A touch of cradle-snatching on Saturday at DMYC where Fireballs threw out an open invite to sailors to try out the dinghy. Daniel Hrymak (12) and his friend Mark Henry (12) rocked up and went out for a spin.The light winds and hazy sunshine provided a gentle introduction for the duo whose main experience to date was Toppers and Laser 4.7s.They took to the boat like proverbial ducks and before long had got the hang of trapezing, stretching out into the gusts like experienced crews, hands free.. Both young sailors also got to helm and quickly found their stride.
Off wind spinnakers were set and they got their first taste of trimming gybing and dropping the kite. Meanwhile another participant Micheal Matulka sailing with Stephen Oram was put through his paces.
The regular keelboat sailor was enjoying his second outing in a Fireball and was seen quickly improving his trapezing and crewing techniques. On this occasion he got out on the wire with kite up, surely the most fun phase of sailing for any crew. The only things missing were decent waves and a bit more wind to add extra spice. This fun day was designed to get new sailors out in Fireballs to let them see what an exciting, yet stable and fun boat the Fireball is. The class, who are keen to attract new sailors, intend to run a couple more open sessions during the summer.
