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On the long beat to the first mark of the course, "Bell Partners" skippered by Tony Hannan opened up a good lead to round ahead of Matt Felton on "Newport Arms Hotel", Alistair Saunders on "Computer Associates", John Harris on "Rag & Famish Hotel" and Trevor Barnabas on "Omega Smeg". Already catching up fast, after being recalled at the start, was John Winning on "d'Albora Marinas".

By the end of the second lap, "The Rag" had reeled in "Bell Partners", but Tony Hannan was not prepared to give up, and retook the lead on the final work to the windward mark. Downwind, "Bell Partners" maintained the lead past the Shark Island turning mark and appeared to be home and dry, but John Harris on "The Rag" timed his gybe to the finishing line to perfection and crossed the line alongside "Bell Partners" to achieve that unusual result in sailing ­ a dead heat for first place.

Meanwhile, "d'Albora Marinas" had continued her charge through the fleet to take an excellent third place, just two seconds ahead of "Omega Smeg" and another second ahead of "Newport Arms Hotel".

The final positions in the New South Wales Championship will also determine the selections for the JJ Giltinan International Championship from the 5th to the 13th January, and the final two heats are scheduled for next weekend.

New South Wales Championship, Heat 3 results:

1= "Bell Partners", Tony Hannan
1= "Rag & Famish Hotel", John Harris
3. "d'Albora Marinas", John Winning
4. "Omega Smeg", Trevor Barnabas
5. "Newport Arms Hotel", Matt Felton
6. "Sunday Telegraph", Michael Coxon
7. "Computer Associates", Alistair Saunders
8. "Express Post", Hugh Stodart
9. "Derwent Racing", Daniel Phillips
10. "Avaya Communication", Peter Morrison

Positions after 3 heats, no discard:

1. "Rag & Famish Hotel", 22.5 points
2. "Sunday Telegraph", 25.7 points
3. "Derwent Racing", 26.7 points
4. "Bell Partners", 31.5 points
5. "d'Albora Marinas", 33.7 points