Too light

Fireballs fail to get first race in at their World Championship reports Jonathon Bale

With all the hopes and promises of a new year, it was with great expectation that the Fireball fleet put to the water for the first race of the 2004 Fireball World Championships. However the wind lasted just about as long as most peoples new years resolutions! Shortly before the scheduled start time the race officer Mike Rogers was forced to put up the postponement flag.



After a hour or so of milling around on the water Mike decided that the best option was to send the fleet back to wait on shore for the wind. At four PM and with no sign of wind appearing, racing was abandoned for the day.

There is a growing feeling among the UK fleet that "It is usually like this" after all here in Adelaide! Why else would all the local boats have small crews, such small rudders and large spinnakers. The weather conditions experienced to date only go to further confirm our suspicions.

Let us hope that day two will bring favour from the wind gods.

Entry list, 97 boats:

Prefix	Sail No	I D	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew
AUS	13692	1	Wy Wood Ja	Donal O'sullivan	Michael Palfreman
AUS	10959	2	Flotsam & Jetsam	Shane Hutchinson	James Guy
AUS	10971	3	Legend	Brian Conway	Nick Yacoumis
AUS	11756	4	Mono Mania	Dave Godden	Graham Cugley
AUS	12748	5	Flying Scozzies	Liam Millar	Iain Millar
AUS	12784	6	Saoirse	Donal Sweeney	Trevor Nabb
AUS	12807	7	Xl5	Kevin Knott	Kyle Knott
AUS	12963	8	Not Your Average White Boat	Peter Geekie	Stu Matthews
AUS	13211	9	Interceptor	Dale Bax	Anthony Wilkins
AUS	13214	10	Scotch On The Rocks	Dave Samways	Andrew Samways
AUS	13215	11	Champagne Jam	Sam Muirhead	Ben Neaylon
AUS	13680	12	More Bad Habits	Steve Luders	Lisa Lavery
AUS	13686	13	Azungu	Michelle Anesbury	Lesley Roberts
AUS	13687	14	No 2nd Prize	Nick Browne	Mat Otto
AUS	13690	15	Abugajundy	Lee Van Der Warker	Gary Neate
AUS	13946	17	I Mount Books	Brendan Garner	Christopher Schwarz
AUS	14152	18	Slammer	Kirsty Brealey	Bryce Reid
AUS	14153	19	Chilli Pepper	Tim Ninnes	Mark McDonald
AUS	14156	20	Go Deja	Tony Schnaars	Darren Fleming
AUS	14212	22	Angatja	Dave Kenley	Damian Chambers
AUS	14217	23	No Plan "b"	Andrew Martin	Ross Martin
AUS	14218	24	Scarlet Manuka	Phil Peverell	Steve Baum
AUS	14219	25	The Phantom	Rod Hookway	James Brauer
AUS	14405	27	The Limo	Gavin Thredgold	Kieran Ball
AUS	14414	28	Dingos	Glenn Peverell	Andrew Wright
AUS	14487	31	Hit "n" Run	Tom Hughes	Bethany Fawcett
AUS	14503	32	Live Wire	Shane Hughes	Andrew Hughes
AUS	14510	34	Port Torque	Patrick Hughes	Jim Hughes
AUS	14516	35	Dark And Stormy	Nick Ede	Bevan Jones
AUS	14529	37	Fierce Creature	Roger Goldfinch	Brett Goldfinch
AUS	14530	38	Storm	Scott Lidgett	Tony Wood
AUS	14545	39	Ragdoll	Chris Stevens	Jeremy Nesei
AUS	14571	41	Buckle Up Spanky	Andrew Crossley	Peter Crossley
AUS	14586	42	Temeritous	Daryl Cload	Troy Lockwood
AUS	14587	43	Total Addiction	Craig Barnett	Jarrad Morgan
AUS	14599	44	Aquatic Empire	Stephen Edwards	Brenton Main
