Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#fireball – It will come as little surprise that yesterday's Frostbite racing at Dun Laoghaire was abandoned early in the day. While the sea state inside and outside the harbour weren't excessive, due to the Dun Laoghaire shoreline being the leeward shore, the wind conditions were severe and very gusty.

However, in warmers climes, a number of Fireballers have just concluded a Tasar World Championships in Australia, with commendable results.

In addition to 11th place overall, in a fleet of 122 boats, Heather picked up the Australian First Female Trophy (Highest placed woman helm).

On Saturday past, current Fireball World and European Champion, Tom Gillard and European Champion crew, Richard Anderton, won a "howling" Bloody Mary event in the UK.

And while the UK and Ireland is in the grip of high winds and the prospect of very low temperatures tomorrow (Tuesday), another regatta in warmer climes is being promoted inFacebook posts.

The Fireball North American Championships will be sailed as part of the 50th Anniversary North American Mid-Winters at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa, Florida, in mid March, 13th- 15th(for the Fireballs). They are also expecting some European involvement with a promise of two European Teams taking the roll-on-roll-off from Southampton to Florida and a Swiss crew have also made a commitment to the event.

The advice is that there is a substantial late entry fee for registration after January 31st, so if six days of Floridian sunshine is something that you can contemplate...........get cracking!