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 suggest that Pointe Claire have been excellent hosts, but Mother Nature has been less generous in bestowing wind on the regatta, though by all accounts that is about to change for the last two days of the event, today, Thursday and tomorrow.

The event has attracted a good international attendance with American, Australian, Belgian, British, Czech Republic, French, Irish (1), South African and Swiss visitors as well as a host of Canadians.

Race wins have been shared equally between Heather McFarlane & Chris Payne (AUS 15152) [Race 4 & 6], Ian Dobson & Richard Wagstaff (GBR 15161) [Race 1 & 5] and the Swiss combination of Claude Mermod & Ruedi Moser (SUI 14799) [Race 2 & 3].

The nett effect of these race wins and additional scores is that the Aussies lead the regatta with six races completed by a single point from the Brits with the Swiss a further five points adrift. However, in terms of international détente, the United Nations would be delighted to see a single boat from each of five different countries occupying the top spots in the regatta as France occupied fourth place with Ludovic Collin & Remy Theuillier (FRA 14917), counting two seconds as their best scores, and the Czech Republic taking fifth overall, in the form of Martin Kubovy & Roman Rocek (CZE 15019) with best race finishes of third and fourth and a clatter of seventh places.

Our own Frank Miller and Ed Butler are not finding the light stuff to their liking and a BFD in the first race was not an ideal start. However, they are showing (slightly unwelcome) consistency as their finishes are in a tight range of three places, 27th to 29th. They will enjoy the forecasted stronger breezes of the last two days.

Other well-known Fireball characters at the regatta are; International FI Commodore, Christina Haerdi (SUI 14859) sitting in 8th overall, Derian and Andy Scott (GBR 14941) in 7th, Debbie Kirkby (CAN14766) in 12th, Ben Schulz (AUS 15113) in 15th “Monsieur Cantona” (FRA 14959) in 16th and hosts Joe Jospe and Tom Egli (CAN 15113) in 17th. Stronger winds over the last two days will suit many of these individuals and their respective crews.

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 three-day event which featured a good variety of sailing conditions. The event started with light and patchy winds on Friday progressing to decent if shifty breezes on Saturday and to full on wind by Sunday.

Second place was won by Niall McGrotty and Neil Cramer (SSC) who sailed consistently well and counted a string of second and third places in their scores to consolidate their second overall.

Noel Butler and Stephen Oram (NYC) Photo: Frank Miller

Third were the up and coming youth team brothers Daniel and Harry Thompson from Wexford who were noticeably fast on the water. Just one point behind veteran Mick Creighton with crew Hermine O’Keeffe showed he hadn’t forgotten any tricks. Winners of the silver fleet prize were Cariosa Power and Marie Barry and the Classic Boat Trophy was taken home by Nick Miller and Cearball Daly of SID in the class loan boat.

Howth Vice Commodore Paddy Judge (left) with Niall McGrotty (right) and Neil Cramer (SSC) Photo: Frank Miller

The theme of youth and experience was a feature of the event, with veterans and new teams both jumping into the fray in the run up to the #Howth2020 World Championships in August next year. Thus we had Robin Nash (15) helming with her father Glen on the wire, the youthful Thompsons (17 and 14 respectively), and young bloods Josh Porter and helm Conor Twohig from Newtownards.

Daniel and Harry Thompson from Wexford

Besides Mick Creighton Eddie Ferris made a welcome return to action with another veteran Francis Rowan on the wire.

Also returning was Owen Sinnott with Paul Horst crewing.

International Race Officer for next year’s Worlds David Lovegrove agreed to take on PRO duties for this Nationals and he and his team ran things like clockwork, seamlessly getting in three races on a difficult and patchy first day and moving marks quickly and efficiently to keep courses square throughout the weekend. David is actually a veteran Fireballer himself and his name crops up on several key trophies including the National Championships of 1967.

