Australian Fireball National Championship 2026 at Adelaide Sailing Club - Day 2
by Heather Macfarlane 3 Feb 19:00 PST
2-6 February 2026
Australian Fireball National Championship 2026 © Peter Royle
Race 3:
The morning started with a very light SSW breeze. All participants and race officials were hoping that with the breeze being aligned to sea breeze direction and the bright, warm sunshine we might get a good breeze by 2pm start time. However, the bureau of meteorology forecasts were correct and for racing there was a light breeze varying between 6 - 10 knots for race 3 and 6 - 8 knots for race 4.
At race 3 start there was a pin bias and talk in the dinghy park prior had the dominant theory being to head left as the breeze might swing left. The pin was tightly contested with leaders and strong contenders from day 1 all vying for prime position. Chris Dance and Chris Payne (15152) just edged over Ben Schulz and Andy Thompson (15173) and the bow length lead at the gun converted to 2 to 3 boat length lead within the first 100m. After a few hundred meters 15152 tacked to cross the fleet and then tacked back left to cover. Wind strength was light with crews shifting from half trapezing to sitting on the side of the boat. Great for their knees!
The dominant theory about the breeze and the strategy to head left paid off. The breeze had shifted left by the time the boats got to the top mark and boats that headed left led around the first mark. The first 4 boats got a break on the fleet. A second larger group of 6 or 7 boats followed after a 100m gap. And so the groupings continued through the fleet. Some places changed within each group as the race progressed, but there was not a lot of opportunity to jump forward to the next group in such light breezes. The front group included leaders from Day 1: John Heywood and Daniel George (14786) and Chris and Chris (15152). There were joined by Phil Peverell and Pete James (15027) who had consistent 7ths on day 1 and the French team Olivier Burgaud and Florence Devaux (sailing in borrowed Australian boat 15072).
As might be expected from their lead, results of race 1 were 1. Chris Dance and Chris Payne (15152), 2. John Heywood and Daniel George (14786), 3. Phil Peverell and Pete James (15027) and 4. Olivier Burgaud and Florence Devaux (15072).
Race 4:
The breeze was slightly softer (6-8 knots) to start race 4 and all the locals consulted were saying it would go further left. Sailors seemed to agree and there was a tussle for the pin and port end resulting in 3 boats being over the line and recalled. A number of boats had to tack off to head right due to congested lanes. Against all the local predictions, by about 1/3 of the way up the beat the boats on the right were looking good relative to the bulk of the fleet that had headed left. And sure enough, to defy the predictions and give the "it's never normally like this" experience, the breeze shifted right by the time the fleet got to the top mark. Phil Peverell and Pete James (15027) held a good lead over last year's National Champions Brendan Garner and Ben O'Brien (15026). The front group was less distinct in this race with about 10 boats vying to see who could get the little gains to overtake another boat.
Again there was a course change, but this time to the right for the 2nd beat of the course. Amongst the top group youth team Ben Garner and Sam Williamson were in strong contention. Another youth Calin Went, sailing with his dad Chris Went (1503) were vying hard for position gains. This followed on from a strong performance in both races in Day 1 - so watch out for this emerging team.
Tussles and position changes occurred slowly throughout the subsequent triangle and loop in the light winds. Downwind square runs seemed to be the primary tactical opportunity that resulted in position changes.
After tussles through out the top 10 the top finishers were: 1. Brendan Garner and Ben O'Brien (15026) overtook 2. Phil Peverell and Pete James (15027). 3. Chris Dance and Chris Payne (15152) did a good come back from around 7th at the 1st mark to finish in 3rd. 4. Ben Garner and Sam Williamson (14810) improved on 5th in race 3 to come home strongly in race 4.
Progressive results can be found here.