#fireball – Yesterday's Fireball Frostbite race, sailed in side the harbour was a case of two races within the same race. Series leaders Noel Butler & Stephen Oram and third-placed Kenny Rumball & Conor Kinsella had their own race, while the rest of us chased each other looking for the sundry places.

With light winds coming out of the SSE and lots of activity in the harbour with Oppies, Laser 4.7s and Toppers all having training sessions, the committee boat was stationed just off the west pier with a weather mark that was just to the left of the StenaLine ferry gantry.

The start was clean and the larger group of the 16 Fireballs contesting the race was at the pin end. Kenny Rumball/Conor Kinsella was the leeward-most boat of this group, but crossed the course to get to the RHS of the course and rounded behind Noel Butler/Stephen Oram. Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly had a late start and went right immediately. It didn't seem to pay the same dividends as the Rumball manoeuvre!

Conor Clancy, helmed 15*** this weekend with John Chambers on the wire and they rounded in third place in reasonable shape. Thereafter there was a log jam at the first weather mark, particularly when the Ryan brothers, Emmet & James, sailing Dogbolter, decided that coming in on port-tack to the weather mark was the best approach relative to a line of other boats coming in on starboard. Boats to the fore in this group were Gavin Doyle & Dave Sweeney sailing 14953, Gavin's latest purchase, Alastair Court & Gordon Syme (14706), Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe (14691), Mick Creighton & Joe O"Reilly (14937), Eamon Burke & Robert Slater (14719), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775) and the aforementioned Miller/Donnelly as well as Dogbolter, after they had extracted themselves from the consequences of their earlier action. This correspondent was able to watch the action taking place in front of him!!

For the remainder of the five lap race, Butler/Oram & Rumball/Kinsella had their own private session and pulled further and further away from the fleet. It looked as though they had a leg lead on the third placed Clancy/Chambers combination who, in turn, were comfortable relative to the chasing pack. Rumball/Kinsella did take the lead but Butler/Oram took it back when "fluffed" spinnaker gybes allowed the lead to change again.

Behind there were a variety of issues for the chasing pack – a fouled spinnaker halyard, a capsize, a 360º penalty for hitting a mark and at least one interaction between boats on a rules issue – as well as trying to work out which way to go up the beat that proved difficult to work out. These various issues sorted out the latter places with Court/Syme sailing their best race to date to stay at the head of the chasing pack. Creighton/O'Reilly also sailed a good series of beats to score well and Doyle/Sweeney also had their best day. McKenna/O'Keefe (capsize) and Coin/Casey (spinnaker halyard) went the opposite way!

During the race there seemed to be better breeze on the right, but those who went left never seemed to lose out! It would be easy to say it was an unpredictable afternoon (and quite a few of us did) but the lead of the first two boats was testimony to the fact that it could be worked out quite easily.......or at least that's the way they made it look! On the third lap the wind eased a bit, but the final two laps saw the breeze build again and on the last beat, the crews were in full, but comfortable, trapezing mode going upwind.

The Frostbite Mugs went to Alastair Court & Gordon Syme who weren't at the post-race presentation to accept the fruits of their endeavours!

The race between the all-lady crews is tight with Louise and Hermine just ahead of Cariosa Power and Marie Barry in 7th and 8th overall respectively.

42nd Frostbite Series 2012/13; Round 5, Sunday 18th November 2012

 

#fireball – For the second Sunday of the 2012/13 Frostbite Series hosted and organized by DMYC, weather conditions allowed the fleet to race outside the harbour. The weather was a lot better than last weekend with less wind and consequently a warmer air temperature. As the start time for the racing coincided with the bottom of the ebbing tide, the fleet wouldn’t be at risk of being swept away in the lighter winds. The Fireballs were given a separate weather mark to the other fleets – a mechanism adopted last year to help with race management

As it was the first race, which boasted 17 starters was sailed in trapezing conditions, at least upwind! A "log-jam" of Fireballs at the pin end of the first start prompted a General Recall for the fleet and for the second start, a black flag was brought into the proceedings. A clean start was had by most but by this time the lead boats in the PY Class which had started first, were just outside the pin and they too influenced proceedings.

