” Hos own boat was damaged in the process and while the Jury gave
his redress, his selfless act to make sure his fellow sailor was OK,
regardless of his own race, epitomises good sportsmanship, and won him
the loud applause and appreciation of the more than 300 sailors and
families present.
The Masters category winner and third overall, Kuliukin summed up his week, “The
racing was at a very high level. I would like to thank the organisers,
race committee and jury. We had racing in different conditions all week.
My target this week was a medal, so I am very happy. Next year I will
try to win overall.
This year was his first masters, at the head of a very strong Russian team. “We
have very good regattas at home and very good group of sailors. We
communicate closely and drive each other to be better all the time. We
have several cities where the Finn class is strong, and some of our
other good sailors are not here this year. Next time more will come and
there's a big chance we will take all the top places.”
Maier contemplated his sixth World Masters win. “This
time was a little bit tough because there was no wind early in the
week, and that made it a bit tricky. Yesterday and today was windy which
is good for me, though I had some trouble yesterday with some things
not working in the boat and I lost the second race. I had a 100 metre
lead but I capsized at the gate and had a big casino with the main
sheet. That was a mistake from me. But on the second upwind the
centreboard got stuck and also made it quite difficult.”
On the medal race.
“I calculated the general results and I knew I was one point behind
Budzien but today was quite different sailing close to the shore with a
lot of shifts. In the pre-start I tried pushing him for some action but
he ignored me and I also made some joke for Allen. But I see guys
prepare their pre-start position, so I started at the committee boat
because the wind was from the right side. I tried pushing the guys under
me and some tacked but at that moment it was music for me as I see
Budzien in my window. The second downwind was a bit tricky as I had to
control Budzien, so I just covered him, sailing really safely through
the block.”
“The
Russians are really fast in these conditions. They are the fastest guys
here. I didn't have the best upwind speed but always made it up on the
downwind.”
On
next year. “I don't know. It's a long way away. First I need to finish
my house and I have a lot of jobs to do. Sure I will continue sailing,
but maybe in a different way.”
The
2014 Finn World Masters in Sopot, was a week of two halves. Three races
in very light winds and three races in very windy conditions has
produced a balanced championship, even if both were on the extremes of
wind limits. In the end the top sailors prevailed and Michael Maier has
set a new class record that will take some beating.
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