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Finn World
Masters 2009
Maubuisson, France
May 30 to June 5
Event website:
http://finn.france.free.fr/masters2009.html
Masters website:
/www.finnworldmaster.com/
Preview: Nearly 300 Finns at World Masters
The biggest Finn event of all
time starts in Maubuisson in south-west France on Monday. Nearly 300 Finn
sailors from 24 nations have pre-entered for the 41st Finn
World Masters Championship, smashing all previous records. Each year this
event just gets bigger and bigger.
The host is the Cercle de la
Voile de Bordeaux Carcans-Maubuisson, with the racing being held on the
Lac de Carcans, about 20 km inland from the Atlantic Ocean.
The favourite to take the title
this year has to be the double defending champion Andre Budzien (GER) who
has stamped his authority over the fleet in the past two years. However he
has a lot competition to overcome to take a third successive title.
The pre-entry list includes the
likes of 2006 champion Michael Maier (CZE), 2000 Olympic Silver medalist
Luca Devoti (ITA), 2003 champion Eberhard Bieberitz (GER), 1972 Olympic
Silver medalist Ilias Hatzipaulas (GRE) and last year's runner up Mikail
Kopanov (BUL). There are also too many others to mention all too willing
to have a crack at the title and many will feature this coming week.
Anyone who turns 40 during the
year can enter the Finn World Masters and this year competitors range in
age from 40 to 86. The oldest competitor, most likely in any dinghy
championship anywhere in the world, is Didier Poissant (FRA), who very
aptly competes in the Legend category for the over 70s. There are 24
Legends pre-entered this year, more than double last year's turnout, which
perhaps proves more than anything that Finn sailing keeps you young.
Six races are scheduled between
Monday and Friday, with fleet groupings up until Thursday, when there will
be a gold and silver fleet split for the final race. Race one starts
Monday at 14.00. It's going to be an awesome sight.
Mixed bag on day one of Finn
Masters
 Andre
Budzien (GER) opened the defence of his Finn World Masters title with a
solid second place on the Lac de Carcans-Hourtin, near Maubuisson in
south-western France. The breeze was fitful at times, and left many an
experienced sailor fighting back after a challenging windshift or pressure
change, but most of the favourites fared well on day one. The first race
wins went to Laurent Hay (FRA) and Jan Willem Kok (NED).
The 2009 Finn World Masters
was officially opened Sunday evening with a beautiful ceremony in front of
the club with all sailors parading in their national teams. Last of all
came the host nation, France. All sailors had signed the now traditional
flag, which was hoisted to the top of the flagpole to symbolise the
opening of the championship.
Maubuisson is a popular venue
for the French Finn fleet and ten years ago was the venue for the 1999
edition of the Finn World Masters. Back then the 148 entries was the
largest the championship had ever achieved its 30 year history to that
point, but that record has been dwarfed this year by a staggering 268 Finn
sailors from 24 nations. This enormous fleet has been split into two, each
racing on two separate courses.
At start time the wind was
very shifty from the NNE and up to 12 knots, but with big holes. Andre
Budzien was racing on course area A which frequently experienced big
shifts, and dumping those that had gone the right way. After an intense
race, Laurent Hay crossed the line first, with Budzien second and 2006
World Masters Champion Michael Maier (CZE) in third.
On the other course,
conditions were not much different. After two attempts to start the race,
the PRO went for the black flag and some 15 boats were pulled out.
Initially those on the right looked good, but then the breeze faded and a
big left hander brought all those on left into first mark. Jan Willem Kok
won the race followed by last year's runner up Mihail Kopanov (BUL) and
David Potter (GBR) in third.
The patchy conditions were
highlighted by a number of surprises at the front of the fleet, while a
few of the favourites picked up some high scores. In addition, on course B
the first nine boats were reported to have rounded the wrong bottom mark
so protests were lodged and the current results are only provisional.
Two more races are scheduled for Tuesday at the slightly earlier time of
11.00.
