Fireball South Australia State Championship - Overall report

by Robin Inns on 12 Dec 2014 It was a gusty and shifty SE breeze for heat three of the South Australian State championship held on Saturday.

Tom Gordon and Jack Fletcher dealt with the conditions best to collect a comfortable win.

Michael Thomson and substitute super crew Pete Crossley did well too and held off Robin Inns and Joel Coultas for second place.

John Heywood and Brett Littledike were fourth and were closely followed by Peter Inns and Ed Alder.

The challenging conditions were a good test and punished those who made mistakes.

On Sunday the breeze had shifted more to the West (onshore) making the conditions a bit less shifty. Two races were scheduled.

The breeze strength was still up at around 15 to 20 knots - just about perfect for Fireball sailing!

Robin and Joel collected two race wins followed by Thommo this time with Richard Watson back on the wire. Tom and Jack followed in third.

Racing was once again hotly contested and the positions for both races were almost identical!

Back on shore all interest was on who had picked up the ‘Screwball' award.

There were some great nominations including Peter 'Solo man' Inns with his effort at the first round of state heats held at Port River SC. Pete lost his footing on the edge of the river and sailed off single handed. In trying to return to the bank he managed to turtle the boat. Phil Bowley had to dive in and swim to the middle of the Port River to save him!

Another potential Screwball was Tom Lloyd and Ben Jordan who decided not to go through the finish line and instead took off for one more lap. They were having too much fun!

However the unanimous winner was Joel Coultas. Joel put a great deal of effort into winning this week's award. He began on Saturday by driving to Brighton and Seacliff YC. Arriving at the club he was surprised to find there were no other fireballs! He finally realised he should be at Adelaide SC (Joel is secretary of the association so you'd think he'd know the schedule). After returning to Adelaide SC he set up the promotional Fireball flag on the lawn in front of the club. After the days sailing he headed off home and went to sleep.

In the middle of the night he suddenly remembered that he had left the flag at the club! At 2 am he was checking the club's webcam to see if he could still see it. At 3 am he drove back to the club to find it safe and sound and fluttering away gently in the breeze. Joel Coultas you are a true screwball!

The next round of state championship racing is at Brighton and Seacliff YC on February 14 and 15.

Heat Three results:

1. 15071 Tom Gordon/Jack Fletcher
2. 14777 Michael Thomson/Pete Crossley
3. 15025 Robin Inns/Joel Coultas
4. 14786 John Heywood/Brett Littledike
5. 15026 Peter Inns/Ed Alder
6. 15101 Matt Carter/Matt Neale
7. 14971 Pete Allison/Ian Nadebaum
8. 14651 Tom Lloyd/Ben Jordan
9. 14503 Dave Godden/James Heinjus

DNF15011 Jalina Thompson-Kambas/Chris Derrick
DNF14529 Laura Best/Taylor Neighbour

Heat Four Results

1. 15025 Robin Inns/Joel Coultas
2. 14777 Michael Thomson/Richard Watson
3. 15071 Tom Gordon/Jack Fletcher
4. 14786 John Heywood/Brett Littledike
5. 15101 Matt Carter/Matt Neale
6. 15026 Peter Inns/Ed Alder
7. 15062 Ben Schulz/Cam Philcox
8. 14971 Pete Allison/Ian Nadebaum
9. 15011 Jalina Thompson-Kambas/Chris Derrick
10. 14651 Tom Lloyd/Ben Jordan
11. 14503 Dave Godden/James Heinjus
DNF 14529 Laura Best/

Heat Five Results

1. 15025 Robin Inns/Joel Coultas
2. 14777 Michael Thomson/Richard Watson
3. 15071 Tom Gordon/Jack Fletcher
4. 14786 John Heywood/Brett Littledike
5. 15101 Matt Carter/Matt Neale
6. 15026 Peter Inns/Ed Alder
7. 15062 Ben Schulz/Cam Philcox
8. 14971 Pete Allison/Ian Nadebaum
9. 15011 Jalina Thompson-Kambas/Chris Derrick
10. 14503 Dave Godden/James Heinjus
11. 14529 Laura Best/
12. 14651 Tom Lloyd/Ben Jordan