Out on his own

Ainslie tackles fickle conditions and extends his lead at the Finn Gold Cup

The only race sailed today in the Finn Gold Cup in Rio de Janeiro saw another downwind comeback for Ben Ainslie (GBR), giving him a third place and moving him 18 points clear at the top of the results, ahead of Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL), who is just one point ahead of David Burrows (IRL). However the day belonged to Brazil, with Bruno Prada winning the race ahead of veteran Finn sailor Jorge Zarif.

Not only were the sailors tired today after yesterday's fresh winds, but the wind must also have been tired. As a result, the Finn fleet spent more time being towed around today than actually racing. The fleet headed out to Guanabara Bay for the scheduled 13.00 start. After a postponement and a wait the fleet was towed back into the harbour where a pleasant 7 to 8 knot breeze was waiting. The press had also arrived with their cameras and helicopters, so there was quite a commotion within the harbour.

At the start most of the favourites favoured the pin end, but Dean Barker (NZL) and Marin Misura (CRO) led half of the fleet out of the committee boat end towards the favoured right hand side. However most of the favourites including the top three overnight went to the left of the course before digging back in. But it was too late by then as even the slowest of the boats heading right crossed nearly all those who had gone left, leaving several high ranking boats with too much to do to get back in the chocolates.

Soren Holm (DEN) rounded the top mark in the lead followed by Nenad Viali (CRO), Misura, Chris Cook (CAN), Barker and Rafael Trujillo Villar (ESP). Ainslie rounded about 14th and headed to the right on the run, where there looked to be more pressure. It worked a treat as Ainslie rounded the downwind gate in second place just behind Joao Signorini (BRA) and just ahead of Jorge Zarif (BRA), Barker, Cook and Bruno Prada (BRA).

Ben takes up the story; "I had a good start and went left a bit then back to the right. I was trying to stay with Mateusz and David and they were behind me so that was OK. I rounded the top mark about 14th and then went right on the run and gained a lot to round the gate in second. I actually got into the lead on the second beat, but didn't quite go far enough right, so lost out a bit." Ainslie rounded the top mark in second place just behind Prada and just ahead of Holm and Misura. He continued, "It was really close at the finish, so I wasn't sure if I was second or third." In fact, Prada maintained his lead on the final downwind leg to the finish, with Zarif moving up to second to make it a Brazilian 1, 2.

Meanwhile Mateusz was having his own problems. He commented; "After rounding the first mark behind Ben I knew I had to attack on the next beat. I'm not here to come second or third - even though I might do that now! - so I went to the right, probably too far, and ran out of wind. It was very bad for me. I lost a lot of places, but luckily managed to catch up some on the final downwind." Kusznierewicz finished 14th to give Ainslie an 18 point cushion going into the final day tomorrow.

Just as the race committee tried to start a second race, the wind died and it was postponed until tomorrow. The fleet then dropped their sails and started the tow back to the club - five minutes later a stiff wind filled in from the opposite direction. The wind has been fickle and changeable all week, and with a change in the weather overnight, the final day is unlikely to be any less challenging for the 54 competitors..

Ainslie commented on his plans for the final day, "Tomorrow will just be a matter of keeping an eye on Mateusz and David, and trying to stay ahead of them." The Pole also reflected on the final day, "Tomorrow obviously I will still try and win but it's not going to be easy."

The battle to be the best home country sailor also heated up today. Bruno Prada and Joao Signorini will soon be battling it out for selection for Brazilian berth in Athens. Here in Rio, they are neck and neck going into the final day. A win for Prada and a 5th place for Signorini sees them tied on 79 points each. There will be more than one battle taking place tomorrow.

For those following the GBR coach's anti-towing regime against literary Finn sailors, today's request for help was simply met with a, "After what you wrote yesterday, you've got no chance of a tow now!" Well. Fair dues, but when I was at school the difference between no chance and nothing was still nothing. Imagine the pleasure this author will feel if passing said coach if he happens to have broken down on the motorway, "You can walk. You need the exercise!"

Tomorrow, two races are scheduled and the racing has been moved forward one hour to 12.00 in the hope that the wind will remember to get up one hour earlier. Tomorrow also sees the opening stages of the Rio Carnival.

