European Championship 2007

Spartacus Sailing Club, Lake Balaton, Hungary 1-9 June

[photos] [Full results]

Event website: www.spartacus.hu

© 2007 Robert Deaves, International Finn Association

Reproduction in whole of in part welcomed with credit to author.

More information: robertdeaves@yahoo.co.uk

Finn Europeans 2007 –  Preview

Lake Balaton in Hungary has been the scene for many Finn regattas in the past and next week it is set to host the 2007 Finn European Championships. The venue for this year's championship is Spartacus Sailing Club, located in the town of Balatonföldvár on the south shore of  the lake.

At 77 miles long and covering an area of 600 square miles, Lake Balaton is the largest lake in central Europe and is viewed as the cultural home of the Hungarian Finn fleet, which is looking forward to once again welcoming Finn sailors from across the world. In recent years Lake Balaton has also played host to the 2006 Finn World Masters and the 1995 European Championship.

The provisional entry list is very encouraging for a pre-Olympic year. So far there are 107 pre-entries from 32 countries, including many new names and even a few new nations.

Predictably, most sailors are expecting a light weather regatta, and certainly at last year's Masters event held at the same time of year, the wind was not very cooperative. However, while in most years light winds would be considered bad news the venue for the 2008 Olympics is prone to produce similar conditions, so some sailors could well be using this regatta to try or new gear or techniques. World Ranked No. 8 Daniel Birgmark (SWE) said, 'They say it's likely to be light wind conditions, but the Europeans is always a important regatta, so it could also be a good opportunity to test light wind skills in the preparations for Qingdao.' World ranked No. 2 Dan Slater (NZL) is more optimistic, 'I'm a Kiwi from the other side of the globe. I have never been to Hungary nor do I have any expectations of conditions. I have been told of some regattas at the same venue that have been really windy and really light so who knows we'll get.' Having just won the ISAF Grade 1 Breitling Regatta on the medal race, Slater is among the top favourites for the title.

One of the most un-European sailors competing this year is top US Finn sailor Zach Railey (USA). He said, 'This the one event I am really looking forward to this year. The US trials are going to be in the same conditions so I am really looking forward to using this event to prepare and learn for my trials. My training has been focusing on light air sailing and learning the feel for the boat in light air. I have lost some weight and am looking forward to the event. Of course, the entire focus will be to try different things to see what works and what doesn’t work. That way I can leave the event with a lot of knowledge to help me at my trials.'

Favourites

Most sailors are listing the same group of sailors for possible victory at Balaton including current world champion Jonas Hoegh-Christensen, current European Champion Ed Wright, Princess Sofia winner Marin Misura and Hyeres winner Emilos Papathanasiou. However, some are also predicting a few upsets to the established order.

Slater said, 'Jonas and Emilios have to be the favourites given their form in Hyeres. However the return of the America's Cup sailors will strengthen the fleet. Ed Wright has been improving since Palma but Peter-Jan Postma (NED) won the last three races in Hyeres and is in really good form.' He also finished a very close second to Slater at the Breitling Regatta.

The America's Cup sailors are of course the boys from +39, including Athens silver medalist Rafael Trujillo (ESP), Anthony Nossiter (AUS), 2006 World Masters Champion Michael Maier (CZE) and previous Junior World and European Champion Chris Brittle (GBR). These sailors had actually hoped not to be in Balaton but after being knocked out of the Louis Vuitton Cup after the round robin stages, could be a force to be reckoned with. Nossiter said, 'Some of us had entered the Holland regatta before the LV, but after a few days of the fleet racing (Act 13), we were quietly hoping we would be loosing our deposits on the bungalows. The first race of the fleet racing we were leading around every mark until the wind did a 360. In the second race we were in the top group when we lost our rig. ITA 85 had wheels in a breeze I must say. However, we're all excited to be hiking again.'

He continued, 'We've done no Finn sailing for the last month, with the Louis Vuitton action being a little distracting. But up to race one of LV, we had sailed Finn 25 days out of the last 65...38% of our time in preparing for LV was in the Finn! It was a great event, we out performed teams with much larger budgets and did it with a bunch of Finn mates. Mixing up the AC class with the Finn Class was CLASS! My hot tips for the European Championships is Michael Maier, who won the Finn World Masters at the same venue last year. The big CZE tells me more to expect more light than fresh airs on Lake Balaton and a fair sized shift or two.'

Current World Champion Jonas Hoegh-Christensen has been putting in some consistent results of late including losing Hyeres on the final race. He said, 'We are expecting light winds, but as Cascias (ISAF Worlds) is the main focus for everyone this year, I think no one has made special preparations for this event. With that in mind you might see sailors that are starting to work on their light wind set-up for the games. Of course this event will favour some of the light and experienced sailors. Experience goes a long way in the light. Knowing how to get what becomes a very heavy boat sailing fast is much more important than the crew weight. I think the winds will be shifty as well, so maybe speed won't be of the essence, but you always look smarter if you are a little faster. would look out for Emilios, Dan Slater, Ed Wright and Daniel Birgmark as the typical favourites, but as outsiders I see some of the former eastern Europeans countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic because they sail on lakes on a regular basis.'

Dan Slater added, 'I think for most sailors this season Cascais will be the main focus. However for some nations the Europeans and some of the Grade 1 regattas will be Olympic selection events as well as funding for next year.' Railey added a further name into the mix, 'My dark horse for the event is Brendan Casey (AUS)', a recent addition to the Finn fleet, who is starting to make a name for himself on the water with a 15th in Hyeres and a 10th in Holland. Other names to keep an eye on are Peer Moberg (NOR), winner of this year's Miami OCR and Gasper Vincec (SLO)

This year the senior event is also combined with the Juniors, a format that has been successfully incorporated for a number of years. Last year's Junior European Champion Mark Andrews (GBR) will be back, but he is now too old to defend his title.  However there are a number of new and untested juniors entered for the championship, so the outcome is by no means certain.

