Austrailian Fireball National Championships at Royal Geelong Yacht Club

Austrailian Fireball National Championships at Royal Geelong Yacht Club - Day 3

by Harry Fisher 7 Feb 06:18 GMT 3-9 February 2019

Daniel Rantanen's Kiss rounds the top mark in a close group - 2019 Australian Fireball Nationals © Jordan Roberts

Heather Macfarlane and Chris Payne capsized during yesterday's racing - 2019 Australian Fireball Nationals © Jordan Roberts

With seven out of 10 races completed and a lay day today, it's all to play for in the 2019 Fireball Nationals, hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club.

After kicking off the regatta with wins in the opening two races, and maintaining a consistent scorecard from then on, Heather Macfarlane and Chris Payne in Not Your Average Rockstars are in the box seat to clinch another national title.

They have been challenged by a number of quality boats, however their consistency to have three heat wins and a fourth as the worst carried result after seven races has shown their consistency hasn't been matched.

South Australians Tom Gordon and Jack Fletcher in Cletus have also been consistent but haven't had the fire power to steal the necessary points off Macfarlane and Payne they will head into the final three races in second place, six points behind the lead.

The racing has been close throughout the Fireball Nationals in Geelong - photo © Jordan Roberts

Reigning national champions John Heywood and Brett Littledike in Renegade have shown glimpses of brilliance with two race wins to their name, but with a mixed bag of results they trail the leaders by 10 points and sit in third place with a fair bit of work to do.

The event has seen a number of mini-races take place as well, with the battle for the first placed under-21 skipper now well and truly in the balance.

Mornington Yacht Club 470 gun Sophie Jackson, who is sailing with Andrew Perry on Paranoid, has been the pick of the juniors with a number of quality results.

While she hasn't seemed to be challenged thus far, first-time Fireball sailors and current 49er prospects Alex Higgins and Joal Mackenzie in Lithium have shown a lot of promise.

When the first drop came into play, the South Australian young guns representing Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club were able to discard a DNF, which brought them right back into the fold and hot on the heels of Jackson and Perry.

But a shocker in Race 7 yesterday saw them slip to ninth place, 17 points behind Jackson, which will force them to rely on the next drop coming into play and a strong, clean finish to crawl their way back into contention.

But with a tricky course out on Corio Bay and a regatta that has thrown up plenty of tricks there is no doubt anything could happen on the final two race days.

Results after Day 3:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	Club	Age Cat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1	15048	NOT YOUR AVERAGE ROC	Heather Macfarlane	Chris Payne	BRYC		1	1	[6]	3	3	4	1	13
2	15071	CLETUS	Tom Gordon	Jack Fletcher	LBSC		3	3	[5]	4	5	2	2	19
3	14786	RENEGADE	John Heywood	Brett Littledike	LBSC		6	5	4	1	6	1	[11]	23
4	15101	SUNSETS	Matthew Carter	Nicholas Neale	LBSC		[17]	2	3	7	2	7	12	33
5	14777	KISS	Daniel Rantanen	Chris Derrick	lbsc		9	9	1	[12]	7	8	4	38
6	14722	PARANOID	Sophie Jackson	Andrew Perry	MYC	U21 +50C	7	10	7	2	[27U]	14	3	43
7	15011	BALLBREAKER	Jalina Thompson‑Kamb	Nathan Stockley	LBSC		[18]	18	8	9	1	12	5	53
8	14933	FIERCE CREATURE	Ben Knoop	James Belton	LBSC		10	4	2	13	[13.5]	13	13	55
9	15154	RETURN OF THE JEDI	Brendan Garner	Peter Durran	RGYC		4	8	13	6	15	[16]	9	55
10	15062	THE BIG BANG THEORY	Ben Schulz	Peter James	asc		14	7	10	8	11.5	5	[16]	55.5
11	1507	LITHIUM	Alex Higgins	Joal Mackenzie	BSYC	U21 U21C	[27R]	6	12	11	4	6	17	56
12	14936	SUGAR AND SPICE	Ian Ravenscroft	Bryce Reid	WSC	50	8	11	11	[17]	9	11	7	57
13	15027	THE GREY GHOST	Phil Peverell	Bruce Shand	FYC	+50 +50C	2	[20]	18	15	13.5	10	6	64.5
14	14826	ISSUES	Adam Common	Heath Belton	LBSC		16	[17]	16	10	10	3	10	65
15	14414	OUTBACK DINGOS	Glenn Peverell	Bruno Lanati	FYC	+50C	15	12	[17]	5	11.5	17	8	68.5
16	14608	HOT WIRE	Myles Gavin	Ben Obrien	RGYC	50	13	15	9	[18]	8	9	18	72
17	14851	WAVE WALKABOUT	Mark Jarred	Marguerite O'Rourke	GSC	50	5	14	14	14	16	[20]	14	77
18	14782	MONDO	Brian Pike	Glenn Stewart	GSC	+50 +50C	11	13	15	16	[22]	15	15	85
19	15049	SCATTER GUN	Nick Gunner	Simon Gunner	RGYC	50	12	16	[21]	21	20	18	20	107
20	14603	FRED	Jon Emonson	Elise Emonson	RGYC		20	23	[24]	19	18	19	21	120
21		FOR PETES SAKE	Peter Allison	Ian Nadebaum	LBSC	50	21	19	19	20	19	22	[23]	120
22	14814	WHATSTHE STORY...?	Susannah Gillam	Andrew Butler	RGYC/BRYC	+50 +50C	19	21	20	[27S]	17	23	22	122
23	14516	HEAVENS 2	Jordan Smith	Dominic Randall	RGYC	U21C	[22]	22	22	22	21	21	19	127
24	14599	EVIL EMPIRE	Andrew Townsend	John Martin	LBSC	+50C	24	24	[25]	24	23	24	25	144
25	14515	PINOCO FLOW	Jarah Harris‑Moore	Nathan Field	RGYC	U21 U21C	[26T]	25	23	23	24	26	26	147
26	14747	GATTICA	Lance Rock	Kevin Luff	mofsc	+50 +50C	23	26T	[27R]	27C	25	25	24	150