	Country	Skipper	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total inc Disc
1	GBR	Ben Ainslie	5	17	3	6	1	12	3	30,0
2	POL	Mateuzs Kuzsneirewicz	3	16	7	2	27	6	14	48,0
3	IRL	David Burrows	33	7	11	9	7	5	10	49,0
4	CAN	Richard Clarke	11	4	19	11	12	13	7	58,0
5	ESP	Rafael Trujillo Uillar	45	37	6	3	5	3	8	62,0
6	CRO	Marin Misura	37	6	2	20	13	19	4	64,0
7	FRA	Guillaume Florent	19	1	53	26	6	2	11	65,0
8	CRO	Karlo Kuret	6	13	17	7	9	20	DNF	72,0
9	GBR	Andrew Simpson	20	36	16	1*	14	4	20	76,0
10	BRA	Bruno Prada	7	DSQ	15	8	15	33	1	79,0
11	BRA	João Signorini	21	21	8	10	20	15	5	79,0
12	DEN	Jonas Hogh-Christensen	4	10	9	BFD	22	10	31	86,0
13	DEN	Soren Holm	15	9	25	14	19	23	9	89,0
14	NED	Sander E. Willems	17	2	1	25	3	42	42	90,0
15	AUS	Anthony Nossites	30	14	23	5	21	7	23	93,0
16	NZL	Dean Barker	32	5	44	27	8	11	13	96,0
17	GBR	Charlie Cumbley	8	11	12	34	24	24	18	97,0
18	SLO	Gasper Vincec	44	12	18	13	11	17	27	98,0
19	TUR	Ali Enves Adakan	18	34	22	16	2	9	38	101,0
20	BEL	Sebastian Godefroid	24	3	20	BFD	4	14	36	101,0
21	CZE	Michael Maier	1	28	14	38	18	29	17	107,0
22	NED	Stefan de Vries	9	20	24	15	17	27	44	112,0
23	GRE	Emilios Papathanasiou	16	31	27	22	DNF	1	16	113,0
24	NED	Jaap Zielhuis	2	8	29	19	23	40	46	121,0
25	POL	Waclaw Szukiel	27	23	4	17	29	32	24	124,0
26	HUN	Balazs Hajdu	23	38	38	18	25	8	19	131,0
27	ARG	Alejandro Colla	41	40	10	4	32	21	26	133,0
28	GBR	Matt Howard	25	25	13	23	26	28	32	140,0
29	SUI	Bruger Christoph	31	24	30	36	16	18	28	147,0
30	FRA	Bruno Ismael	26	33	36	24	10	22	DNF	151,0
31	SWE	Johan Tillander	14	35	28	30	40	31	15	153,0
32	CAN	Christopher Cook	DNF	18	37	21	31	25	21	153,0
33	ITA	Michele Marchesine	12	42	33	31	28	26	34	164,0
34	CRO	Nenad Viali	49	32	41	29	41	16	6	165,0
35	BRA	Jorge Zarif	10	46	48	42	37	35	2	172,0
36	SUI	Othmar Mueller Von Blumenvon	28	39	5	39	30	34	41	175,0
37	IRL	Aaron O`Grady	13	45	42	32	34	30	25	176,0
38	ESP	Agustin Juarez Narrero	29	29	32	33	39	37	22	182,0
39	IRL	Youen Jacob	46	15	45	12	35	44	35	186,0
40	CAN	Mike Milner	43	26	40	40	36	41	12	195,0
41	CZE	Babicky Roman	38	19	26	43	43	46	30	199,0
42	FIN	Tapio Nirkko	51	22	21	35	38	36	DNF	203,0
43	HUN	Tibor Pallay	34	30	31	44	44	43	33	215,0
44	BRA	Maurício Bueno	36	44	34	41	42	39	29	221,0
45	GER	Michael Fellmann	22	43	39	28	OCS	RAF	40	227,0
46	BRA	Henry Raul Boening	40	41	46	37	33	38	45	234,0
47	ITA	Luca Devoti	39	27	35	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	266,0
48	BRA	Marco Aurélio de Sá Ribeiro	42	51	43	48	46	49	43	271,0
49	USA	Philippe Kahn	50	50	49	47	48	45	37	276,0
50	GBR	Robert Deaves	48	52	51	46	50	50	39	284,0
51	BRA	Jorge Rodrigues	35	49	47	BFD	49	DNF	49	284,0
52	NED	Rodrick Casander	RAF	47	52	45	45	48	50	287,0
53	GER	Michael Ellen	47	48	50	49	47	DNF	47	288,0
54	BRA	Gustavo Pereira Vaitsman	52	53	54	50	51	47	48	301,0