Displaying items by tag: Irish Fireball Association

28th July 2009

Fireball

The Fireball is a high performance two-person sailing dinghy offering exciting sailing, intense competition and a great social life off the water. For all the latest Fireball news click here. The thrills of trapeze and spinnakers are hard to match in any type of sailboat or board and neither age nor gender determines your ability to be competitive.

Fireballers sail all year round – during the Winter at the DMYC Frostbites in Dun Laoghaire and the during Summer at many events around the country and the DBSC Tuesdays and Saturdays again in Dun Laoghaire. In addition there are active fleets in Clontarf, Killaloe and Dunmore East. If you would like to sail then get in touch with one of the following people who will help you find a spot!

Siobhan Hayes, Dun Laoghaire – tel: 087 205 8879
Hugh Johnson, Clontarf – tel: 087 659 3533
Cormac Bradley, General – tel: 086 814 3618
Owen Laverty, Dun Laoghaire – tel: 087 6107857
Richard Fox, Killaloe – tel: 087 248 4977
Brian O'Neill, Ballyhenry – tel: +44 7849 465124

Irish Fireball Association, c/o Margaret Casey, Secretary, 48 Riverside Drive, Churchtown, Dublin 14. Email: [email protected]

Afloat's Graham Smith wrote, in the One Design Class Review for the February/March 2009 issue:

"The Fireball has been written off so many times yet consistently defies all obituaries. In fact, it has grown slightly over the years to provide a national fleet in the region of 70 boats at 15 venues which tends to substantiate its claim of being one of the leading dinghy classes in the country.

Twenty-eight boats at the Nationals in Westport was a little down on the previous year but entries in the mid-20s for the other regional events would be considered more than satisfactory by a lot of other classes in this day and age.

Noel Butler and Seamus Moore of DMYC retained their national title in Mayo, won the Ulsters in Carlingford and also won the Traveller’s Trophy for consistency of results. Fifteenth overall in the 68-boat World Championships in Thailand was a highly creditable finish for the Dun Laoghaire duo.

Another Dun Laoghaire crew, Kenneth Rumball and Dave Moran, had a seventh overall at the Europeans in Belgium while, at home, Andy Pearce and Francis Rowan of the National YC won the Leinsters in Mullingar and the Skerries helm Simon McGrotty notched wins in the Munsters and Open Championships with two different crew. National Champions: Noel Butler and Seamus Moore, DMYC."

There is a space for Irish boating clubs and racing classes to use as their own bulletin board and forum for announcements and discussion. If you want to see a dedicated forum slot for your club or class, click here

Published in Classes & Assoc

Tagged under

About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour