Join the Swarm: Firefly Class at the RYA Dinghy Show
by Fi Edwards 28 Feb 2019 04:18 AEDT
F3007 TipTopToo won the 1969 and 2017 National Championships © Frances Davison / NFA
The Firefly Class are buzzed for this weekend's RYA Dinghy Show!
Proud to be a fun, friendly and inclusive class. The Firefly is still going strong after more than 80 years and continues to offer close, competitive racing in some classic venues.
Famous as the 'weapon-of-choice' for team racing, the Firefly also has a healthy fleet racing circuit and a dedicated following at clubs across the UK and Ireland. Fireflies are ideal for river and lake sailing, but just as home in a blow on the sea.
The Firefly is enduringly popular with students and young people because of the low cost of ownership. With competitive boats changing hands for less than the cost of a sail for many other classes, it's no surprise that 67% of Championship entrants over the last five years have been aged 16-34. Our often imitated, never matched Nationals parties don't hurt either!
But it's not just the young that enjoy the Firefly there are plenty 'young at heart' in the fleet too - including 2018 National Champion Guy Davison who only took 46 attempts to win the thing!
Manageable sheet loads make the Firefly an ideal boat for parents to sail with their children. Families make up a good portion of the fleet and everyone knows someone who's caught the sailing bug from a Firefly!
The boats are endearingly simple, true to the founding principle that the best sailor wins the day, not the one with the biggest wallet. You don't need to spend thousands to be competitive. A good older layout wooden boat can be scooped up for as little as £100 and a Mk4 or GRP boat can be yours for less than £1500. With five different deck layouts available and a forgiving hull shape the Firefly suits a wide weight range. So why not give it a go!
On our stand (B32 in the Great Hall)
On the stand will be brand spanking new Rondar Boats team racing boat sporting the new Ronstan Reignite pack which has been developed with the class by our hardware partner Ronstan/IMP to help students to easily reinvigorate their fleets. Tough and manoeuvrable; the Firefly is still the boat of choice for schools and universities.
Also on the stand will be F3007 TipTopToo, notable as the boat Mimie Currey and Carol Thompson won the 1969 Nationals in; becoming both the first ever female helm and the first all-female crew to win a National Championship. After falling into disrepair F3007 was taken on by current owners Nigel and Sally Wakefield and meticulously rebuilt to Mk4 layout by Tony Thresher. She has gone on to win the 2017 Nationals, 2018 Vines Series and many open meetings sailed by Nigel and crew Emily Saunderson.
Both boats are proudly rigged with Marlow Ropes and the Firefly Class will celebrate an incredible 70 years of partnership with Marlow this summer.
We've got loads going on this year including an epic Nationals in Lyme Regis (17th-23rd August) and a packed calendar. Make sure you drop by (B32 in the Great Hall) and say hi!
On the stage
At 15:00 on Saturday we've got a unicorn (just kidding, we have five under-30 sailors, which is even rarer) talking about how you can get involved with the class and our plans for 2019. So come along and have a listen!
So if you're looking for a class without cliqueyness and egos, which is brilliant on the water and lively in the bar, come see us on the stand, pick up a for-sale list and make 2019 the year you join the swarm.
#jointheswarm