At the first weather mark we saw a change in the normal attendance at the front of the fleet with Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775) taking the honours, followed by Mick Creighton & Joe O'Reilly (14937). Also in this lead bunch were the usual suspects of Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061), Kenny Rumball & Conor Kinsella (15058), John Chambers & James Clancy (15***), joined by Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (14854), Ciaran Hickey & Ed Butler (14990), Gavin Doyle (14953) and the Ryan brothers, Emmet & James, sailing Dogbolter (1469*).

The two spinnaker legs were broad which meant that the crews had work to do to take advantage of the small swell going downwind. On the second beat, those who went left did well and some place changing took place as a consequence. Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe (14691) came through to reach the upper levels of the pecking order, whereas their fellow all-lady crew, Cariosa & Marie went the other way. On the second lap, the final three did the work that would bring them to the front of the fleet, with Rumball/Kinsella and Butler/Oram in particular, getting away from the body of the fleet, chased by Chambers/Clancy who led a tight sequence of boats behind them.

 

There was at least one victim of an OCS declaration by the Race Committee, so their significant effort on the water was undone!

A second short race with 15 boats was started in breeze that was starting to drop off in strength. Obviously conscious of the time factor, the declaration to make use of a black flag start was conveyed to the fleet before the sequence of starts began. A two lap race was set this time round. At the start everyone went left, with two distinct groups on the line – clustered at either end of the line. The group at the pin end went hard left, giving them an advantage over the others and setting them outside the PY and Laser fleets coming down their first reach.

The running order, at the first weather mark was Rumball, Butler, Colin, McKenna, Ryan, Power, Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley, Alastair Court & Gordon Syme. With the tide now turned and the wind dropping off, the conventional approach of straight line sailing to the gybe mark was abandoned as some went inshore, towards the harbour, while others stayed out. The leg between the gybe mark and the leeward mark also saw a variety of approaches, with some staying very wide and low before gybing and approaching the leeward mark on port tack. Others went out left to get into better breeze and approached the leeward mark on starboard tack, rounding the mark in gybing mode. Going left up the beat paid again and the first reach was sailed conventionally by most people. Court/Syme went left on the second reach, Colin/Casey hung low and right while Rumball/Kinsella, Butler/Oram & McKenna/O'Keefe almost sailed a straight line between the two. This observer was convinced that McKenna/O'Keefe went into the lead at the leeward mark, but if they did, they then lost two places on the short leg to the finish, because the final results are as follows;

 

 At the finish line, tide was the dominating influence and one Fireballer got caught on the anchor warp of the committee boat...........it proved to be a costly error of judgment!

This second Sunday of the Frostbites saw the debut of some Fireballers we haven't see for a while. Ciaran Hickey teamed up with Ed Butler, Ian O'Gorman made his seasonal debut sailing with Frank Neylon (14740) and out for the first time in this series were Mick Creighton & Joe O'Reilly and Jonathon Nicholson & Vivian Besselar (14781).

It was also encouraging to see the new combinations of Emmet & James Ryan (1469*) and Eamon Bourke & Robert Slater (14719) back for the second Sunday.

 

* The provisional nature of these results is due to a perceived incorrect entry in yesterday's results sheet which is corrected in this report but is subject to DMYC confirmation.

The day's Frostbite mugs went to Chambers & Clancy in Race 1 and McKenna/O'Keefe in Race 2.

#fireball – The 42nd edition of the Frostbite Series got underway in Dun Laoghaire harbour this afternoon, Sunday, 4th November 2012 in grey, blustery and cold conditions writes Cormac Bradley. In contrast to yesterday's sunshine, the skies were full of grey cloud that regularly dumped rain on Dun Laoghaire before the scheduled start. Fortunately, we weren't afflicted by rain on the water, but the grey and the coolness of the air temperature were not alleviated!

In the lead up to the weekend, the suggestion was that the registered entries for the Frostbites were not as good as they have been in recent years – hardly a surprising prospect given the current climate. However, a late flurry of paperwork saw 17 entries on the register for the series and fourteen of those made it to the first start line. Some people took an early bath, before the start, ostensibly to check out a new dry suit but wrapping a spinnaker round the spreader wasn't on the agenda and the damaged sail compromised the performance in the two races – it couldn't be used.

Tim Costello, of Tiamat fame, was the Race Officer for the day and rather surprisingly set a schedule of three laps for the first race. We were soon to find out why!