Measurement and registration takes place from 1st to 3rd June. The first race of what is planned to be a nine race series commences on Monday June 4th with the final race on Saturday June 9th.

Sunday June 3rd - Sailors make last minute preparations

The 2007 Finn Junior and Senior European Championship has been officially opened at Spartacus Sailing Club on Lake Balaton in Hungary. Opening the event, IFA President Dr Balazs Hajdu welcomed the 94 sailors from 27 countries to Balaton, including 26 juniors. He commented, “It is great to see such a high turnout for this championship, especially noting that nearly one third of the fleet are juniors, a clear indication of the strength of the class and something we have been working towards.”

Today was practice race day, and although sailors who arrived last week for training on Lake Balaton experienced some strong winds, the pattern the past few days has been for very light and patchy winds. Today, the wind was 3-5 knots westerly and relatively stable with sunny blue skies. The forecast for the coming week shows very little wind, however some locals are expecting a front to bring stronger winds Monday.

About half the fleet ventured out for the practice race while others finalised their preparations on shore or finished getting their boats through measurement. Two practice starts were held and then a complete race. Nick Craig (GBR) led a contingent of British boats round the course but ducked out just before the finish to leave Rafal Szukiel (POL) as the winner followed by Tibor Pallay (HUN) and Michal Strusinski (POL). As is traditional, only a handful of boats finished the race.

There have been a number of no-shows, the most significant of which is the defending European Champion Ed Wright (GBR) who has instead decided to concentrate on training for the all important ISAF Worlds in Cascais in July as he seeks to qualify for Qingdao ahead of his main rival Ben Ainslie (GBR), who will probably miss Cascais due to America's Cup commitments.

Meeting

Last night at the class AGM, sailors paid tribute to long time Finn sailor and member of the technical committee Andrzej Ostrowski who died earlier this year and also heard about a number of exciting initiatives under way within the class.

There has been an encouraging growth in the class across the world with many new or returning nations sending competitors to this championship, and this reflects an ongoing upward trend within the Finn class. With 94 entries, the 2007 Finn European Championships will be the largest ever contested.

The Finn class has always prided itself on leading by example in technological advances, and this philosophy is continuing using state-of-the-art devices to promote and expand the class. After initial trials at the Midwinters Championship at Fort Lauderdale and the innovative Coaches Regatta at Clearwater, USA, Gus Miller (USA) has brought to Balaton his latest on-board camera mount to collect video footage of the racing. Using an ultra-light custom designed mount attached to the rear deck, the lightweight video camera has not only proven to be a highly useful training tool, but has also provided excellent video material for an interactive clinic website that the IFA is producing.

This multi-lingual site will cater for all levels of Finn sailing and is due to go live later this year. Various competitors here this week will have the camera mounted on their boats during racing to record beginner, intermediate and advanced level Finn sailing so the users of the website can differentiate between various techniques. Once complete, it is expected to become an important tool for Finn sailors through natural growth of content and a clever database system that will allow new languages and content to be added without undue hassle.

Gus Miller commented, “We already have excellent footage of several sailors including some of people just starting out right up to world champion Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN), so you can see how different people work in their boats. What is readily apparent is that you can really see the differences between the different techniques and the different levels, whether it is tacking, gybing or steering. The biggest problem though is edited the hours of footage down to the short clips that we need to illustrate each manoeuvre.”

Also under discussion are GPS 'black boxes' for use in controlling start lines and for transmitting race data back to shore for live media presentations. Already trialled at the Finn Gold Cup in Moscow in 2005, the class is looking at possibilities for using GPS tracking on a regular basis, although at the moment, cost is the prohibitive factor.

Technical developments in this pre-Olympic year are purposely kept to a necessary minimum. However, recent rule changes do include the further standardisation of equipment by introducing a rule for rudder fittings. Carried out with the co-operation of manufacturers to ensure uniformity, it in effect means that all rudders will now fit on all boats. This is part of the ongoing process to introduce in-house certification of equipment to standardise gear and reduce costs.

With class business now out of the way, the first race of the 2007 Finn European Championships is due to start at 10.00 Monday morning.

With a wind forecast that would depress even the most avid light wind expert, the first day of the 2007 Finn European Championship was a non-starter. The day opened with bright blue skies and the lake like a mirror. The start time at 10.00 came and went with only the slightest hint of breeze on the water. All the weather reports for today predicted no more than 4 knots, so the sailors resigned themselves to a long day of waiting around. At 12.00 a moderate breeze filled in followed by dark clouds and eventually rain. Once the rain had cleared the wind decided to disappear as well and the postponement was extended with a rather hopeful statement of a start time at 16.50. However by 16.00 it was apparently clear that nothing was going to happen, so the race officer abandoned racing for the day.

Nine races are planned to be sailed over the six day series, so there is no concern yet. The real concern in that the forecast for the coming days is not much better. With the sailing instructions stating that no more than two races can be sailed on any one day, and with the last day intended to be a medal race day, there are now four days to get in the eight scheduled races. However if one more day is lost, then the full series cannot be completed. Four races are required to constitute a valid series and looking at the worst case scenario, the opening series can be extended onto the final day and then no medal race will be sailed.

New face

There are lots of new faces in the fleet here in Hungary. One of them is Nitin Mongia (IND) who campaigned a Star to try and qualify for the Olympics in 2004, but has now switched to the Finn. Prior to jumping into the Star he won the Silver Medal at the 2002 Asian Games sailing the OK Dinghy and then won the 2003 OK Dinghy World Championship on his home waters in Goa.

