Fireball open meeting at Royal Torbay Yacht Club

Fireball open meeting at Torbay © Tania Hutchings / www.50northphotography.co.uk

In preparation for the Fireball World Championship later in the year several of the top UK Fireball teams took the opportunity to take part in the RTYC open event and to take advantage of sailing at the venue. Held over the weekend of the 16th and 17th May the Torbay weather gave both the competitors and race Committee many challenges over the two days.

Some of the teams took the opportunity to try new equipment and ideas whilst others were using the racing to get themselves acquainted with conditions that may or may not arise in the summer.

Saturday was the brighter and breezier day of the weekend with a shifty South Westerly - the bay faces East so the traditional prevailing wind comes over the land and not from the sea. It was a good test for the fleet with a not particularly warm 15 knots. Tom and Shandy took two races with Dave and Paul in second. Georgia and Ollie won the last race of the day.

Sunday started out promising, but as the rain clouds built the wind died before it came back again through the day in various directions and strength. The huge shifts - including one at 90 degrees - along with a torrential downpour gave the race team some challenges. After several postponements and abandonments 3 races were achieved - a big thanks to the mark layers who spent the day chasing around the bay in the rain!

DJ and Vyv won the first race of the day having missed out on Saturday with gear failure. Pete and Richard won the second of the day and Georgia and Ollie the third, but Tom and Shandy had done enough to win overall.

It was an interesting weekend with plenty to think about in regard to the weather. A big thanks to RTYC and the race team for hosting us and getting the races in.

Overall Results: