Will Tiller's FMJ Racing on their way to victory. Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
by Minna Barner-Rasmussen
The sunny weather combined with steady seabreeze provided excellent sailing conditions for the 11 teams competing with J-80 boats in an ISAF grade 2 open matchrace event in Helsinki.
A tight start. Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
Close racing up the beat. Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
Following a skippers’ meeting and boat draw the competitors hit the water for a full round robin series.
FMJ Racing (NZL). Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
At the end of the first day of racing Nicolai Sehested was in the lead, but there were other well accomplished teams eager to give the leader a run for his money. Saturday also provided a number of tight and even matches , and at the end of the round robin series many skippers shared the same amount of points. These exciting matches were umpired by 12 participants of ISAF International Umpire Seminar, which was held in Helsinki at the same time.
Robert Nyberg (FIN) and David Chapman (AUS). Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
Robert Nyberg (FIN) and David Chapman (AUS). Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
After the round robin, on the top of the list it was New Zealand's William Tiller with 9 wins out of 10 matches. The next three runners up all shared 7 points: Nicolai Sehested from Denmark and two Finnish skippers, Olli-Pekka Lumijärvi and Robert Nyberg also reaching the semi-finals.
Robert Nyberg (FIN) and team. Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
In the semi-finals William Tiller met Robert Nyberg twice and earned his place in the finals with straight 2-0 victory. In the other semi-final pair, the leading boat kept changing and it took all three matches to decide the other finalist, which this time was Olli-Pekka Lumijärvi who won over Nicolai Sehested with the score 2-1.
Olli-Pekka Lumijärvi and team. Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
In the petit-final Sehested won over Nyberg 2-1 and in the final was a victorious moments for William Tiller, who took the final series in straight wins 3-0.
FMJ Racing (NZL). Image copyright Ville Väresmaa.
Maritim Cup, final results
Skipper, nationality, current ISAF ranking
1. William Tiller, NZL (27)
2. Olli-Pekka Lumijärvi, FIN (37)
3. Nicolai Sehested, DEN (69)
4. Robert Nyberg, FIN (38)
5. David Chapman, AUS (33)
6. Mathieu Durand, FRA (51)
7. Joachim Aschenbrenner, DEN (35)
8. Jan Mattsson, FIN (81)
9. Lauri Kääpä, FIN (107)
10. Leonid Vasiliev, USA (151)
11. Tuomas Riski, FIN (324)
Maritim Cup
