Europeans 2004 report

Leading from start to finish, the 1996 Gold Medalist Mateusz Kusznierewicz won the 2004 European Championships in fine style. Never out of the top seven, he dominated in the variable conditions. Sailed from 6th to the 15th May in La Rochelle France, 90 sailors from 33 nations took part, with 10 countries in close competition for the remaining five Olympic berths.

With a talented fleet of 90 sailors, the 2004 Finn European Championship in La Rochelle was set to be a benchmark in recent Finn sailing. 33 countries were in contention with 10 fighting for the last five Olympic berths. They were: Argentina, Austria, China, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Russia, US Virgin Islands and Ukraine. IFA coaches Arif Gurdenli and Gus Miller, had spent the previous week helping sailors from China, Hungary and Estonia to prepare for their qualification regatta. They participated in an intensive clinic focusing on equipment tuning as well as sailing skills and tactics.

With most of the top 50 Finn sailors present, the quality of the fleet was unequalled. Many teams were also still racing for their National selection for the Olympics: New Zealand, Canada, Italy, China, Ireland and Switzerland.

Josje Hofland Dominicus (NED), Chairman of the Jury and her team of Bernard Bonneau (FRA), Jan Stage (DEN), Oleg Ilyin (RUS), Bill O’Hara (IRL) and Ralph Roberts (NZL) will all be part of the Olympic jury in Athens. The racing committee was led by Bernard Carre (PRO in Hyères on the Finn class) and Alain Chenais with the assistance of Course Rep. Peter Reggio. ‘Luigi’ officiated in this same role during the ISAF Worlds in Cadiz. He was also the PRO during the 2001 Finn Gold Cup and the Louis Vuitton Cup

The first three days of the championship were just enough to measure 90 boats. Class measurer Jüri Saraskin received some outstanding help from the French team and its chief measurer, Alain Bugeaud. The President of the organising club - Societe des Regates Rochelaises (SRR) - Gilles Chabaud, is an ex-Finn sailor and organised a social programme to entertain sailors and officials all week long. Regatta sponsor, Harken, gave daily prizes for winners in the senior and junior divisions. The unsettled weather was the only threat for this high level regatta.

Day one

After a postponement on shore, the wind picked to 8-10 knots and the first race finally started under black flag (after 2 general recalls). The current and shifty winds made racing tricky. The majority of the fleet started at the pin end of the line. The race leaders played the shifts on the left. Soren Holm was first at the top mark but dropped to 4th. Sebastien Godefroid made steady progress throughout the race to win in front of Mateusz

Kusznierewicz and Clifton Webb. The Kiwis were sailing their last selection for the Olympics and the battle between them was fierce. They finished within three points of each other with Clifton Webb finishing 3rd in front of Dean Barker in 4th and Peter Fox in 6th.

The wind increased in strength and stability for the second race. Again the gains were made on the left side. Emilios Papathanasiou led the race from start to end: “I started on the pin end and played the shifts in the middle. The wind was nice, like in Athens. I am not so used to the current here, but the racing was good.” Second and third places went to Mateusz and Andrew Simpson. First Junior in both races was Lei Gong from China.

Day two

Racing started with a light and steady 10 knots breeze and sunny conditions. Big black clouds and rain suddenly arrived, affecting the temperature and wind. Ben Ainslie led the fleet around the first mark with Liu Bo on his trail. While Ben distanced himself from the fleet, Liu Bo dropped some places on the downwind legs to cross the finish line in 8th. Ben easily won the race, increasing his lead on Mateusz on the run. “It was another tricky race. The left side was favoured again, but frankly no one here can explain why,” admitted the triple World Champion. Run specialists, Mateusz, Sebastien Godefroid and Emilios Papathanasiou climbed to the top of the fleet after the first downwind leg to follow Ben home. Ismael Bruno was the first Frenchman in 5th. “Ismael decided to change his equipment and it responded better to these conditions.” explained his coach, Patrice Guadagnin.

After three races, Mateusz had a small lead over Sebastien. Guillaume Florent, freshly selected in Hyéres for Athens was in third position, two points ahead of Jonas Hoegh-Christensen. With a sore knee, US representative Kevin Hall decided to stop racing to recover before the next regatta. Luca Devoti also stopped after two races.

Day three

The fourth race started with 12 knots and the ‘Olympic triangle’. The Oscar flag allowing free pumping was displayed on the top mark, giving a rest to the jury, and providing lots of fun to the sailors. Guillaume was first at the top mark followed by Mateusz, Ben and Mattias Miller from Germany. At the leeward mark, Mateusz had passed Guillaume with Ben in second position. On the second beat Mateusz enjoyed a big shift on the extreme left side of the course that propelled him out of reach of his followers. Guillaume caught up Ben and stayed on his tail until the last beat. Guillaume and Michael Fellmann who had sailed further to the left made some ground on Ben, to take 2nd and 3rd.

