Feature
improving. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED) won the silver being sailed today, his chances of a medal are now take the 2008 Olympic Finn gold medal away from the
medal at the test regatta last year, but so far this year gone. Meanwhile a seventh for Slater wasn't enough Brit. However, it proved to be a somewhat more ardu-
has only had one top 10 position before today. His to make the cut and an OCS for Eduardo Couto (BRA) ous task than anyone suspected.
coach Simon Keijzer said, "At first he sailed too much dropped him from the tenth spot to 13th overall. The story of this medal race actually started yester-
in his own boat, meaning he did not look enough out- Third place in the race went to Cook. Lying in third day with three failed attempts to get the final race in.
side the boat. Then he changed the balance and place overall until race five, and now going into the Twice it was postponed in the closing seconds before
looked more outside the boat at the bigger picture on medal race in fifth place, just seven points off a medal the start gun, but the third time the fleet got away in 7
wind and current, but he was not able to read the wind position, Cook, who has previously not had a great knots of breeze which lasted until the last quarter of
properly and he didn't get a grip on it. For that reason record in medal races, said, "The conditions here are the first windward leg. Then it started to drop, com-
he changed his strategy to not take the initiative, but very difficult. The fleet is so close together at the finish pletely dying by the time the boats reached the lee-
follow what happens on the water with the fleet. He making every missed wave or bad tack very costly. I ward mark.
has always sailed races while taking the initiative him- have had to concentrate very hard to stay focused and The big question everyone was asking before the
self so it is hard to adjust to that but yesterday's sec- calm. But I always enjoy racing Finns, and this regatta race was would Railey bear the full brunt of Ainslie's
ond place felt like a confirmation that he is still able to is special because it is all the best sailors from each tactics. The answer was an emphatic 'yes'. Railey's
pull it off." Today Postma placed 10th and moved up to country, which makes it very hard to do well, but very biggest danger however was that Ainslie would take
14th, just 15 points short of the medal race zone. rewarding when you do." him out of the race, while his rivals sailed away and he
Dan Slater (NZL) is another pre-regatta favourite would end up out of the medals altogether.
finally getting closer to the top 10, moving up to 12th On the first failed start Ainslie made his intentions
after placing 13th today. He said, "I had a great start quite clear, locking swords with Railey at 4 minutes to
and headed out towards the left hand side of the Z
ACH Railey blotted his copybook for the first
time in the series, and on the second beat to
dropped from ninth to 19th at the finish. go. By the time the third start got underway, Railey
course and really just got too greedy trying to do However he can comfortably discard this and has had taken the battle to Ainslie and managed to escape
something special and went round the first mark mid- actually extended his gap on third place to 11 points. a number of times before starting in clear air. However
fleet. Down the first run I sailed really bad downwind Railey was back with Florent and made sure that the thinking he was over the line early, Railey went back –
but up the second beat I came back into the race and Frenchman stayed behind him as did Ainslie and this allowed Ainslie to regain control.
crossed the finish in 13th. This puts me in 12th overall Railey's coach had this to say, "Zach is feeling very Railey stood no chance. Initially tacked on by medal
and looking to make the medal race with three races good going into tomorrow's race. Today when he saw contender Guillaume Florent (FRA), Railey started to
to go, so I will have to pull my out finger tomorrow." his placing at the top mark he decided to use this race slip back and then Ainslie took control and herded
After seven races, Ainslie leads on 19 points, with to play it tactically for tomorrow's medal race." Railey to the far right side of the course. The rest of
Railey in second on 25 and Florent still in third on 30. Ainslie noted, "They both had a pretty poor first leg. the fleet rounded the first mark some 4 minutes ahead
Although the gap behind the leading three boats has Zach, who's had a very consistent series, realised that of Ainslie, after benefiting from better wind on the left
increased to nine points there are still four or five he was never going to into a good enough position to of the course,
boats within easy striking distance, and there is still a make it count for him so he was better off stopping
long way to go in this series. and waiting for the French guy and just make sure that
he had a bad race. It was pretty good tactics really by
Zach, and good for me because it gave me a little bit A
T the first mark, the fleet rounded in almost the
reverse order of their overall positions: DEN,
ESP, CRO, SLO, CAN, FRA, SWE, GBR and
DAYsix more breathing space!" then USA, over five minutes behind the leader.
Daniel Birgmark (SWE) moved into the bronze Ainslie's plan was working perfectly, but fortunately for
Primed for medal showdown medal position on 44 points after placing fifth while Railey his two main rivals for silver, Daniel Birgmark
third placed overnight Florent dropped to fourth overall (SWE) and Florent were having a bad day as well.
A
LTHOUGH the 2004 silver medalist Rafa Trujillo on 50 points. However at the gate, the leading boats drifted round in
(ESP) won today's only race, a second place for Going into tomorrow's medal race, Ainslie is guaran- very little wind and soon after the race was aban-
Ben Ainslie (GBR) extended his lead at the top teed at least the silver medal. But he is unlikely to be doned. It was all back to square one for Ainslie.
