Fireball World Championships - Day 1

1999 Fireball World Championships Race 1 - Brest, France

The English and French delegations are here in strength, 25 English crews and 24 French crews, all competing for one of the most coveted Dinghy titles in the world, that of International Fireball World Champion. Not content with letting the English and French fight over the chocolates, teams from Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland are all determined to take the crown back to their respective countries.

Good weather, a beautiful sea, but Eole was temperamental on Saturday morning prior to the start of race 1. There wasn't much wind in the harbour in Brest and thus the Racing Committee was obliged to hoist the postponement flag. Once the wind speed and direction were established (10/15 knots from the north/north-west), the 84 participating boats set off on the first heat.

There is a more uniform level of performance amongst the crews in the World Championship than during the European Championship which took place in Brest up till last Wednesday. All of the crews for the Fireball World championship have undergone a selection process to ensure an almost unrivaled level of competition. Mistakes on the water are quickly punished, and the crews that make fewest mistakes are the ones who will finish at the top.

Amongst the favourites are the British duo Pinnell/Flint, the winners of the Fireball European Championship and runners-up in the '98 World Championship in the same series. As for the French crews, Benoît Petit and Jean-François Cuzon, 470s World Champions, and Bernard Boime/Philippe Gault are the ones to watch.

Proof of this was the fact that the home team of Petit/Cuzon, at ease on their habitual training ground, were not hampered by the changing wind and the current which disturbed the water, and won the first heat, beating Lewis/Byne, an English crew, into second place. The English crew of Edwards/Townend, arriving in third place, were a good deal behind, with a gap of more than four minutes between them and the first two crews.

The favourites, Ian Pinnell/Matthew Flint (GBR) illustrated their prowess in this class because despite having experienced a very bad start, they swallowed up the distance between themselves and the race leaders to finish sixth in this first heat.

The second heat, taking place on Sunday, is expected to start at 1pm, with the possibility of a delay if the wind rises at the beginning of the afternoon as it did on Saturday.

Regatta Results (after 1 race):

Pos Helm / Crew         
  1 PETIT Benoit              0.00   1
    CUZON Jean-francois  
  2 LEWIS Martyn  GBR         3.00   2
    BYNE Richard  GBR                            
  3 EDWARDS       GBR         5.70   3
    TOWNEND       GBR                             
  4 MOSER Erich               8.00   4
    LIECHTI Kurt                                  
  5 GARNER Brendan GBR       10.00   5
    JONES Bevan    GBR                            
  6 PINNELL Ian    GBR       11.70   6
    FLINT Matthew  GBR                             
  7 HOREY Vince    GBR       13.00   7
    ATKINS Mathew  GBR                            
  8 SMITH Andrew   GBR       14.00   8
    SMITH Michael  GBR                            
  9 LEMAIRE Jacques          15.00   9
    HOCK Bruno                                    
 10 WOUTTERS Kristof         16.00  10

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