Friday’s painful memories of patchy shifty airs were wiped away with perfect conditions on Saturday in breezes between 10 and 18 knots and Sunday presented the most exciting conditions with full-on 20-knot breezes at times and very exciting planing conditions both upwind and down. Another feature of the event was a coaching day on Saturday run by Barry McCartin. After helping people with optimum rig set up for the conditions Barry videoed the racing, gave tips between races and gave a debrief after racing which provided much food for thought for the Irish teams competing in these same waters for next year’s Worlds.

Among the challenges on the Saturday was judging which side to take on the beat, how far to go towards shore to pick up sometimes better offshore winds and the odd wind bend and even a slightly hooked tide in the sweep of the bay.

Although everyone had their ups and downs there was no disputing Noel and Stephen’s dominance over the nine races. With a little more speed and height on the beats and carving high angles down the runs the pair remained in control for most races with just the odd breakthrough by Niall and Neil and Mick and Hermine snatching the top spots.

There were signs however that the young pairings, in particular, were improving rapidly and may present a challenge by the time the Worlds land in Howth next year. After an exciting and brilliantly run event it’s championships everyone is relishing.

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 with a trip to Newtownards on the Ards peninsula, at the top end of Strangford Lough.

We last visited the venue in 2006 and since then the club has had a major extension added on to give them a substantial two-storey building with an upstairs bar and view from Scrabo Tower to the right all the way to the Mournes and the lower reaches of Strangford Lough on the left. At ground floor, there is a substantial function room, an office, two kitchens and roomy changing rooms. And in a nod to sustainability, they have solar panels on the roof to provide hot water with excess electricity sold off to the grid! Well, sustainability is in vogue! In 2006, we were blown out with only one race on the Saturday and five on the Sunday – an abiding memory!

Fireball sailing on the Ards Peninsula – Butler/Inan (red spinnaker) and McGrotty/Cramer (blue spinnaker)

A small number of Fireballers made the trip up on the Friday night and were rewarded with a relaxed start to the Saturday morning. The balance of the nine-boat fleet arrived on the Saturday. The host club provided two boats in Conor Twohig (Sutton) and regatta organiser Josh Porter (14695) and Michael Cox and John McArthur (14721). This is a former Clontarf boat campaigned by the Clarke brothers that has been un-sailed in N Ireland for a few years.

Noel Butler, “fresh” from the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race teamed up with well-known globetrotter Ismail Inan in 15061, and other Dun Laoghaire Fireballs were Frank Miller & Ed Butler (14990), Louise McKenna & Grattan Donnelly, in Louise’s new boat 15016 and Glen Fisher & 16-year old daughter Clodagh (14691). From Skerries we had Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer (14938), from Wexford we had the Thompson Brothers, Daniel & Harry in Louis Smyth’s former boat, re-numbered as 15156, having made their UK Fireball Nationals debut in Torquay a few weeks previously, finishing 27th in a 42-boat fleet. And all the way from Sligo, on the west coast we had Jon Evans, crewed by Dublin’s Aidan Caulfield in 14748. Another debut was made with former Class Chairman, Cormac Bradley, being invited to be the Race Officer – his first regatta in Ireland outside Dun Laoghaire Harbour and the 2018/19 DMYC-hosted Frostbites.

The forecast for the weekend had changed throughout the days preceding the regatta and by Saturday morning the forecast was for a maximum of 13 knots out of a variety of southerly directions.

Race 1 started in a light breeze from the SE that allowed the weather mark to be what is was designated to be – a weather mark. Even the gybe mark got to play its role! But after the leading boat went around the gybe mark, the wind went skewwhiff with the chasing boats beating to the gybe mark and the lead boat reaching under spinnaker back towards the gybe mark. Shortly thereafter, the wind disappeared, and three signals were sounded to abandon the race.

Harry (L) and Daniel (R) Thompson – 2nd place

Three Olympic course races were then sailed in a breeze that developed from the East after a short interlude to let it establish itself. The local knowledge was that the wind would be reasonably stable direction-wise and so it proved. In the middle race the strength got up to about 16/17 knots but the first and third races were sailed in slightly more benign conditions. Race wins were shared between McGrotty/Cramer (R1), Butler/Inan (R2) and the Thompson brothers (R3). A general recall was required in the second race to get the fleet away and in the first race the Thompson brothers were very close to being OCS. In the last race of the day Miller/Butler had a pearl of a port-tack start on the pin to steal a march on the whole fleet. Regrettably, they were also a significant distance over the line at the start.