AUS	14601	45	Cop You Later	Cameroncantley-smith	Alex Pietromonaco
AUS	14603	46	Fred	Emma Perkins	Joel Coultas
AUS	14608	47	Hot Wire	Sally Downes	Steve Perkins
AUS	14650	49	Sniff & Snatch	Warren Slater	Jason Cottam
AUS	14651	50	Tidy Rig	Garrath James	Alan Pendrigh
AUS	14714	56	Steaming Beaver	David Allinson	Dean Rehn
AUS	14745	58	The Mistress	James Szpunar	Matthew Turnbull
AUS	14746	59	On The Ball	Geoff Ling	Chelsea Ling
AUS	14747	60	Gattaga	Alan Schnaars	Mark McAskill
AUS	14782	67	Mondo Bizarro	Robin Inns	Phillip Bowley
AUS	14786	69	Renegade	John Heywood	Brett Littledike
AUS	14810	77	Tabu Soro	Dylan Clarke	Jonno Bannister
AUS	14811	78	Mini Mee	Matthew Carter	Damian Dorrington
AUS	14812	79	Viper	Peter Inns	John Weigand
AUS	14813	80	Jtb	Heather Macfarlane	Chris Payne
AUS	14814	81	Aeg	Greg Allison	Richard Watson
AUS	14826	85	Issues	Daryl Carter	Tony Belton
AUS	14849	92	Nude	Brett Young	Allen Blenkle
AUS	14850	93	Shadow	Marek Chocian	Adam Parker
AUS	13683	97	On The Sheeps Back	Mary Jordan	Alva Bruun
CAN	14568	40	Rainmaker	Cameron Lee	Will Brook
CAN	14680	52	Tangeroo	James Cox	Simon Pearson
CAN	14767	63		Robert Levy	Thomas Egli
CAN	14828	86	Imps	Joel Lancaster	Robert Thompson
CZE	14712	55	Lepsi Uz To Nebude	Tomas Musil	Jan Danek
FRA	14693	53		Franck Juin	Pierre Perdon
FRA	14793	71	Desmond	Christelle Philippe	Jean-Francois Nouel
GBR	13945	16	Reginald	Malcolm Davies	Russell Thorne
GBR	14466	30	African Queen	Keryn Henwood-fox	Gary Henwood-Fox
GBR	14622	48	Playball	Andy Pearce	David Mason
GBR	14708	54		Mel Hourigan	Kyle Hourigan
GBR	14770	64	Fat Harry White	Vince Horey	Jon Mildred
GBR	14777	65		Tom Trueman	Doug Shore
GBR	14778	66	Scorchio!	Jeremy Davy	Andy Thompson
GBR	14783	68	Spanman	Paul Cullen	Gavin Tilson
GBR	14789	70	Flying Pigs	Penny Gibbs	Ian Gibbs
GBR	14798	72	Blew Genes	Martin Scarth	Andy Scott
GBR	14800	74	Got The Sheets	Eugene Jordan	Russell Hayes
GBR	14801	75	Gul	Andy Smith	Dennis Fearnley
GBR	14809	76	Whistling Gorrilla	Dave Wade	Richard Wagstaff
GBR	14820	82	The Wild Bean	Ian Harrison	David Broome
GBR	14821	83	Jambo	Alex Bale	Jon Bale
GBR	14822	84	Cheek To Cheek	Mike Goldby	Kim Goldby
GBR	14835	88	Lipstick	Euan Sellar	Mat Summers
GBR	14839	89		Kevin Hope	Rob Gardener
GBR	14851	94	Wavewalkabout	Mark Jarred	Nick Collins
GBR	14853	95	The Hooter Scooter	Derian Chandler	Olly Goldsmith
GBR	14855	96		Richard Estaugh	Simon Potts
GER	14189	21	Kamikaze	Anna Trotschler	Christoph Trotschler
GER	14658	51	Funkey	Melanie Lederer	Michael Schafer
IRL	12348	26	No Excuses	Cally Donaghy	Matthew Richardson
IRL	14415	29	Beyond The Edge	Will Moody	Warren Schmelzer
IRL	14509	33	Ghost	Frank Miller	Damian McCullagh
IRL	14834	87		Shane Maccarthy	Roger Gilbert
IRL	14840	90	Splash & Dash	David Scott	Francis Rowan
JPN	14517	36	Green Submarine	Yuji Sakuma	Mitsuhiro Yoshida
JPN	14751	61	Prometheus	Hiroshi Kato	Tsuyoshi Tobata
JPN	14841	91		Natsuki Takahashi	Sadahiro Kumagai
SUI	14718	57	Supi-chischtli	Kurt Venhoda	Sonja Zaugg
SUI	14752	62	White Magic	Maja Suter	Francois Schluchter
SUI	14799	73		Erich Moser	Ruedi Moser