Results after one race (top
20 out of 268):
1
FRA 75 HAY Laurent
1 NED 780 KOK Jan Willem
3 GER 711 BUDZIEN André
3 BUL 24 KOPANOV Mihail
5 GBR 672 POTTER David
5 CZE 1 MAIER Michael
7 NED 39 ZOMER Hans
7 GER 8 EIERMANN Jürgen
9 GBR 664 TORRANCE John
9 NED 81 VISSER Gerko
11 GER 3 MAI Walter
11 NED 5 SALA René
13 HUN 51 RUTAI Stvan
13 NED 27 KAMPHORST Paul
15 DEN 208 LINDHARDTSEN Jørgen
15 GBR 8 CARVER Tim
17 FRA 7 ALEXIS Stephane
17 GER 146 MÜLLER Friedrich
19 ITA 5 CINQUE Francesco
19 GER 155 GAST Edwin
Day two: Making Hay while
the sun shines
While those around him were losing their heads in the blazing French sun,
local favourite Laurent Hay (FRA) steered a steady course to win both his
heats on day two at the Finn World Masters in Maubuisson, France, to
extend his lead at the head of the 264 boat fleet.
Brilliant sunshine and great sailing conditions were the order of the day.
Two wins for Hay gives him a perfect score sheet after three races. Second
placed Michael Maier (CZE), the 2006 Masters world champion, placed second
and first, to end the day in second overall, just three point behind Hay
at the mid-way stage of the qualification races.
The heats for race 2 started at 12.00 with a shifty 15 knot breeze,
gusting up to 20 knots with even bigger shifts by the finish. Maier
initially led
the left side of his course but just lost out to defending champion Andre
Budzien (GER) at the windward mark, but Budzien was scored BFD. The race
win finally went to Allen Burrell (GBR) with a comfortable 100 meter
margin, after taking the lead by going left on second beat. Roberto
Bosetti (ITA)
and Maier picked up a second apiece while Jurgen Eiermann (GER) and
Stephane Alexis(FRA) finished third in their respective heats.
Race 3 was also sailed in 10-15 knots, but with more regular shifts. Hay
came from the port end and again showed great speed to take the lead and
extend throughout the race for his second win of the day. Maier had
finally found his form and won his heat comfortably from Budzien in
second. Eiermann also picked up a second to finish the day in third place
overall, while third places in the two heats went to fellow countrymen Jan
Willem Kok (NED) and Gerko Visser (NED).
Kok, who won a race on Monday drops to fourth overall while the top five
is rounded out by Jørgen Lindhardtsen (DEN) after posting a sixth and
seventh to add to his eighth from Monday. After just three races, the top
five sailors are the only ones to maintain a single digit finish in each
race.
Lindhardtsen is a former winner of the Finn World Masters, way back in
1985. At the time he was a full time circuit sailor and unsurprisingly won
each
and every race that year. It has taken him 24 years to decide to give it
another go.
After a long day on the water in very hot and sunny conditions, the
sailors were treated ashore to the championship dinner with a live jazz
band. The
Masters AGM will be held Wednesday morning before the single afternoon
race starting at 13.00.
Day three: French lake rolls the dice on day three at Finn World
Masters
Laurent Hay (FRA) couldn't maintain his unbeaten record on day three of
the Finn World Masters in Maubuisson, France, but he has managed to has
extend his lead to seven points after another hot and sunny day and some
very tricky races on the Lac de Carcans-Hourtin. Two more sets of races
were completed with wins going to Stephane Alexis (FRA) and Marc Allain
des Beauvais (FRA) in race four and to defending champion André Budzien
(GER) and Jürgen Eiermann (GER) in race five.
The wind started at around 8 knots from the north-east but was forecast to
go north-west and strengthen. On course A, where most of the favourites
were racing, after the customary black flag start the leading group came
from the port end and tacked on the numerous periodic shifts. Marc Allain
de Beauvais made the best of the tricky conditions to win followed by Eric
Baker (NED) and Bass de Waal (NED). Regatta leader Laurent Hay recovered
to 11th after rounding the top mark in the 80s.
Race 5 on course A again had a 10 degree port end start so all the top
guys started at the pin end in an even lighter 6 knot north-easterly. Just
after
the start, better breeze on the right brought all those from the starboard
end ahead of those on the left with many unexpected sailors well up.
Budzien, Michael Maier (CZE) and Hay were all well down but managed to
work their way back through the fleet to the teens. Budzien went on to
take the lead and finished with a big margin while Hay showed some great
downwind speed to pull through to second, with Arwin Karssemeijer (NED) in
third. Second overall, Maier could only recover as far as 14th.
