Change of Course for Fireball?

by Cormac Bradley 31 Dec 2014 15:05 GMT 31 December 2014

The Fireball Worlds returns to its spiritual home of the United Kingdom in 2015 with an August regatta in Pwllheli, Wales. A two week event will see an International Week precede the Worlds and at this early stage there are expectations of visitors from South Africa, Australia, America, Ireland, continental Europe and of course a substantial home attendance.

International regattas are inclined to be a focal point for speculation as to where the fleet is going and there will be lots of discussion simply by way of a concentration of Fireballers being at the venue.

Course configurations are an ever present aspect of competitive sailing and we have come a long way from the marathon Olympic courses that used to be the staple fare of these regattas.

At the UK Nationals in 2014, the Class initiated a Survey Monkey poll of participants on a number of issues to do with course types, configurations and the number of races to be sailed in a day. With the permission of Jez White, UKFA Class Chairman and Messrs Richard Anderton and Tim Saunders who developed the survey questions, the results of the poll are represented here in a slightly different format. Given that the Worlds are coming back to the UK in 2015, a wider publication of the results of the survey might have merit as people contemplate 2 weeks in Wales in August.

At the UK Nationals two course types were sailed – triangle-sausage triangle, and sausage-triangle- sausage. My recall is that the fleet size was 43 boats and the survey statistics were as follows;

• Boat responses 41
• Helm responses 33
• Crew responses 20

Q1 Is this your first Fireball Nationals?
1. Yes, 9 (17%)
2. No, 44 (83%)

Q2 We sailed two types of courses at this year's Nationals, what would you like to see at next year's event?
1. Triangle, sausage, triangle only, 11 (21%)
2. Sausage, triangle, sausage only, 0
3. Combination of both courses, 41 (79%)

Q3 We specified a windward finish so that the last race of the day would finish as close to the shore as possible. If a windward finish means being further away from the shore at the end of the last race, should it still be used?
1. Mix, 37 (70%)
2. Close to beach, 15 (28%)

Q4 We introduced a gate at the bottom of the run. Should this be used?
1. Always, 31 (58%)
2. Never, 10 (19%)
3. Only if sausage first, 11 (21%)

Q5 How many races a day would you like to do?
1. 1 race, 3 (5%)
2. 2 races, 46 (87%)
3. 3 races, 3 (5%)

Q6 What kind of starts would you like to see?
1. Line start, 7 (13%)
2. Gate start, 9 (17%)
3. Mix of starts, 36 (68%)

Q7 Race length. How long do you think races should be? (after 4 races in breeze there was some debate on this issue!)
1. 45 minutes, 14 (26%)
2. 60 minutes, 9 (17%)
3. 75 minutes, 0
4. Vary (race length can increase if conditions are conducive to enjoyment), 29 (55%)

Q8 Do you think a daily prize-giving time of 9pm is appropriate?
1. Yes, 42 (79%)
2. No, 10 (19%)

Percentage based on 53 responses and rounded up or down to nearest whole percentage

As to be expected, the feedback on the eight questions was varied:

• Q2 - Course Type

  Quite a number of people mentioned the trapezoid course even though it wasn't an option listed in the questionnaire. Some people felt that the trapezoid offered the Race Officer more freedom to change the course if the wind changes.

  Some responses argued that the courses should be set to exploit the close reaching capability of the Fireball and that placing too much emphasis on downwind sailing detracted from what makes the boat so exciting to sail.

  Making the physical size of the course smaller to facilitate sausage-triangle-sausage-triangle was felt to be a way to introduce change without losing the tight reaches under spinnaker.

• Q3 - Location of the finish

  Again a wide range of responses:

  • Mix of finish locations.
  • Preference for leeward finish when there is a race to follow, but an upwind finish if it is the last race of the day.
  • Start/Finish halfway up the beat so that there is less confusion at the leeward mark.
  • Match the finish location to wind conditions.
  • Preference for a windward finish as it promotes a more tactical final leg.
  • And most interestingly... distance from the bar should never be a consideration in a serious championship!

• Q4 - Introduction of a leeward gate

  The introduction of the leeward gate was generally favourably received though there were a number of dissenting voices. However, a common theme of the responses is that there needs to be greater clarity in the SIs with respect to the possible use of a leeward gate and that the distance between the marks of the leeward gate should be proportionate to fleet size.

• Q5 - Number of races per day

  The consensus appears to favour two races a day of a reasonable length with a third introduced only if the winds are light or the race schedule is falling behind. The number of races should also be a function of the physical conditions in order to facilitate the wide range of skill sets at a regatta – some people have specifically trained for the event, while others are less focussed. There wasn't much support for a single race per day – as one respondent stated he comes to race – not to sit on the beach. Three shorter races (where required) are preferred to two longer races. Some suggestions that different combination of races (1, 2 or 3) per day be stated in the regatta schedule.

• Q6 - Line or gate starts

  Views seemed to be that the choice of start type is dependent on weather, numbers and requirement to get the fleet away cleanly. Bigger numbers and more wind favours the use of a gate start. Suggestion that line starts take too long (recalls etc.), but are a better test of skill which is pertinent to a National Championship.

• Q7 - Length of races

  Strong preference for 45 minutes (for the leaders) as this would fit in with a 2 or 3 race daily schedule. Strong recommendation that if the conditions are "exceptional" (assume exceptionally good) then the 45 minutes could be stretched to 60 minutes. Recommendation that there should be more finishes offered to tail-enders on the water to speed up the process of completing the race.

• Q8 - Daily prize-giving

  A big consideration in this question was managing family time within the regatta schedule. Some people felt that an earlier prize-giving meant that they could then concentrate on family time afterwards while others fleet that the gap between getting off the water and a later prize-giving meant that they could go away after sailing and come back later. All seemed to agree that the social aspect of the regatta was important but participation was dependent on one's individual circumstances.

The survey is not meant to be an official pointer of any sort, but does mean to take advantage of a pertinent survey of Fireballers. While the UK fleet would expect to be the largest domestic Fireball fleets across the globe, the questions they have posed in their survey are pertinent to the entire Fireball community, if not even further afield. A World Championship is a significant step-up from a Nationals, but the idea of mixing course types or varying the declared number of races to be sailed in any one day might introduce more flexibility and therefore attraction into a regatta that requires leave to be taken, travel to be planned, family time to be organised and budgets to be set.