Please select your home edition
Edition
Sea Sure 2025
Product Feature
Allen Mainsheet Jammer
Allen Mainsheet Jammer

The oldest video footage of Fireball sailing dinghies

by Magnus Smith 21 Apr 2024 12:00 BST
1960s Fireball action © Chippendale boats

Our video archive is fully searchable, and linked to all the clubs and classes in our database. It is updated weekly with the latest videos of sailing, but here we delve into the past, and round-up everything that shows racing in Fireballs, which mostly comes from the 1970s.

From sometime in the 1960s we have Flying Dutchman and Fireball racing at Glenmore Sailing Club for our oldest offering.

Update: we later found Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club sailing in 1966 which includes an 'ball or two

Later in the decade we have Torbay racing 1968 but it only lasts for the first 40 seconds.

All the best nostalgic dinghy videos should start with footage of the boat on a trailer, so the car designs of that era can send our minds straight back to old memories! This video should prove highly enjoyable for sailors of the right age: 1970 Fireball Worlds at Fenit, Tralee Bay, Ireland (maybe the disco dancing scenes in particular).

You will need to skip to the end of Dinghy racing on Lake Mcilwane (1971) to avoid sitting through the OK and Optimist footage. Go to 5m40s for the 'ball action!

Same drill here; skip the Merlin Rockets by going directly to 7m15s. The video shows Bala SC mixed dinghy racing (1972) from Wales.

A promotional video for CORK (Canadian Olympic Regatta at Kingston) 1972 has Fireball footage at 2m29s.

Now we need to skip an entire concrete boat project to get to Dinghy racing on the River Crouch (1970s sometime). The Fireball footage is at 29m30s and 32m40s.

There's a brief glimpse of a Fireball in coverage of the London Boat Show 1974 (Earls Court).

This video from 1976-77 is an hour long, but shows Fireballs fairly often. It is mixed club racing and some open meetings at Burnham Overy Staithe in North Norfolk (UK).

You have to watch at youtube.com/watch?v=RxPQk7wpsAk as we cannot embed the video here. If you are in a rush, there are several sections you can skip:

  • swimming - 11m00s to 14m23s
  • National 12 open meeting - 21m27s to 23m20s
  • prizegiving - 29m09s to 30m35s
  • International OK open meeting - 21m27s to 23m20s
  • vicar - 41m45s to 44m58s
  • rowing - 50m50s to the end

Next up... if you were lucky enough to sail at the Worlds in South Africa then perhaps this (admittedly, simple) footage might interest you: Fireball world championships - Durban - 24 May 1980.

We finish in the 1990s with a whole hour of Worlds footage, this time from Japan: 1990 Fireball World Championship - Enoshima. If you don't have time for all the on-water footage, look for the sections where sailors are talking to camera.

Update: we later found Fireball open meeting at Blithfield SC - June 1994

What of the rest?

Do you know the location of any Fireball videos that show racing fleets from the 1960s or the 80s? We would love to share these with other sailors. You can submit video links to us for immediate review.

Keep watching with:

Related Articles

Rolex Fastnet Race Start - view from Hurst Castle
A video montage as the fleet went out of the Solent I went out to Hurst Castle with his camera and drone to capture the action as the boats, ranging from the mighty Ultim trimarans, through to the IMOCAs and grand prix yachts competing in the 2025 Admiral's Cup went through the narrrows out of the Solent. Posted today at 5:58 pm
(More than) A Day at the Races
The UK is the place to be right now if you're a sailor The UK is the place to be right now if you're a sailor, and I don't think I've ever known a time when so many great events are happening concurrently. Posted on 22 Jul
Were the Roos Robbed in Portsmouth?
We discuss the Race 6 Penalty with SailGP's Chief Umpire Craig Mitchell The high speed, short course action of SailGP is thrilling to watch, but inevitably causes tight situations and means the Umpires have to react quickly to decide who is right and who is wrong. Posted on 22 Jul
SailGP comes to Portsmouth!
We speak to the sailors ahead of the weekend The Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Portsmouth takes place this weekend, with the 12 teams competing in F50 catamarans close to the waterfront, where a massive grandstand has been built for the spectators. Posted on 18 Jul
Double Double
And the rest of the line is not toil and trouble, but quadruple, then another double… On the eve of the 100th Fastnet that has attracted some 464 entries, I heard of one entry in this record fleet that seemed so very apt. Not only because it includes the Commodore of the RORC, but because it combines two Brits and two Aussies. Posted on 13 Jul
Jazz Turner Video Interview
How she Faced Everything And Rose during Project FEAR I travelled to Brighton Marina to catch up with Jazz, talking about her own sailing, the challenges she faced during the circumnavigation, how the money raised will be used, and a glimpse of her future projects! Posted on 10 Jul
Understanding sMRT Alert with Jack Sharland
Man Overboard Devices have come a long way in the last few years Man Overboard Devices have come a long way in the last few years with more features packed into smaller devices, but with all these features it can sometimes be difficult to understand what they all do. Posted on 9 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe Video Preview
We speak to Phil Lawrence, Peter Rusch & Pip Hare to find out more The Ocean Race Europe will take place between 10 August & 21 September, following a debut event in the summer of 2021. The racing is in IMOCA yachts, the same as the Vendée Globe, but this time with 4 crew and an OBR who will document the action on board. Posted on 8 Jul
Foiling Frenzy at Fraglia Vela Malcesine
The Moth Worlds at Lake Garda are something else! The Moth Worlds at Lake Garda are something else! Regardless of where sailors are in their careers, or the reputation they have, everyone wants to be there and have a tilt at the title. Posted on 7 Jul
The oldest video footage of Moth sailing
A look back into our video archive, to when the name of this class first settled down We delve into our video archive to find the oldest possible videos that show Moth racing. Are these International Moths, British Moths... or was the name still Olive, Inverloch 11ft, National Moth or Brent One-Design?! Posted on 6 Jul