First a welcome to all of those of you who have signed up to receive these emails over the last few months.
The main sailing season is drawing to a close with just one major event to go, The Fireball Inland Championships, more about that later. Looking back over the year we have had a slightly different but very enjoyable season. This year there were lots of open meetings packed in early in the season within an earlier than normal National Championships, faced as we were with a clash with the European & World Championships.
Whist we didn't see the numbers we had at Mounts Bay, 63 Boats was a great turnout for late May. Weymouth had a week of extremes in store for us with a complete lack of wind until Tuesday, when strong winds and sunny conditions arrived and the fleet were treated to an exciting day on the water. Thursday and Friday saw much lighter conditions and again the sun shined. Read the Full Report.
Restronguet SC at Falmouth are our hosts for the 2010 National Championships between the 21st and 27th August. With the "staycation" apparently becoming an ever more popular choice it is advisable to book accommodation early as Falmouth is a popular holiday area. There are lots of options in and around Falmouth. See www.fireballnationals.org.uk for further details about the event.
It was a successful year internationally for UK Fireballers with Vince Horey and Rob Gardner capturing the European title in the very last race at La Rochelle. The following week Chips Howarth and Vyv Townend were again crowned World Champions the culmination of two weeks of warm sunny weather, great racing and some excellent apres sail Read more.
Sponsored by North Sails and Pinnell & Bax
The Draycote Water Fireball Fleet have been busy making preperations for this years Inlands Championships. 6 races are planned for the weekend of the 31st Oct/1st Nov. Don't forget to set your alarm clock a little earlier than normal as the first race is at 11.30 am on the Saturday in order to get three races in. Who will finish the season off with a bang by collecting the inlands title?
Visiting sailors are welcome to arrive on Friday evening, with a fish & chip supper available in the bar from 6 pm. Those intending some to arrive on Friday should contact Helen Salisbury by email who will then arrange via Rear Commodore for the main gate to the site to be open!
On Saturday evening after dinner competitors will have the opportunity to find out more about the 2010 World Championships, when Fireball International and the Barbados Tourist Board will give a short presentation starting around 7.30pm. Dinner will be at 6pm and will be accompanied by the sound of a steel band. This will be followed later on by more music and samples of rum! Come and enjoy the party.
Camping is available on site - please see the Draycote website for contact details to book for this. Other accommodation options are also available locally.
As is the Fireball tradition there will be prizes throughout the fleet with results categorized into Gold, Silver, Bronze and Classic Fleets, and in addition there will be spot prizes on Sunday at the prize giving. Event details.
Preparations are well under way for what looks like being a fantastic event, The next stage is the booking of container spaces. Before this process can begin we need to have an idea of how many containers we are going to need! At the moment we have lots of people who might be interested, now is the time to shout out!
Anyone who is interested in attending please post their interest on the website forum asap.
The formal booking process will start in a few weeks time, when deposits will be required to secure a space. Further information will be available soon. Budget costs at the moment are £550 per boat.
The Events calendar is being constantly updated with more events for the winter months. The more hardy souls in the fleet are known to enjoy sailing in sub zero temperatures with freezing fog (see last winters Bloody Mary!). OK, so its not all bad! As always we will be supporting the major winter handicap events including:
It wouldn't be the winter months without the Draycote Water Winter Super Series which kicks off the weekend after the Fireball Inlands. You can either join for the Winter months of pay on the day. For details about this and all the winter events please see the events calendar
Many of the people who have contacted the class association who are interested in sailing a Fireball have said that they would like a trial sail before buying one.
30 classes were represented by their National Champions at this years Endeavour Trophy. Racing took place in the tidal estury of the River Crouch and comprised 8 races in winds ranging from 6-16 knots. Full Report
Fireball Promotional Pages
The website has recently been updated with a new page to help you promote the Fireball Class at your club. Lots of useful stuff to download. Promotional page.
Rob Granville recently produced some excellent new rigging diagrams aimed primarily at older wooden Fireballs. Take a look if you haven't already seen they are very useful
2010 World Championships - Bridgetown, Barbados / Nationals - Falmouth / Europeans - Czech Republic
2011 European and World Championships - Sligo, Ireland
2012 World Championships, Mandura, (nr Perth), Australia