Race 4 on course B was even trickier with the wind gradually going very
soft with frequent lulls and very patchy holes. The right side was left
stranded
out of the start, but Stephane Alexis got it right on the left to win
followed by Thierry van Viersson (NED) and Jørgen Lindhardtsen (DEN).
Race 5 wasn't much better. Howard Sellers (GBR) achieved his five minutes
of fame, leading Allen Burrell (GBR) to the windward mark, but then the
wind died and a whole group got past on the second reach. The surprised
winner of the race was Friedrich Muller (GER), taking the lead on the
final upwind leg from Michael Staal (DEN) and Adrian Brunton (GBR).
Muller summed up his race win, "I was racing with DEN 2 in front of me,
and on the last beat he went right. But I had seen more wind coming from
the
left. This also meant crossing the whole fleet of over 130 boats coming
downwind. It looked dangerous but I took the risk. In the end I was 200
metres in front. That was a great moment for me and has really made my
regatta!"
Regatta leader after five races Laurent Hay, spoke of the regatta so far.
"This is my second world Masters. Last year I finished 11th. My three wins
have been very different. The first one was because the guys in front
raced the wrong course. The second I won from the second third of the last
beat
and the third I was in front from start to finish. Today I was 80th at the
top mark after taking too many risks on the left hand side instead of
sailing more safely in the middle. I passed 50 boats on the reaches and
some more on the other legs to finish 11th. The last race I was 12th at
the top
mark and finished second." Laurent is from Paris where he regularly races
in his Laser every Saturday. He competes in just five events in the Finn
each
year. "At 82 kg, I can perform up to about 12 knots but when the breeze
reaches 15 it becomes a bit harder!"
Typically, just as the fleet arrived back at the club at 6.30 pm the
forecast north-westerly breeze kicked in with a lovely 12 knots, but too
late for racing.
The light winds are certainly finding favour with the 'older' sailors
here. At this point in the regatta, Jørgen Lindhardtsen is dominating the
Grand
Grand Masters Category (60-69) in sixth place overall, though he picked up
a 65th in race five. His nearest opposition is Jiri Outrata (CZE) in 29th.
The Legend category (70+) is being totally dominated by Walter Mai (GER).
At a youthful 73 years old, he is compiling an impressive series to lie
16th
after five races. Mai was winner of the Finn World Masters in 1984.
The sixth and final qualification heats will be sailed Thursday, before
the fleet is split into gold and silver fleets for Friday's final race.
Results after five races (top 30 from 264 entries)
1 FRA 75 Laurent HAY 5
2 CZE 1 Michael MAIER 12
3 GER 8 Jürgen EIERMANN 13
4 GER 711 André BUDZIEN 14
5 NED 780 Jan Willem KOK 24
6 DEN 208 Jørgen LINDHARDTSEN 24
7 NED 25 Arwin KARSSEMEIJER 28
8 FRA 7 Stephane ALEXIS 31
9 BUL 24 Mihail KOPANOV 32
10 NED 29 Bas DE WAAL 32
11 ITA 5 Francesco CINQUE 37
12 GBR 2 Allen BURRELL 40
13 NED 747 Thierry VAN VIERSSEN 40
14 AUT 11 Bernd MOSER 49
15 GER 13 Eckhard DREPHAL 52
16 GER 3 Walter MAI 52
17 NED 81 Gerko VISSER 54
18 DEN 2 Michael STAAL 61
19 NED 69 Roel VAN OLST 62
20 GER 28 Christian KÜHLWEIN 64
21 AUS 3 Jake GUNTHER 68
22 GBR 567 Martin HUGHES 71
23 RUS 21 Vladimir BUTENKO 81
24 NED 10 Nanne BOOT 81
25 NED 888 Luuk KUIJPER 81
26 NED 904 Cees SCHEURWATER 82
27 NED 50 Jan ZETZEMA 83
28 GRE 71 Panagiotis DAVOURLIS 86
29 CZE 8 Jiri OUTRATA 86
30 GBR 61 John HEYES 88
Wins for Budzien and
Eiermann sets up last race showdown at Finn World Masters
In his first ever Finn World Masters Jurgen Eiermann (GER) goes into
Friday's deciding race with a one point margin over defending champion
Andre
Budzien (GER). Laurent Hay (FRA) who has led the regatta from the first
race has dropped back to third, just one point behind Budzien. Friday's
race is going to be a thriller.