Neil Cramer (L) & Niall McGrotty (R) – 3rd Place

On Saturday evening there was a two-way tie at the top of the fleet between Butler/Inan (3,1,3) and the Thompsons (2,4,1). And in second place (or third) there was another tie between McGrotty/Cramer (1,3,8) and McKenna/Donnelly (4,6,2). McGrotty’s eighth was due to an errant spinnaker halyard that would allow the spinnaker to go fully up or be brought down.

Josh Porter (L) & Conor Twohig (R) – Silver Fleet Winners

Newtownards provided supper and entertainment for all on Saturday night with a meal in the downstairs function room that had a main course that catered for all tastes, meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans, followed by apple pie and ice-cream. Music after dinner was provided by two of the NSC Fireballers – Josh and Michael – with a wide repertoire of songs.

On Sunday morning we were greeted with sunshine and a southerly breeze that started at about 6 knots and built to a high of 17knots during the racing. Again, the local knowledge was that this was a direction that could be relied on!

A sounding of the fleet suggested that windward/leeward courses would be acceptable, and the first two races of the day were of that type. The first was too short, prompting the RO to extend the beat by a further 150 meters. Despite the modest size of the fleet, there was competition for places at the front and while Butler/Inan swept the board in terms of finishing positions, they had to come from behind on at least two of those occasions to take the gun. The Thompson brothers had a good day with a 2,3, 7 and the fresher breeze also suited Miller & Butler who scored a 5,2,3. Indeed they led one of the races for a period, before they were passed out by Butler & Inan. Twohig & Porter also improved from the first day, ultimately being rewarded with a second place in the last race. The last race was led initially (and convincingly) by the Thompson brothers until spinnaker complications relegated them to a seventh place.

While Butler & Inan’s winning margin was 5 points, Noel was quick to point out in his acceptance speech that the Thompsons were a lot closer to him that the points suggested and that it took him until the fifth race to secure his win. He also commended 16-year old Clodagh for her efforts over the weekend – a first time session in the Fireball with her father on the trapeze. We were all agreed that she had fared exceptionally well.

It was great to be back in Newtownards Sailing Club where we enjoyed fantastic hospitality and a warm welcome. We would strongly recommend it to other classes.

Our next event is the Nationals in Howth – a precursor to the Worlds at the same venue next year! See you there 19 – 21 July.

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 break from 420s with an eye to the #Howth2020 World Championships.

McCartin is an experienced coach and also the top Irish Fireballer having notched up a top ten place in the most recent 100 boat world championships in Carnac.

Participants benefited from an initial briefing by Barry on the finer intricacies of boat tuning to maximise boat speed. In particular subtle adjustments with strut or chocks to optimise pre-bend and sail shape for a range of conditions were explored. Sailors were reminded yet again of the infinite tuning capacity of the modern Fireball to match an extremely wide variety of conditions. On a day which featured very light airs, individual boats were examined ashore and tweaked a-la-Barry to remove any excuse for slower than optimum speed. After a short lunch break and a better breeze, the 7 boats plus RIBS took to the water for a range of exercises focussing mainly on boat handling and crew /boat balance with the emphasis on avoiding unnecessary rudder movements. Once ashore the debrief examined and analysed video of the day's activities. Yet again we are reminded that sailing is a life long sport and that there is always more to learn.

The class hopes to lure Barry back for further coaching sessions and reminds young sailors that cheap second-hand Fireballs are available for purchase for #Howth2020 just around the corner! Thanks are due to the DMYC and Irish Sailing for ongoing support.

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 not-so-young, active and retired Fireballers, at least one of whom has been based outside of the country for the recent past. A party of Fireballers from north of the Liffey got through passport control to spend the evening in Dun Laoghaire and were rewarded by taking away the biggest prize of the evening – the Travellers’ Trophy.

