- Local News for Southern Sailors - May 2002 Next Story
Fireballs bring their world to Tampa Bay
By Doran Cushing
Doran Cushing photo 
Tampa's Davis Island Yacht Club, which has for years hosted a midwinter event for usually less than a dozen Fireballs, put together a comprehensive two weeks of racing and relaxing, which attracted the top racers from all corners of the globe. The fleet, some 60 boats strong, came from Australia and Japan, from Europe and the UK, and from Canada and the United States.
First launched in 1962 in England, the Fireball resembles a scow with hard chine...sorta like a big Sunfish with a spinnaker, trapeze, and plenty of power wrapped into a 16-foot double-handed boat that planes upwind and screams off the wind. Rigged and ready, they weigh in around 175 pounds. According to one British Web site for the class, the best crews range in total weight from "20 to 25 stones," or about 275 to 335 pounds in American terminology.
With U.S. class president Pat Crump as regatta organizer and DIYC providing unbelievable support both on and off the water, the venue received rave reviews from the competitors. Adding to the mix of serious and fun stuff were two weeks of mixed breeze culminating with day after day of strong winds during the world championship.
Many of the competitors came with family and friends, making the worlds and the preceding week of racing a vacation, regatta, and a party. Some of the sailors camped in tents outside the clubhouse with an unlittered view south across Hillsborough Bay. Others were invited into the homes of DIYC sailors or stayed aboard boats docked at the club. They even managed to get invited en masse to participate in a night parade in Ybor City...something like a mini-Mardi Gras...and they LOVED it! Certainly the racing was the fuel, but the engine driving this group was camaraderie, new friendships, and an international spirit of adventure and sportsmanship.
After nine races, Ian Pinnell and David Scott of England were the champs, but not without a struggle. An OCS violation in the next to last race pushed the team to find one last winner to keep the overall lead. As it turned out, the top five overall were the top five in the closing race — but not in their final standing — separated by a handful of points between each place. Those results could easily have changed during the last race in a
60-boat fleet. After two throwouts, the fifth-place team from England averaged better than a ninth place finish in the huge fleet...and still only finished fifth. Seven finishes in the top six, including two bullets, only earned the Swiss team of Erich Moser and Reudi Moser a third at this worlds.
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The bonus point scoring system — not commonly used in the United States — rewarded the top seven finishers in each race. A win is worth zero points; second is three points, third is 5.7, fourth is eight, fifth is 10, sixth is 11.7, and seventh gets 13 points. Each place after that gets one additional point per place. The bonus system recognizes the added difficulty in moving up in position the closer you are to the leaders in a large fleet.
U.S. class leader Crump was the top American finisher in 30th place. With a career change in the works, Crump was planning to move to Tampa Bay and likely try to find some new Fireball sailors. The 2003 worlds will be held Feb. 15-28 at Kilifi, Kenya, on the Indian Ocean. Despite all that Davis Island might have to offer, Kenya sounds a bit more exciting.
Sailing World published a story about building Fireballs and getting high school students involved with sailing (and building the boats) in their April issue. See www.sailingworld.com. For more info on the class, see www.fireball-international.com.
RESULTS (Top 30 of 60 boats - After Nine races/two throwouts) 1. Ian Pinnell/David Scott GBR 37.4; 2. Richard Estaugh/Simon Potts GBR 43.7; 3. Erich Moser/Reudi Moser SUI 47.4; 4. David Wade/Richard Wagstaff GBR 55.1; 5. Vince Horey/Jon Mildred GBR 62.7; 6. Kevin Hope/Robert Gardner GBR 84.4; 7. Paul Cullen/Gavin Tilson GBR 98; 8. Robin Inns/Mark Ingerson AUS 99; 9. Tim Rush/Simon Hextall GBR 106.7; 10. Venhoda Kurt/Sonja Zaugg SUI 120.7; 11. Ben Schulz/Phil Bowley AUS 121; 12. John Heywood/Joel Coultas AUS 124; 13. Angus Hemmings/Steve Chesney GBR 126; 14. Philip Popple/Doug Shore GBR 127.4; 15. Stephanie Marler/Tom Egli CAN 137; 16. Penny Gibbs/Ian Gibbs GBR 139.7; 17. Franck Juin/Jean-Francois Nouel FRA 146; 18. Robert Levy/Mike Nalecz CAN 148; 19. Adrian Huber/Brigitte Mauchle SUI 149; 20. Neville Herbert/Steve Penfeld GBR 151; 21. Hiroshi Kato/Tsuyoshi Tobata JPN 168; 22. Markus Hofstetter/Nelly Krieg SUI 168; 23. Peter Inns/John Weigand AUS 173; 24. Jenny Baines/Malcolm Green FRA 179; 25. Jaroslav Verner/Pavel Winkler CZE 180.7; 26. David Mason/Colin Parke GBR 189; 27. Grant Lamont/Robert Thompson CAN 194; 28. Jeremy Davy/Thomas Hall GBR 198; 29. Eric Owston/Toby Bryant CAN 199; 30. Patrick Crump/Ned Goss USA 202 |