Race leader yellow flagged

As Andrew Simpson wins race six of the Finn Europeans in La Rochelle

“It was puffy, shifty,…a patient man’s day”, Richard Clarke who finished second in race six today, summarised the conditions for the Finn Europeans off La Rochelle.

Starting with 15 knots, the wind was going all over the place. Boats at each end of the
line were sailing on different tacks. “It was hard to know who was leading on the first
beat,” explained Guillaume Florent.

First at the top mark, Nenad Viali from Croatia enjoyed 'half an hour of glory' before dropping to fourth position at the end of the reach. He was followed by Soren Holm, Rafael Trujillo, Richard Clarke, Andrew Simpson, Zhang Xiangfeng and Dean Barker. Holm, who had lost some ground on the reaches took first place at the end of the second beat in front of Richard Clarke and Andrew Simpson. The wind by then had dropped to 10 knots and the Racing Committee changed the Oscar flag allowing free pumping downwind to Romeo, reverting to the usual RRs 42. This caused the jury to leap into action penalising four sailors including Ben Ainslie and Mateusz Kusznierewicz for the second time, forcing the regatta leader to retire from the race.

“This is so stupid, I saw the C flag for the change of course at the top mark but I didn’t see the R flag. I was so concentrated on the shifts and Sebastien just behind me. It is a real pity, I was coming 8th and this will make it harder to win the regatta.” declared a disappointed Kusznierewicz.

Former illbruck crewman Richard Clarke led the fleet around the last leeward mark with Andrew Simpson just behind. The last beat proved tricky. Simpson took the option to go right while Clarke sailed more conservatively in the center. More pressure on the right lifted Andrew Simpson to the finish. Clarke was second in front of Soren Holm in third and Rafael Trujillo in fourth. Ainslie finished 15th.

If yesterday was 'Kiwi day', today was declared 'Croatian day' with Nenad Viali, Karlo Kuret and Marin Misura taking 5th, 6th and 7th places. The first Junior was Wietze
Zetzema (NED) in 40th place.

After six races (and one discard) Kusznierewicz still holds the lead 16 points clear of Ben Ainslie and 18 points ahead of Sebastien Godefroid.

The first Junior is Lei Gong from China in 43rd position. Tapio Nirkko is second junior in 45th place and Oleksyi Borisov 3rd in 49th.

In the battle for Olympic qualification, the top five nations are: Austria (Florent Raudaschl, 26th), Argentina (Alejandro Colla, 31st), Russia (Vladimir Krutskikh 32nd), Italy (Michele Marchesini, 33rd) and Hungary (Balazs Hajdu, 35th).

Three more races scheduled, two races for tomorrow, with a start at 1300 and there is still all to play for.

Results

Pos	Sailor	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot	Pts
1	KUSZNIEREWICZ Mateusz	POL	2	2	2	1	3	DNF	101	10
2	AINSLIE Ben	GBR	28	4	1	4	2	15	54	26
3	GODEFROID Sébastien	BEL	1	6	3	35	7	11	63	28
4	FLORENT Guillaume	FRA	11	5	9	2	13	10	50	37
5	BARKER Dean	NZL	4	37	6	18	10	9	84	47
6	PAPATHANASIOU Emilios	GRE	29	1	4	17	8	22	81	52
7	WEBB Clifton	NZL	3	9	19	9	BFD	14	145	54
8	HOGH-CHRISTENSEN Jonas	DANEMARK	13	7	7	24	19	8	78	54
9	CLARKE Richard	CAN	17	35	11	13	12	2	90	55
10	HOLM Soren	DEN	5	10	25	30	15	3	88	58
11	SIMPSON Andrew	GBR	41	3	24	5	30	1	104	63
12	FOX Peter	NZL	6	15	35	14	6	24	100	65
13	ADAKAN Ali Enver	TUR	14	46	12	7	18	19	116	70
14	NOSSITER Anthony	AUS	53	8	13	25	9	16	124	71
15	KURET Karlo	CRO	21	26	26	19	1	6	99	73
16	MISURA Marin	CRO	19	42	23	27	5	7	123	81
17	ZIELHUIS Jaap	NED	8	54	10	10	24	30	136	82
18	FELLMANN Michael	GER	52	11	20	3	17	34	137	85
19	TRUJILLO Rafael	ESP	33	17	33	8	23	4	118	85
20	VINCEC Gasper	SLO	40	50	14	11	4	26	145	95
21	SIGNORINI JoÆo	BRA	20	24	15	20	16	27	122	95
22	VIALI Nenad	CRO	34	16	31	12	33	5	131	97
23	ADERMAN Kristian	SWE	42	23	40	6	14	43	168	125
24	O'GRADY Aaron	IRL	7	22	29	58	35	32	183	125
25	TILLANDER Johan	SWE	10	20	63	15	21	DNF	220	129
26	RAUDASCHL Florian	AUT	16	64	30	47	25	13	195	131
27	COOK Christopher	CAN	12	32	47	23	54	21	189	135
28	DE VRIES Stefan	NED	27	61	36	33	31	12	200	139
29	BRUNO Ismaël	FRA	32	53	5	40	28	35	193	140
30	SZUKIEL Rafal	POL	9	12	49	28	45	46	189	140
31	COLLA Alejandro	ARG	43	28	18	36	32	29	186	143
32	KRUTSKIKH Vladimir	RUS	44	25	21	38	20	48	196	148
33	MARCHESINI Michele	ITALIE	26	21	43	29	50	31	200	150
34	MUELLER VON BLUMENCRON Othmar	SUI	51	13	38	34	34	33	203	152
35	HAJDU Balazs	HUN	15	51	39	61	22	28	216	155
36	MAIER Michael	CZE	65	63	22	37	11	23	221	156
37	ALSOGARAY Julio	ARG	58	47	17	53	27	18	220	162
38	CHERNOV Evgeny	RUS	64	29	32	41	26	41	233	169
39	BURGER Christoph	SUI	35	43	37	21	BFD	38	265	174
40	BIRGMARK Daniel	SWE	31	18	44	46	38	50	227	177
41	BURROWS David	IRL	54	38	16	51	BFD	20	270	179
42	GONG Lei	CHN	30	14	BFD	45	47	51	278	187
43	HOWARD Matthew	GBR	46	48	27	31	51	36	239	188
44	NIRKKO Tapio	FIN	36	36	61	52	41	40	266	205
45	BOYD Bryan	USA	23	44	69	22	62	55	275	206
46	LIU Bo	CHN	24	69	8	26	BFD	DSQ	309	218
47	MILLER Mattias	ALLEMAGNE	57	77	53	16	48	52	303	226
48	JACOB Youen	IRLANDE	56	45	41	42	BFD	44	319	228
49	BORYSOV Oleksiy	UKR	70	27	28	DSQ	46	61	323	232
50	THEURER Peter	SUI	49	31	56	64	37	59	296	232