Finn Silver Cup - Third for Oliver Tweddell in first Finn event

by Corrine Mckenzie on 25 Aug 2010 Finn Silver Cup, San Francisco - final day.

The Silver Cup is the first Finn event for Oliver Tweddell the 19 years old Australian who has started sailing the Finn only four months ago. He finishes third in the event.

On the day of his 20th birthday, Miami sailor Luke Lawrence wins the 2010 Finn Junior World title. What a better present than the Silver Cup!

'Winning this event was my main goal this year. I have trained hard since spring with my coach John Bertrand. My learning curve has been great. It has been quite stressing at time with difficult sailing conditions and good competition. I am happy because I was able today to go out there and do the job!'

The day started with sun and wind from the East. The AP flag went up to postpone racing until the westerly filled in the bay. Racing started at 3 PM after a general recall. It was a nerve raking race with light wind and event leadership changing through the race. Caleb Paine was first to the top mark while Luke Lawrence rounded in 11th place. The run against the current provided the biggest opportunities to gain or lose. While the top five sailed the run down the middle of the course, Oliver Tweddell (AUS), Egor Terpigorev (RUS) and Luke Lawrence (USA) went close to the shore. 'With the side being so shallow, there was much less current close to the shore. There was also an opposite current starting to form towards the end of the run. I waited until every one there gybed towards the gate. We all made big gains. On the second run we went again close to shore and very low to be pushed to the gate by the current.'

Egor Terpigorev (RUS) won the last race with Oliver Tweddell (AUS) second and Luke Lawrence third. Fourth place in the last race goes to the fleet younger RJ Bay who at the age of 16 is looking forward more Finn racing!

Luke Lawrence takes the title, three points from European Junior champion Ioannis Mitakis (GRE) and Oliver Tweddell (AUS).

Most Junior sailors will stay in San Francisco to race the Finn Gold Cup scheduled next week.

'My objective is to make the top 30' says Lawrence. 'This is where I finished in the Finn Europeans last May. But for now I will have a good break and sail the 18 ft skiff!'

Bow Sail Number Yacht Name Owner/Skipper Rating Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Race 9 T O   Total   Finn     1.   USA 40   Luke Lawrence   5 3 1 1 3 1 10 5 3 [10]   22.0     2.   GRE 77 GRE 77 Ioannis Mitakis   16/DNF 1 5 3 1 5 4 1 5 [16]   25.0     3.   AUS 261 AUS 261 Oliver Tweddell   6 4 2 5 4 2 5 2.5 2 [6]   26.5     4.   USA 48 619 Caleb Paine   3 2 10 4 2 4 2 4 9 [10]   30.0     5.   BRA 109 Al Hamed Jorge Zarif   4 6 3 9 6 3 1 6 7 [9]   36.0     6.   CRO 11   Josip Olujic   2 5 4 2 5 16/DSQ 3 2.5 13 [16]   36.5     7.   RUS 57   Egor Terpigorev   9 11 7 6 7 6 8 9 1 [11]   53.0     8.   GER 64   Lennart Luttkus   1 8 6 7 10 12 7 7 8 [12]   54.0     9.   RUS 707   Larionov Egor   7 7 13 8 9 7 6 8 16/DNF [13]   68.0     10.   CAN 11   Martin Robitaille   11 9 11 10 11 8 9 10 6 [11]   74.0     11.   POL 12 GENERALI Milosz Wojewski   8 10 8 13 8 10 11 12 16/DNF [13]   83.0     12.   GBR 18 GBR 18 James Hadden   10 12 9 11 12 9 13 13 11 [13]   87.0     13.   USA 8   RJ Bay   12 15 15 12 13 13 14 14 4 [15]   97.0     14.   USA 33 USA 33 Gordon Lamphere   13 13 12 16/DNS 14 11 12 11 12 [16]   98.0     15.   USA 81 Titanium Monkey Joshua Revkin   16/DNF 14 14 14 15 14 15 16/DNF 10 [16]   112.0

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