After a short postponement to allow time for the wind to clock round and build, the first race was sailed in 10-14 knots with Ed Wright leading at each and every mark. He rounded the top mark from the right with Michele Paoletti (ITA) rounding second from the left. Jonathan Lobert (FRA) rounded third.

Wright took off on the downwind to build a substantial lead with Lobert climbing to second and these two separated from the pack, and most of the fleet favoured the right hand track. Regatta leader Thomas Le Breton (FRA) recovered from a poor first beat to place third.

Race six was then sailed in 14-17 knots with Rafa Trujillo (ESP) leading from start to finish. He rounded the top mark ahead of Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), Paoletti, Zach Railey (USA), Bjorn Allansson (SWE) and Wright.

Not much changed on the first downwind but on the second upwind the left side was favoured for a change and while Trujillo and Wright favoured the right, a lot of boats made up a lot of distance.

Trujillo still maintained a narrow lead but Allansson had climbed to second in front of Wright with Giorgio Poggi (ITA) moving to fourth from the right. Trujillo made enough of a break early on the reach to be comfortable in the lead while the fight for second to fifth was very tight.

Poggi eventually found a route under Wright to claim second by a few boatlengths with Dan Slater (NZL) finally finding the front to take fourth on the line from Allansson.

With the drop now coming into effect, Wright now has a 13 point lead with four more races to sail before Saturday’s medal race, while the next four boats are separated by only four points. The leader going into today Le Breton drops to fourth while Railey maintains his consistency to end up in fifth, just four points off second. While the points at the top at tight

Poggi said, “Sailing in San Francisco is nice. These are nice conditions and I had a good day. The good thing is that races races are perfect with the wind and you can always gain some positions. In the first race I was about 35^th on the first upwind and I finished about 12^th as I gained a lot on the last downwind. In the second race I finished second so I am quite happy because I passed many boats on the downwinds and the last reach.”

On the second race, Trujillo said “The downwind was very difficult, the fleet very open and on the second beat the right was not paying at all. But to get out in front the starts are so important as the right side has so far mainly been favoured.”

Lobert commented on his second place, “It was my first good start of the championship. So this week if you have a good start then you have done half of the job. Both Ed and Thomas have been getting good starts, they are always ready to get on the good tack to the right hand side. So this is what I did in the first race. I got out and went right and the further you go the better it gets.

Juniors

The current European Junior Champion and the runner up last week in the Silver Cup Ioannis Mitakis (GRE) is lying in 28th place overall after a 33rd and a 61st today. He said he is finding it tough to keep sailing at this high level over three weeks. “I am really tired because we have been training hard and it doesn’t stop blowing every day, so it’s really tough. I enjoy sailing in the breeze but I prefer the lighter winds like we had at the Europeans. I have a hard time but it’s OK. I can catch a lot of boats on the downwind legs, but to be good I have to be fast on the upwind too.”

“I am not in top shape at the moment but now I am fighting hard together with men and it’s really hard. It’s more complicated because you are not in front you have to make make better tactics but it’s really good racing. We have over 80 boats, and you have to make space to be in the right place at the right moment and that’s hard as well.”

The Silver Cup was sailed off the city front while the Gold Cup is being sailed in the Berkeley Circle. “This place is very different to where we sailed the Silver Cup. There is less current and the wind is more steady. But it’s still really tough sailing here, really windy, still lots of current. I think you have to know the place very well to sail here. For the rest of the week I will keep my tactics the same and try and make something out of the races.”

Mitakis is also the leading junior so far this week, though Caleb Paine (USA) and Oliver Twedell (AUS) are very close to him on points. Tweddell is new to the class this year and really enjoying himself.

“It’s a bit of learning experience for me, so I am trying to watch all the senior guys to see how they do it. I haven’t been sailing the boat for that long and today I getting a bit of a mouthful from Rafa for not going fast enough. He gave me a few pointers on how to get the boat going better. Sailing here is very tough, very hard work, and I am struggling for speed, but downwind is good fun.

