Australian Sailing Squad’s Jake Lilley (QLD) has finished the 2019 Finn Gold Cup, the world championship of the Olympic Finn class, on a high after winning the final top-ten medal race in Melbourne on Saturday.
 
The Rio Olympian took out the win in the world-class fleet to finish in overall fifth place, setting an early mark seven months out from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. With the event also doubling up as the Oceania Continental Qualifier, Lilley also secured Australia the Tokyo 2020 Oceania qualifying spot after New Zealand already secured their spot at last year’s world sailing championships. 

“It was important to go out and have a strong race today and set a mark so that everyone understands that we are coming for Tokyo 2020,” Jake Lilley said. 
 
“To do it on home waters with all the support I got is extra special. It’s a massive team effort, it’s not a single person event anymore. I’ve got a big team behind me and I’m really, really thankful for the support from everybody. So to give back to them with the race today was really important. I really felt that and felt everyone behind me so it was fantastic to get the win for them in as well,” Lilley gave credit to his support team. 

AST Finn Coach Rafael Trujillo

After qualifying for the medal race with an overall sixth place at the end of the opening race series on Friday, Lilley had a strong start to the double-points medal race and sat in second place right from the start. He took over the lead in the second half of the race and never let it go. He finished first ahead of 2018 world champion Zsombor Berecz from Hungary with current world number two Nicholas Heiner from the Netherlands following in third. 
 
After a consistent upward trend over the six-day world championship, Lilley finished the event in fifth overall with Kiwi Josh Junior winning the first ever Finn class world title for New Zealand. Junior went into the final race with a 16-points lead over Heiner and a seventh place in the medal race was enough for him to take out the win. Heiner finished overall second, while last year’s world champion Berecz finished the penultimate world championship ahead of Tokyo 2020 with a bronze. 
 
“This week I tried to start slowly and consistently to not put any big points on the board and slowly built throughout the week and climb. I sort of clicked it up one gear each day as the regatta went and climaxed with the medal race win. I’m very happy with that and it’s a solid result in the lead up to Tokyo 2020,” Lilley added 

Finishing in the world championship top five of the world class fleet in Melbourne is a highlight in Lilley’s career with the world’s current top-20 ranked Finn sailors, including Rio Olympic champion Giles Scott (GBR), who finished the event one spot ahead of Lilley in fourth, contesting the event.
 
“I’ve had wins before or other good events, but I think this right now is the highest quality Finn fleet we have ever seen. The Finn class has gone from strength to strength and this is no doubt the strongest it has been, it’s really tight at the top so anytime you finish top five or top ten is a great result. Obviously, we are aiming to take medals but this is a great step in the right direction,” Lilley said confidently. 
 
The final medal race day wrapped up a successful week of world class sailing on Port Phillip Bay with champagne sailing conditions for the Olympic men’s heavy weight Finn class in winds of 23knots. 
 
“We had epic conditions with a classic Melbourne south westerly and big waves which really showcased Australia at its finest. And to have the best fleet ever on Australian waters was really something special,” Lilley said. 
 
“Melbourne highlighted the fact that you got to be good in every aspect of this sport and the weather proved that here and I think the best guy came out on top and it was a fantastic event put on by Royal Brighton Yacht Club 
 
Fellow Australian Sailing Squad’s Finn sailor Oliver Tweddell (VIC) finished his first Finn regatta back following a wrist injury and rehab that saw him out of action for almost 12 months with a strong fourth place in the final race and in 21st overall. 

In other Australian results U23 Finn sailor Lachlan Gilham (WA) put in a 19th place in the final race to finish 35th overall. Lewis Brake (QLD) finished the Finn Gold Cup in 37th after a 16th place in the final race, while Jock Calvert (TAS) put in a 29th to finish 40th overall. 
 
A fleet of 60 Finns from 23 nations competed at the 2019 Finn world championship with the world’s best contesting the event. 
 
Overall Results
1.    Josh JUNIOR NZL24 
2.    Nicholas HEINER NED89 
3.    Zsombor BERECZ HUN40 
4.    Giles SCOTT GBR41 
5.    Jake LILLEY AUS1 
6.    Andy MALONEY NZL61 
7.    Nenad BUGARIN CRO10 
8.    Tom RAMSHAW CAN18 
9.    Joan CARDONA MÉNDEZ ESP26 
10.    Alican KAYNAR TUR 21
 
Medal Race Results
1.    Jake Lilley AUS 
2.    Zsombor Berecz HUN 
3.    Nicholas Heiner NED 
4.    Alican Kaynar TUR 
5.    Nenad Bugarin CRO 
6.    Joan Cardona Mendez ESP 
7.    Josh Junior NZL 
8.    Giles Scott GBR 
9.    Andy Maloney NZL 
10.    Tom Ramshaw CAN
 
Australian Results
Medal Race: 
Jake Lilley (QLD): (19), 14, 16, 11, 6, 8, 8, 2, 4, 1 – 5 
 
Final Race Fleet
Oliver Tweddell (VIC): 22, 17, 24, 15, 23, 15, 35, (42), 10, 4 – 21 
Lachlan Gilham (WA): 31, 20, 34, 24, 34, 32, 38, (44), 34, 19 – 35
Lewis Brake (QLD): 55, 40, 43, (46), 34, 29, 34, 36, 39, 28, 16 – 37
Jock Calvert (TAS): 41, 38, 25, (44), 40, 40, 42, (45). 38, 29 – 40

All results: http://sailingresults.net/?ID=80280

ABOUT THE 2019 FINN GOLD CUP
The 2019 Finn Gold Cup is being held at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club, on Port Philip, in Melbourne, Australia, one of the host clubs for the 1956 Olympic Games.  It is the world championship for the Olympic Finn Class. 

It is the fourth time that the state of Victoria has hosted the prestigious Finn Gold Cup after 1995, 1999 and 2008, which is more than any other location in the event's 64-year history. It is the start to Melbourne’s 2020 Summer of Sailing with Port Phillip hosting a series of Olympic class World Championships over the coming months.

More than 60 sailors from 22 nations are competing for the famous Finn Gold Cup over 11 races from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 December.

For more information see https://2019.finngoldcup.org and https://www.finnclass.org

Photo credit: Robert Deaves