Sailing before the start, we felt that the breeze was lifting on the starboard tack as one headed towards the east pier. Additionally, on the practice downwind legs, it was apparent that the seas at the harbour entrance were much confused and choppy. Ipso facto – go right on the first beat!

We didn't have the courage of our convictions and found ourselves in a busy stream of Fireballs going left. However, one boat did go right, and they were rewarded by rounding the weather mark first........even though, by their own admission, they were last off the line. Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (IRL 15061) weren't headed throughout the remainder of the race and they recorded the first win of the 2012/13 series. They were chased around the course by Kenny Rumball & Dave Moran (IRL 15058) and the Clancy brothers, Conor and James, sailing IRL 150. Behind this chasing pair were Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (IRL 14706), Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (IRL 14713), Neil Colin & Margaret Court (IRL 14775) and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (IRL 15007) who rounded the weather mark in close company. The first reach of the triangle was quite comfortable, but the second reach, in the choppy conditions inside the harbour entrance was a great deal more hairy. Management of these conditions and the subsequent rounding of the leeward mark provided opportunities for place taking. The anchoring of a small raft, just upwind and about 30-40m to starboard of the leeward mark also caused some fun and games.

Different takes on the right-side/left side debate on the upwind course allowed for even more place changing. All the while the lead bunch was sailing away.

The finishing order for Race 1 was Butler/Oram, Rumball/Moran, Clancy/Clancy, Smyth/Bradley, Colin/Casey. However, on shore we found out that Rumball/Moran were scored OCS.

The three laps of Race 1 were then explained........a second race was scheduled! Admittedly, there were only two laps for this one. This time we did have the conviction to go right, though a slow start made that a more attractive prospect than trailing everyone else who had gone left. However, the breeze had also gone left, so the advantage of going right was quite so pronounced. At the first weather mark early running order was Rumball/Moran, Butler/Oram, Luke Malcolm & Shane Divinney (IRL 14790). Court/Syme, Colin/Casey, Miller/Donnelly, Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe (IRL 14691), newcomers 14719, Mike Murphy & son James (IRL 14908), the Clancys and Smyth/Bradley were grouped closely together going round the weather mark. One boat without a spinnaker, another in trouble hoisting and fun & games at the first leeward mark, involving two three Fireballs and a Laser saw place swopping going on before the second and last beat. Bradley Smyth came out best by finding themselves challenging the Clancys and Court/Syme to take the lead slot in the chasing group. At the second weather mark these three were in close company again, with Court/Syme leading from Smyth/Bradley and the Clancys. Court/Syme got too intimate with the gybe mark requiring the taking of turns further down the second reach. This provided Smyth/Bradley the opportunity to get ahead into fourth, a position they held on the short hitch to the finish to just pip the Clancys.

Having assumed that the running order at the front had been maintained, it came as a surprise to read on the results sheet that Malcolm/Divinney had scored the 2nd place, behind Rumball/Moran. It appears that Butler/Oram had a complication with the spinnaker which required a sheet to be untied and retied after sorting. This afforded the young Howth Yacht Club combination the chance to take second which they grabbed with both hands.

42nd Frostbite Series, organized by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Sunday 4th November.
	Race 1	Race 2
1	Noel Butler & Stephen Oram, DMYC	Kenny Rumball & David Moran, INSC
2	Conor & James Clancy, RStGYC	Luke Malcolm & Shane Divinney HYC
3	Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley, Coal Harbour	Noel Butler & Stephen Oram,
4	Neil Colin & Margaret Casy, DMYC	Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley
5		Conor & James Clancy

There were some recognizable sail numbers in new hands on the water today – IRL 14719, previously campaigned by Franko Cassidy and John Hudson has changed hands. "Dogbolter" has been refurbished and was on the water today.

We were also joined on the water by Mike Murphy out of Waterford, sailing with his son, James.

The 42nd Frostbite Series is organised by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club.

#fireball – At the 2011 Fireball Worlds in Sligo, the Council and Executive of Fireball International took the decision to mothball the Class website and replace it with a much more dynamic site. This week the fruits of that decision have been delivered with the new website going live today, Friday 21st September 2012.