to 12 points and he is guaranteed at least the silver happy to settle for that. The only man who can take it Railey said after coming ashore that he was pre-
medal going into tomorrow's medal race. from him is Zach Railey. For tomorrow, some are pared for the onslaught, “I think that what Ben did
While Thursday came and went with little more than already forecasting an Ainslie's style match-race show- given the very shifty conditions was a good play and
a ripple, Friday arrived looking hopeful with three down between Ainslie and Railey. that was something that I was expecting. I am just try-
races scheduled to wrap up the qualification series Asked about his tactics for the medal race Ainslie ing to get in a good race and Ben is trying to prevent
before Saturday's medal race. But hopeful was per- stated, "Stick to him [Railey] like glue I would have that with the conditions we had today. For tomorrow, I
haps a bit optimistic. 'Super Friday', as many had thought, especially with this venue! I just hope we get will go out and just try to have a good start and get in
called it, was put on hold for a while as the wind came some decent breeze – I hope it's not too light and a solid race. But for sure the race committee made the
and went and the sailors waited anxiously out on the fluky. But certainly I'll be keeping a very keen eye on correct call because we would not have made it back
water as precious time slipped by. In the end only one Zach and try not to get too far away from him." upwind and back down to the finish with a fair race.”
race was held before the time limit expired. It is also interesting to note at this stage that if Florent stated, “The conditions were not up to an
After nearly a four hour wait for the wind to co-oper- Ainslie had not lost those nine places in the closing Olympic final. The racing area is already not easy to
ate, race eight got underway in 5 knots from a direc- stages of the opening race, he would be going into the race but this was impossible. Luckily, the race commit-
tion of 20°, gradually increasing up to a maximum of 9 medal race with a guaranteed gold medal. tee took the right decision. It is not fun to do our sport
knots on the first upwind leg. It was situation normal in Railey himself has almost secured a medal, and is in these conditions and I suppose it is the same for the
Qingdao. 11 points clear of Birgmark in third and 17 points clear spectators. I wasn’t in good place after the first lap but
Regatta leader Ben Ainslie (GBR) lead round the of Florent in fourth, and 18 clear of Cook in fifth. everyone stopped at the same time. Anything could
first mark for the first time in the series and extended In the bronze medal position is Daniel Birgmark have happened!”
his lead to 30 seconds by the leeward gate. Second (SWE). He is just six points clear of fourth and it is
round, and needing a good result to stand a chance of here that the greatest interest perhaps lies. The chas- Sunday arrives. Round two
winning a medal was Chris Cook (CAN) with Dan ing group of Florent, Cook, Gasper Vincec (SLO) and
Slater (NZL) sailing his best first leg of the series to Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO) are all in with a chance
round third. Rafa Trujillo (ESP) rounded in fourth. of the bronze. A late protest against Birgmark, which
Slater and Trujillo traded positions on the downwind would have changed things considerably, was unsuc- T
HE Finns were second up after the Ynglings in
winds of 20 knots. Though the Ynglings got their
race in first, the Finns were sent back to shore
and then on the final upwind leg, Trujillo made his cessful. However at the current time one protest was as the weather and visibility rapidly deteriorated.
move on Ainslie, taking advantage of a large right still pending which, if upheld, could change the sailors You couldn't make up this stuff. The frustration of the
hand shift and overhauling the Brit. This large shift in top ten. Keep an eye on the ISAF website for further sailors, matched by the frustration of journalists and
caused lots of position changes further down the fleet developments. viewers worldwide, was almost palpable as they head-
with Peng Zhang (CHN) moving from 21st to ninth, Ainslie summed up the situation, ""It's not over yet ed for home with the medal race still not completed.
and Ainslie's greatest threats at the moment, Zach by a long way, so I'm looking forward to getting out Some were asking would it ever be over?
Railey (USA), dropping from ninth to 19th and there and sailing a good race." But the weather improved and the AP finally came
Guillaume Florent (FRA), fading away from 11th to down again at 15.45 local time for the fifth attempt at a
21st. start. This time it got away first time in 15-18 knot
Ainslie attacked back down the final leg to the finish, DAYfinal winds and the 'O' flag raised for free pumping on
but Trujillo had done enough and led across the finish downwind legs for the first and only time in this regat-
to take his first race win by just 8 seconds, which Ben makes history yet again ta.
moved him up to tenth overall. Ainslie waited until the last moment before attacking
Ainslie commented later, "I was a little bit disappoint-
ed because I had a good start and a pretty good lead
at one point. It was a bit reminiscent of the first race of S
AILING in his fourth Olympic regatta, Ben and slid under Railey with about 30 seconds to go.
Aineslie (GBR) took his fourth Olympic medal in Railey tacked off and started in last place, but in clear
fine style, winning gold in the Finn medal race in air. After a few tacks being exchanged out of the start,
the series when I let a big lead slip but fortunately sec- the best possible way. Leading from start to finish, he Ainslie was clearly keeping Railey in his sights, yet a
ond was still a good result and it put some more boats was never really challenged to take the race win. repeat of yesterday's tactics was not necessary as the
between myself and Zach which will be very important Silver went to Zach Railey (USA) after a solid race in Brit was soon in the lead. Favouring the right hand
going into the medal race." sixth place, while Guillaume Florent (FRA) snatched side of the course Ainslie rounded the top mark ahead,
With no more races possible, Trujillo had moved up the bronze away from Daniel Birgmark (SWE) with a with Florent rounding in second from the left. Positions
to tenth overall to take the final place in tomorrow's fourth place race finish. at the first mark were: GBR, FRA, DEN, CAN, ESP,
medal race on countback from Giorgio Poggi (ITA). Olympic medals are what it is all about and Ben SLO, USA, SWE, POL and CRO. Railey was still in sil-
Both of them were on 74 points. Trujillo knew he had Ainslie made it quite clear from the outset that nothing ver and Florent had moved up to bronze.
to perform today just to make the medal race, so a win less than gold would do. Zach Railey (USA) was the
was a great way to do it. However, with only one race only sailor in the 10 boat Finn medal race who could
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