Ben Ainslie tops Finn class, Pieter Jan Postma move up: Weymouth and Portland International Regatta
Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie had another successful day at Weymouth Bay, as he retained his overall lead with superb performance in the Finn class races on Day 4 of 2011 Weymouth and Portland
International Regatta. Meanwhile, Netherlands' Pieter Jan Postma replaced Jonathan Lobert of France to take second place with 22 points.
The fourth day of 2011 Weymouth and Portland International regatta started with a light breeze over the racing area of Weymouth Bay. However, strong winds started prevailing at the race
site as the sailors started sailing on the Nothe, which is the proposed sailing course of Finn medal races.
The Olympic Champion, Ainslie set sail brilliantly under challenging weather conditions to retain his overall lead in the Finn class standings with 15 points. The Briton earned a first
and second place in both races of the day and proved he has the spark to claim the title.
While speaking to the local media at the end of fourth day, Ainslie said, “Today was a good day, but tough conditions. They were very different courses tactically but still hard work in
the breeze. The second race was a really good race with PJ, Rafa and myself.”
He added, “I got past Rafa on one of the runs and caught PJ a little but it was quite a one sided track and hard to live with the big guys on the upwind legs. It was a fun race though.
We have tried to train on all of the courses and they're all pretty unique. The breeze was pretty shifty on the Nothe course but the wind was relatively stable today.”
However, the Dutch Finn class sailor, Pieter Jan Postma, has nudged France’s Jonathan Lobert one place down at number three to finish Day 4 on second place with 22 points. Postma is only
six points behind Ainslie and can be a strong challenger for him in the next races.
The overall result of Finn class after eight races is given below:
1. GBR Ben Ainslie 2, 1, (6), 5, 3, 1, 1, 2 = Total Points 21, Net Points 15
2. NED Pieter Jan Postma (12), 3, 1, 1, 2, 9, 5, 1 = Total Points 34, Net Points 22
3. FRA Jonathan Lobert 3, 2, 3, 6, 1, (13), 4, 7 = Total Points 39, Net Points 26
4. ESP Rafael Trujillo 14, 5, 2, (15), 8, 3, 3, 3 = Total Points 53, Net Points 38
5. CRO Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic 4, 8, 4, 3, (28 DSQ), 12, 2, 6 = Total Points 57, Net Points 39
6. EST Deniss Karpak 1, 7, 10, (12), 4, 2, 9, 8 = Total Points 53, Net Points 41
7. DEN Jonas Hoegh Christensen (28) DSQ, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 4 = Total Points 74, Net Points 46
8. NZL Dan Slater 11, 18, 5, 2, (28 DSQ), 4, 7, 9 = Total Points 84, Net Points 56
9. USA Zach Railey 5, 9, (26), 8, 5, 8, 16, 11 = Total Points 88, Net Points 62
10. SLO VINCEC Gasper 8, 4, 13, 18, (28 BFD), 6, 11, 10 = Total Points 98, Net Points 70
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