Mixed luck for Robert Inns and Joel Coultas on Day 3: 2012 International Fireball World Championship
Second day of the 2012 International Fireball World Championship finished after a superb sailing show at Comet Bay in Mandurah. A thunderstorm covered the area late night but the skies cleared in the morning on Day 3. The Fireball fleet reached
Comet Bay waters for the third day’s proceedings and successfully sailed in two more races scheduled for the day.
Australia’s Robert Inns and Joel Coultas, leaders of the fleet on Day 2, had a bit of mixed luck on third day and lost their top podium place at the conclusion of the day. The pair was outstanding on the Comet Bay waters, when they started racing
on Day 2. They clinched a bullet and a second podium finish to hit the leading berth of the fleet.
The third day’s proceedings seemed quite easy for them, as the weather conditions were no different than those of the second day. Breeze was very shifty, blowing from 10 to 15 knots east / south-east offshore, along with some heavy gusts hitting
the boats constantly, which required some very tactical sailing. Due to heavy weather, the duo was unable to perform up to the mark and slipped down to second place.
First race of the third day commenced under Comet Bay-style forecast. Inns and Coultas on their Fireball boat, Dreadlock Holiday, sailed eagerly to the windward mark. The Aussie pair was hopeful to cross the finish line within the top three positions
but a couple of big shifts disturbed them and they hit the line at the eighth spot.
Winds dropped a couple of degrees down before the start of Race 2 and the Australians had their chance to capitalise. They got advantage of the wind shift and clinched a bullet in the second race. Due to a bullet and a discard race, they managed
to stay on the second podium position with 12 points.
Top 10 standings of the Championship on Day 3:
1. GBR 15041 Tom Gillard, Sam Brearey 1, 4, 2, (6), 1, 2 = 10 points
2. AUS 15025 Robert Inns, Joel Coultas 5, 3, 1, 2, (8), 1 = 12 points
3. AUS 14786 John Heywood, Brett Littledike 7, 1, 3, 7, (17), 6 = 24 points
4. AUS 15032 Greg Allison, Richard Watson 8, 2, 4, 4, 6, (21) = 24 points
5. GBR 15045 Dave Wade, Tim Saxton 3, 6, (11), 5, 5, 5 = 24 points
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