Cook in full mode

25th January 2008  

Chris Cook to 4th place

Canadian sailor Chris Cook had a near perfect day in the 3rd day of the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne after winning race 4 and placing 2nd in race 5. Cook gains 5 places in the overall standings to 4th.

Ben Ainslie won his second race in the series to remain in 2nd overall, behind Dan Slater who retains the lead despite an up and down day.

The conditions were light when the sailors arrived at Black Rock Yacht Club this morning. Regatta PRO Bill Bell was already anticipating the possibility to postpone racing onshore to avoid a long unwanted wait on the water. Set like a Swiss clock, the wind started to fill in Port Phillip 30 minutes before starting time, allowing for the 4th race of the Finn Gold Cup to start. The conditions, like the previous days were light but fair with a stable 8 knots wind that didn’t go much over 11knots throughout the day.

Race 4 started under a Black flag with most of the fleet massed at the pin end of the line. While Chris Cook (CAN) and Dan Slater (NZL) took the best start, Ben Ainslie collided with Sander Willems (NED). He repaired his fault with a 720 but that cost him dearly, finishing 18th.

Meanwhile Dan Slater and Chris Cook where leading the fleet to the top mark. The Canadian took command on the run and increased his lead with skilful boat handling. Under the watchful eyes of the Jury he went on to win the race. Slater collected his first penalty for kinetics at the end of the first run allowing Cook to sail further in front. Zach Railey (USA) who had a disappointing regatta so far was glad to recover his good form from the Sail Melbourne regatta, to place second in front of Slater and Ed Wright (GBR). World ranked # 6, Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic recovered from a 20th place after a yellow flag at the start of the first run to finish in 5th place. “I gained 10 places on the 2nd beat and another 5 on the last downwind leg”, explained “Bambi”.

The right side of the course was often the best choice. It was how Ben Ainslie won the second race: “I started on the pin end again but crossed to the right. I went on the right side again on the second beat and gained a few places. It looks like the right is often the way to go. It is surely a hard place to sail and the wind is not obvious to read.” Chris Cook repeated his first race tactic to finish second in front of Gasper Vincec (SLO). It was the first top 10 result for the Slovenian who has been struggling so far. Emilios Papathanasiou crossed the line in 4th place.

The top 3 place in the overall standing remains unchanged, with each of the 3 leaders discarding their only 2 digit results today. Today best improvement among the top 10 comes from Chris Cook who climbed from 9th to 4th place overall. While Guillaume Florent from France gains 16 places to 29th thank to a 5th in the last race.


Giles Scott (GBR) is in a class of his own, first junior in 14th position overall after scoring a 16th and 11th place today. Piotr Kula, who had collected a disqualification at the start yesterday, can finally discard 83 points. Along with 2 races in the 20‘s, the young Pole is the day’s best improver climbing from the 59th to the 37th place, he is now the second junior. Third Junior is Federico Mello from Portugal.

In the chase for Olympic places, Florian Raudaschl (AUT) places Austria on the list after dropping 83 points for OCS.

The Finn race had a special observer today. John Bertand (AUS), Sail Melbourne’s Patron (2nd at the 1972 Finn Gold Cup, and 1976 Finn Bronze medallist) watched the racing and was impressed with the changes in a boat he sailed 30 years ago: “This is way above the boat and the way we sailed in the 70’s. The rig has improved greatly; it is impressive for such an old design to have evolved this way. The athletes are so fit, just a pity they are so restrained by the jury. Kinetics should be free, these guys should be able to sail freely and express their athleticism.” When asked about his best memories in the Finn, Bertrand doesn’t hesitate: “Friends! Most of my best friends from today sailed a Finn at some stage. Because this is a single handed boat, you need to make friends. This is a boat that demands good qualities, the ability to accept the help and advice from the others. This is in fact a “team” boat. It is not easy for single handed sailors to integrate that in their mentality. It works as a natural filter to keep the best people. This is also such a demanding boat that sailors need to be tough. In the end it makes the sailors a better person!”


As Australia will turn in “holiday” mode tomorrow to allow everyone to properly celebrate “Australia day”, the sailors and officials will have a day off. Racing will resume with two races on Sunday. Tonight, the sailors were treated to a taste of Australian “wildlife on the Barbie” with Emu, Kangaroos, Barramundi and other local delicacies.

By Corinne McKenzie