“I love sailing the Finn compared to the Laser. I can eat normally, the guys are really great and really keen to help everyone else get along. The Finn is a great boat and I can see myself sailing it for many years to come.

“My learning curve has been pretty steep so far. I learned a lot at the Silver Cup but at the Gold Cup it is even steeper. I started off slowly and have been learning a lot, so that makes it all much more fun.” After a 30^th and 28th today Tweddell is lying in 30^th place overall.

Power sailing

Sailing Finns in these conditions is all about power. Only the fittest, strongest and smartest survive in these testing waters. The effort to perform, to do well, is immense. After the finish of the free pumping final two races, with boats surfing and planing just metres apart, most of the sailors have to stop to catch their breath and regain their strength after 15 minutes of full on downwind sailing. It could be compared to running a 1500 metres sprint, but on top of two 20 minute upwind legs and a 20 minute flat downwind. No other class needs this level of power and stamina for such long periods as the Finn. If you want to go fast then you need to drive it hard. It is simply awesome to watch.

Racing continues Thursday with two more races scheduled for 13.00, with a one hour postponement already in place as the conditions are forecast for the same as today.

Results after 6 races:

1 GBR 11 Edward Wright 9
2 ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo 22
3 GBR 41 Giles Scott 24
4 FRA 115 Thomas le Breton 24
5 USA 4 Zach Railey 26
6 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 36
7 CRO 524 Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 49
8 SLO 573 Vasilij Zbogar 55
9 CRO 25 Marin Misura 56
10 GBR 88 Mark Andrews 57

The day started misty and calm and by 12.00 it was a beautiful sunny day with 5-6 knots on the race area. However the heavy mist rolling in through the Golden Gate was a foreteller of things to come later in the day with a cold breeze quickly building on the first leg to peak out at 22 knots.

Race three started after a general recall with most of the fleet immediately tacking onto port to head to the right hand side. This proved to be the best decision as half way up the beat it was apparent that a massive change was about to take place. While the left side was still experiencing light winds, on the right, it started to increase and when the boats tacked they easily cleared the left.

Emerging from the middle right, Alexey Selivanov (RUS) led round the top mark from Piotr Kula (POL) and Ed Wright (GBR) and Ioannis Mitakis (GRE). Oscar flag for free pumping was raised at the top mark as the wind had already increased from 6 knots to 12 knots. Wright flew down the run to round the gate in the lead from Selivanov, while Gasper Vincec (SLO) had climbed to third.

Again favouring the right hand side, Wright extended on the second upwind, while Vincec climbed to second and Thomas Le Breton climbed to third. The positions stayed the same down the final run as the wind kept increasing to 18-20 knots for some spectacular downwind sailing.

Several of the front runners had a bad race with regatta leader Rafa Trujillo (ESP) climbing from the 50s at the top mark to 35^th at the finish, Jonas Høgh Christensen (DEN) finishing 38^th and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) in 37^th.

After a second general recall race four started in 18-22 knots with the right side again being the most popular, though there were also big gains to be made on the left on the second upwind. Wright and Mark Andrews (GBR) led to the right hand corner, tacked and led round the top mark from Le Breton and Greg Douglas (CAN). Andrews got past Wright on the first downwind while Railey climbed to fourth.

Wright applied pressure to Andrews on the second beat and both passed him and created a useful gap. The final two reaches to the finish were fast and furious as the boats planed and surfed the choppy waves in balls of spray. Railey moved up to third, but Le Breton took it back on the reach to take his second third place finish of the day.

Le Breton summed his his day. “I have a good start. I am sailing well and it’s nice. I had to stop sailing for about two months at the beginning of the summer as I got sick, but I am OK now. I am enjoying the sailing, so maybe that’s the reason I am doing well.”

