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Corinne McKenzie, Sunday, 14 August 2005 Olympic Champion Ben Ainslie has claimed his third European crown, while Australia's sailors Josh Beaver and double Olympian Anthony Nossiter finished 24th and 29th respectively.
With 5 races’ win and a total score of 8 points, Ben Ainslie is adding 1 more Finn trophy to his extensive collection.
Dan Slater who proved to be a fast improver after 6 months only in the Finn class is taking the second place in front of very talented and experienced sailors. The Finn class European championship is an open event allowing non-European sailors to be ranked in the overall results.
After an impressing regatta records this season including a win in Kiel Week, Gasper Vincec (SLO) hard work in the Finn during the last 3 years is finally being rewarded. The Slovenian is taking the third place on the podium.
It was a close finish for second and third places with Marin Misura and Emilios Papathanasiou only 1 and 2 points behind Vincec in 4th and 5th place.
Finn records prove that Ben’s outstanding performance have been matched in the past: Andre Nelis (BEL) won 8 races out of 10 in the 1957 Europeans, in 1981 Lasse Hjortnaes won all of the 5 races sailed. The Dane won again in 1983 with a total score of 6 points.
The Junior championship has been dominated by sailors new to the class. Ivan Kljokovic Gaspic from Split, Croatia is the Junior European Champion after a few months in the boat. A situation shared by Zach Railey (USA) who has made an impressive start in his first international event by taking second place. Ivan and Zach performance is emphasized by their overall results. They have been sailing at the same level than experienced sailor finishing respectively 12th and 16th in a fleet of 73 boats. Norbert Wilandt from Poland is the third Junior in 30th position.
The sailors will meet again in Moscow in 3 weeks for the Finn Gold Cup.
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