Percy drops down

Only one race was sailed today at the Finn Gold Cup, leaving it close at the top

World No 1 ranked sailor in the Finn class, Jonas Hoegh Christensen (DEN,) has taken the lead at the 2006 Finn Gold Cup in Split after finishing in second position in today, Wednesday's, only race.

The start of the third race in the 50th Finn Gold Cup was delayed by two hours on the water, allowing for some refreshing swims in the clear Adriatic waters. Eager to start, the 99 Finn sailors were aggressive on the starting line generating two general recalls. The third start allowed racing to commence but the individual recall penalised three sailors on the line. While Akif Muslubas (TUR) repaired his fault by restarting, Dan Slater (NZL) and local hope Ivan Klakovitch Gaspic collected a disqualification.

Rafael Trujillo (ESP) won the race enjoying the increasing breeze and displaying his usual strength upwind in the strong conditions.

Starting at around ten knots, the wind rapidly increased to reach 18 knots. Stable in direction, the wind provided some good opportunity for the sailors who could find the areas with more pressure. After a very good start, Rafael Trujillo who was among the leaders with Daniel Birgmark (SWE) and Jonas Hoegh Christensen (DEN), capitalised his on his advantage on the second upwind leg. ”I was already in front but while I went to the right of the course, most of the fleet chose the left side. I could see them tack while I was heading straight to the mark with a good breeze. I was lucky.” Trujillo passed the windward mark with a one minute lead to win the race in front of Jonas Hoegh Christensen from Denmark. “I wasn’t good at the start” admitted the Dane,” then I saw more pressure on the right side and I must have gained 17 places. I rounded the top mark in third position. It was the same on the second beat; I gained lots of ground and passed the top mark in third place behind Daniel Birgmark.”

Twenty years old Scottish sailor Mark Andrews is still leading the Junior’s division improving his overall position by three places putting him in 21st position. Skandia Team GBR is counting three sailors in the top ten. While Iain Percy has lost five places overall, slipping from third to eighth, Ed Wright has conserved his fourth position, the surprise is coming from Matt Howard. Usually seen around the 20 bench mark, Matt Howard is lying in sixth position. “He is really fast downwind” explained his coach David Howlett,”maybe one of the fastest in the Finn squad. He trained hard and it is paying off.”

Two races are scheduled for tomorrow. This year has been surprising everyone by revealing lots of talented sailors, each of them taking turns to win a race in the international circuit. The top four sailors in the 2006 Finn Gold Cup have each had their moment of glory this year. Jonas Hoegh Christensen won the Princess Sofia regatta in Palma, Emilios Papathanasiou now in second place took over the Holland regatta, today’s winner Rafael Trujillo took the early glory in the Miami OCR and Ed Wright was the leader in Hyères. Despite having to count with an OCS (which he is seeking redress for at the moment), Dan Slater (NZL) was the latest winner in Kiel but is still in contention for the title.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Sail Number	R1	R2	R3	Tot
1	CHRISTENSEN JONAS HOGH	DEN 2	2	4	2	8
2	PAPATHANASIOU EMILIOS	GRE 7	4	1	5	10
3	TRUJILLO RAFAEL JOAQUIN	ESP 100	9	2	1	12
4	WRIGHT EDWARD	GBR 111	1	10	7	18
5	BIRGMARK DANIEL	SWE 11	11	6	3	20
6	HOWARD MATT	GBR 550	6	13	6	25
7	TILLANDER JOHAN	SWE 736	12	5	13	30
8	PERCY IAIN	GBR 54	7	3	21	31
9	MOBERG PEER	NOR 1	10	9	14	33
10	POSTMA PIETER JAN	NED 842	8	23	4	35
11	COOK CHRISTOPHER	CAN 41	21	7	10	38
12	GUILLAME FLORENT	FRA 73	19	11	12	42
13	TAPIO NIRKKO	FIN 216	23	15	9	47
14	NOSSITER ANTHONY	AUS 221	25	14	22	61
15	ISMAEL BRUNO	FRA 972	15	22	31	68
16	SZUKIEL RAFAL	POL 7	17	18	33	68
17	RAUDASCHL FLORIAN	AUT 271	16	34	19	69
18	RAILEY ZACH	USA 4	22	21	27	70
19	GUZYS GIEDRIUS	LTU 7	14	30	30	74
20	GREIG ED	GBR 625	38	26	11	75
21	ANDREWS MARK	GBR 88	24	27	24	75
22	GOODBODY TIMOTHY	IRL 5	26	37	16	79
23	MIŠURA MARIN	CRO 25	28	17	34	79
24	ARRARTE PABLO	ESP 310	27	25	29	81
25	KURET KARLO	CRO 11	37	20	26	83
26	O'GRADY AARON	IRL 10	31	19	35	85
27	MIŠURA BARTUL	CRO 69	40	24	23	87
28	POGGI GIORGIO	ITA 117	29	39	20	88
29	HRUBY MICHAL	CZE 9	39	33	17	89
30	LAURSEN THOMAS	DEN 9	33	40	18	91
31	TOMAŠEVIĆ EMIL	CRO 16	20	35	40	95
32	MAIER MICHAEL	CZE 1	34	16	47	97
33	DRAGOUTSIS ALEXANDROS	GRE 8	18	31	48	97
34	SZUKIEL WACLAW	POL 12	32	28	38	98
35	SLATER DANIEL	NZL 1	3	8	OCS	111