Class Chairman Neil Cramer of Skerries Sailing Club opened the proceedings with a review of the season and started that review by noting the passing earlier in the year of the international and domestic stalwart of the class Louis Smyth. Neil noted that Louis had raced his Fireball “Licence to Thrill” into his eightieth year and Neil intimated that this gave the rest of us “no excuse” not to continue racing into our senior years!

He further noted that Louis’ presence in the fleet was being carried on by way of his family’s donation of the boat to a Youth combination to campaign over the 2018/19 Frostbites and towards the Worlds in Howth in 2020. Eight combinations had applied to get the use of Louis’ boat but it had been allocated to the Thompson brothers Daniel & Harry and Neil advised that their commitment to the cause was mirrored by a typical weekend in winter with Saturday and Sunday sailing in Malahide and Dun Laoghaire, from a home base in Wexford.

He provided some report back from the Carnac Worlds (France) where there had been a very positive reaction to the Worlds in Howth in 2020. Possibly influenced by a very generous donation of whiskey from the primary organisers of the event in Howth for the competitors in France, there were lots of undertakings to be in Ireland for this regatta.

Hermine O’Keeffe collects the Lady Helm Trophy for Louise McKenna.

Niall McGrotty (L) and Neil Cramer (Skerries) with the Travellers’ Trophy

John Evans (L) & Aidan Caulfield (Sligo) get theior bronze medals for the Travellers’ Trophy from Class Chairman Neil Cramer.

Daniel (L) and Harry Thompson collect the Travellers’ Trophy for the Silver fleet (Daniel) and the India Trophy (Harry) from Class Chairman Neil Cramer.

Winners on the night:

Travellers’ Trophy

1. Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer; IRL 14938, Skerries Sailing Club
2. Frank Miller & Ed Butler; IRL 14713, Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club
3. Jon Evans & Aidan Caulfield; IRL 14718, Sligo Yacht Club

Travellers’ Trophy Silver Fleet

Daniel & Harry Thompson, Wexford Boat & Tennis Club

India Trophy (Most Improved)

Daniel & Harry Thompson (3rd at Fireball Nationals, Skerries)

Asterix Trophy (Significant Contribution)

Frank Miller – for general promotion of the class and his coaching in Killaloe

Lady Helm

Louise McKenna – for her performance (with crew Hermine O’Keeffe) at the Worlds in Carnac, France

Liam Bradley Trophy

Awarded to Neil Colin for his volunteer efforts on behalf of the Irish Fireball fleet – organising events (Leinsters), hosting training events, organising the Frostbites, enjoying success in the Flying Fifteen fleet (winner Thursday Series overall in 2017) and qualifying for the 2019 Worlds and for recently taking on a fleet role with the Dun Laoghaire FF fleet.

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 for the next summer season are being finalised as an initial gesture the family, supported by the Irish Fireball Association, will make available a highly competitive top spec modern Fireball to a suitable young team who wish to race in the upcoming DMYC Winter Frostbite Series in Dun Laoghaire.

In addition to providing the boat, the entry fee and dinghy parking for the event will be looked after by Louis’ family. The offer may be of particular interest to young teams who are considering a campaign for the Fireball Worlds 2020 which take place in Howth in August 2020. The qualifying age range for the team is from 13-26 and obviously, they would need to have good sailing ability and racing experience. Realistically the team would need to be of suitable weight (ideally between 120kg-170kg) and strength/fitness to take up the offer. The Fireball is a high performance yet stable centreboard dinghy with trapeze and spinnaker. Every year a healthy number participate in the Frostbite series so good racing is guaranteed with hot competition on the water and friendly support off the water.

The successful team will write a short CV or pitch for the boat for the Frostbite series and the final choice of team will be made by the Irish Fireball Association executive in conjunction with Louis’ family. Expressions of interest should be sent to Frank Miller, hon sec, Irish Fireball Association at [email protected] telephone 087 2584016.

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 years and as ever the hospitality was at its best with scones and tea/coffee available on the Saturday morning, an excellent meal on the Saturday night, with commensurate bar service and a Race Management Team led by Commodore John Leech that had a relatively easy day on Saturday but a much more stressful one on the Sunday.