The final qualification race on day four in Maubuisson, France was sailed
in a shifting 10-12 knot north-easterly breeze. After several attempts to
get
the fleet away the race officer moved the mark 20 degrees to port. On the
third attempt, which still had a 10 degree port bias, regatta leader
Laurent
Hay appeared to change his mind and tacked back to the committee boat. But
the left end paid off with more pressure in spite of a big temporary shift
on the right. Marc Allain de Beauvais (FRA) having started at the pin was
first around the top mark while those who started on the right were buried
in the 40s.
By the downwind mark Hay had made it up to the mid 20s but lost places
again on the final beat to finish 35th. Allain de Beauvais also lost out
in the final few meters to the finish, which let the highly consistent
Jürgen Eiermann (GER) through to win the race and move up to first
overall. Second
place went to Peter Bronke (GER) with Uwe Kinast (GER) making it a German
top three. Allain des Beauvais finally finished fourth.
There was more drama on the other course as second placed overall Michael
Maier (CZE) failed to finish the race, leaving Andre Budzien to claim his
second race win and move up to second overall. Baas de Waal (NED) finished
second with Stephane Alexis (FRA) in third.
The leader board now looks very different with Eiermann one point clear of
Budzien who is one ahead of Hay. Last year Budzien had assured himself of
the title before the final day, but there is now a real race on for the
title in Friday's final race.
Eiermann is the most consistent with top four placings every race except
race five when he was 13th. Budzien has two wins, two seconds, a ninth and
that black flag from Tuesday. Hay has three race wins, a second, an 11th
and now a 35th.
On Friday the fleet will be split into gold and silver divisions, so the
top contenders will all be racing each other for the first time. The title
is still wide open. It could be some showdown.
Results after six races (top 30 out of 264 entries)
1 GER 8 Jürgen EIERMANN 14
2 GER 711 André BUDZIEN 15
3 FRA 75 Laurent HAY 16
4 CZE 1 Michael MAIER 26
5 FRA 7 Stephane ALEXIS 34
6 NED 29 Bas DE WAAL 34
7 BUL 24 Mihail KOPANOV 44
8 DEN 208 Jørgen LINDHARDTSEN 47
9 GER 13 Eckhard DREPHAL 56
10 NED 780 Jan Willem KOK 60
11 ITA 5 Francesco CINQUE 60
12 GBR 2 Allen BURRELL 61
13 NED 81 Gerko VISSER 64
14 NED 747 Thierry VAN VIERSSEN 65
15 DEN 2 Michael STAAL 76
16 NED 25 Arwin KARSSEMEIJER 85
17 NED 10 Nanne BOOT 86
18 NED 904 Cees SCHEURWATER 88
19 NED 69 Roel VAN OLST 89
20 GER 3 Walter MAI 92
21 GER 28 Christian KÜHLWEIN 93
22 NED 703 Eric BAKKER 97
23 CRO 110 Luksa CICARELI 100
24 CZE 8 Jiri OUTRATA 101
25 GRE 71 Panagiotis DAVOURLIS 103
26 SWE 721 Mikael BRANDT 104
27 FRA 99 Marc ALLAIN DES BEAUVAIS 106
28 GBR 567 Martin HUGHES 110
29 GBR 61 John HEYES 112
30 NED 888 Luuk KUIJPER 112
Budzien does the triple at
Finn World Masters
 Second
place in the final race at the Finn World Masters in Maubuisson, France
was enough for André Budzien (GER) to take his third title in a row. The
overnight leader Jürgen Eiermann (GER) finished fourth to end up second
overall. Laurent Hay (FRA), the early leader of the regatta, finished
sixth in the race which was enough to hang onto third overall.
After a week of fantastic weather, the final day dawned without a breath
of wind, with worries of a no-race day. But the breeze came through at
12.00, it rained, and the fleets got in a fittingly tough final race. The
title race had come down to three men. Jürgen Eiermann (GER) led defending
champion André Budzien (GER) by one point, who in turn led Laurent Hay (FRA)
by one point.
