Summer arrived in Melbourne for the second day of the 2019 Finn Gold Cup on Tuesday but the breeze did not with the fleet held ashore for an hour. But once everyone got on the water it was only 6-8 knots southerly for the first race before the wind died again, causing another wait between the two races of the day. 
 
In the end, the sea breeze did fill in for the last race but it was a long day on the water for sailors, coaches and race management who managed to get two races in.

“It was a long day and a really hard day and tricky one. It was basically the survival day of the regatta and trying to not put in any ladders or big numbers on the scorecard was my only goal today,” Australian Sailing Squad’s Jake Lilley (QLD) said. 

Lilley was once again the top ranked Australian Finn sailor in the fleet finishing the day holding on to his 12th place after a 16th and 11th in Tuesday’s racing. 
 
“I put in two decent results so I survived. It doesn’t really feel like I have all the cylinders firing yet so hopefully I will be getting a few more going tomorrow and see if we can put even less points on the board,” Lilley added. 
 
Fellow Australian Sailing Squad’s Oliver Tweddell (VIC) also sits in the top 20 after two days of racing and posted a 24th and 15th in Tuesday’s two races, which saw him move up one spot into 18th overall.  
 
Youngster Lachlan Gilham held on to his spot in the top half of the fleet after posting a 34th and 24th and sits in 30th overall going into the third day of the world championships.

The 20-year old, who has only been sailing the Finn for a couple of years and is part of the Australian training squad, had a solid day and is feeling more relaxed racing on home waters than he usually is at this types of events.  
 
“Considering I’m in my home country I’m a bit more relaxed which I guess shows in my results. Normally, I’m a bit further back when I’m over in Europe. But I guess having the comfort of being in your own backyard is good. It’s also good to know that I’m up with the top guys,” Gilham said about racing at his second open world championship together with the big guns of the sport.  
 
“I was in Athens (European Championships) earlier this year and I was well out the back door so it’s really good and positive to know that I can mix in with the guys out there,” Gilham said about the fleet in Melbourne that includes amongst others the top-20 Finn sailors in the world as well as defending world champion Zsombor Berecz from Hungary and Rio Olympic champion Giles Scott (GBR). 
 
Being able to race the world’s best and making it into the top ten at one of the top mark roundings is a great motivation for the Western Australian. 
 
“We waited about half an hour for the second race and then the nice sea breeze came in which is more my cup of tea since I’m from WA and we had a nice sea breeze, about 12-15 knots. I came off the line nice and steady, tacked out right and made a good first upwind and managed top ten at the top mark which I was quite happy with and then from there I just tried to hold on as much as I could. But the big guns are a lot faster than me and I was just trying to position the boat quite well.”
 
“This is quite motivating and just trying to start with the top guys is putting me into good shape for the next world championships. I’m also just learning heaps about how the Finn works and how it is to race in a big fleet,” Gilham said with his eyes set on the season ahead. 
 
“When we go to the Finn Gold Cup in Palma next year (May 2020), that’s our last dig out before the Olympics, so those worlds are my end goal. Then I just have to wait and see what the Olympic committee wants to do with us and I hope the Finn class keeps going in the future.” 

In overall Finn Gold Cup results after two days of racing, New Zealand’s Josh Junior has taken a 14-point lead after another solid day on Port Philip, with a fifth and a first. Nenad Bugarin, from Croatia, is up to second with Andy Maloney, from New Zealand, down to third. 

The first race of the day, Race 3, got away at the third attempt under black flag with defending world champion, Zsombor Berecz from Hungary, moving up the ranks throughout the race to take the win ahead of Sweden’s 2017 world champion Max Salminen and fellow Swedish sailor Johannes Pettersson in third.

With the wind dropping after race one, sailors had to wait for over an hour before the wind returned to 10 knots for the second and final race of the day.

When Race 4 got underway on the second attempt and after a general recall following a change in the wind direction, it was much of a Kiwi-British affair. Brit, Ed Wright led the charge ahead of yesterday’s top Kiwi pair of Andy Maloney and Josh Junior, before Junior took over the lead to take home the win ahead of Maloney with Wright finishing in third.
 
Racing continues on Wednesday, 18 2019 with another two races scheduled from 1 p.m. local time.
 
Australian Sailing Squad Results
Jake Lilley: 19, 14, 16, 11 – 12
Oliver Tweddell: 22, 17, 24, 15 – 18
 
Other top-40 Australian Results
Lachlan Gilham: 31, 20, 34, 24 – 30
Jock Calvert: 41, 38, 25, 44 – 37
 
Top 5 on overall leader board after four races: 
1. Josh Junior, NZL 24
2. Nenad Bugarin, CRO
3. Andy Maloney, NZL
4. Nicholas Heiner, NED
5. Giles Scott, GBR

All results: http://sailingresults.net/sa/results/overall.aspx?ID=80280.2

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.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE 2019 FINN GOLD CUP

VENUE
The 2019 Finn Gold Cup is being hosted by the Royal Brighton Yacht Club in Melbourne, Australia.
 
SCHEDULE
Monday 16 December – Friday 20 December / 10 Races Scheduled
Saturday 21 December / Medal Race and Final Race
Saturday 21 December / Closing Ceremony & Prize Giving

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the event through the Finn Class Social Media Channels
Hashtags for the event are: #finngoldcup #finnclass
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFinnClass/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finnclass/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Finn_Classhttps://twitter.com/Finn_Class
 
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Daily highlights will be produced by Beau Outteridge Productions and available on the Finn Class 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/thefinnchannel 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFinnClass/
  
For more information see https://2019.finngoldcup.org and https://www.finnclass.org

Photo credit: Robert Deaves