The principal objective behind the new website has been to create a "One Stop Shop" for all things Fireball and in that vein, the following features have been built into the site;

o A live calendar feature which will allow regatta dates to be uploaded on a real-time basis.

o The ability to post regatta reports and other news items as a front page feature.

o The facility to post event galleries.

o The creation of features that will facilitate the administration of the class and allow event organisers to access pro-forma documentation so that a unified approach to the organization of events can be achieved.

o Facilities for vendors to advertise their products (boats, sails etc.) on the site.

o An ever-changing appearance using different photographs displayed "banner-style" to prevent the image the appearance becoming staid.

o The provision of Links to the various NCA websites and an undertaking to host websites for the smaller NCAs who may not have the resources for their own websites.

The new website www.fireball-international.com retains the same address and is part of an overall initiative to market the Class more dynamically.

#fireball – The Irish Fireball regatta season closed this past weekend with the hosting of the provincial Leinster Championships at Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club on Dublin Bay's northern shore. CYBC has a long tradition of Fireball sailing that has seen highs and low in the fleet and currently they are in rebuilding mode. Class Chairman Neil Colin committed the class to taking events to clubs where there is a domestic fleet and so 25 Fireballs arrived at the club to contest the last event of the regatta schedule.

It saw a return to the water of the 2011 National Champions, Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella. McCartin has been out of the country over the summer months so he has not been active on the circuit. It was also good to see the host club combination of Damien Bracken and Brian O'Hara back on the water in a Fireball. Bracken is a very accomplished GP14 sailor and has been doing some sailing in that class with Shane McCarthy, but we have not seen much of him in a Fireball. Jon Evans and Aidan Caulfield would have sailed under the burgee of CYBC in times past, but Jon's relocation to Sligo means that they sail the events as a combination rather than sailing at a club. John Bolger & S. Belochapkine were the sole representatives from Killaloe, another former stronghold of Fireball sailing that is also trying to recover from clubhouse complications. Other travellers to the event, from outside the immediate Dublin area were Brian O'Neill and Stevie Cassor from East Down Yacht Club (Strangford Lough), Team McGrotty, Niall, Simon and respective crews Neil Cramer & Darach Dinneen from Skerries and Finbarr Bradley from Carlingford Lough Yacht Club who teamed up with Howth's Diane Kissane. Our hosts got five boats onto the water.

The six race series was sailed inside and outside the harbour complex with three races taking place outside on Saturday and the balance being sailed inside the "leading lights" of Dublin's harbour entrance.

Saturday's racing took place in good trapezing conditions, opening with two Olympic courses followed by a Windward Leeward. McCartin/Kinsella started off from where they had last finished with a race win. However, speaking to Kinsella afterwards he said that they were finding their best form offwind which gave them a platform to control the race when they were going upwind. In truth, the leading bunch was quite tight with one new combination coming to the fore, the Clancy brothers Conor & James, who made everyone sit up and pay attention with a second place in Race 1. Waterford's Mike Murphy, crewed by Alex Voye made the first race their "high" of the day with a third place. Thereafter their Saturday results were just outside the top ten. And Noel Butler & Stephen Oram, 2012 National Champions,..............? Down in 5th place, behind Simon McGrotty & Darach Dinneen!

Race 2 saw a re-jigging of the top five – Butler/Oram taking the win ahead of McCartin/Kinsella. McGrotty/Dinneen took third, Kissane, taking a weekend break from 470 sailing and racing with Finbarr Bradley took 4th, with locals Bracken and O'Hara occupying the fifth slot. Again there was a tight bunch at the front of the fleet and a multitude of red spinnakers on the offwind legs made it a little difficult to see who was who!

The closing Windward-Leeward race saw McCartin/Kinsella win comfortably from Kissane/Bradley, with Bracken/O'Hara rounding out an ever-improving session with 3rd, Butler/Oram took 4th and McGrotty/Dinneen 5th.

The day's proceedings left McCartin & Kinsella with a six-point cushion over Butler & Oram who in turn had two points over Kissane/Bradley.

The weather forecast on Saturday evening did not bode well for the prospects of sailing outside the harbour on Sunday. Arriving at the club on Sunday morning there was a semblance of rain in the air and the Race Officer advised that the Dublin Harbour Control was recording 25 knots of breeze. With spring tides an additional factor, Ian Sargeant, the Race Officer, held a briefing session to advise the fleet that he would race us inside the harbour entrance. There is a limited window of tide for sailing off Clontarf as it is, so racing g inside the leading lights presented the additional hazards of a) staying outside the shipping lane into the harbour, b) avoiding the shallows in one corner of the race area at the latter stage of the tide and c) avoiding rocks in another location. That was before the vagaries of racing in the immediate lee of chimneys storage tanks and buildings given the wind direction of the day. A menu of two Windward-Leewards and an Olympic course to round out the day was offered.

