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GJW Direct 2024 Dinghy

2008 Fireball Worlds Gear Guide

by Chris Payne 26 Mar 2008 06:39 GMT

With the highly successful 2008 World Championship over, it is time to review some of the gear used by the top salors. 21 year old Matt Mee was sailing a standard hull from Winder Boats with Pinnell and Bax sails on a Selden Cumulus rig, setup by Richard Wagstaff (the crew) from Winder Boats'. David Wade/Ben McGrane were sailing a very similar setup, put together by David who works for Pinnell & Bax. The other 21 year olds in the top 3, Nathan Stockley and Sam Muirhead, were sailing a 10 year old boat from Young Marine with a standard John Clifton Sails setup on a SuperSpar M7+.

Pinnell & Bax dominated the selection of sails in the top 10, but there were 5 different boat builders from 4 different countries, including Singapore. This shows the strenght of the class's one design rules.

It was also great to see a full range of ages of competitors from 20 to 70 sailing the fireball, and a with a strong mix of women throughout the fleet.

Gear used by the top 10:

PosHelmCrewHelm Weight (kg)Crew Weight (kg)HullMastSailsFoils
1Matt MeeRichard Wagstaff6480WinderSelden - CumulusPinnell & BaxWinder
2David WadeBen McGrane6980WinderSelden - CumulusPinnell & BaxWinder
3Nathan StockleySam Muirhead6784YMSSuperspar - M7+Clifton SailsYMS
4Greg AllisonRichard Watson6580AFM/Kelly MarineSelden - CumulusClifton/Pinnell & Bax(Mainsail)YMS
5Tomas MusilJan Stantejsky6880Xtreme Sailing ProductsSuperspar - M7+Pinnell & BaxXtreme Sailing Products
6Heather MacfarlaneChris Payne5777AFM/Kelly MarineGoldsparIrwin Sails/North(Spinnaker)YMS/Kelly Marine(rudder)
7Richard EstaughRob Gardener7480WinderSuperspar - M7+Speed SailsWinder
8Eric MoserRuedi Moser7476DuvoisinSelden - CumulusPinnell & Bax/Speed Sails(Spinnaker)Duvoisin/Winder(rudder)
9Vince HoreyAndrew Thompson6882WinderSelden - CumulusPinnell & BaxWinder
10Richard MasonSimon Hextall7879WinderSelden - CumulusPinnell & BaxWinder

Up coming events for Fireball International include the 2008 European Championship, to be held in Nieuwpoort - Belgium from the 6th to the 11th July 2008 and the 2009 Worlds will be held in August in La Rochelle - France. Check out the details at www.fireball-international.com

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