High Octane One Designs

The final event in the 2009 ISAF Sailing World Cup and the first chance for
many sailors to get to grips with the 2012 Olympic venue opened in style
with winds from 12 to 16 knots from the north-east, sunny skies and great
sailing conditions.

The uncharacteristic north-easterly wind off the Dorset coast produced very
shifty conditions in Weymouth Bay with several of the favourites in the Finn
class struggling mid fleet.

However home favourite Ed Wright (GBR) opened the series with two solid
second places and leads overnight. In the first race he had to settle for
second behind team mate Andrew Mills (GBR) and in the second behind
Pieter-Jan Postma (NED). Wright, who who won this event in 2007, is already
the clear winner of the inaugural ISAF Sailing World Cup for Finns.

Winner of race one, Andrew Mills said, “In the first race I played shifts
slightly to the right of most the fleet. The right paid and I was second at
the top mark and took the lead by the leeward mark. From there I just
covered the fleet and played the shifts, and led until the finish”. Mills
placed 12th in race two to sit in seventh place overnight.

The fleet of 36 Finns from 16 nations includes 10 boats from the very strong
UK fleet, who are all looking forward to having the sailing world on their
doorstep for the next three years. Mills commented, “It’s nice to see how
everyone is fairing in a good breeze at Weymouth.” While local knowledge
probably didn’t play that much part in the results today, there are still
four British boats inside the top ten after day one.

Thomas Le Breton (FRA) sits in second place after a third and a fourth,
while the newly crowned European Champion Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO), lies
in third place after a fifth and a third.

Runner up at the Europeans, Tapio Nirkko (FIN) is struggling down in 16th
place while runner up at the Gold Cup Zach Railey (USA) is one place behind
in 17th, describing day one as a “Tough day and very shifty.”

Racing continues Tuesday, when the Finns are scheduled to start at the
earlier time of 10.55