USSTAG member Zach Railey (USA) in the Finn class. Image copyright Rolex/Dan Nerney.
by Robert Deaves
After a frustrating day lost Monday due to heavy storms passing through, the 2010 Finn season finally got underway with the first three races of the Rolex Miami OCR, the second event in the 2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup. With 37 sailors entered from 14 nations, this year's event was always going to be tough with a strong line up including 11 of the top 20 world ranked sailors present.
For many the man to beat here is Zach Railey (USA), the 2008 Olympic silver medalist, who has been training hard over the winter, but the strong British team picked up where they left off last year with a win apiece between last year's winner of the ISAF Sailing World Cup for Finns, Ed Wright (GBR), Mark Andrews (GBR) and Giles Scott (GBR). In fact race one turned into a Team GBR benefit with Wright winning the race from Scott and Andrew Mills (GBR).
The forecast was wind from the north at 8 to 12 knots, decreasing as the day went on. The first start began at 13:30 and that race was very shifty as there was an ongoing battle between the sea breeze and the land breeze making the race course was extremely complicated.
Giles Scott (GBR) leads the Finns in Miami. Image copyright Rolex/Dan Nerney.
The 2004 Olympic Silver medalist Rafa Trujillo (ESP) had a poor start to the regatta with a 14th, but recovered to place 6th and 3rd in the remaining races of the day. He said “It was a very difficult day, with many shifts and changes in pressure which required us to sail on the sides of the racecourse. After a disastrous first start I was pretty much stuck in the middle of the course and suffered for the duration of the race though I was able to improve from 22nd to 14th.”
“During the other two races of the day I was much more aggressive on my starts which allowed me to decide where I wanted to go and gradually regain confidence in my decisions and manage risks better than the first race.”
Scott leads after day from Railey, who was one of the few consistent sailors after three races. He reported, “Today was very shifty so I am happy to get 3 top 5 results and hope to keep it going tomorrow.” Third place is Peer Moberg (NOR), the only other sailor to maintain top 10 positions all day.
Fleet racing continues until Friday with the medal race for the top 10 on Saturday 30th January.
Rolex Miami OCR
Finn Class
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