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:
| Pos | Helm | Crew | Helm Weight (kg) | Crew Weight (kg) | Hull | Mast | Sails | Foils |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Mee | Richard Wagstaff | 64 | 80 | Winder | Selden - Cumulus | Pinnell & Bax | Winder |
| 2 | David Wade | Ben McGrane | 69 | 80 | Winder | Selden - Cumulus | Pinnell & Bax | Winder |
| 3 | Nathan Stockley | Sam Muirhead | 67 | 84 | YMS | Superspar - M7+ | Clifton Sails | YMS |
| 4 | Greg Allison | Richard Watson | 65 | 80 | AFM/Kelly Marine | Selden - Cumulus | Clifton/Pinnell & Bax(Mainsail) | YMS |
| 5 | Tomas Musil | Jan Stantejsky | 68 | 80 | Xtreme Sailing Products | Superspar - M7+ | Pinnell & Bax | Xtreme Sailing Products |
| 6 | Heather Macfarlane | Chris Payne | 57 | 77 | AFM/Kelly Marine | Goldspar | Irwin Sails/North(Spinnaker) | YMS/Kelly Marine(rudder) |
| 7 | Richard Estaugh | Rob Gardener | 74 | 80 | Winder | Superspar - M7+ | Speed Sails | Winder |
| 8 | Eric Moser | Ruedi Moser | 74 | 76 | Duvoisin | Selden - Cumulus | Pinnell & Bax/Speed Sails(Spinnaker) | Duvoisin/Winder(rudder) |
| 9 | Vince Horey | Andrew Thompson | 68 | 82 | Winder | Selden - Cumulus | Pinnell & Bax | Winder |
| 10 | Richard Mason | Simon Hextall | 78 | 79 | Winder | Selden - Cumulus | Pinnell & Bax | Winder |
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