Held in tandem with the Mirror Southerns, the event attracted an entry of 14 boats made up principally of the fleet from Killaloe. This was the primary objective of the Irish Class Association – to encourage the KSC fleet to get themselves to another venue in order that they could sample an “away regatta” that their enthusiasm level at KSC warranted. In this regard a huge thank-you and acknowledgement has to go to Stefany Gorski and Philip Despard who delivered on promises made to get the Killaloe fleet to Dromineer. Jim Ryan also helped significantly with getting boats derigged for the road trip and re-rigged at the Lough Derg end. Eight boats made the trip with one of these claiming KSC and LDYC duality and with Skerries, Sligo, Wexford and Dun Laoghaire entries a 14-boat entry was assembled.

Aidan Caulfiedl (left) and Jon Evans of Sligo Yacht Club were second Photo: Frank Miller

The Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club took the form of Daniel & Harry Thompson sailing Ed Butler’s 14990. Daniel sailed the Fireball Nationals in Skerries earlier in the season so obviously enjoyed himself enough to come back with his brother. While many of the KSC entries are new to Fireballs, it was great to see one of their more senior combinations, Jim Ryan and David Tanner (14584) back in the competitive saddle!

Racing on Saturday was on an Olympic course with the Mirrors having a triangle set up inside an outer triangle for the Fireballs. Thus each fleet had their own windward, gybe and leeward marks which minimised even further the interaction of the two fleets. The Fireballs had first start in a breeze that oscillated to a significant degree in strength on a race area immediately in front of and slightly to the left looking out from the clubhouse.

Conall Holohan, Grattan Donnelly and Frank Miller of the DMYC were third with Lough Derg's John Leech (right)

First blood went to Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer (14938), sailing out of Skerries and fresh back for the Fireball Worlds in Carnac, France. Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) finished second, with the young men from Wexford third. KSC took a well-deserved 4th place with Jim & David, while behind them the pecking order was Jon Evans & Aidan Caulfield (14748). This was to be their worst results as they were never outside the top three thereafter. Indeed after winning the second race, they led the third until the Skerries combination stepped up a gear to take the final race of the day. The KSC fleet competed manfully with seven of their number finishing the first race and 6 finishing each of the latter two. Another KSC crew, Brian Keana, sailing with Neil Colin (14775) enjoyed a third place in the middle race.

Daniel & Harry Thompson, Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club, were Silver Fleet winners Photo: Frank Miller

While the conditions weren’t extreme, the halt to sailing was welcomed by all. A definite 1-2-3 was in place with McGrotty & Cramer on 4pts, Evans & Caulfield on 8pts and Miller & Donnelly on 11pts. Thereafter the scores were the Thompsons on 12pts, the all-lady team of Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keeffe (14691) on 15pts and Colin & Keana on 17pts. Philip Despard & Stefany Groski led the KSC contingent in 7th place.

Sunday morning saw a changed “lake-scape” with white horses in the area in the middle of the race area in front of the clubhouse and flags flying as stiff as boards. After taking some individual soundings, Race Officer John Leech conducted a short briefing to advise the assembled fleet of his synopsis of the weather and the likely conditions crews would encounter in the new race area that the wind direction warranted. His recommendation being that those who had struggled the day before might want to consider their options. Consequently, a reduced fleet took to the water (from both fleets), but those who did go out enjoyed exhilarating conditions, even under white-sail reaching.

The “Skerries Scorchers” consolidated their lead at the front of the fleet with another two race wins while Miller & Donnelly and Evans & Caulfield shared the seconds and thirds. Despard & Gorski really acquitted themselves well by scoring a fifth in the final race, while Louise & Hermine also sailed well in the prevailing conditions to score two race finishes with a 5th and a 6th. Race Officer had problems with anchoring marks in very substantial depths of water which combined with the strong breeze made for some interesting interpretations of the course by the fleets. Still, everyone who came ashore attested to the exciting conditions.

The Thompson brothers also acquitted themselves well on both days in the very contrasting conditions.

The Classic Trophy was won by Jack Pinson & Anne Gleeson, while the Silver Fleet was won by the Thompson brothers.