Squally and variable wind directions would colour the racing – an unpredictable session of trying to second guess Mother Nature as huge lifts, stiff breezes, holes in the breeze and streaky winds made for an entertaining day. Trouble is that despite these vagaries, the cream of the fleet rose to the top again. McCartin/Kinsella had a more difficult day – scoring a 4, 2, 5. Butler/Oram replicated their opponents' feat of winning two of the day's three races, with Neil Spain & Francis Rowan taking the second race of the day in what was, for them, a slightly mediocre regatta. Kissane/Bradley also had a good day scoring a 2, 4, 3 to consolidate their position in the pecking order. Murphy/Voye also had a good day scoring 3, 7, 4 and McGrotty/Dinneen sailed a 5, 9, 2.

Some of the offwind legs were superb with huge gusts getting the Fireballs doing what they do best. There were some very cluttered roundings of the leeward mark and more than one of the top teams took turns during the day. There didn't seem to be any consistency to the wind, lifts on the starboard tack didn't seem to materialize in an advantage when one went onto port to get to the weather mar. Passing a boat on one tack didn't translate into the same advantage when the boats crossed again on opposing tacks – an elaborate game of snakes and ladders!

After six races, the new Leinster Champions are Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella who won with two points to spare over Noel Butler & Stephen Oram. In third place were Diane Kissane & Finbarr Bradley, three points adrift of the National Champions.

In the nine-boat Silver fleet, Brian Nolan and Billy Winter of the host club took the honours. Dropping a 20th from the first race they put together a tight set of results in the early to mid-teens to win by a ten-point margin from the northern visitors Brian O'Neill & Stevie Cassor.

 

 

At the Class AGM on the Saturday evening, the Chairman, Secretary & Treasurer, Neil Colin, Margaret Casey and Marie Barry respectively, expressed their willingness to continue in office and were re-elected unopposed for a further year. Among a variety of discussions items was next year's regatta schedule which contemplates taking the Nationals to N.Ireland and trips to Skerries, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta, Carlingford Lough and Slovenia for the Worlds.

#fireball – 24 boats have gathered for the season closing Irish Fireball Leinsters at Clontarf this weekend.

With race management by the host clubs Ian Sargeant, three races were sailed in good conditions - two Olympics and a Windward/Leeward. As ever with the Fireballs, General Recalls were also the order of the day with none of the races getting away at the first attempt.

Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella dominated the opening day with two race wins (1 & 3) to generate a 6pt cushion over Noel Butler & Stephen Oram who took the other win. They counted a 4 and a 5 to have a 2pt gap over Diane Kissane & Finnbarr Bradley in 3rd.

As there is a very limited time window in Clontarf the racing was restricted to three races.

1 Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella 4pts

2 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 10pts

3 Diane Kissane & Finnbarr Bradley 12pts

4 Simon McGrotty & Darach Dineen 13pts

5 Damien Bracken & Brian O'Hara 16pts.

#fireball – The last DBSC Tuesday Night Race of the 2012 season took place last night and finished as it began with a win for Noel Butler and Stephen Oram. I have been fortunate enough to sail a significant number of the Tuesday nights races this season and I can't recall a night when they didn't win writes Cormac Bradley.

Last night in very odd wind circumstances they had to come from behind to secure their win. With a flooding tide in Scotsman's Bay, the question was whether there was enough wind on the seaward side of the course to justify going left rather than right on the first beat. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey pioneered the inshore route, while Louis Smyth and Cormac Bradley took the seaward option. The other seven Fireballs were also inshore of the latter combination but at the first windward mark there wasn't a great deal of distance between the boats led round by Colin/Casey, Butler/Oram, Mick Creighton & Joe O'Reilly, Cariosa Power & Marie Barry, Smyth/Bradley, Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly, Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe, Jonathan Nicholson & Viv Besselar and Dave Coleman & Glenn Fisher.

