Austrailian Fireball National Championships at Royal Geelong Yacht Club

Austrailian Fireball National Championships at Royal Geelong Yacht Club - Overall

by Harry Fisher 8 Feb 2019 03:23 PST 3-9 February 2019

Alex Higgins and Joal Mackenzie nearly won Race 9 until a breakage in the 2019 Australian Fireball Nationals © Harry Fisher

After a consistent and stellar regatta, class veterans Heather Macfarlane and Chris Payne, sailing Not Your Average Rockstars, have taken out their third Fireball Nationals as a pair with one race still to be sailed.

After kicking off the event with two heat wins, they managed to jag another two race wins on top of that as well as never falling outside the top six, which made them too good to beat this year.

The remainder of the podium is pretty much confirmed, with Tom Gordon and Jack Fletcher in Cletus now firm in second place and John Heywood and Brett Littledike in Renegade all but confirmed as third place.

Today's racing threw up a few tricks with the opening race being started in a shifty southwesterly breeze.

By the time the race had started and then further into the first work a 100-degree left hand shift changed the game and forced Principal Race Officer Mike Rodgers to abandon the race and restart with the new breeze.

And it turned out to be a great decision with the first sea breeze of the event well and truly coming in and providing the fleet with some cracking rides and fast reaches.

Heather and Chris took out the first race of the day, which all but solidified their regatta win, while Ben Knoop and James Belton on Fierce Creature came away with a hard-fought win in the second race of the day.

With the breeze well and truly up by late afternoon, Knoop and Belton were in a ding-dong battle with young Fireball upstarts Alex Higgins and Joal Mackenzie who led for most of the race despite being a light combination.

Some great rides and a strong breeze on Day 4 at the 2019 Australian Fireball Nationals - photo © Harry Fisher

However on the last upwind leg before turning downwind to head to the finish a broken main halyard forced Higgins and Mackenzie out of the race and gave Knoop and Belton the opportunity to cruise home for their maiden national heat win.

Only one race is scheduled for the final day tomorrow, which will give Macfarlane and Payne a victory lap of sorts, while the remainder of the fleet has a last ditch effort at picking up a few spots.

Fireball Nationals - Day 4Posted by Down Under Sail on Friday, 8 February 2019

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	15048	NOT YOUR AVERAGE ROC	Heather Macfarlane	Chris Payne	BRYC	1	1	[6]	3	3	4	1	1	[5]	14
2	15071	CLETUS	Tom Gordon	Jack Fletcher	LBSC	3	3	[5]	4	[5]	2	2	3	3	20
3	14786	RENEGADE	John Heywood	Brett Littledike	LBSC	6	5	4	1	6	1	[11]	[10]	4	27
4	14722	PARANOID	Sophie Jackson	Andrew Perry	MYC	7	10	7	2	[27U]	[14]	3	2	2	33
5	15101	SUNSETS	Matthew Carter	Nicholas Neale	LBSC	[17]	2	3	7	2	7	[12]	9	11	41
6	14777	KISS	Daniel Rantanen	Chris Derrick	lbsc	[9]	9	1	[12]	7	8	4	8	6	43
7	15011	BALLBREAKER	Jalina Thompson‑Kamb	Nathan Stockley	LBSC	[18]	[18]	8	9	1	12	5	4	8	47
8	15154	RETURN OF THE JEDI	Brendan Garner	Peter Durran	RGYC	4	8	13	6	[15]	[16]	9	5	9	54
9	14933	FIERCE CREATURE	Ben Knoop	James Belton	LBSC	10	4	2	13	[13.5]	13	13	[14]	1	56
10	15062	THE BIG BANG THEORY	Ben Schulz	Peter James	asc	14	7	10	8	11.5	5	[16]	[18]	7	62.5
11	1507	LITHIUM	Alex Higgins	Joal Mackenzie	BSYC	[27R]	6	12	11	4	6	17	11	[27F]	67
12	15027	THE GREY GHOST	Phil Peverell	Bruce Shand	FYC	2	[20]	[18]	15	13.5	10	6	7	15	68.5
13	14936	SUGAR AND SPICE	Ian Ravenscroft	Bryce Reid	WSC	8	11	11	[17]	9	11	7	[17]	12	69
14	14608	HOT WIRE	Myles Gavin	Ben Obrien	RGYC	13	15	9	[18]	8	9	[18]	6	10	70
15	14826	ISSUES	Adam Common	Heath Belton	LBSC	16	[17]	16	10	10	3	10	12	[17]	77
16	14414	OUTBACK DINGOS	Glenn Peverell	Bruno Lanati	FYC	15	12	[17]	5	11.5	17	8	[21]	14	82.5
17	14851	WAVE WALKABOUT	Mark Jarred	Marguerite O'Rourke	GSC	5	14	14	14	[16]	[20]	14	16	13	90
18	14782	MONDO	Brian Pike	Glenn Stewart	GSC	11	13	15	[16]	[22]	15	15	15	16	100
19	15049	SCATTER GUN	Nick Gunner	Simon Gunner	RGYC	12	16	[21]	[21]	20	18	20	19	18	123
20	14516	HEAVENS 2	Jordan Smith	Dominic Randall	RGYC	[22]	[22]	22	22	21	21	19	13	21	139
21	14814	WHATSTHE STORY...?	Susannah Gillam	Andrew Butler	RGYC/BRYC	19	21	20	[27S]	17	[23]	22	20	20	139
22		FOR PETES SAKE	Peter Allison	Ian Nadebaum	LBSC	21	19	19	20	19	22	[23]	[23]	19	139
23	14603	FRED	Jon Emonson	Elise Emonson	RGYC	20	23	24	19	18	19	21	[27C]	[27C]	144
24	14515	PINOCO FLOW	Jarah Harris‑Moore	Nathan Field	RGYC	[26T]	25	23	23	24	[26]	26	22	23	166
25	14747	GATTICA	Lance Rock	Kevin Luff	mofsc	23	26T	[27R]	[27C]	25	25	24	24	22	169
26	14599	EVIL EMPIRE	Andrew Townsend	John Martin	LBSC	24	24	[25]	24	23	24	25	25	[27R]	169