Kiwis kill it at start of Finn Gold Cup

Melbourne, Australia (December 16, 2019) – The 2019 Finn Gold Cup began today for the 60-boat fleet with two races for what will be a vital class world championship for nations in advance of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Racing got underway with an hour delay to give the breeze a chance to fill in, with the first race started by 2:00pm in a 9-12 knot southerly breeze which later settled around 10 knots.

New Zealand’s Andy Maloney (5, 1) and Josh Junior (1, 5) showed they are a force to be reckoned with at this world championship as they hold down first and second respectively at the end of day one. Croatia’s Nenad Bugarin follows in third place after posting an eighth and second place.

“It was a good day of sailing with a nice southerly filling in,” reports the leader Maloney. “We had one free pumping downwind and the rest was without and I was going really nicely out there.

“In the second race I had a good start near the boat end and there was a lot of pressure just to the right of me that I managed to hook into and stayed in the right place for most of that beat and then it went a little bit back left up the top after being pretty much right for the whole beat. I managed to lead around the top and keep the fleet behind me.”

Junior added, “In the first race I think Andy and I both rounded the top mark in the late teens. It’s a lot trickier than it looks out there. You think one side might be favored over the other but the wind was definitely shifting back and forth so I think we both found ourselves near the back, so we both had a good couple of downwinds and sailed ourselves through.”

An opening series of 10 races from December 16 to 20 is scheduled, to be followed by the final race and medal race on December 21.

Event details – Results – Facebook

Day One Results:

North America: Following the form guide, Tom Ramshaw and Luke Muller posted scores indicative of their 2019 season. The test will be whether Ramshaw can attain consistency through the entire series, and whether Muller can handle the fleet in the stronger winds.

Day One Results – North America:
7. Tom Ramshaw (CAN)
15. Luke Muller (USA)
17. Caleb Paine (USA)
23. Kyle Martin (CAN)
42. Eric Anderson (USA)

Source: Finn Class, Scuttlebutt