The first reach was tight which led everyone to believe that the second reach would be broader but that didn't prove to be the case and scrambled spinnaker drops after the gybe mark saw a restructuring of the pecking order with Colin/Casey going for a swim, Butler & Oram taking over the lead followed by Creighton/O'Reilly and Miller/Donnelly who had got ahead of Smyth/Bradley. Thereafter, the pack chased Butler/Oram but to no avail.

Behind them, on the second beat, Creighton, Miller, Smyth & McKenna went slightly different ways but managed to cross each other at different stages of the beat in wind conditions that made tacking angles redundant. Smyth again played the outside line but found that he had lost distance to Miller but closed on Creighton and McKenna had closed on him.

Going down the sausage, Smyth was sandwiched between McKenna (inshore) and Creighton (offshore) while Miller and Butler sailed away in their own wind and water.

At the second rounding of the leeward mark, 3rd, 4th and 5th rounded bow to transom. After varying hitches inshore, all three boats tacked onto starboard to go up the beat.

The first reach of the second triangle was a bit broader than the first time round, even though Butler/Oram led the fleet more upwind than was necessary to get to the gybe mark. Miller/Oram were still secure in 2nd, followed by Creighton/O'Reilly, McKenna/O'Keeffe and Smyth/Bradley. Despite the easing of the first reach, the second reach was again too tight for spinnakers.

As they weren't registered for DBSC, Creighton/O'Reilly didn't go through the finish line to leave the finishing order as; Butler/Oram, Miller/Donnelly, McKenna/O'Keeffe, Smyth/Bradley, Colin/Casey.

11 nations and 106 boats contested the 2012 Fireball Europeans, hosted by Yacht Club Bracciano East during the week of 21 – 27 July. The fleet boasted an entry from Namibia, Nikolai & Pascal Allers, whose boat is stored in Switzerland, a single entry from Germany, Joerg Noller & Roger Leeman, 2 Canadian boats, including FI Executive members Joe Jospe (Commodore) and Tom Egli (Technical representative), 3 Belgian boats, 3 Slovenians, 5 French, 9 Irish, 17 Swiss, 18 Czechs, 19 Italians, who also contested their National Championships at the event, and 28 British boats.

As to be expected with an event that was within drivable distance of all the centres of European Fireballing, the means by which the boats arrived was of much interest. And winning the award for the most attention in this category was the Irish entry which brought 9 boats on a single jeep/trailer combination; eight boats stacked either side of the trailer with the ninth on the roof of the jeep. It took a team effort to load and unload the boats, but the trailer was easily loaded.

Measurement for the regatta took place on the Saturday and Sunday and Monday morning saw the first upset of the week!

The prevailing wind in Bracciano at this time of year blows onshore at the club. This morning it was blowing away from the club and was accompanied by grey skies........this wasn't in the brochure! In the distance we could see windsurfers scudding across the waves and when we did get the odd glimpse of sun, we could see the white tops of the waves in the distance as they ran away from us. An initial postponement was signalled! When we did set sail for the start area we were to find a committee boat struggling to hold position and a pin boat that was struggling to get upwind. The former was due to depth complications – we were in 150m of water – the latter was due to the wind and sea. A start was eventually attempted but a major wind shift meant that the beat turned into a two-sail fetch, especially for those who started at the pin. The first reach was another two sail fetch in the opposite direction, which meant that spinnakers were only broken out on the third leg! Boats went left and right to avoid sailing a direct line to the leeward mark. Some of us continued our conservative outlook and two-sailed rather gingerly to the downwind turning point. An early abandonment signal was flying from the committee boat as the stragglers sailed upwind again; problem was the leaders were already on their way back to the leeward mark under spinnaker. That left a long slog home! The reaction shore side was one of consternation.

Day 2 and the wind looked as if it had returned to normal service. The fleet went out again and proceeded to have a very long wait for the first start. Race 1 was sailed to full length, but the second start only got underway after 17:30 and was truncated to a triangle, sausage and final beat. The first race was started in good breeze that faded as the day wore on. The arrival of black clouds in the vicinity of the lake meant that the 2nd start was going to be a bit lively.......and so it was until haven't spent itself out, the breeze faded again to leave us with sunny conditions but a dying breeze. The day was characterised by multiple starts, with initially general recalls being used then the dreaded Black Flag start. Race 2 got away at the second attempt under black flag conditions. It was also a day on which the IJ exercised their muscle, policing Rule 42 infringements. The fleet was back ashore by 19:00, however the IJ were working much later into the evening. Two days gone, two races completed, only one of which went full length.