Mongia said, “We tried to purchase a new Star boat but that fell through because of lack of finances. I wanted to keep sailing so after the Asian Games last year I decided to get into a Finn and try and qualify for the 2008 Olympics.” At the Asian Games in Doha in 2006, Mongia won the Silver medal in the match racing sailing a Beneteau 7.5.

The Indian sailor is one of several competitors here who have been recipients of help from the International Finn Association's FIDeS programme (Finn International Development Support) which aims to provide assistance to sailors from 'developing' Finn nations through the issue of used gear, discounts on new equipment and coaching support. He said, “I'm really grateful for the help of the IFA in helping me get this boat and to the people at Devoti Sailing. They have all been really helpful.”

With statistics showing that the world's population is getting larger and taller, Mongia is already at the right weight for Finn sailing and is one of a growing number of sailors from nations that have always been regarded as having populations historically too short or light to be competitive in the Finn. It is clear that this view is now changing with increasing numbers of sailors from Far Eastern countries coming into the Finn and being competitive.

At the moment India has only one place at the ISAF Worlds in Cascais although India now has two sailors vying for places at Cascais, the pre-Olympics and ultimately Qingdao. Nachhatar Johal (IND) joined the fleet earlier this year for the Rolex Miami OCR, but is not sailing in the Europeans. Mongia has applied for a commission place in Cascais and is still hopeful that he will get to sail there after proving himself this week.

Nitin Mongia has a steep learning curve ahead of him. “It's similar to the OK Dinghy in many respects, but I just need to work on set up and spend time in the boat.” In fact the current OK Dinghy World Champion Nick Craig (GBR) who is also competing this week has helped Mongia set up his Finn ready for the regatta, offering advice on mast rake settings and sail trim – one world champion to another.

Racing continues tomorrow – Tuesday – at 10.00, wind permitting.

Tuesday June 5^{th -} Two perfect races

Against all the odds, two perfect races were completed today in the 2007 Finn European Championship. Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) won race one while Oleksiy Borysov (UKR) won race two. However the current overall lead is held by Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) after scoring a 4th and an 8th today.

Two perfect races were sailed today under sunny blue skies with light cloud and 5 to7 knots of wind. An overnight change in the weather brought a south-easterly breeze to Lake Balaton. Many sailors turned up late this morning expecting another postponement, but were surprised to find a somewhat healthy wind in place and boats already launching for the first start at 10.00.

In the light winds of today, course 2 was sailed – a double return loop with a spacer mark at the windward mark and a gate at the leeward end, before a short reach to the finish line.

Race one

Race one of the championships got under way first time with an individual recall. Stefan de Vries (NED) and Florian Raudaschl (AUT) failed to return and were pulled out at the first mark. Many boats favoured the pin end which became a bit crowded, but the 2001 European Champion Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) started at the committee boat and made the best of the first beat on the right hand side. Most of those who started at the pin, rounded the top mark in the 30s.

At the first mark Papathanasiou was followed by Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO), Joao Signorini (BRA) and Andrew Casey (USA). Most of the fleet gybed on the spacer mark and headed to the left side of the run where there appeared to be more pressure. Papathanasiou eased out ahead and rounded the right hand gate to be followed by Kljakovic Gaspic and Signorini. Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) had moved up to fourth with Brendan Casey (AUS) in fifth.

The second beat followed much the same pattern with Papathanasiou favouring the right and maintaining his lead. Several of those trying to recover from a bad first beat tried the left again and made up some ground. Current World Champion Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) rounded the first mark in the 30s, but managed to recover to 16^th by the finish.

Signorini passed the Croatian on the second beat, but on the final run to the finish, Kljakovic Gaspic got past the Brazilian and made a strong challenge for the lead, with a frantic gybing dual between himself and Papathanasiou. However, the Greek held the inside track and gybed first to lead to the finish.

Race two

The second race started almost immediately in the same conditions, although the wind did strengthen slightly during the race. This time the pin end was relatively empty. André Budzien (GER) started right on the mark with Hoegh Christensen just to windward. After the experience of the first race, most of the fleet headed towards the right side. Even those who started at the pin soon tacked off to the right. However a shift to the left favoured those who had been conservative and stayed towards the middle or the left.

First round the top mark was Michal Hruby (CZE) followed by Budzien, Oleksiy Borysov (UKR), Karel van Hellemond (NED), Andrew Casey (USA), Nick Craig (GBR) and Hoegh-Christensen. The race was very much a repeat of race 2, except with different faces at the front.

At the gate Hruby still held the lead with Borysov moving up to second. On the second beat most boats now favoured the left hand side, with just a few venturing right. By the second windward mark, van Hellemond had taken the lead from Borysov, with Budzien still in third. Positions on the final run remained much the same except Borysov passed van Hellemond to take the winner's gun.

With a 4^th and an 8^th, Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) is the overnight leader after two races with Andrew Casey (USA) in second, Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) in third.

Speaking after the race, Papathanasiou said, “In the first race, I got a nice start and went most of the way to the right and then got a shift back to lead round the top mark. On the run I was playing with about four or five boats and made sure of the race by moving ahead of everyone. On the second beat I went right again, and lead to the finish. On the second race I tried the same thing but the wind went left half way up the first beat and I rounded the top mark in about 30^th. I had a good run and second beat and moved up to 13th by the finish. It is a good start to this championship.”

He continued, “In these conditions you need to really concentrate on what is going on and watch the shifts. The wind strength was fairly stable but it was shifting about 15 degrees either way, so at no time can you relax. However I am very happy with the racing. The Race Officer did a good job, set a good line and course and it was good racing.”
 

