New deck layout proposed

7 November 2024

Fireball Rule Change Vote

The Fireball International Executive is seeking approval from the Fireball Council to agree proposals from the Fireball Technical Committee, chaired by Dave Hall, to make changes to the Fireball rules to make the class more attractive to a wider range of sailors and easier to build, without changing the fundamental nature or performance of the class.

Dave Hall is, of course, owner of Weathermark Sailboats and many of these proposals have been developed in conjunction with Dave Winder of Winder Boats (the other Fireball registered builder) and the well known dinghy designer, Phill Morrison.
The proposals have been discussed over the last 18 months at World, European and National Championships with the International Fireball class membership. They have been endorsed by the majority of competitors at these events, and are endorsed by the Executive of Fireball International.
In brief, it is proposed that the deck has some modifications along with changing the rules to allow simpler construction. We also propose to allow carbon now because it is simpler to work with than kevlar and is no more expensive. There are also some
equipment rule changes suggested.

The process that will be followed is:

Responses to this vote must be made by Fireball Council NCA's before midnight on
Sunday 1 December 2024 UTC.

• Each NCA in good standing shall be entitled to eligible votes based on the number of its paid up members, as outlined in the"Voting Rights" section of the Fireball Constitution. Votes not made by this date will not be counted.
• After completion of the vote, the agreed proposals will be drafted into the class rules and, after a review by the executive, the new class rules will be submitted to World Sailing.
• We are also working on updating the rules to be a closed set of rules that conform to World Sailing standards. Depending of the rate of progress of this major edit, this may result in a second submission to World Sailing.

  Nick Rees
  Commodore
  Fireball Internation

To express your opinion contact your NCA! See the proposals