Finn Junior World Championship

Moscow, 18-27 August, 2007

Results - day 1 - photos - Gus's photos - day 2 - day 2 photos - more photos day 2 - day 3/4 - day 5 - day 6 - day 7 - more photos days 5/6/7 - more photos from Gus

Preview:
 

Next week in Moscow the Junior Finn World Championship – for the Jorg Bruder Silver Cup – will take place on the lakes of Moscow. To date some 54 young Finn sailors from 20 nations have entered making this the largest fleet ever seen at a junior Finn championship. This massive entry is a clear indication of the growing numbers young sailors taking up the Finn across the world and is also a full justification of the generous invitation and hospitality of the Russian hosts, the Moscow Sailing School.

The adage 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' could be aptly applied to the Moscow Sailing School. In 2003 it announced ambitious plans to run the 2005 Finn Gold Cup on Moscow's lakes and to ensure its success bought in 100 brand new Finns complete with masts and sails for the sailors to use. That championship was a resounding success and since then the MSS have put those same Finns to good use supporting local sailors and generally building Finn racing in Moscow. As a result, the Finn class in Moscow has been revitalised and it now organises a series of ever more popular Finn regattas throughout the year. One of MSS's sailors, Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) even used one of these boats to win the Finn European Championships on Lake Balaton earlier this year.

Silver Cup

But now it is the turn of the juniors. In running a second major championship, MSS initially offered 40 of the boats to junior sailors to use free of charge. However, the demand was so great it raised this number to 60 to accommodate all the sailors interested in attending. In some countries, such as Denmark for example, there were so many juniors eager to sail in Moscow that the class had to organise trials to select their sailors.

Moscow Sailing School is located about 15 miles north of Moscow on the shores of Klyazminskoe Lake. It is an impressive modern campus with all the necessary facilities and space to run a large championship. In addition to the 60 Finns, MSS are also providing 10 coach boats and the sailors are being accommodated in the grounds of the MSS.

It is very hard to predict favourites from such an untested field of sailors, although there are a few names who have been proving themselves on the senior circuit in the past year. The medalists from the Junior Europeans are all competing. Michal Strusinski (POL) took that title from Frederico Melo (POR) and Piotr Kula (POL) in a tight series on Lake Balaton earlier this year, so it will be interesting to see how these three perform in what will probably be similar conditions.

As would be expected there is a strong eastern European presence, with the host nation fielding the largest entry. Many eastern European countries are starting to build Finn fleets and it is very encouraging to see strong teams from Ukraine, Belarus and the Czech Republic, as well as sailors from Serbia, Lithuania, Estonia and Romania.

A clinic is also being organized by the International Finn Association and Gus Miller (USA) at no cost for the participants. Miller will be using the innovative on-board cameras that were used in the medal race of the Finn Gold Cup in Cascais to record and explain some of the finer points of Finn sailing to the assembled juniors.

This year will be the first time ever that the Finn Junior World Championships will be sailed as an independent event. It was established in 1999 at the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne and since then has formed part of the main senior event. However growing numbers of juniors and the restrictions imposed for the ISAF Sailing World Championships made 2007 the ideal year to have a separate event.
 

The first race of the 2007 Finn Junior World Championship is on Monday 20^th August and if the hospitality of the Russians is half of what it was in 2005, these up and coming Finn sailors are in for a great time.

About the event
 

The 2007 Junior Finn World Championship will be sailed from the Moscow Sailing School from 18-26 August. Nine races are scheduled between 20-26 August. The Jorg Bruder Silver Cup was presented to the International Finn Association by Brazilian Olympic Committee in 2004 on the occasion of the Finn Gold Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a memorial to the late great Finn sailor from Brazil, who won the Finn Gold Cup three years running between 1970 and 1972.

Day one -  Lashuk leads after first day in Moscow

While their senior counterparts were struggling to find enough wind to hold races in Qingdao, the Finn Junior World Championship got off to a great start with two good races on Klyazminskoe Lake just outside Moscow. In the 50 boat fleet, the current Junior European champion Michal Strusinki (POL) won the opening race, although it is  Konstantin Lashuk (BLR) who is leading overnight with a 5th and a 4th today. The other race win went to Tomasz Kosmicki (POL).

The first race started in good wind conditions and direction which allowed the course to be set with long upwind and downwind legs. The wind was just strong enough for hiking at times, but by the middle of the race it decreased slightly. The wind shifts proved quite difficult and placed the emphasis on correct positioning. Someone who got it right was the current Junior European champion Michal Strusinki (POL). After a good start he went left on the first upwind, which paid off when a shift and stronger wind came from the left. He managed to stay in the lead all the way to the finish. Henry Bagnall (GBR) was second for the first half of the race, but was the overtaken by Egor Larionov (RUS) and they stayed in the same positions to the finish.