Winner of race two, 24 year old Borysov added, “I am very satisfied with my day's racing, This is my first ever major championship race win. Basically I just tried to find the best pressure and sail with that and it seemed to work.” Borysov has made steady progress in recent years, so it is good to see that dedication rewarded with good results.

Last week the Finn World Masters championship was held in Murcia, Spain. The winner of that event was André Budzien from Germany. After four consecutive years of finishing as the runner up, he finally clinched the title in impressive style with five race wins. After today's racing he commented, gI tried the same thing in both races today, starting at the pin and trying to go left. In the first race the wind went right so I didn't do so well. In the second race, I started right next to the pin and was one of the last to tack back to the right. I rounded the top mark second and finished third, so I am very pleased with that.h Lying 14^th overall he is currently the leading German sailor in the event.

In the Junior event, it looks like a hard fight is ahead for many of the younger sailors. The top junior is currently Josip Olijic (CRO) who is lying in 38^th place after an impressive 8^th in race one. Just two points behind him is Marko Kolic (ITA) who scored an 18^th in race two. The third placed junior is Andriy Gusenko (UKR) in 41^st place.
 

Two more races are scheduled for Wednesday, starting at 10.00. Again the prediction is for very little wind, but even now at 17.00 local time there is still a solid breeze of up to 10 knots across the lake, so the sailors live in the hope that the forecasters can sometimes be wrong.
 

Wednesday June 6th - World champion takes lead at high scoring regatta

Only one race was sailed today at the Finn European Championship. The race win went to Walclaw Szukiel (POL) after a close battle with Dan Slater (NZL), but the current world champion, Jonas Hogh-Christensen (DEN) takes the lead of the regatta with a 16, 4, 17 scoreline.

Wednesday dawned colder and cloudy on Lake Balaton, with more light winds providing very tricky conditions. Course 2, the double return loop was sailed again. However, conditions were more challenging with a fickle 4-6 knot breeze that turned some sailors race into a game of dice.

After two general recalls, race three started under a black flag. Most of the fleet immediately tacked off to the right, however at the top mark, Walclaw Szukiel (POL) emerged from the middle to lead by a considerable margin. Behind him were Anthony Nossiter (AUS), Rafal Szukiel (POL), Joao Signorini (BRA) and Stefan de Vries (NED). Both downwind legs proved to be decisive. Those who stayed in the middle lost places while those who sailed the angles down the outside generally gained places.

At the end of the leg, Szukiel had retained his lead with Gasper Vincec (SLO) moving up to second and Dan Slater (NZL) moving from the mid-teens to third. Again most of the fleet tried the right hand side of the beat, although this time more conservatively. By the final windward mark, Slater had moved up to second and was challenging Szukiel for the lead on the downwind to the finish.

For many the final leg changed everything. Szukiel said, “Half way down the final downwind, Dan came across me to the left and passed me in more pressure. I nearly followed him but then saw Johan sailing down the right side in more pressure as the wind filled in. I sailed more to the right and found enough wind to sail past Dan again and win the race.”

With the wind dying slightly on the right, and the pack in the middle blanketing each other, those on the right made large gains. Johan Tillander (SWE) moved from the 20s to third, while Brendan Casey (AUS) who was about 80th at the first mark, took another 20 places to finally finish 8th. Vincec held onto 4th, with Rafal Szukiel in 5th and Michael Maier (CZE) in 6th.

The race officer tried for over two hours to start a second race, but wind the wind swinging to a new direction, dropping and generally not being co-operative, he sent the sailors ashore to wait. After some sweet onions on bread was served by the club, he finally called it a day at 17.00 with very little sign of wind on the lake.

This event is looking like being a very high scoring regatta. After just three races, Jonas Hoegh-Christensen moved from 5th to 1st after scoring at 17th today. Slater's second place moves him up to second overall, while overnight leader Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) drops to third. The highest placed British sailor is in fourth place. After a 19th today Nick Craig (GBR) moves up two places to 4th overall with Brendan Casey in 5th and André Budzien (GER) in 6th. In the juniors, Marko Kolic (ITA) is in 29th place, only 4 points ahead of Ian Cook (USA) who placed 11th today. Third placed Junior is Frederico Melo (POR). With the seemingly random results of some competitors, it is hard to make any sort of prediction for the rest of the regatta.

The depth of the fleet here is a major challenge to competitors. With 27 nations competing, and 91 boats on the water, getting anywhere near the front is very tough. Currently, there are 16 nations represented in the top 20. Interestingly, the Dutch and the British teams both have three boats in the top 20. Highlighting how tough it is to stay consistent here, the winners of yesterday's races finished 47th and 76th respectively.

One distinctly non-European competitor sailing here this week here is Joao Signorini (BRA). Having campaigned a Finn for the Athens Olympic regatta in 2004, where he finished 10th, Signorini took some time out of his Finn to sail in the Volvo Ocean Race on board 'Brazil 1'

“Since Athens all I have done in the Finn are a few local regattas in Brazil and then I started sailing again in August last year. My first real regatta was Palma this year and then Hyeres, Holland and now here. After this week I will go home for a bit and then return for Cascais before going to Qingdao for the pre-Olympics.”

He describes sailing on 'Brazil1' as a life changing experience. “Some moments were very hard, but we managed to win one leg and finish third overall. We felt this was a great result because we were the on second lowest budget of all the boats. The race changed me into another person. It changes the way you look at things – but in a good way. Also it was very good for sailing in Brazil. Everyone followed the us and the race and it generated lots of interest. There were six Brazilians on board so it was a nice atmosphere for all of us.”

