Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

At a time when the Irish Fireball fleet should have been in Howth, welcoming Fireballers from all over the World to the 2020 Fireball World Championships, a 13-boat fleet was contesting what we think is the first National Championship to…

A decent south-easterly breeze averaging about 12 knots greeted the three Fireballs competing in last night's DBSC racing in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. With another giant fleet of Lasers participating the start line was very long. Miller/Cramer opted for the slightly…

Nine Fireballs took part in specialist coaching sessions at DMYC this weekend led by former Olympic sailor Phil Lawton. The event, supported by Irish Sailing, was geared towards optimizing crew work in a fast two-hander dinghy. Phil spent a solid…

Four Fireballs raced in the third of the Tuesday DBSC series in Dun Laoghaire last night. Once again the harbour was the setting due to Covid19 restrictions on rescue personnel. Any fears that the enclosed waters may have resulted in…

Four Fireballs made it to the start line of the long-awaited first Tuesday DBSC races since lockdown. The forecast was not promising much more than 2 knots but actually sailors were greeted with a very decent force 2-3 southerly. On…

In response to the global Coronavirus outbreak the Irish Fireball Association, Howth Yacht Club and Fireball International have been carefully evaluating plans for the Gul International sponsored Fireball Worlds in Howth in August 2020 and in a statement issued this evening, the organisers…

Fireball sailors are passionate about their boats to the point of not being able to "let go" when due to work, family or life distractions they park their dinghy boots. This passion is both a blessing and a curse for…

Thirteen Fireballs gathered at Killaloe SC for the Fireball Munster Championships at the weekend. Initial indications were for a very wet and windy weekend but happily the fleet was rewarded with excellent sailing conditions on both days. While extremely wet…

Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff of the UK are the new Fireball World Champions after 10 races in Pointe Claire YC Montreal. Racing took place on Lac St-Louis over 5 days with a wide variety of conditions ranging from 4…

Five hours behind us time-wise, the forty-two crews at the 2019 Fireball World Championships hosted by Pointe Claire Yacht Club are still sleeping after a lay-day and what has been a light-wind regatta thus far writes Cormac Bradley. Facebook reports…

Noel Butler and Stephen Oram (NYC) have retained their Fireball National Champions title after nine races at Howth Yacht Club. The pair scored seven first places discarding a third and a fourth to take the title in style in a…

With a Worlds coming up in Montreal Canada in August 2019 and Ireland hosting the Worlds in August 2020 in Howth, as part of their 125th Anniversary celebrations, the Irish Fireball Family had their first outing of the regatta season…

Between sailors and volunteers, some 18 Fireballers took part in a coaching day with Barry McCartin at the DMYC on Saturday writes Frank Miller. The group ranged from class veterans to adult sailors from SID to young sailors taking a…

The Irish Fireball Class Association marked the close of the summer season with their annual prize-giving dinner at the National Yacht Club on Friday 30th November. There was a good turnout for the dinner with a combination of young and…

As a tribute to the memory of the late veteran dinghy racer Louis Smyth his family have announced that they will support a young team who are interested in trying a high-performance Fireball dinghy. While full details of the scheme…

The renamed or rescheduled Fireball Munsters, cancelled earlier in the year at Killaloe Sailing Club, were reconvened this past weekend at one of the Irish fleet’s favourite locations, Lough Derg Yacht Club. This was our second visit in as many…