2024 Fireball Worlds at Royal Geelong Yacht Club - Day 3

The third day of the 2024 Fireball Worlds has been blown out after a lengthy wait on shore that ultimately ended with a decision to make up the races on tomorrow's lay day.

Sailors were met with winds of more than 30 knots from the north early in the day, however there was some speculation as to whether it would ease throughout the day and potentially swing to a westerly or southerly direction.

It was a day for boat work as racing was cancelled - Fireball Worlds at Geelong day 3 - photo © Alex Dare, Down Under Sail

However it was to no avail, with Principal Race Officer Ross Wilson hoisting the AP over A late in the day and changing the sailing instructions to allow for racing on tomorrow's lay day.

"We came down here at 10 o'clock this morning with a good northerly gusting up over 30 knots with steady breeze around about 27 (knots)," he said.

"The breeze didn't abate whatsoever and we made an agreement that if we couldn't get any races in today there'd be two tomorrow.

"There was some real big lumps and big waves and there would have been a lot of boats bowing through that, so AP over A and now we've got the notice posted, there will be two races tomorrow, which was going to be the lay day."

Sailors were held on shore most of the day due to strong northerly winds - Fireball Worlds at Geelong day 3 - photo © Alex Dare, Down Under Sail

Tomorrow's forecast looks to be sailable with 10-15 knot southerlies forecast on the Bureau of Meteorology's MetEye.

For up-to-date results, head to bit.ly/2024FireballWorldsResults

For more information about the event, head to 2024.fireballworlds.com