For the second race, the left side did not have such an obvious advantage. The race committee had  two attempts to start because of the straggle at the start and a light wind. Larionov was penalised at the start, and ended up 19th. Konstantin Lashuk (BLR) lead round the first mark and kept this position until almost the end of the race. For two laps he was fighting with Nikolay Chernicov (RUS) who was fourth at first mark and displayed very good tactics during the rest of the race. On the final downwind leg Chernicov had moved up to first, but just before the finish the wind went very light and three boats passed them. The winner was Tomasz Kosmicki (POL), followed by Piotr Kula (POL) and Jan Kurfeld (GER).

Overnight leader, Konstantin Lashuk said “The first race was sailed in quite tough wind conditions. The wind speed was changing very often and also suddenly. The competition was making everybody very nervous since a good position during the race did not guarantee you the same place at the finish. The downwind legs gave us more surprises than tacking upwind. Sometimes the wind was coming up from behind and bringing the boats at the back very close to you. That made the competition very tough. In the second race the wind was more stable in strength, but still with many unpredictable shifts. The main issue in that race was to be the correct side of the shift so you didn't lose too much distance. The downwind course gave the same surprises as first race, so this day has made us sweat and be very nervous!”

Racing continues in Moscow on Tuesday.
 

Results after two races

Day two – Chernicov steals victory in nail biting race in Moscow

Only one race was possible in Moscow today as light winds dominated day two of Finn World Junior Championship. Home nation sailor Nikolay Chernicov (RUS) won that race and takes the overall lead of the championship by a single point.

There was almost no wind early in the day. The race committee tried to make a start twice but they failed. Then after a couple of hours of waiting while the Finn sailors went swimming and lazed around in the hot sun, some stable wind arrived, and the race committee managed to get a start away. Some competitors had given up all chance of the wind arriving and were too far from the start with their sails dropped to make the line in time.

After good start and a tactical first beat, Ilya Strakh (BLR), Bjorn Allansson (SWE) and Nikolay Chernicov (RUS) rounded the first mark with a good lead on the rest of fleet. During the first downwind they increased this advantage and sailed away from the chasing pack. The second upwind did not bring any major surprises - most of the top competitors kept their position.

During the second downwind Strakh was penalised for rule 42. After doing turns, Allansson and Chernicov caught him up and Allansson took the lead round the mark. Strakh was second and Chernicov third. After the next upwind Strakh had retaken the lead with a nice gap to second. Chernicov was in third, but he passed Allansson just before the mark. At the end of final downwind there was a nail biting finish in store. Chernicov inched closer to Strakh and managed to pass him just before the finish and won by less than a boatlength. Allansson finished third while another Russian Aleksey Selivanov (RUS) came very close to him to finish fourth.

So after there races there are two Russians are in the top three: Nickolay Chernikov in first, and Sergey Komissarov is third. Jan Kurfeld (GER) placed seventh to move up one place to second, while the overnight leader Kanstantsin Lashuk placed 17^th to drop to fourth overall.

Andrey Balashov (RUS) who was the Finn silver medalist at Olympic Games in 1976, was a guest of the Silver Cup today. His impression was,“This championship is one of most difficult regattas. Such conditions are very good school for the competitors.”

Last year's bronze medalist, Piotr Kula (POL), who finished 9^th today, said after racing, “It was a very light wind. Ilya Strakh got a very nice advantage at the start, when he was 30 meters ahead of second place. Nikolay Chernicov is very light and he came from the Laser. His Laser technique helped him to keep boat moving all the time. His movements around the boat were so light and unlike the heavy Finn sailors. I think that was key to his success.”

Prior to the regatta IFA coach Gus Miller (USA) ran a Finn clinic for the young sailors. He said, “There was a core of 10 sailors and three other coaches at the clinic with the group swelling to 20 at times.” Miller used the stern mounted cameras on the boats on some of those taking part in order to educate them on how to sail the boat. More details of this clinic will follow at a later time.

Results after three races

Day three - glass out in Moscow

Today's news from Moscow was not particularly good news, but it did mirror much of the news coming from certain other regattas. In fact the water was like a mirror itself as a glass-out descened on Klyazminskoe Lake.

There was no change in the overall results as day three of the Finn World Junior Championships was a day of no wind and waiting around in vain. The forecast for Thursday is no better so the organisers have decided to go ahead with the lay day anyway, so no doubt the sailors will get a chance to visit Moscow and see all the sights.

