The main plans are to simplify some rules so as to make building easier and less
expensive, and to modernize deck design without change in performance.
September 2023
At the Open Forum during the Europeans at Portoroz an important discussion about the future of the Fireball was led bei Dave Hall. Together with David Winder he has now summarized what has been proposed, replied and discussed there. Summary
UK Buliders: David Winder (Winder Boats) & Dave Hall (Weathermark Sailboats)
Estimated costs:
- Complete costs for a new design, including molds: £23,000 – £25,000
- £5,000 towards the development of new design
The question is raised about who pays for the process of changing the design. If the builders pay, they could claim rights to the new design. If FI pays, the rights to the building plans belong to FI and can be made available to any interested builders.
February 2024
FI Council accepted to spend £5000 towards the development of new design. (see FI AGM Minutes Feb 2024)
Self-draining features: There hasn’t been a chance yet to try out how high the floor would have to be. Such trials are crucial to see if the change is acceptable/feasible.
During spring and summer 2024
A wide bow epoxy/wood Winder boat was purchased. A floor was put in at the height needed for water to drain out the back.
Teams from the UK and Australia have sailed it and seen it. Most UK teams have seen it.
Views on test boat:
- It drained well.
- No noticeable difference of performance of the boat through the water.
- No big step over for the crew when tacking.
- High floor will make it easier for crews to put pole on.
- Boom feels very low for crew.
- Helms knees very high – this was a big issue.
- The high floor means the helms legs have to either be tucked high or crossed Laser style to the other side of the boat.
- Crews felt they were standing on the boat not in it.
- Crew very cramped in light airs.
- It may appeal to younger teams but need to be mindful of the age of the majority of sailors.
Conclusion:
It appears that the general view is the double floor to make it self draining is impractical and will make the boat difficult and uncomfortable to sail.
The idea of a double floor/self-draining hull has been abandoned. The trials have had mixed reviews, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
There is a number of other suggestions, most of them meant to make professional production easier and therefore less expensive.
Proposals going forward:
We suggest that we get Phil Morrison in conjunction with David Winder and Dave Hall to come up with modifications to the deck and internals – cost of £1000 to come from FI budget. This is to simplify construction, take away some of the ‘wood’ rules and make the cockpit more open and modern.
September 2024
The technical committee has been working on proposed changes to the Fireball rules to make it easier to build and spur new boat purchases to generate a larger second market. Of course, marketing is more important, but we believe the boat changes are an important piece of the puzzle.
Important to remember and key for everyone to understand is that none of these changes are intended to increase the speed or increase its price. On the contrary, we want to keep the speed the same and, if possible, lower the price (unfortunately, the cost of raw materials has increased since the last professional boat was built).
Since the idea of a double bottomed boat has been abandoned, there are a number of other ideas remaining:
Each of these ideas were discussed in an open forum at the recent European Championships, and the results were:
Ideas that have general consent from the people present:
Ideas that didn't have general consent were:
Nick Rees was pleased that in the forum we also discussed the need to promote amateur building in markets where that is appropriate. I would like to make digital plans widely available, including advice on how to build wide bowed boats that could be competitive with the professional hulls. Any suggestions on how to help the amateur market would be appreciated.
October 2024
Dave Hall was asked to move as quickly as possible to generate a good description, with pictures and the proposed specific rule changes for each change as quickly as possible, so we can allow Council to vote and submit the changes to World Sailing with the idea of starting building new boats early next year.
Possibly the most significant amongst the proposed changes is allowing use of carbon fibre in the hull instead of Kevlar. Carbon has largely replaced Kevlar in the industry because it is now cheaper, much easier to work with and easier to obtain (Kevlar has basically left the market), so whilst, in the past Kevlar was used because of price, the economics are such that now it is the other way around. So carbon is the only reasonable option.
November 2024
The Fireball International Executive is seeking approval from the Fireball Council to agree proposals from the Fireball Technical Committee 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. See the proposals
Responses to this vote must be made by Fireball Council NCA's before midnight on Sunday 1 December 2024 UTC.
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.
December 2024
The Technical Commitee is 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.
