Australia`s Jake Lilley finishes second at Finn Silver Cup

by Craig Heydon on 13 Jul 2013 Australian sailor Jake Lilley has finished second at the 2013 Finn Silver Cup in Italy after a consistent week on the water.

The Queensland teenager has only been competing in the Finn class since the end of last year with the result in Italy his best finish at an international event. The Finn Silver Cup is the Junior World Championship regatta for the Finn class, for sailors under the age of 21.

Lilley finished second behind Brazil’s Jorge Zarif with Canadian sailor Martin Robitaille third.

Heading into the final day Zarif had the gold wrapped up with Lilley and Robitaille battling it out for second.

The Australian finished fifth in the final race with his Canadian opponent 11th, giving Lilley the silver medal.

'I’m feeling really positive after the regatta,' said Lilley. 'We trained really hard right up to the event and I’m feeling fit and healthy. My goal is to perform as well as possible at the Finn Gold Cup in August but also at the Europeans in a week time. In saying that I’m very pleased to have come away with the silver here at the Junior Worlds after a hard week of racing.'

Lilley and regatta winner Zarif were at the front of the fleet all week, with the pair often dicing for top position.

'The Brazilian was a tough opponent and our battles really brought out some intense high-level racing along with the other top juniors,' said Lilley. 'The regatta was a fantastic experience and training leading into the season’s major regattas.

'Coming out of this regatta I have new found confidence and have improved in a lot of areas which hopefully will help to produce a good result at the Europeans,' he said. 'I’ve learnt a lot about racing at the front of the fleet this regatta and am looking forward to a few days off before the next event.'

Lilley, who trains with the Queensland Academy of Sport program, is a newcomer to the Finn class, having previously campaigned in the Laser.

The Finn is a fantastic boat and the class has a great camaraderie off the water and fierce racing out on the course,' said Lilley. 'I’m still one of the newest to the class so the learning curve is very steep. I’m happy with where I’m at but am looking forward to learning more about the boat and Finn class racing in the future.'

Lilley’s silver medal was the second time that an Australian sailor has been on the podium at the Finn Silver Cup in recent years, with Australian Sailing Squad training partner Oliver Tweddell winning bronze in San Francisco in 2010.

 Final results

1	BRA 109	Zarif Jorge	17,0	1	(4)	3	1	1	3	1	1	3	2	1
2	AUS 41	Lilley Jake	36,0	3	2	2	2	(dsq)	6	7	7	1	1	5
3	CAN 110	Robitaille Martin	41,0	7	7	1	4	3	1	3	5	6	4	(11)
4	GBR 29	McCoy Peter	46,0	5	5	(10)	3	2	2	8	9	2	3	7
5	RUS 6	Kistanov Arkadiy	57,0	4	3	5	10	4	4	9	3	9	6	(16)
6	NOR 1	Pedersen Anders	62,0	2	1	4	5	8	5	(18)	13	4	5	15
7	POL 7	Marciniak Jakub	70,0	(18)	6	7	12	11	7	2	4	11	8	2
8	ITA 213	De Luca Umberto	79,0	6	9	8	6	7	(ocs)	5	10	8	10	10
9	GER 64	Luttukus Lennart	89,0	14	16	6	7	5	10	13	(18)	5	7	6
10	ITA 214	Bevilacqua Riccardo	107,0	12	10	9	11	9	12	6	(20)	7	13	18