Signorini is here in Balaton with fellow Brazilian Jorge Zarif (BRA) who represented Brazil at the 1984 Olympics in Long Beach, USA. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Signorini said “In Cascais we will try to qualify Brazil for the Olympics and then back home we will have some trials to select who goes. Actually, in Qingdao it will be interesting. The conditions there are supposed to be light with strong tide. Now that is exactly what we have in my home town of Rio.”

Speaking about the class in Brazil he said, “The Finn class in Brazil is growing all the time. We have lots of new young sailors coming into the class and one of our guys has recently started building Finns from a old mould donated to us by Pata Marine in Hungary. All the new boats back home are being used, so this will help us to expand the fleet.”

Balatonfoldvar is an attractive, quiet village beside the enormous Lake Balaton. Most of the sailors are staying in hotels within a few 100 metres of the club. Running parallel through the town is the main road from Budapest and the railway line. The trains have to be dodged each morning as the sailors walk to the club.

Spartacus Sailing Club is a small club with no more than 100 members. It was only established in 1990 although it has a complicated history dating back to 1939 when the Royal Hungarian Yacht Club built a clubhouse on the end of a peninsula constructed from dredged mud and sand when the beautiful marina alongside it was built. The club is justifiably proud of the fact that many of its members have represented Hungary at the Olympic Games and won several world championships in various classes.

The clubhouse has a beautiful outlook, with a lawn overlooking the hills around the eastern part of Lake Balaton some 50 km away. The western end of the lake is hidden by a large peninsula that separates the two parts of the lake. The lake has an average depth of just 2-3 metres deep and because of the high temperatures experienced so far this year – which the locals admit is unusual so early – the water temperature is already over 20 degrees.

On the lake shores there are flashing white lights at various intervals. The approach of bad weather is forewarned by a doubling in speed of the flashing. Last evening as sailors were finishing off the last of the complimentary goulash and wine, the lights were blinking faster in the distance and a line of wind appeared on the water. Within 5 minutes a stiff wind was scattering serviettes and empty plastic cups around the lawn. Within 15 minutes, the club was being lashed by 30 knot winds and torrential rain. Many of the locals are convinced this increasing occurrence is caused by global warming. The questions on the sailors minds is what happens if this occurs during a race.

Two races are scheduled for tomorrow, again at 10.00, again wind permitting.

Thursday 7th June - All change at the top at Finn Europeans

After a day of topsy-turvy racing, four sailors drop out of the top ten and a second win for Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) moves him from 11th to first. Today, two more races were sailed in light winds, with Stefan de Vries (NED) dominating the first and Marko Kolic (ITA) extending his lead in the Junior fleet.

On waking this morning, most sailors were hoping for at least one race to be sailed in order to make a championship, but on arriving at the club, they found a healthy 5-7 knot breeze in place from the north-west with clear blue skies, which meant that two races were sailed and a drop could be counted. With the light winds, course 2 was sailed for the third day running. The fickle winds again produced some high scores and surprise results, and with temperatures reaching over 25 degrees, it was tough going for some.

After a clean start at the first attempt, the fleet split fairly evenly to the right and left, with some sailors still gambling on a corner bonanza. This left the middle of the course almost devoid of boats.

At the first mark, Stefan de Vries (NED) led by a comfortable margin from Florian Raudaschl (AUT), Joao Signorini (BRA), Dan Slater (NZL), Chris Brittle (GBR), Daniel Birgmark (SWE) and Vladimir Krutskikh (RUS). He emerged from the middle left after those who had banged the right hand corner rounded in the 30s.

He extended his lead on the run while Slater moved up to second. On the next beat Slater went hard right while de Vries played the middle ground again. When the two came together, de Vries had gained more and rounded well ahead. Raudaschl remained in third.

On the final downwind, de Vries was never seriously threatened, although Krutskikh caught up Slater and looked at one point to have passed him. However Slater had the inside track at the mark and led the Russian to the finish for second place.

After the race de Vries said, “I got a good start in the middle of the line but didn't really know which side to go so I stayed in the middle and waited to see. I ended up going left of middle and that was very nice. The last run was a bit tense as the wind was light, so I just put myself between the next boats and the mark and managed to win by just over 20 seconds.”

After two general recalls, race five started under black flag. The main casualty of this was Slater, who rounded the top mark in a good position only to see his number on the black board. Others sent home early were Brittle, Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) and Matthias Bohn (GER).

Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) started at the committee boat and immediately tacked off to the right. He rounded the first mark nicely ahead and led all the way to the finish.

Following him round the first mark were Raudaschl, Gasper Vincec (SLO), Brittle, Nathan Quirk (AUS) and Andrew Casey (USA). Papathanasiou extended his lead on the run with Skornyakov moving up to fourth. A shift to the left on the second beat meant a long port tack, and fewer opportunities for passing. However Skornyakov had moved to second by the windward mark.

On the final downwind, the wind went very light, but Papathanasiou's second win of the event was never in question. Raudaschl recovered to second on the run to wrap up an excellent day, with Skornyakov having to settle for third place. After Vincec in fourth there was a significant gap to the following fleet.

So after five races, Papathanasiou has moved into the lead on 32 points with Skornyakov just two points behind him and Ivan Kljakovich Gaspic (CRO) a further 5 points adrift. There has been no discernible pattern to this event so far with everyone in the top 20 picking up high scores at some point.

Speaking later Papathanasiou said, “It is very difficult to make the top ten here. We knew before we came to Balaton it would be a high scoring regatta, and so it is turning out to be. I am happy to be leading but yesterday I got a yellow flag, so I must be careful now. After doing my turns I dropped to 47th in that race. I hope tomorrow we have two more nice races for people to watch and the sailors to enjoy – and also that I can maintain my lead.