“I started sailing the Finn two years ago and Jonathan Lobert (FRA) and I have been training together in that time. For sure it’s a good way to improve your speed. “

Railey said, “It has been a pretty good start to the regatta for me. I just kind of put myself in a good position after the first couple of days. I’ve been fortunate to four consistent results. I was very happy about the first race today. I rounded the first weather mark about 30^th and got back up to seventh so that was for sure a key race for me.”

I think the regatta as far as the points being so close is going to continue. I think everyone is sailing really well and all the top guys are here, so if everyone carries on sailing the way they are the points are going to stay close the entire time. There are a few boats behind us now with a larger drops but also have some really good scores, so that will change things after the drop race comes in. But we still have a lot of sailing to go.”

“This is definitely the first windy regatta of the season. We have had some windy days before but for the most part it’s been a very light airs season so we have been working hard in the gym and I came out here for three weeks training in July to prepare for this and really working on my fitness and pumping. This is a very hard venue because you have long times on one tack to one side. The right has mostly paid, but a few times the left has paid, but you are spending 8-10 minutes on one tack, so it’s just about you pushing the boat as much as you can. Everyone is going really fast out there so if you let off a little bit you fade away.”

Wright said, “It was a great day today. Two bullets for me and my coach did his good deed for the day finding a Finn sail sinking on the right side in the second race. I had two good starts and didn’t make any mistakes like yesterday. Mark Andrews pushed me hard on the second race by using his acrobatics on the first run and passing me. But I hope for more speed again tomorrow.”

Old hand

The oldest sailor in the fleet is 75 year old Gus Miller (USA). He started his Finn career back in 1966 and has no intentions to give up just yet. Miller has seen the class evolve over more than four decades and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the boats and its sailors.

What keeps him coming back? “For me it has opened doors for me all over the world. The boat is a special boat. It is highly evolved but it’s like having a little Maserati. It’s so sensitive and such a good sea boat. As a kid up until I was 38 I sailed a hundred different types of boats, including 505 and oceans racers but when I sailed a Finn it was the best boat I had ever gotten in to.”

“It’s a very powerful demanding boat and you need a lot of initiative and attitude that you’re going to do it yourself. There are a lot of coaches out there now but basically you are out there on your own. And everyone realises the challenges is yourself not the other guys. The challenge is the boat and that understanding is the old idea “I love my competitor because he makes me better”. The guys here have enormous respect because the challenge of sailing the boat is so great. If one guy figures it out then the others guys are glad for him that he’s been able to do it.”

“You see very talented new guys coming in and these guys are getting bigger and bigger. Nutrition has improved such that the Asians and others are getting bigger and stronger. And the Finn takes a big guy and a big smart guy and one of the characteristics of the Finn is that the Finn sailors has to be smart. If he’s not smart big and strong then it’s hopeless. You gotta have brains out there.”

How long does he think he will continue the sail the Finn. “Well I am staying on a yacht with a young Estonian and he was talking about having the Finn Gold Cup in Tallinn Bay and long ago I said I’d continue to sail the Finn until it was sailed in Tallinn Bay. So who knows. For a couple of decades now I have told my body, “just get me through one more regatta and I’ll quit.” Well in the practice this week I came in one day and my body said to me, “You lied.” So as long as I can physically do it I will probably carry on.”

The full video interview with Gus Miller is available on www.finngoldcup.com

Racing continues Wednesday with two more races and forecasts of slightly stronger winds coming through.

Follow it online at www.finngoldcup.com with live boat tracking from Kattack, live video feed from SailGroove, and live Twitter and blog updates from the Finn Class.

Results after 4 races:

1 FRA 115 Thomas le Breton 21
2 USA 4 Zach Railey 21
3 GBR 11 Edward Wright 23
4 GBR 41 Giles Scott 23
5 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 25
6 GBR 88 Mark Andrew 35
7 ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo 48
8 CRO 25 Marin Misura 52
9 GBR 85 Andrew Mills 56
10 ITA 146 Michele Paoletti 57