New double hander advice

 Excellent. You asked, tried both and as so often serendipity played a big part. Have a load of fun and keep us informed.   

We sailed both boats and even then couldn't decide between them, stuck between the ease of sailing the 420 vs. the fun we had in the fireball. In the end it came down to availability and with a fireball for sale at the club the timing was perfect. We're now the proud owners of fireball 14278.

I'm afraid that the 420 will lose squarely to the Fireball in the glam stakes, esp. if the latter is a Winder. I'm sure I'd have gone for that as a teenager, but I wouldn't advise it till later, as Jeffers suggests.

Thanks for all your help everyone! We're going to test a fireball and 420 this weekend, I'll let you know what we decide.

If you're 110kg light, then a 420 has to be the symm trap boat of choice, esp if you are in your teens.

Mine was an old, epoxy one from Vanguard (we're talking '90's here), but it sailed just fine. I can't believe they are built worse today, and given that it's a youth boat, I can imagine that there must be a regular supply of good s'hand boats as kids move on. It was a bit slower than the Laser 2 that replaced it in the light-moderate, but since both were Wayfarer fodder in that weather it mattered not. More to the point, with its extra beam, I felt it was as quick or quicker than the L2 in a blow, planing to windward, meaning you were quids-in on PY. Bottom line, it was hard not to win the medium fleet summer series in the 420, whereas the L2 was a real struggle.

Quite wobbly-feeling about the upright so that on a lake you were often on the edge of your seat when in a L2 or 'ball you could have stayed hiked out without any worries. That said, it'll heel a long way before capsizing, so that I capsized it once in two years, whereas that was a more frequent event in L2 and 'ball, which lull you into a false sense of security.

So, good for training you to work to keep the boat sailing upright, but forgiving if you got it wrong, at least in terms of staying dry.

All in all, a great boat to learn in, and if you're a teenager, to socialize in. The small sails mean you have to learn to wring every bit out of the boat.