About the right side of the course, he said, “I think the right side of the course is the safest bet. It is very difficult to start here and stay in the middle. The wind is coming from left and right at times, so that makes the tactics hard – and you also need some luck. The right side seems safest – but not always! The race officer has done a good job in difficult conditions and should be pleased. The courses are fantastic and all the sailors are happy.”

This regatta – perhaps due to its location on a lake in central Europe – has attracted a diverse range of competitors from all sectors of the Finn family. As well as the committed Olympians there are juniors, masters, locals and class stalwarts in attendance, all adding to the mix and all hoping for their share in lady luck. “I'd rather be lucky than good.” is, perhaps, an overused phrase here this week.

While roughly 25 per cent of the fleet racing on Lake Balaton classify as Masters, about 30 per cent are juniors, which is clearly more encouraging for the class.

At the other end of the spectrum is Louie Nadie (USA). He is back on Lake Balaton for the second year running, having competed last year in the Finn World Masters at Balatonfured, just across the lake. He came back this year mainly because his son Andras Nadie (USA) wanted to compete in the European Championship. Travelling to Hungary is something of a homecoming for Louie as he was born nearby before his family moved away – eventually to the USA – soon after the Second World War.

Nadie has been a keen Finn sailor for over 40 years. Buying his first Finn in about 1964, he placed 5th in the 1973 Finn Gold Cup and 4th in the 1978 Finn Gold Cup. He also finished second in the US Olympic trials in 1972 to Ed Bennett (USA).

Asked why he keeps coming back for more after all these years, his answer is simple, “The Finn is a great boat to race. It's fun to sail, a handful in a strong breeze, but when you get it right it gives you a wonderful feeling. Age is also no limit. Many people in the States are finding out quite late in life how fun the Finn can be.” Speaking about this event, “For me it's just a matter of seeing what I can do. Sometimes I am up there, sometimes not. You have to take it all and I just enjoy it.” Nadie is currently lying in 73rd place, well ahead of his son.

The final two qualifying series races will be attempted tomorrow, Friday 8th June before the medal race on Saturday and the final points race for those placed 11th and higher.

Friday June 8th - Two boat race for Finn European title

Going into tomorrow's medal race, the 2007 Finn European Championship will be decided between Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) and Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO). Both are guaranteed a medal. Skornyakov will get gold or silver, Kljakovic Gaspic will get Silver or Bronze. Only Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) can take the silver away from Kljakovic Gaspic. However the fight for bronze is wide open with only five points separating the next six boats.

Today on Lake Balaton sailors experienced the best winds of the week so far, again in soaring temperatures and blue skies. Windward-leeward courses were sailed again in 8-12 knots which even allowed for one free pumping leg when the wind rose over 12 knots.

Race six

The sixth points race got away first time in 10-12 knots of breeze. Race winner Anthony Nossiter (AUS) takes up the story. “The line was about 15 degrees biased towards the pin end. I started about 15 boats up. Everyone was bow to bow so it was hard for anyone to tack, however I had made a nice little gap so managed to get onto port first and took a long tack out to the right hand side. I led round the top mark and from then it was easy to stay there.”

Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) started right on the pin and also tacked across to the right hand side. He rounded the top mark in second in front of Gasper Vincec (SLO), Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) and overnight leader Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE). On the first downwind the Oscar flag was raised for unrestricted pumping so the Finn sailors could finally enjoy themselves downwind in the strengthening breeze. However this was all they got as the wind then moderated, but stayed about 8-10 knots for the rest of the day.

Vincec took the lead briefly at the bottom mark, but Nossiter reclaimed it on the second beat to lead down the final run to the finish with Vincec in second, Hoegh Christensen in third and Papathanasiou finishing fourth.

The final qualifying race also got away first time in slightly less wind. Championship leader Papathanasiou started right on the committee boat as normal and headed towards the right hand side. He rounded the top mark somewhere in the 30s, but never really recovered, eventually finishing 31st and ending his chances of winning the title.

With the left hand side paying this time, a lot of new faces appeared at the first mark. First round was Alberto Vadell (ESP) followed by Zach Railey (USA), Karel van Hellemond (NED), Daniel Birgmark (SWE), Rafal Szuikiel (POL) and Tapio Nirko (FIN). Positions didn't change much on the downwind.

On the final upwind leg, over 75 per cent of the fleet favoured the right hand side of the course. Vadell and Railey were still very close together at the windward mark, so close in fact that Vadell's tack inside Railey was too close so he ended up doing penalty turns and letting Railey escape down the final leg to win the race. Behind Railey and Vadell were Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), Birgmark, Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) and Joao Signorini (BRA).

Nossiter shared, “It's been a tricky regatta, although not as random as we all first thought it would be. It's been a bit light though. I had to use moisturiser on my behind yesterday as I've spent so much time sitting on the traveller.” “Does the world really want to know this?” I asked. “Sure,” he replied. After the end of the +39 America's Cup campaign, Nossiter is now full time in the Finn to try and qualify his country and himself for the Olympics in China.

Railey summed up his day, “It's been a really great day for me today with a sixth and a first.” This has lifted him in to the medal race with a chance at the bronze tomorrow. “The goal tomorrow is to go and have a really good race and then see where the points fall. It's certainly going to be an exciting one to watch.”

On the US Olympic selection trials this October he said, “I'm really pleased about this week. I have learned a lot about light airs and shifts and that's really important. There are ups and downs for everyone and the trick is to be consistent by minimising the bad races and making as many of the points count as you can. Our trials in Newport, California will probably be sailed in similar conditions, and the other guys are also going well, so it will be really tough. The trials are at a club that has had an explosion of Finn growth in the past year with some 25 to 30 boats there, so it will be good for them as well.”