All in all this was a very enjoyable weekend which achieved its dual purpose of completing a Munsters and getting the KSC fleet to a new venue. Thanks are due to all those KSC Fireballers who “put their toes in the water” at an away venue. We hope you enjoyed the weekend (the smiles suggested they had).

Matt Burge and Daniel Schrieber were winners of the Fireball Worlds in Carnac after 9 races yesterday. 

Best of the Irish with a 10th place overall was Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella of the Royal St. George Yacht Club.

Full results downloadable below.

Mathematically, any one of the top 4 boats could have won the overall title on the final day of the 2018 Gul Fireball World Championships in Carnac.

A weak forecast with clear skies and a glass calm sea meant there was a tense wait ashore before the fleet was finally released into a light southerly breeze. On arrival at the race area it was obvious they were going to wait some more as the unstable breeze hovered around 3-5kts. As time ticked there was only going to be time for one race, bringing in the crucial second discard for many and leaving a podium shootout for only the top 3.

Patiently the race officer waited and as soon as the reliable westerly sea breeze arrived at a steady 8kts a course was set and the sequence was underway.

Remarkably the fleet started at the first attempt under the U flag for the first time this week, however there was one major casualty in the battle for the podium positions with Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff classified UFD. Sadly they found out as they crossed the finish line in first place.

Behind them the title fight was well underway. Tom Gillard and Geoff Edwards, lying third overall, were buried off the start line leaving Matt Burge and Dan Schieber free to match race class newcomers Penny and Russ Clark for the title. Neither boat had a second discard worse than 6th so provided Matt and Dan kept Penny and Russ behind them the title was theirs. As the two boats crossed for the first time up the beat, Matt and Dan were ahead by 3 lengths. A tacking duel ensued all the way to the top mark with Matt and Dan staying far enough ahead of Penny and Russ so that the latter pair were left fighting to stay in the top 10.

The lighter winds brought some familiar faces into the top ten and Race 9 was won by the experienced Australian duo of Heather Macfarlane and Chris Payne to round off their summer in Europe in style. David Sayce and Nick Rees finished second with Martyn Lewis 3rd.

Overall, from a truly international fleet of 101 boats, Matt Burge and Dan Schieber are the deserving winners of the 2018 Gul Fireball World Championships, winning by 3 points from Penny and Russ with Tom and Geoff finishing off the podium in 3rd. 4 nations completed the top 10.

During the prize giving thanks were given to the 45 volunteers from YC de Carnac, the international jury and the Race Officer for making the Gul 2018 Fireball World Championships a superb event. The bay of Quiberon proved to be a great venue with some fantastic racing in a range of conditions from 5 to 25kts. What more could you ask for? Draycote Water in October for the Inlands I hear you cry!

Overall results:

1st 17pts GBR15123 Matt Burge & Dan Schieber

2nd 20pts GBR15096 Penny & Russ Clark

3rd 30pts GBR15127 Tom Gillard & Geoff Edwards

4th 41pts GBR15141 Ian Dobson & Richard Wagstaff

5th 61pts GBR15122 Dave Hall & Paul Constable

6th 63pts GBR15112 David Sayce & Nick Rees

7th 65pts CZE15131 Milan Cap & Filip Prochazka

8th 70pts SUI14799 Claude Mermod & Reudi Moser

9th 71pts GBR15143 David Wade & Richard Pepperdine

10th 83pts IRL15114 Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella

Three races were sailed yesterday Thursday at the Fireball Worlds in Carnac, France resulting in big changes in the pecking order. Matt Burge and Daniel Schrieber now lead the pack after an exciting day's racing which saw overnight leaders Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff relegated to fourth place. The day started with a planned earlier start time but the fleet was kept ashore in bright sunshine with the forecast breeze feeble and fickle. Finally, around lunchtime, the sailors were sent out as the breeze improved. Starts were under the U flag followed by a black flag for the day. In race one, the wind was good enough to allow trapezing and this breeze built throughout the afternoon. Race one saw a biggish shift to the right which caught out several of the front row sailors overnight leaders Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff ended up in 21st while Tom Gillard and Geoff Robinson won the race.

