Two big weeks

We speak to Steve Chesney about this summers Fireball extravaganza

One class that is really going big this year in Britain, with 150 boats expected at their Holt sponsored World Championships in Devon this summer, is the Fireball.

The worlds were last held in the UK at Weymouth in 1997 and Steve Chesney was the man who headed up the organisation of the event. He obviously did a good job and is again back in charge for 2005.

A Fireball sailor for 20 years Steve was Chairman of the class for a period in the nineties and he now holds the position of Chairman of the Organising Committee.

Chesney says that the main change that has occurred, in the eight years since the event was last here, is the way the Fireball class now looks at itself. Out has gone “elitism”, and in has come a real attempt to ensure there is something for all. “In 1997 we had a restricted entry event and people had to qualify,” he says. “For this event there is no qualification and anyone who has a Fireball and is a member of the Fireball class association anywhere in the world can come along.”

Entries are up to the 120 mark at this stage with plenty more potential entrants registering their interest. The strength of the class internationally sees around 40 overseas entries from countries such as France, Italy, Czech Republic, Ireland, Canada, USA and Australia.

The Aussies bring somewhat of a grudge match with them following defeat on their home turf in 2004. Chesney brings us up to date with the situation: “Brett Young, the Australian builder of the boat, lost the World Championship in Adelaide on the last race in January 2004. He is coming over to try to beat the Pommes.”

The entries will be split into three fleets based on a seeding principle into gold, silver and bronze division. “They all sail in the same race in the same start and the same water,” explains Chesney, “but according to their ability and their track record in their home countries they get seeded into these fleet classifications.” Each fleet has their own sponsor and separate prizes - Speed Sails are looking after the silver fleet and Typhoon Wetsuits the bronze. It is hoped that the winner will come from the gold fleet.

Chesney does not think that this will make any difference to the sailors at the top of the fleet, but will importantly create the right atmosphere: “It will include everyone in the Fireball community and make it a festival of sailing for them. And so it’s a World Championship and a big party.”

Holding the event in Teignmouth in Devon, well off the championship beaten track, is a bold and interesting move. The town is just to the north of Torquay and the sailing area will be out on Lyme Bay. What is impressive is how by bringing an event like this to a smaller venue the local council have become so supportive. This includes closing off a road to keep all the boats on, provisioning extra ramps to get the boats down onto the beach and help with setting up a ‘regatta village’ on the seafront.

“A venue that doesn’t regularly host major championships does try that little bit harder. We had a great event back there in 95 and everyone was really pleased with them and so that is why they were the choice for us this year,” says Chesney of the town and Teignmouth Sailing Club.

The holiday location is also important to the Committee says Chesney, enabling the event not only to be enjoyed by the sailors, but also by their families and children. Accommodation is plentiful and varied in price and they have also done a deal with a local school for some truly budget snoring.

This, says Chesney of the school dorm, will be a good option for those who have spent money travelling from afar [Australia perhaps?] and who want to keep enough in reserve for the evening refreshments. Gone however, he says, are the days when the Czech contingent would arrive by truck, laden down with lager, to fund their attendance.

Like all major competitions there is always a demand by overseas competitors for charter boats. While bigger groups can get together a undertake a cost-effective container shipment of boats, the ones and the twos struggle. Chesney says he has a waiting list of potential competitors that would be interested in chartering.

“The owner will get some money and the boat will be returned to him in perfect condition, it will be insured and will be looked after. It will come back in better condition that it went in,” says Chesney. He is appealing especially to those who may not be fully involved in the Fireball Association, or regular racers who cannot attend and are reluctant to come forward.

The class has not undergone any radical changes in the past year and the competition on the water is expected to be close.

“Its evolution rather than revolution,” says Chesney of any changes to the Rule. “Because it is an international class it is very democratic. It has to be debated by the whole association world wide and voted on and it can take a while. The last big change was from Dacron to Kevlar sails, which happened a couple of years ago.”

Materials wise they are considering carbon spinnaker poles, but that would seem to be about as far as they are prepared to go at this stage. Chesney rules out a carbon mast as it would be represent a small increase in performance over the standard aluminium one. The hulls are now built in Kevlar and conceivable a gain could be made going to carbon, but again the benefits are seen as marginal as most hulls are now close to minimum weight.

One interesting aspect is the course the Fireballs traditionally sail. The first reach on a triangle course is traditionally made tight, around the 70 degree mark. This has created a tendency, says Chesney, of spinnakers being more suited for reaching.

“Experience has shown that you tend to be better off having your spinnaker cut for the first reach. So they tend to be near the minimum in terms of dimensions,” he says. This may also be a factor in a trend to more aggressive downwind sailing. “There is definitely more apparent wind sailing going on downwind now - it’s a tough call, sometimes it works.”

Crews will be able to measure in two suits of sails for the worlds, so how about a nice reaching chute and then a runner if it all goes a bit light (that's yacht sailors for you)? Chesney disagrees: “The boat is very easy to sail, but very hard to sail really well. With the flat bottomed hull, you take one wave badly then you are going to loose far more than the thousands of pounds spent on sail development.”

If the planning is anything to go by, it looks like the event will produce a worthy World Champion in a pleasant and enjoyable atmosphere for all. The UK Nationals / Europeans start on the 6th August followed by the worlds from 14th to the 19th, making it two big weeks in Devon. Further information can be found at: http://www.fireball-worlds.com