By start time, a 15 knot south-westerly breeze had kicked in and the
fleets
were sent afloat in overcast conditions.
In the gold fleet, Allen Burrell (GBR) spotted a left shift just two
minutes before the start and headed for the pin to launch a perfect start
in the
choppy conditions. The breeze was still shifty but Burrell managed to
cross to the right hand side of the course before a big right hander
dumped all
those on the left. Burrell rounded with a clear 100 metre lead from
Budzien, who then showed great athletic technique to take the lead on the
first reach.
Maier soon caught up the leaders on the second beat to take the lead in
the stiff breeze. On the last beat he put a tight cover on Budzien as the
breeze
started to drop and match raced him to the finish. But Budzien wasn't
worried about that. He had his main competition behind him, and that is
where they stayed. Maier won the race with Budzien crossing just behind in
second to claim his third world masters title in a row. Burrell came home
in
third, just ahead of Eiermann, which was enough to pull him up to seventh
overall.
 Budzien
is only the second sailor to win the Masters in three successive years
after Andre Mevel (FRA) won it from 1974 to 1976. He didn't make it
easy on himself though. A black flag on day two meant no more mistakes
were allowed, and a ninth place in race five could have cost him dearly.
But Hay, the early leader of the series, lost his way at the same time and
the points difference gradually became smaller.
Budzien spoke about the week. "I had a black flag in race two. I had set
my watch one minute, wrong. I had to grow into the races. It's hard as you
cannot always compete against your direct competitors as they were in a
different group."
"But today was really nerve-racking with the points so close for the top
three. It was complicated because of the unpredictable wind, shifts of 30
degrees, and in strength. It was sometimes hard to know which direction to
go. This was certainly my toughest Masters so far. I tried to keep my
composure, but actually it was very nerve racking."
Forty years ago at the Finn Gold Cup in 1969, held in the rather exotic
location of Bermuda, the suggestion was first put forward to hold a
Veteran
Finn Gold Cup for sailors over 40 and the first event was held in
Switzerland in 1970. That concept - which has developed into the Finn
World
Masters - has now come of age itself. The 40th Finn World Masters is
already history, and sailors are already looking forward to next year,
with a welcome return to Split in Croatia.
Results after seven races (top 30 out of 264 entries)
1 GER 711 André BUDZIEN 17
2 GER 8 Jürgen EIERMANN 18
3 FRA 75 Laurent HAY 22
4 CZE 1 Michael MAIER 27
5 FRA 7 Stephane ALEXIS 53
6 BUL 24 Mihail KOPANOV 56
7 GBR 2 Allen BURRELL 64
8 NED 29 Bas DE WAAL 65
9 DEN 208 Jørgen LINDHARDTSEN 70
10 NED 747 Thierry VAN VIERSSEN 72
11 ITA 5 Francesco CINQUE 80
12 NED 780 Jan Willem KOK 82
13 NED 81 Gerko VISSER 82
14 GER 13 Eckhard DREPHAL 88
15 DEN 2 Michael STAAL 97
16 GER 28 Christian KÜHLWEIN 118
17 FRA 99 Marc ALLAIN DES BEAUVAIS 119
18 NED 888 Luuk KUIJPER 128
19 NED 904 Cees SCHEURWATER 131
20 SWE 721 Mikael BRANDT 132
21 GER 3 Walter MAI 133
22 CRO 110 Luksa CICARELI 135
23 GBR 567 Martin HUGHES 136
24 NED 703 Eric BAKKER 137
25 CZE 8 Jiri OUTRATA 138
26 NED 69 Roel VAN OLST 146
27 GBR 61 John HEYES 150
28 RUS 21 Vladimir BUTENKO 152
29 HUN 17 Antal GABOR 153
30 GBR 665 Julian SMITH 154
Grand Masters (50-59)
1 ITA 5 Francesco CINQUE
2 GER 13 Eckhard DREPHAL
3 DEN 6 Mikael STALL
Grand Grand Masters (60-69)
1 DEN 208 Jørgen LINDHARDTSEN
2 SWE 721 Mikael BRANDT
3 CRO 110 Luksa CICARELI
Legends (70+)
1 GER 3 Walter MAI
2 GBR 631 Richard HART
3 FRA 46 Henri ROUMAILLAC
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