Day 3: Wind onshore! 13:00 arrives with the postponement flag already in place. Just as well, at the scheduled start time the numbers of boats in the start area could be counted on two hands. The RO is now in a difficult position – starts have not got off on time, so there is less enthusiasm from the fleet to go afloat and wait for a delayed start. The first start of the day is attempted at 14:30. One General Recall and two Black Flags later the fleet is let go under a Z-Flag start. Later 20 boats were listed as being in trouble at the start! Race 2 starts after 17:00 and concludes with the fleet getting shore after 19:00. We have had 6.5 hours on the water for two shortened races.

Day 4: A second Skippers' Briefing has been arranged for 10:00. It proceeds to be a clearing of the air between the fleet and the RO. The frustration of long hours on the water with less than satisfactory results leads to an agreement that a) the fleet will be kept ashore until the wind has stabilized and a race can be started quickly and b) a request that the start lines are laid square to the wind to try and preclude the need for everyone to start early and c) a request that the race committee get on the water earlier to assess the wind situation.

Two full Olympic courses get sailed today, but with a first start after 15:30, we have another late return to shore, post 19:00. These are the best races of the week, relatively quick and clean starts, good spinnaker legs and breeze that stayed on for the duration of the races. Conditions are very pleasant for sailing – warm wind and warm water – and the trapezing isn't heavy duty upwind, though the 2nd reach of the triangles are a bit more challenging. During the second race the wind got up a bit but it didn't last overly long.

As the Championship dinner is scheduled for this evening, the fleet has little time between unwinding after the racing to getting ready for dinner. However, our Italian host put on a great spread – simple but very tasty – antipasto, pasta, spit-roasted pork and ice-cream with lots of wine and water to accompany the meal. The Slovenians also give a presentation on the venue for the 2013 Worlds in Portoroz in September, but the impact of their presentation is partially lost due to us all seating outside and the sheer volume of numbers.

Day 5: While we all have a discard with six races sailed, everyone would like to see more races to improve their position. However, being the last day of the event, there is an early cut-off for the last race start of 16:00. And in a typical application of Murphy's Law (if it can go wrong it will go wrong), there is no wind when we arrive at the club. Not a good start! The routine postponement flag goes up and the fleet settles in for a shoreside wait! Noon comes and goes; 13:00 comes and goes. We do go afloat around 15:00 which means at best we will only get a single race in. problem is that the wind is moving significantly with huge shifts that are a RO's nightmare! A start is attempted but we are in default again. Re-jig the line, lift the weather mark, everyone is clock-watching now! We are down to less than 20 minutes before cut-off. The minutes tick by.................and as 16:00 arrives we are done without a race being started. The leaders will be relieved, though the top boat has a six-point margin! The majority of the fleet will be relieved in a different way, they can start packing!

Most regattas are won on the basis of brilliance and consistency. This regatta required both these attributes in a much more conspicuous way. The ease with which big numbers could be accumulated – even for top ten candidates in a Fireball fleet – was unreal at this event.

On the Tuesday evening, Claude Mermod and Ruedi Moser were sitting atop the pile with a 1,2 and three points. Martin Kubovy & Roman Rocek were equally comfortable in second with a 1, 4 and the Venhodas, Kurt and So (SUI 14987) were in third with 9 points. 24 hours later, the Tuesday evening leaders had acquired a Black Flag and an 11, Kubovy/Rocek scored a 9,8 and the Venhodas had picked up a 30 and a 9. The British challenge manifested itself with Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff scoring a 1,2 on Wednesday, Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey scoring a 2,4, Sam Mettam & Richard Anderton securing a 3 in Race 4, David Hall & Paul Constable winning Race 3 only to fall foul of the Z-flag at the start and david wade/Bob Gardner getting a 4th (Race 4), but also a Black Flag.

Thus Wednesday saw a change in the order with Burge/Wagstaff tied with Kubovy/Rocek on 22pts, and Birrell/Brearey in third on 26pts. At this stage Kubovy/Rocek were the only combination inside the top ten overall who only had single digit finishes.

On Thursday Kubovy/Rocek's record of single digit finishes went AWOL as they recorded a 15 and 13, the former becoming their discard. Burge/Wagstaff scored a 1,6, Birrell/Brearey a 9 & 4. Hall/Constable replaced the Z-flag first with the real thing in Race 5 and followed that up with a 6th. Mettam/Anderton also had a good day with a 5,9.

