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Fireball 2023-24 Victorian State titles at Cairn Curran Sailing Club

by Chris Payne 1 Dec 2023 06:45 GMT 25-26 November 2023
Peter & Seb Durran (15154) and Susannah Gillam & Andrew Butler (14814) during the 2023-24 Fireball Victorian State titles © Will Baum

A strong fleet of Victorian Fireballs headed to Cairn Curran for the 2023-24 Victorian State titles. The forecast was for light winds and rain, but the Fireballers were undeterred. Luckily most rain fell on the Friday night during a thunderstorm that took out the local power.

By the morning everything was fine with a 15-20 knot NW blowing across course. The racing was close but Brendan Garner and Ben O'Brien showed their form and cleared out on the three races. Unfortunately for them a broken spinnaker halyard enabled Heather Macfarlane / Chris Payne to win the 2nd race. Nick Gunner / Simon Gunner were also fast in the conditions and kept Brendan and Ben honest.

Day 2 was 10-15 knots from the south and again brought close racing through out the strong fleet. Heather and Chris managed to win the first race which set up a winner takes all in the 2nd and last race of the series. With a close first beat throughout the fleet Brendan and Ben led around the first mark and sailed away for a comfortable win and back to back state championships. Glen Peverell and Bruno Lanati showed speed and good tactics to push the leaders hard, but Phil Peverell and Bruce Shand showed consistency across the two days to finish 3rd.

A big shout out to Cairn Curran Sailing Club for allowing us to use their wonderful lake for our state titles, and provide great wine, food, sticky date pudding and wonderful hospitality. It is always a highlight of the season. and we look forward to coming back next year.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoBoat NameHelmCrewR1R2R3R4R5Pts
115026Black PearlBrendan Garner  Ben O'Brien121215
215048Not Your Average Rock StarHeather McFarlane  Chris Payne213126
315027The Grey GhostPhil Peverell  Bruce Shand3746316
415049Scatter GunNick Gunner  Simon Gunner5328717
514414Outback DingosGlenn Peverell  Bruno Lanati7653418
614814What's The StorySusannah Gillam  Andrew Butler6569522
714810Tabu SoroBen Garner  Sam Williamson8487625
814601Cop‑You‑LaterRod Barker  Darrell Ralph41194926
914608Hot WireMyles Gavin  Darren SpenceNC)9105832
1015154DarksidePeter Durran  Sebastian Durran987111135
1114943RockstarsAndrew Kean  Mabel Kean111011121244
1213217R‑SupAnthony Ducat  Erik Meijer10NC)1210NC)47
1314586TemeritousJaemie Wilson  David ScammellNC)1213131048
1412778SequelPeter Russell  Jen Russell121314141352

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