Rockal Evans surged up the leaderboard during the penultimate day of the Ronstant International Australian Finn Championships in Brisbane yesterday.

Starting the day in tenth among the 29-boat fleet, the Bermudian sailor posted finishes of third, fourteenth and fifth to climb four places in the standings to sixth — one spot shy of his aim for a top five showing on his debut at the championships.

“I am satisfied with the day’s results and still on track of achieving my goal of a top five,” Evans said yesterday. “The guy in fifth [Luke Elliott] is two points ahead of me and we have two races tomorrow and it’s pretty windy conditions so that’s more in my favour to get good results.”

Evans might have ended yesterday’s racing on Waterloo Bay higher in the standings had he not missed a big wind shift on the final upwind leg in the seventh race.

“I finished fourteenth in that race and couldn’t drop that one so I am carrying two big scores [tenth and fourteenth] now,” Evans said.

Evans is one of only four international sailors competing and tops the international fleet.

The Bermudian’s training partner, Jake Lillie, who was a member of challenger Artemis Racing during the 35th America’s Cup which Bermuda hosted last year, has led the fleet since the opening day of the championships and won every race thus far.

“Jake is sailing so good, he’s like super fast in any conditions,” Evans said.

“It’s his home club [Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron] so he knows the bay really good. He knows all the current, wind shifts and everything else.”

Lillie’s compatriots, Oliver Tweddell and Lewis Brake, sit in second and third.

Evans is ranked 51st in the Finn world rankings and is bidding to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The Finn dinghy is an Olympic class regarded as the most physical and tactical single-handed sailboat in the world.