Fireballs at the 2026 RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show - A Whopping Four Boats!
by UK Fireball Association 17 Feb 06:07 PST
21-22 February 2026
Windermark Fireball at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show © Dave Hall
Riding high on the wave created by rule changes in 2025 and the 2026 Worlds being held in Torquay in July, it is hardly surprising that the iconic Fireball Class is going to be well presented at the Dinghy Show. However, I'm not sure anyone was expecting there to be not one, not two, not even three, but a whopping total of four Fireballs at the show!
All four boats are from Windermark Boats (the collaboration of the two UK builders; Winder Boats and Weathermark Boats) and are made to the new 2025 rules with the updated ergonomic deck and cockpit layout, carbon construction and adjustable rig raking systems taken back to the helm.
First up is the boat on the UK Fireball Association Stand (Stand D30) which has been built for former National and European Champion, Vince Horey. This boat has a fairly simple traditional layout with a single centre slung spinnaker pole.
Over on the P&B Stand (Stand L20) is the new boat made for Australian Ben Schulz in readiness for the Worlds in Torquay whilst on the Harken Stand (Stand H10) is a boat built for another Australian, Kevin Luff. Both these boats sport a twin pole system.
Over on the Allen Stand (Stand L30) is the boat that will probably cause the most debate. This is the new boat built for six times World Champ, Tom Gillard. He's gone radical!
He's gone for a spinnaker chute to make the most of the twin-pole option. Gilly is a multi-champion in both the Scorpions and Merlin Rockets so is well used to using twin poles and a chute, but no-one has competitively used a chute on a Fireball since the early 80's, the conventional wisdom being that the low freeboard on the boat means lots of water goes down the chute.
Everyone is waiting with interest to see how Gilly gets on.
Further details on the Fireball in the UK can be found at UK Fireball Class Association and for international see Fireball International.