Kurfield keeps his cool to take Junior Finn World Championship

The Finn Junior World Championships for the Jorg Bruder Silver Cup has concluded in Moscow with six more races held over three days in a range of conditions. Jan Kurfield (GER), one of the three German Finn sailors in Moscow as part of the Finn Foundation scheme moved into the lead after only placing once outside the top nine and maintained his concentration to take the title on the final race. Piotr Kula (POL) the 2006 bronze medalist placed second while Sergey Komissarov (RUS) led home the strong home nation team

Day five - three good races

After two days of idle winds, the 2007 Finn Junior World Championship returned to the water on Friday for three great races in good winds. However the direction of wind was not along the lake, but a little bit across. Due to that the racing committee decided to put the course onto the Ostashkovo part of the lake – the most difficult and unpredictable part of the lake. The young sailors had a very tough time with the wind coming onto the course area from two places causing a wind divide across the course and all the sailors had to fight the wind as well as each other - sometimes there were 3-4 shifts in a matter of seconds.

In the first race of the day Frederico Melo (POR) and Marko Kolic (ITA) made a good start and led through the whole race. Third place was a battle between Alexey Selivanov (RUS), Egor Larionov (RUS), Ilya Strah (BLR) and Will Kowan (CAN). Finally Larionov came third followed by Will Kowan and Alexey Selivanov.

From the start of the next race it was looking like Kolic had found the secret of the place, leading round the first mark. He was joined at the front by Michal Strusinski (POL), Jan Kurfeld (GER), Henry Bagnall (GBR), Strah and Sergey Komissarov (RUS). They were in quite a tight group with some other boats. The main surprise occurred on the final upwind. Komissarov, who was sixth at last mark, moved ahead just before the finish, but Jan Kurfeld passed him in the final few metres to take the gun, while Strusinski dropped seven places to finish 12th. Bagnall scored another third.

The third race of the day was lucky for Peter Kula. He made a good start, and led all the way. The main battle took place behind him between Strusinski and Tomasz Kosmicki (POL), Nickolay Chernikov (RUS), Strah, Komissarov and Konstantin Besputin (RUS). With constant position changes it was anyone's game, and on the last downwind mark Strusinski and Besputin came together fighting for second position. Both took the lead at times, but Besputin took got the best of the wind at the finish to take second behind Kula and ahead of Strusinski

After racing, Piotr Kula, who won the last race of the day said, “It was quite lucky or normal day for me. In first race I was not lucky on the upwinds, I missed a few good shifts, but in spite of this I finished 11th. In the next race I finished 7th. Actually I should have been 4th, but 3-4 passed me on the line. In the last race after the start I was quite sure that wind was more coming from the left. I was leading from the first mark. I used all opportunities which the conditions gave to me. After six races I am in third position. That is good; it keeps me in the front of the fleet.”
 

After six races the situation at the top had changed. Jan Kurfeld (GER) took the overall lead, but there were four very strong competitors right behind him.

Day six - only one race

The day started with good winds, but then disappeared so only one race could be sailed. The start of the race was difficult because the left side of the start line had less wind than the right side, but the left side of the course was favoured, so during first upwind the sailors had to balance between advantages from the left side due to the shift and lack of wind due to the forest.

Bagnall, Besputin and Lashuk had a good lead at the top mark, but just before downwind mark a new wind brought the boats behind back in contention. Rodesta Lorenzo (ITA) took the lead, followed by Lashuk and Besputin. At the last downwind mark Besputin was first, Lorenzo second and Komissarov had moved up to third. Komissarov quite easily passed Lorenzo and went on to win the race from Komissarov and Lashuk.

The regatta leader Kurfeld placed fifth, so managed to keep the overnight lead. However Komissarov was now very close - just two points - and moved up to second overall.

Day seven - Kurfield wins title

On day seven of the regatta the weather finally decided to give the organisers and participants a break with a solid wind up to 12 knots. Kurfeld and Kula managed to overcome the pressure better than the others to finished first and second overall. It was quite difficult day for Komissarov because he was not as strong in the increased wind as the German and Polish sailors. At the same time he was protested in both races of the day, and that made him nervous. Strah had real chance to finish third, but last race was also unlucky for him. But nevertheless another Russian sailor Alexey Selivanov (RUS) displayed very good speed and won the first race of the day to set up a final race showdown between Kurfield, Kula and Komissarov..

Strusinski took an early lead, while Kurfeld moved up to second. During the last upwind Kurfeld managed to pass Strusinski won his second race of the championship to take the title in fine style. Bagnall placed third just behind Struinski.

So after light winds plagued the opening races of the series, nine races were finally completed with a worthy winner in the shape of Jan Kurfeld (GER). The 2006 bronze medalist Piotr Kula (Poland) won the silver, while Sergey Komissarov (RUS) managed to cling onto third despite being disqualified from the final race.

About the event
 

The 2007 Junior Finn World Championship is being held at the Moscow Sailing School from 18-26 August. Nine races are scheduled between 20-26 August. The Jorg Bruder Silver Cup was presented to the International Finn Association by Brazilian Olympic Committee in 2004 on the occasion of the Finn Gold Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a memorial to the late great Finn sailor from Brazil, who won the Finn Gold Cup three years running between 1970 and 1972.

Final results