Lake Balaton was where it all started 41 years ago. Due to the problems at that time associated with transferring eastern European membership fees to the International Finn Association, Hungary proposed that these funds be used to organise local regattas. It was also suggested that any event aimed at Juniors would be welcomed by the authorities who would be only to keen to offer additional support. Therefore, in 1966 the first ever Junior Finn European Championship was held at Balatonfured, just across the lake from the Spartacus Sailing Club in Balatonfoldvar where the 2007 championship is currently taking place.

That first event also suffered from a lack of wind, but they still managed to get in seven races. The winner was Serge Maury (FRA), who later went on to win the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic regatta in Kiel. The Junior European Championship has provided a springboard for many other successful sailors across range of classes. 1992, it survived as an independent event, but in 1993 it was considered no longer financially viable, so it was combined with the senior event.

In the late 1990s, the number of juniors started growing again and there was a call from them to have their own world championship. This was first sailed for in 1999 in Melbourne and has been a popular event ever since, albeit combined with the senior world championship – the Finn Gold Cup. However in 2007 for the first time ever, the Juniors will have their own world championship, sailed in Moscow using 40 of the 100 Finns bought in for the 2005 Finn Gold Cup. Demand for these places is high and the event already looks likely to be oversubscribed.

Part of the reason why there are so many juniors sailing at this event – 26 Juniors are present in Balatonfoldvar – are the ongoing efforts by both the International Finn Association and the national associations to develop youth sailing across the world. Many youths are now joining the class quite young as they outgrow other traditional youth boats. Some of the stories are quite heart warming.

Three German youngsters sailing here – Sebastien Kaule (GER), Jan Kurfield (GER) and Anian Schreiber (GER) – are all pat of a German youth initiative. President of the so called 'German Finn Foundation'. André Budzien said, “Seven older Finn sailors in Germany established the Foundation in Germany to promote Finn sailing to youngsters. It is designed to source equipment and provide coaching for promising young sailors with the aim of brining them up to the level necessary to receive support from the German Sailing Federation. Our big goal is getting them ready to represent Germany at the Olympics in 2012.” With a wink he adds, “and win a Gold medal!”

Currently there are 30 members of the Finn Foundation who provide support to the youngsters through annual subscriptions, gifts and it also acts as a platform for sponsorship. The Foundation has also received charitable status from the German Government.

Budzien continues, “Our biggest sponsor at the moment is the German Finn Association, but we are actively looking for a commercial sponsor to take things further. We are currently supporting four young sailors, three of whom are here, and all four will all be attending the Junior Finn World Championship in Moscow.” The impression from Budzien is that he feels it is absolutely essential for the future of German Finn sailing to support these youngsters in every way possible. “This is the first time in the history of the German Finn fleet that we have found the right way to support our young sailors.” Just perhaps it will act as a model for other countries to follow. They even have their own website at www.finnteamgermany.de, although currently it is just in German.

Going into the final race tomorrow 77this Kurfield is 61st Schreiber is 66th. We wish them all well.

There are many new faces at this event. Of those attending their first ever major Finn Championship are David Evetovich (SBR) and Milos Balunović (SBR). At just 16 years old, this would be a daunting prospect for many, but they are both engagingly enthusiastic and optimistic about competing in a major championship and racing alongside some of the biggest names in the Finn world.

Balunović has had the more experience of the two having started sailing the Finn three years ago. Last year he claimed third junior in the Balkan Championship, sailing against many older and more experienced Finn sailors. However a motorbike accident has meant he has hardly sailed at all this year and he is still in recovery. “It's only the second time I have been able to sail this year, so I hope to gradually improve.”

Balunović and Evetovich arrived at Balaton with their own fairly old Finns, however, IFA supplied Balunović with a new Devoti Finn supplied through the International Finn Association's FIDeS programme (Finn International Development Support). Evetovich commented, “Milos is normally the better sailor out of the two of us, finishing just ahead of me, so it was natural for him to sail the FIDeS Finn, while I will sail my own older boat.”

Both are members of YK Palic in Serbia and came into the Finn class directly from the Optimist class, which they readily admit they were both already getting to big for. Balunović continued, “Finn sailing in Serbia is relatively small, but it is growing and we were chosen to come because the others are a bit old.” He concluded, “I'd really like to thank IFA for giving me this opportunity to sail a new boat at this level. Corinne McKenzie has been really helpful in sorting everything out and we are very happy to be racing in such a good fleet.”

Skornyakov's seventh and fifth lifts him once again into the pole position that he held after day one. Kljakovic Gaspic scored the same results as the Russian today and moves up to second overall, while Papathanasiou drops to third with a 4th and a 31st. World Champion Hoegh-Christensen had a high score in the second race and drops to 10th. Such have been the conditions here that only two people in the medal race have actually won races this week, Papathanasiou and Railey.

The Junior title itself is still wide open. Overnight leader Marko Kolic (ITA) had a very bad day and dropped to 40th overall and is now fifth placed Junior. The new leader is Michal Struinski (POL) in 26th place. Frederico Melo (POR) rises to 31st place, 10 points back while third placed Junior is Piotr Kuzr (POL), another 19 points behind. Anything could happen in tomorrow's final race as all top three Juniors are already discarding a high score.

Tomorrow is the final day of the 52nd Finn European Championship and the 42st Finn Junior European Championship. For those that made the top ten, the medal race will be sailed first following by the final race for the rest of the fleet.

