Displaying items by tag: Fireball World Championships

19th April 2014

146kg is Optimum 'All–Up' Fireball Crew Weight, Says World Champs Gear Guide

#fireball – The table above sets out the various combinations of hulls, sails and fittings, together with crew weights of the top six boats in the recently concluded Fireball Worlds in Thailand writes Cormac Bradley. It is a table (also downloadable below as an excel file) that details very few surprises except maybe the use of Irwin sails by Heather MacFarlane & Chris Payne – my recall of the race reports is that they flew a set of Irwin Dacron sails for part of the week.

In terms of all up crew weight is it significant how little variation there is in the 6 combinations, with the exception of Heather MacFarlane & Chris Payne at the light end and Ben Schulz & Doug Sheppard at the other end of the scale. The average "all-up" weight of the crew is 146.83 kgs which means that 3 of the crews were "on the money" weight wise and the range across the top six was only 30kg. This may have course have been a deliberate ploy as the regatta wasn't expected to have consistently heavy winds, but it is an indication of how a range of weights can be successful in the top echelons of a Worlds fleet.

Hull choice is consistent but really this isn't a surprise, nor is the choice of masts. It is however interesting to note the number of combinations who are using North Sails.

Published in Fireball

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Dubarry Profits On the Rise

Shoe manufacturer Dubarry saw a 44 per cent increase in overseas sales last year, The Irish Times reports.

http://afloat.ie/sail/

Though shoe sales are on the decline in Ireland, growth in export markets - and the success of Dubarry's new clothing range – has more than offset any domestic losses, said marketing director Michael Walsh.

Dubarry was recently title sponsor of the Fireball World Championships at Sligo Yacht Club last month.

http://www.afloat.ie/sail/sailing-classes/fireball/item/15560-fireballs-announce-dubarry-as-title-sponsor-for-sligo-world-championships/

http://afloat.ie/sail/sailing-classes/fireball/

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0701/1224299846446.html

Shoe manufacturer Dubarry saw a 44 per cent increase in overseas sales last year, The Irish Times reports.

The firm, which is a long-time supporter of sailing in Ireland, reported pretax profits of €1.95 million on revenue that topped the €20 million mark, an increase of more than €4 million on the previous year.

Though shoe sales are on the decline in Ireland, growth in export markets - and the success of Dubarry's new clothing range – has more than offset any domestic losses, said marketing director Michael Walsh.

Dubarry was recently title sponsor of the Fireball World Championships at Sligo Yacht Club last month.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update

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Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro.

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race.

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind.

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

It starts in June or July from a French port.
The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
Since 1990, all boats are of one design.