Ainslie in gold medal position going into final day
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Finn Gold Cup - GBR Team - Ainslie in gold medal position going into final day |
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL-(19-2-2004) With one day to go Ben Ainslie took a step nearer
to scoring a hat trick at the Finn class world championships and holding the
Finn Gold Cup for a third year in a row after scoring a third place in the
only race of the day.
After a delayed start waiting for the wind to fill in, racing finally got
underway inside the harbour in a light and patchy breeze. After a good start
Ainslie rounded the windward mark twelfth and worked his way up into second
place by the next mark and finally into the lead. In the fickle conditions
in the harbour it was important to protect his position over his nearest
rivals, Mateusz Kuszneirewicz of Poland and David Burrows of Ireland, and
although he slipped to third, the safety game had worked with both Burrows
and Mateusz finishing tenth and fourteenth respectively.
Ainslie commented, `I got a good start but had to play the percentages up
the middle of the course with Mateusz [Kuszneirewicz] instead of going the
way I thought I should go. By the second beat I was leading and in a good
position to win the race but the right hand side of the course looked light
and in training before the event we learnt that it was not a place to stay,
so I stayed with the fleet and played it safe.
Tomorrow I will be mainly looking out to see where David [Burrows] and
Mateusz [Kuszneirewicz] go and I will have to stick with them as the harbour
can be very fluky and anything can happen - I haven't won it yet!`
As the wind dropped off altogether the race committee decided to call it a
day and sent the 54 boat fleet to the shore.
Tomorrow is the final day of racing although at this time it is unknown
whether they will try to complete the full series and sail a further two
races or if only one race will be sailed. If the latter is the case Ainslie
has won the championship with a race to spare.
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Source: Sacha Oswald - RYA |