A week of challenging and intense sailing culminated on Lake Balaton today, Saturday, with the medal race for the top ten and the final points race for the rest of the fleet. As has been the pattern for the past four days, a thermal wind filled in around 0800 and, although one of the weakest of the week, was enough to sail both races.

The course was set close to the club for the spectators to enjoy with two windward leeward loops sailed. Seeking to make sure of the bronze medal, Emilios Papathanasiou (GRE) started at the pin and immediately tacked onto port to get to the right side where there appeared more pressure. Second place overnight, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) started mid line while event leader Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) started at the committee boat. Within a few seconds all were on port heading right.

Papathanasiou found the best of the pressure to pull forward on the line of boats and sailed furthest to the right. The Russian tacked back first and was next to last. Round the top mark Papathanasiou had already built a lead of some 20 seconds during the 10 minute beat and was followed by Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN), Gasper Vincec (SLO), Kljakovic Gaspic, and Zach Railey (USA). Skornyakov only had two boats behind him. It looked like the title might be going to Croatia. Fourth Overnight Dan Slater (NZL) had to return to restart and did turns at the top mark so trailed behind Skornyakov with only Joao Signorni (BRA) behind him.

Papathansaiou and Hoegh-Christensen pulled away on the downwind and were never really threatened. On the second upwind Skornyakov sailed intelligently and started to pull back a few places. At the windward mark, he pulled through to fifth and then started to close in on the Croatian.

On the tense final leg Skornyakov covered Kljakovic Gaspic's wind from behind, but he had done enough. Kljakovic Gaspic needed at least two boats between himself and the Russian to take the title. Meanwhile at the front of the fleet, Papathanasiou's third win of the regatta secured him the bronze medal.

Kljakovic Gaspic was elated with his second place, “This is great. I didn't expect to do so well at all. However I was sailing well and had a good feeling about it, was being patient because of the tricky conditions and was generally feeling relaxed. Then yesterday, lots of sailors had high scores which moved me up to second. Today I went out knowing I could win the title, but also wanted to protect my second place. I had a good start but didn't feel I was going that fast upwind. At the top mark I had enough places on the Russian to win, but he sailed well on the second beat and pulled back just behind me, so he won and I was second. I am still very happy though.”

Skornyakov has only been sailing the Finn since September 2006, after moving out of 49ers. He was well prepared from sailing on the lakes in Moscow, where he is supported by the Moscow Sailing School. He is actually sailing one of the Finns bought in for the 2005 Finn Gold Cup that was sailed in Moscow. He said, “I am very impressed with the quality of the boats and the fleet here. It is all very good. I was well prepared for this event and I hoped that I could win.”

The eighth and final race for the rest of the fleet started soon after with two general recalls and then eight boats sent home. The light wind race favoured the right hand side again and those who went left lost all the wind. Round the first mark, Davide Bortoletto (ITA) led from Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), Sanders Willems (NED) and Andrew Casey (USA).

On the downwind leg the wind turned very light and the race officer wisely decided to shorten at the end of the next upwind. Postma had taken the lead on the downwind and headed right again stretching out to win by a considerable margin. Junior sailor Josip Olijic (CRO) worked his way up to second with Michael Maier (CZE) in third.

Johan Tillander's fourth place was enough to lift him to 11th and claim to be the 'best of the rest'. There have been a lot of amateur sailors mixing it with the full timers this week and this has been part of the interest over the past six days, with a much more level playing field than usual. Lots of sailors have posted impressive race results and there have been a few upsets to the established order. In fact over 43 per cent of the fleet has had at least one top ten finish. In a 92 boat fleet that is quite remarkable.

In the Junior fleet, a seventh place from Frederico Melo (POR) in today's race brought him closer to Michal Struinski (POL) who posted a 13th today, bit it wasn't enough to take the title away from the Pole. Piotr Kula (POL) placed 49th but managed to cling onto the bronze medal.

According to Pat Healy, the Chairman of the International Jury, the sailors here have been remarkably well behaved – well on the water anyway, with relatively few flags and protests. Healy is happy with the way week has gone. He commented, “This generation of Finn sailors seem to have an awful lot of respect, not only for the rules but also for their fellow competitors. If someone makes a mistake, they are generally doing their two turns automatically. As for Rule 42, the fleet looks very quiet on the whole. Personally, I think that sailing is more fun when everyone follows the rules, and I hope that the Finn sailors here do too and also had an enjoyable week.”

The weather pattern here has certainly been strange. With the the forecast for the whole week being very light and variable winds there was some concern about whether a championship could be completed. However the wind has been kind and every day a local thermal easterly has provided challenging condition for sailors. Spartacus Sailing Club is ideally situated for this kind of wind. Ae either ends of the lake there has often been no wind at all, at a time when the Finns have been sailing in a nice breeze. We have certainly been very fortunate this week.

The weather pattern for the past few days had been identical. Warm mornings have been followed by exceptionally hot afternoons with building thermal clouds and eventually an impressive thunderstorm with torrential rain and gale force winds. The rain cleans and cools the air and leaves a succession of large puddles across the town.

The sailors all came prepared for long days waiting ashore bringing with them a variety of games, books, movies and laptops to occupy their time so it is great that they were rewarded for making the effort of travelling here with a first class championship, excellent racing and a level of community and class camaraderie that is often missing in the cut and thrust of the Olympic circuit. The club and the locals have been exceptionally welcoming and there has been a great atmosphere both on and off the water. Spartacus Sailing Club and its members have been the perfect host.

The Finn class has one more major regatta – Kiel Week – before assembling in Cascais, Portugal for the ISAF Worlds and the first qualification opportunity for the 2008 Olympic Regatta – and where this monologue will continue. We'll be back.