With more wind on the second race, Oscar was displayed at the start of the triangle course. The wind had picked to 14-17 knots. After several general recalls, the black flag sent several sailors back home. Ben cleared out at the start, followed closely by Karlo Kuret and Mateusz. Karlo, with a good speed and pointing higher than his rival, gained some ground and finally got even with Ben who couldn’t get away. On the last 100 meters from the finish, the Croatian passed the Brit to win the race. Mateusz crossed the line in 3rd position followed by Gasper Vincec and Marin Misura. Iacopo Tacchino was the best Junior in both races in 43rd and 36th place.

Day four

“It was puffy, shifty,…a patient man’s day”, Richard Clarke taking second place, summarised day four’s shifty race by these simple words, but the race was far from simple.

Starting with 15 knots, the wind was going all over the place. Boats at each end of the line were sailing on different tack. “It was hard to know who was leading on the first beat” explained Guillaume. First at the top mark, Nenad Viali enjoyed “half an hour of glory” before dropping to 4th at the end of the reaches.

Soren Holm, who, like the Croatian had lost some ground on the reaches claimed first place at the end of the second beat in front of Richard Clarke and Andrew Simpson. The wind by then had dropped to 10 knots and the racing committee had changed the Oscar flag. The jury was again in action and penalised four sailors including Ben, and Mateusz for the second time, forcing the regatta leader to retire from the race. “This is so stupid, I saw the C flag for the change of course at the top mark but I didn’t see the R flag. I was so concentrated on the shifts and Sebastien just behind me. It is a real pity, I was coming 8th and this will make it harder to win the regatta,” declared a disappointed Mateusz.

Richard Clarke led the fleet around the last leeward mark with Andrew Simpson just behind. The last beat proved tricky. ‘Bart’ took the option on the right while Richard sailed more conservatively in the centre. More pressure on the right lifted Andrew to the finish. If yesterday was ‘Kiwi day’ today was declared, ‘Croatian day’ with Nenad Viali, Karlo Kuret and Marin Misura taking 5th, 6th and 7th.

Day five

Day five was by far the most difficult day on the water. The wind was all over the place, up and down in strength, patchy, puffy...whatever the complaints and the frustration, the favourites came out in front and the overall result after two races didn’t change much. Mateusz after a 4th and a 7th was still in the lead, nine points ahead of direct rival Ben.

The first race was won by Gasper Vincec. The right side was favoured by a big shift during the first beat. The wind was light to medium 8 to 10 knots and according to the general description, very shifty. The wind increased to 12 knots at the start of the second race and up to 15 on the second beat. The course was a windward leeward in the first race and was changed to a triangle in the second. Emilios Papathanasiou led the fleet in the second race until Dean Barker passed him at the end of the reaches to win the race.

Day six

When the black flag came up on the second start of the last race, it penalised 11 sailors. The third start under the black flag took its toll among Mateusz’s opponents for the Championship title. The current was pushing the sailors towards the crowded pin end of the line. Ben, Sebastien, Emilios, Ali Enver and Gasper took an aggressive start despite the risk of disqualification.

At the top mark, their names were on the race committee black board, forcing them to leave the race. “It was such a relief, I could sail my own race,” declared Mateusz. “My only worry was the downwind legs. I had to restrain myself from moving. I have never been so still in the boat, but I couldn’t afford a third penalty.

The championship was in the bag as he went on to win the last race. With the top two and three out of contention, Guillaume Florent, 4th before the last race, had to place in the top eight to take 2nd overall or better than 30th to place 3rd. He was looking good in the top five before the last beat, but chose to go right on the last upwind leg. He finished the race in 13th, taking bronze, leaving the silver to Ben. Dean placed 4th in his first European Championship in front of Sebastien.

The European Junior Champion was Ukrainian Oleksiy Borysov in 42nd place. Second was Tapio Nirkko from Finland (44th). Lei Gong from China took 3rd place in 50th position.

The five countries who have qualified for the Athens Olympic regatta are (upon ISAF approval): Argentina (Alejandro Colla 28th), Russia (Vladimir Krutskikh, 29th), Hungary (Balazs Hajdu, 33rd), Austria (Florian Raudaschl, 36th), Italy (Michele Marchesini, 39th).

For the prizegiving ceremony, the yacht club invited all the famous French Finn sailors of all time to come and congratulate the world’s best. Among them, Serge Maury, Olympic Champion in Kiel in 1972, Didier Poissant, Olympic Games representative in 1956 in Melbourne, Yves-Louis Pinaud, 1960 in Rome, Gerard de Villard, Tokyo in 1964, Philippe Soria in Mexico in 1968, Philippe Presti…