Flying Dutchman Australian Championship - Day 2
by Jeanette Severs 25 Jan 19:01 PST
24-26 January 2026
Freight Train AUS001 leads the series board - Flying Dutchman Australian Championship 2026 © Jeanette Severs
It was a mixed bag of results for sailors on day two of the Flying Dutchman 2026 Australian Championship regatta, held in windy conditions on Lake King, at Metung, in Victoria, Australia.
After two races in the regatta, at the end of day one the series board was led by Blu Tak AUS338 Gary Cameron and Darren Hocking, with Lupicus 60 AUS33 Ian McCrossin and Peter Bevis in second place, followed by PPK NZL7 Mark Henger and Matt Bismark, then Freight Train AUS001 Matt Draper and Thomas Stuchbery.
By the end of race three, the only race that occurred on day two (January 25, 2026), the series result was still open.
Race three was set with a warning signal at 1255, and as weather conditions unfolded it was the only race on day two.
The wind readings confirmed an axis of 160 degrees, with 14 knot speed, and a triangular course. The course was set over 1.2 nautical miles for the FDs, with two returns.
It was a clean start.
As the race unfolded, weather conditions grew wilder, with deep seas and wind building to 21-25 knots. By the time the race concluded, the wind was holding steady at 30 knots, with rough seas.
Draper and Stuchbery led the fleet around the first turn through the windward gates, followed by McCrossin and Bevis who were sailing together for only the second time in their lives.
The crew of Power AUS7, Rafe Heale and Tom Watson, were on their sterns in third place.
Heale is an accomplished Mirror and skiff sailor with World, National and State championships to his credit, and brings some experience of the Lake King system, having sailed there in an Etchells regatta.
They were followed by the New Zealand pair of Henger and Bismark, who are current Australian and New Zealand FD champions.
In the race for the leeward mark, it was a contest between Draper and Stuchbery and McCrossin and Bevis, followed by Heale and Watson against Henger and Bismark.
The lead positions remained unchanged as the fleet achieved the windward gates the second time, but the increasing wind pressure - getting up to 25 knots with gusts - and the test of negotiating a racing Etchells fleet on the same course saw two FDs turn over at this point, followed by two others on the approach to the finish line.
This included series leaders Blu Tak AUS338, with Darren Hocking and Gary Cameron on board, who went overboard on their approach to the finish line. They rode their FD upside down through the finish line, after most of the rest of the fleet passed them.
The lines and sails of Blu Tak became tangled underwater and the pair were in the water for about an hour, which included righting their FD for it to tip over again.
First across the finish line was Freight Train 001, then Power AUS7 was in second place, followed by Lupicus 60 AUS33.
The series board at the end of day two has Freight Train 001 on top, followed by Lupicus 60, then PPK NZL7 in third position.
Going into race day three, the race officer Dean Robson hopes and has planned for three races to complete the full series.
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