Fireball Europeans – Yacht Club Bracciano East R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Nett

1 GBR 15084 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff 8 11 2 1 6 1 18

2 GBR 15065 Christian Birrell & Sam Brearey 15 5 4 2 9 4 24

3 CZE 15019 Martin Kubovy & Roman Rocek 1 4 9 8 15 13 35

4 GBR 15083 David Wade & Bob Gardner 4 12 bfd 4 13 2 35

5 CZE 15059 Milan Cap & Filip Prochazka 12 14 3 5 32 3 37

6 GBR 15085 David Hall & Paul Constable 11 9 1 18 1 6 45

7 CZE 15079 Jaroslav Verner & Pavel Winkler dnf 2 14 7 11 12 46

8 GBR 15081 Sam Mettam & Richard Anderton 26 15 20 3 5 9 52

9 CZE 14979 Eva Skorepova & Jakub Napravnik 7 10 11 29 10 15 53

10 SUI 14799 Claude Mermod & Ruedi Moser 2 1 bfd 16 21 14 54

Thus the top ten split is GBR 5, CZE 4 and Switzerland 1. This reflects the growing strength in numbers and talent level of the Czech fleet, which we are advised is the fastest growing fleet in Fireball. They are a very young group, which would suggest they are going to be around for a while.

Trophy Winners

Race 1 Swiss Cow Bell CZE 15019 Martin Kubovy & Roman Rocek

Race 2 Czech Crystal Bowl SUI 14799 Claude Mermod & Ruedi Moser

Race 3 Slovenian Trophy GBR 15084 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff

Race 4 UK Trophy GBR 15084 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff

Race 5 Italian UVM Trophy GBR 15085 David Hall & Paul Constable

Race 6 French Trophy GBR 15084 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff

Overall Fireball Europeans European Trophy GBR 15084 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff

Classic Boat Classic Boat Trophy CZE 14056 Karel & Matej Smetana (63rd)

Ladies Prize YCBE Trophy CZE 14809 Klara Janderova & Jitka Bidlova (64th)

Under-25s Italian Fireball Association Trophy GBR 15065 Christian Birrell & Sam Brearey

The regatta was generously sponsored by Carige Assicurazioni, an Italian insurance company, who were the main sponsor, Sperry Topsider, who provided a pair of their shoes to every competitor, Dicofarm who specialize in the development of early childhood products and, technical sponsors Aires Tech, a mechanical engineering company and Aliacom, a mass communications agency.

The hospitality of our Italian hosts was exceptional. Bottled water was free and available on each day of the regatta. A small team of Italian ladies produced enormous amounts of food from a very small kitchen on a daily basis – pasta was served to the fleet when it came ashore every day. The Championship dinner was simple but excellent fare and the shore teams enthusiastically helped boats off the small beach into the dinghy park at the end of each day's racing.

Photos by Bob Hobby and Urs Hardi

There was a win for Britain's Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff when winds didn't settle by the cut-off time for the last start of the Fireball European Championships in Italy yesterday and the overnight results stood. Irish boats are already on the road home with Kenny Rumball and Conor Kinsella and a nine boat trailer rig.

#fireball – A first today - a second Skippers' Briefing for the fleet. Essentially it was an opportunity for the fleet to "clear the air" with the Race Officer writes Cormac Bradley. A number of accusations were made that preparation for the racing left a lot to be desired. The quality of the start lines also came in for criticism. Agreement was achieved on the fact that the fleet wouldn't go afloat unless the RO had a course set.

The consequence was that we didn't go afloat until 15:30. Two full Olympic races were completed with the result that the fleet came ashore after 7pm - another full day in Bracciano. Tonight we have the Championship event dinner and a presentation by the hosts of next year's Worlds - Slovenia. As I type we are sitting in the dark waiting for proceedings to commence.

Results have not appeared yet, doubtless due to the processing of start line infringements.

The two races today were probably the best of the week. Minimal fuss, good spinnaker legs - a revelation. The Irish fleet had a mixed bag of results - breakages, and people in nether regions of the fleet that they would rarely visit.

Sunshine has been in abundance so the holiday aspect of this week has been well sorted. Racing? Well that's another matter!