Ed Óg Butler and Quinten Lauwers achieved a top ten place in the highly competitive Fireball World Championship in Torbay, UK last week. Their scores included a 3rd in the final race of the series. The pair placed 9th overall in a fleet of 84 boats from 14 nations and 4 continents which included several former World Champions. The event was won convincingly by DJ Edwards and Vyv Townend who sailed consistently well in a wide range of conditions over the 9 races. The top ten achievement for Butler Óg & Lauwers is all the more impressive because they had very limited time sailing together before the event. Both are currently based in the Netherlands and have recently become fathers. Butler’s first experience in a Fireball was helming his father Ed Snr’s boat at events aged twelve, and while Lauwers has a background in a 470 Olympic campaign he hadn’t sailed a competitive race in a decade. Speaking after the event Butler explained that they practiced one evening per week in the lead up to the championship with the main focus on boat handling. They also spent some time on boat work making sure that everything was 100% with the boat and tuning. “Our starts and boat speed were not our strengths however. We spent most races picking places off through good tactical decisions and finding pressure. Our boat handling was definitely in good order. Getting into the top ten required us to stay focussed for the full week and we remained on the same page with all decisions on and off the water!”
Green Machine – Team Ireland gathers with the Tricolour before the final day of racing at the Fireball World Championship in Torbay, where 13 Irish crews contested one of the country's biggest overseas Worlds campaigns. Photo: Gráinne McGrotty.
The Royal Torbay YC based championship had probably the largest ever Irish entry to a Worlds abroad with thirteen Irish teams competing, made possible by a generous discount from Irish Ferries. This included a large squad of youth sailors many of whom have graduated to the Fireball from 420s and Mirrors. Of those youths David Evans and William Draper sailed extremely well all week with an overall 19th score and only missed out on the Youth Champions title by three points on the final day of racing. Speaking about their performance Evans said “we were happy with how we managed to fight our way into the top 20. Getting a clear lane off the start was absolutely key, as the fleet was so competitive. We also had to be very careful with jib tuning to avoid backwinding the mainsail, especially in the lighter conditions. Downwind, committing to one side early generally paid off. The offshore breeze days were the trickiest for us, we struggled at times to pick the correct side of the course, and that’s an area we’ll work on”
Colour Rush – A kaleidoscope of spinnakers fills Torbay as the 84-boat Fireball World Championship fleet races in varied conditions that tested crews from 14 nations. Photo: Mark Jardine
Jack McNaughton and Kilian Mathieu will be happy with their event having scored a 5th place in race three and ending with a 39th overall. The pair put in the hours training at GBSC over the summer and this has clearly paid off as they are improving rapidly. McNaughton commented afterwards “the fleet was absolutely ruthless and if you didn’t have a good start it was very hard to claw your way back. What sometimes worked for us was trying to steer clear of the pack for clearer air, especially on the first leg”.
Outgoing World Youth Champions Daniel & Harry Thompson scored 28th overall, one place ahead of veterans Noel Butler & Stephen Oram. In a sense that symbolises the transition taking place in the Irish fleet with younger and youth sailors rising rapidly to the top with more veteran “master” and “grand-master” sailors finding themselves on the lower rungs of the scoresheet. Afterwards Daniel Thompson said how much they enjoyed the windy Sunday reaches and acknowledged that the racing was extremely tight. He praised the race management and general organisation. Noel Butler reiterated how important it was to get off the start line cleanly and hold one’s lane upwind. This was vital because races consisted of two long laps and it was crucial to stay in contact with the leading bunch. He felt they lost out whenever they were forced to split away from the leading bunch and found themselves nearing the corners.
Shared Stories – Irish Fireball sailors enjoy a relaxed communal supper during the championship lay day, reflecting the strong team spirit that underpinned Ireland's largest-ever overseas Fireball Worlds squad. Photo: Frank Miller
Relative newcomer youth sailors Rachel Deasy and Daithí Murphy were a place ahead of Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer. The latter were the leading Irish “grand-masters” ahead of Richard Quinlan & Michael Keegan and the rest of the senior Irish field.
Looking at the big picture this was a fantastically well organised event with superb race management by Stuart Childerly and his team. Special praise is due to the shore team who managed to get the large fleet off a crowded pier and small slipway despite frequent ferry movements in the harbour. The courses were alternatively triangle/sausage and sausage/triangles with an offset finish. The target time of 60 minutes meant long beats and long runs with multiple tactical options and plenty of room for gains and losses. While day one saw gusts touching 30 knots this was frequently a light to medium air event in often tricky conditions with many shifts, bends and light patches across the course. The very first race of the event was abandoned when the vast majority of the fleet failed to find the weather mark in the quite wild conditions despite the correct compass bearing being provided. This understandably upset the few who found the correct mark but overall the fleet considered the decision sensible and fair.
The area of Torquay certainly lived up to its “English Riviera” title with temperatures frequently in the high twenties. Team Ireland at the championship spread themselves between camping at the local cricket club and rented houses and hotels. A wide variety of restaurants and bars provided sustenance while bar prices raised some eyebrows. At the RTBYC daily prize-giving was generously provided with valuable spot prizes from the many event sponsors including P&B Sails, North Sails, Allen Brothers, Robline, West System Pro-Set, Windermark and Wetsuit Outlet. In summary this was a terrific Worlds which tested all sailing and endurance skills and gave the many youth teams who attended a flavour of the quality of International Fireball sailing and a target for their sailing ambitions for many years ahead. The next International Fireball event is the Europeans in St Raphael, Cote d’Azur, France in late September 2027 and the next World Championship is in Kenya in February 2028. Locally the rescheduled Fireball Munsters take place at Monkstown Bay SC over the weekend of September 5th & 6th while the Leinsters take place at Blessington SC on the weekend of 19th & 20th September.
