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UK Fireball Class Association

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How old is your Fireball?

How old is my Fireball?  It's a question that UKFA Committee members are often asked.  Hopefully, the following will assist with the vast majority of enquiries. 

Start with the sail number carved into the thwart.  This will range from 1 to 15000-odd.  However, sometimes it's not there so let's deal with that scenario first.  

Occasionally, the number is missing in which case alarm bells should ring as a hull would not have passed measurement without the sail number cut into the thwart in accordance with the dimensions prescribed in class rules (note : some of the very earliest hulls had smaller-than-prescribed carved numbers because they pre-date the measurement rule).  So, in the absence of a thwart number, it is highly likely the hull was never measured unless, at some time in its life, the original thwart became damaged and was replaced with one that did not bear the number.  That did happen from time to time so, assuming you think you know the number from the sails,  an enquiry should be made of the UKFA Membership Secretary to see if the measurement form is on file.  If it isn't then that 16' 2" scow you're looking at isn't a Fireball.  A missing thwart number can also suggest a stolen hull that was then anonymised with the substitution of a new, un-numbered thwart.  Sadly, that happened too.

Assuming, your hull is one of the great majority that do have a thwart number then a simple enquiry to the UKFA Membership Secretary (see the Contacts page) will enable a date of registration to be provided.  For an approximate age, based on the sail number, the data provided below may assist but we have yet to analyse the first 10,000 or so measurement forms to obtain better detail for early years of the class.  However, a couple of situations may have occurred to distort the data: there are examples of boats built and then stored for many years before application was made for a sail number and the measurement/registration process completed.  So those hulls are older than the sail numbers suggest.  Conversely, occasionally sail numbers were allocated well before the hull was finished (or even started in the case of some overseas boats) so those hulls will be younger than the sail number would indicate.  In the vast majority of instances, though, the sail number correlates to the age of the hull. 

 

1962: 1 - c.65

1975:   9719 - 10372 (635)
1976: 10373 - 10859 (486)
1977: 10860 - 11513 (653)
1978: 11514 - 12100 (586)
1979: 12101 - 12567 (466)
1980: 12568 - 12879 (311)
1981: 12890 - 13024 (134)
1982: 13025 - 13173 (148)
1983: 13174 - 13316 (142)
1984: 13317 - 13486 (169)
1985: 13487 - 13742 (255)
1986: 13743 - 13830 (87)
1987: 13831 - 13965 (134)
1988: 13966 - 14046 (80)
1989: 14047 - 14145 (98)
1990: 14146 - 14246 (101)
1991: 14247 - 14299 (52)
1992: 14300 - 14364 (64)
1993: 14365 - 14413 (48)
1994: 14414 - 14462 (48)
1995: 14463 - 14538 (72)
1996: 14539 - 14614 (75)
1997: 14615 - 14644 (29)
1998: 14645 - 14686 (41)
1999: 14687 - 14717 (30)
2000: 14718 - 14750 (32)
2001: 14751 - 14785 (34)
2002: 14786 - 14818 (32)
2003: 14819 - 14855 (36)
2004: 14856 - 14889 (33)
2005: 14890 - 14920 (30)
2006: 14921 - 14951 (30)
2007: 14952 - 14975 (23)
2008: 14976 - 15009 (34)
2009: 15010 - 15035 (25)
2010: 15036 - 15056 (20)
2011: 15057 - 15075 (18)
2012: 15076 - 15087 (11)
2013: 15088 - 15110 (23)
2014: 15111 - 15124 (14)

2015: 15125 - 15130 (6)

2016: 15131 - 15140 (10)

2017: 15141 - 15148 (8)

2018: 15149 - 15156 (8)

2019: 15157 - 15162 (6)

2020: 15163 - 15167 (5)

2021: (0)

2022:



WHY JOIN THE UKFA?

  • You will be able to attend the organised events
  • We work with various suppliers to bring you discounts
  • The UKFA Coordinate fireball opens and organise National and inland champs
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