Flying Dutchman Australian Championship 2026 - Day 3, Race 5
by Jeanette Severs 1 Feb 08:45 PST
24-26 January 2026
Race five in the Flying Dutchman 2026 Australian Championship regatta was going to make all the difference to the outcome for series leader.
Ian McCrossin, multiple world and Australian champion, and Peter Bevis, were teamed up for only their second time racing FDs, but both were accomplished sailors on FDs. They were sailing Lupicus 60 AUS33.
Matt Draper, also a multiple Australian champion, had taken on Thomas Stuchbery as his team mate. While both were also accomplished sailors, this was Stuchbery's first time racing FDs. They were sailing Freight Train AUS001.
For the team aboard Freight Train, race one had been spent mostly sorting out gear failures.
So both teams knew that coming into racing on day three, the number of races completed would decide the outcome.
For everyone else, it was about who finished where in the minor placings.
Boats had overturned in races three (day two) and four (day three). Just like day two, the wind was picking up, which sorted out a few teams in race five.
The course was set over an axis of 85 degrees and 1.0 nautical miles, with a wing for the first windward-leeward return. The wind speed of 16-17 knots developed over the race to 19 knots gusting to 21-22, and the sailors were facing head-on seas and swells.
It was a clean start and ten boats contested the course.
But after putting their gear under intense pressure jockeying for a good start, the team of Miles Gavin and Darren Spence on Blew AUS371 come to an abrupt retirement, with gear failure in the mainsail.
The first rounding of the windward gates was a who's-who of Australian champions in the FD class.
Draper and Stuchbery on Freight Train AUS001 achieved the windward gates in 11 minutes, slightly faster than in race four.
They were followed by Mark Henger and Matt Bismark on board PPK NZL7, Rafe Heale and Tom Watson on Power AUS7, then McCrossin and Bevis on Lupicus 60 AUS33.
Next was Gary Cameron and Darren Hocking on Blu Tak AUS338, then the second Kiwi pair, David Gibb and John Bailey, on Lupicus NZL112.
Cameron and Hocking placed Blu Tak in the leader's position early in the series, especially after a blistering win in race one, but an unfortunate capsizing in strong wind in race three saw them relegated.
Cameron and Hocking were in the water for about an hour, batting high seas and twisted lines and sails, before they could right their boat. Determinedly, they floated her down the leeward leg and through the finish line, before they could sort out their gear problems.
But back to race five.
Completing the line-up achieving the windward gates on the first leg were, in order, David Ham and Finn Buckley on Green Eggs and Ham AUS32, Charlie Edwards and Nick Meijer bringing their experience on 420s to Circus Oz AUS31, and Russell Denholm and Andrew Keen on Beast AUS321.
Heale and Watson on Power AUS7 gained the race lead by the wing and led Draper and Stuchbery on Freight Train AUS001 through the rest of the race, around the leeward mark, through the windward gates, then across the finish line.
Gibb and Bailey brought Lupicus NZL112 up the standings to finish this race in third position, ahead of McCrossin and Bevis on Lupicus 60 AUS33. Coincidentally, Lupicus was loaned to the New Zealand pair by McCrossin for this regatta.
Following them at a further distance were Cameron and Hocking on Blu Tak AUS338, just ahead of the Etchells fleet; then Ham and Buckley on Green Eggs and Ham AUS32, Denholm and Keen on Beast AUS321 negotiating the Etchells fleet.
Bringing up the rear of the FD fleet was Edwards and Meijer on Circus Oz AUS31, after overturning on the downwind leg.
A couple of FDs were delayed at the windward gates, both overturned as they negotiated their way around an Etchells that was racing the same course in another regatta. After eventually righting their FDs, both teams retired.
On the second windward gate rounding, Henger and Bismark retired, with a broken mast and forestay on PPK NZL7. That was the end of the race and the regatta for them.
Multiple retirements in race five saw only six boats contesting the final race, number six.
With the running of race six, the championship outcome was assured to Freight Train, but the following minor placings were still to be sorted.
For race officer, Dean Robson, the decision to race was dependent on whether the wind steadied, dropped, or continued to rise, in the following few minutes. An orange flag was raised on the start boat, in anticipation of Robson's next decision.
Full Results