New double hander advice

Originally posted by rich96 A 13 year old girl is very unlikely to be heavy or strong enough for a Fireball - its a powerful boat ! In any breeze you could really struggle. 50kg must be 30kg off even a lowish crew weight for a 'ball. At those weights you'd be better off with her helming ! (but she wouldn't be strong enough) RS 200 ? Tasar - perfect !

I have been crewing fireballs competitively for over 6 years from the age of 17 and moved straight from a mirror into a fireball. Whilst the boat can be more challenging in strong winds it is a stable and forgiving so makes it the perfect boat to learn about double handed sailing and spinnaker work, and of course mostly importantly is fast and fun!!

I sail with my brother and our all up weight is around 110kg. As the crew I weigh around 50kg and my helm 60kg. We are able to race competitively in all wind strengths as the fireball rig easily tuneable to crew weight. I have competed in a few national championships and during that time constantly achieved top third results, and occasional top tens on the light wind days. Proving that the fireball is not just for heavy weight crews.

In addition there are a number of lady helms and crews within the fleet. One of the lady helms currently competing on the circuit started helming fireballs in 2004 when she was 12 and competed in the nationals and world championships the following year (and nearly every nationals since). Some teams add an extra purchase on the mainsheet to reduce the load, although a lot of the ladies find this unnecessary.

If you would like find out more visit the website
Now is a great time to join the fleet as the world championships are in the UK next year.

I think perhaps the point is being missed by some here, Do Different's hit the nail on the head. In the end we aren't looking to be national sailors on huge lakes or in the sea in this where we'll be battling with huge breezes. We're looking for a boat where we can learn about sailing a double hander with a trapeze but that isn't dull.

Without wishing to state the obvious, 420!

Edited by winging it - 13 Nov 14 at 8:55am

That's some really good advice 'winging it'. I'd let the 420 slip out of my mind because we have tried sailing our club's boat and it's horrid. But a good 420, well taken care of, would give a fair amount of performance and good training opportunities.

6ft2 might be a bit big for a 420?
All the 420's I see are either sheds, or squad wannabes with money no object.
I guess all the in-between ones are out there somewhere.

But if there are good people to race locally that would be different.
Best thing might be to look around the class association websites, chat to a few people.
Look at next years calendar to see what's out there.
Even if you're not looking to do opens next year, it gives a clue about the life in the class.
Look for a class that offers coaching if possible.
It's worth looking beyond your own club now and then.