This was followed by a race win for Gillard/Robinson in the second race of the day just ahead of Dobson/Wagstaff. In that second race, Burge/Schrieber got a solid fifth while the extremely consistent team of Penny and Russell Clarke got 6th. The wind had pipped up nicely by race two with flat-out trapezing and terrific reaches with some good waves but the day had more to give and counter to most forecasts race three saw things ramp up further with winds in the 15-knot range and gusts touching 20 knots. In that final race of the day Dobson/Wagstaff ran into difficulties, reportedly a messy capsize, and scored a DNF while Burge/Schrieber won the race and took the overall lead by two points over the Clarkes with Gillard/Edwards in third and Dobson/Wagstaff fourth. Top Irish boat Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella are now lying in 12th position squeezed out of top ten though on equal points with 10th and 11th position boats.

The pair were amongst several top boats caught out by the right-hand shift in race one scoring a 33rd with a 9th and a 6th in subsequent races. McGrotty/Cramer still lead the rest of the Irish with Miller/Butler just behind them after an improved days work and McKenna/O'Keeffe a few places behind having suffered a black flag in race one. Today Friday is the last day of racing - with thin winds forecast and a cut off of 3 pm it will be a nail-biting morning for those on the top of the leaderboard with just 2 points separating Burge/Schrieber and the Clarkes.

Additional report by Fireball Int

Gul Fireball World Championship at Yacht Club de Carnac - day 5 ( Thursday)

The International Fireball fleet got down to the boat park after their lay day early this morning in preparation for a 3 race day. However, they were greeted by a fickle offshore breeze and a pessimistic forecast that caused many a Gallic shrug. But the sun shone and the temperature rose so much that even Geoff Edwards took off his puffa jacket.

The breeze flicked to the west, strengthened and the fleet were released. The first race started after the obligatory 3 attempts and six boats (including your author) in the black flag sin bin, although all the big names escaped censure. It did at least give us a chance to spectate an interesting race, dominated by Tom Gillard and Geoff Edwards, but with most of the contenders relegated to mid-fleet by an almighty shift on the first beat. That did give a few unfamiliar faces the chance to shine and Frederic Le Bas and Ludovic Collin (FRA 15053) wore the biggest smiles after hanging on to a well deserved 2nd place. Race 2, and by now the wind was blowing F4 and Fireballs were raking their rigs and stretching their legs. Gillard and Edwards won again closely pursued Dobson and Wagstaff and Penny and Russ Clark. Dave Sayce and Nick Rees had their best race so far with a 4th.

The final race and whitecaps were present and correct across the bay. Penny and Russ shot out of the start and into the lead, harried by Dobson and Wagstaff, but their bid for the lead was halted by a kite-up capsize and subsequent tangle at the gybe mark. Burge and Schieber chipped away (probably, I was far too far back to see) and wrested the lead from the pacey Clark’s, to go on to win. These results puts the Burge and Schieber boat into pole position leading into the last day, but assuming we sail tomorrow (and the forecast isn’t good) and get a second discard then it all tightens up with Burge, Clark and Gillard all within a few points of each other. Bring it on.

Results here

Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff still lead the 101 competitors with 7 points after 4 races by the end of say 2 of the 2018 Fireball Worlds in Carnac, France.

Lying second are Penny and Russell Clarke just 2 points behind while Matt Burge and Daniel Schiber are still third with 12 points. Conditions today Monday featured pleasant medium winds allowing trapezing up the beat with wind about 8-10 knots average.

The wind clocked slightly right for race one and more or less stayed there though there was slightly better breeze for race 2. Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella were black flagged in the first race of the day and had a 24th in the race 4 of the series pushing them back from 8th to 24th overall.

Niall McGrotty and Neil Cramer suffered a broken trapeze ring (as did Tim Saunders) but sailed solidly and are now 52md overall.

Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe had an excellent first race getting off the line cleanly and scoring a 42nd bumping them up to 55th overall. Frank Miller and Ed Butler had a poor start in race one and are now 75th overall.

Tuesday's forecast looks tricky with light shifty winds.