After eight races Sebastien Godefroid of Belgium won the Finn Gold Cup by four points from Mateusz Kusznierewicz of Poland, and was announced as the 2001 Finn World Champion.

RYA Team GBR sailor Chris Brittle put in an excellent performance to win the gold medal in the Junior Finn World Championship and finish fourth in the overall standings.

With only four points separating the top three yesterday (29 September), it was to be a close battle to decide the Finn Gold Cup Winner (world champion). The conditions were equally as testing as yesterday. The wind was averaging 18 knots when the first race was started and during the race increased to a steady 25 knots. By the time the second race got underway the wind was gusting 28 knots at times. The sea was also making conditions tricky with a two-metre steep swell.

Sebastien Godefroid started fairly conservatively in the first race, and after rounding the top mark in eighth position, he went on to gain places round the course and won the first race, in front of Ali Enver Adakan and Mateusz Kusznierewicz. Godefroid had only a few points over his rivals and so everything was down to the last race.

The last race of the championship went to Mateusz Kusznierewicz of Poland. But it was not enough to add a third world title to his collection and he had to be satisfied with the silver medal. Sebastien Godefroid in second position was declared world champion. Emilios Papathanasiou, 2001 European champion, finished in seventh place to take Bronze.

In the Junior contest, RYA Team GBR ‘team-mates’ were battling it out for the Junior title. Chris Brittle got the advantage over Charlie Cumbley by scoring seven points, while Charlie collected 23 in the first race.

In the second race Chris Brittle sailed well in the demanding conditions and finished in 11th place. This was enough for him to take the Gold medal in the Junior World Championship, in front of team mate Charlie Cumbley who took the silver medal. Brittle sailed really well over the last couple of days of the regatta, and not only took the Junior title but also finished in fourth place overall.

“It is fair to say the regatta didn’t go exactly how we would have liked it, particularly with regard to Andrew Simpson’s poor early scores. Chris Brittle and Charlie Cumbley however, have sailed very well, taking gold and silver medals in the Junior Worlds and finishing in the top 10 overall. All these guys have a lot to live up to after Iain Percy’s success in Sydney and these results show that our new young sailors are up for the challenge!” commented RYA Olympic Development Squad Manager, Stephen Park.

Overall Results

1st Sebastien Godefroid BEL 28 pts 2,3,10,(14),9,1,1,2

2nd Mateusz Kusznierewicz POL 32 pts (17),6,8,10,2,2,3,1

3rd Emilios Papathanasiou GRE 35 pts 1,10,6,(34),3,4,4,7

4th Chris Brittle GBR 65pts 3,14,14,3,(17),13,7,11

Other Team GBR

9th Charlie Cumbley GBR 83 pts 18,1,2,8,(23),17,23,14

15th Andrew Simpson 114 pts 37,20,26,15,1,(DNF),6,9

21st Ian Clingan 134 pts 4,27,17,24,(39),24,20,18

22, Dave Mellor 135 pts 40,13,23,22,19,(DNF),5,13

29, Adam Cowling 177 pts (33),7,28,25,33,25,30,29

40, Tim Carver 259 pts 51,48,29,41,27,34,29,(DNF)

44, Tim Tavinor 292 pts 49,16,49,51,40,29, (DNS),DNS