Edward Wright wins Finn gold medal, Jonathan Lobert silver and Zach Railey bronze: 2011 Kieler Woche
Great Britain’s Edward Wright grabbed the gold medal at the end of Finn class races at 2011 Kieler Woche, the final regatta of International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Sailing Cup, on Wednesday, June 22 at Kiel, Germany.
Wright trailed Jonathan Lobert and Zach Railey all week but sailed tremendously on final day to finish top of the list. Lobert and Railey settled for second and third place, claiming silver and bronze medals respectively.
Conditions on the fourth day of the race cost Wright, as he found himself in third place, trailing Lobert and Railey. Fortunes changed for Wright on the final day though, as he took advantage of better sailing conditions to elevate himself to first place
in the standings. The winds blowing up to 17 knots with cloudy skies, added that extra element of thrill in the race towards the end.
Meanwhile, luck didn’t favour Railey on the final day of the competition. The American sailed brilliantly throughout the regatta however, when it mattered most, the sailor faltered. Railey settled for 6th place on the final day, with a difference
of only 0.04 separating him from the eventual winner, Wright.
A disappointed Railey said, while speaking to reporters, “My plan was to just race my race as points were so close. But it was a race with lots of changes and there were some very big shifts. I was on the wrong side of a big one on the second upwind and
that pretty much put me in third overall.”
He added, “It was a huge fight all week so for all of us, so to end on the same points shows how close the racing really was all week. I am happy to have a podium finish and we feel like we are making improvements which is the most important for the future.
Getting on the podium was the goal this week but it still hurts to not win.”
The overall results at the end of final day are given below:
1 - GBR 11 - Wright, EDWARD 2, 6, 6, 2, 2, 4, 2, 6 = 30
2 - FRA 112 - LOBERT, Jonathan 5, 1, 1, 6, 1, 3, 3, *10.02 = 30.02
3 - USA 4 - Railey, Zach 1, 2, 5, 4, 4, 1, 1, *12.04 = 30.04
4 - EST 2 - Deniss, Karpak 3, 7, 6, 1, 3, 5, 5, 2 = 32
5 - FRA 29 - LE BRETON, THOMAS 6, 4, 3, 10, 5, 2, 6, 4 = 40
6 - GER 151 - Miller, Matthias 3, 5, 11, 7, 7, 6, 7, 18 = 64
7 - SWE 6 - Allansson, Björn 2, 4, 15, 9, 9, 8, 4, 14 = 65
8 - GER 771 - Kurfeld, Jan 11, 10, 11, 9, 5, 6, 11, 8 = 71
9 - USA 1140 - Paine, Caleb 4, 14, 9, 3, 13, 9, 10, 16 = 78
10 - AUT 3 - Raudaschl, Florian 9, 7, 13, 4, 11, 8, 9, 20 = 81
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