Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#fireball – The Irish Fireball Nationals fleet enjoyed champagne conditions today in completing another four races in their 9-race regatta writes Cormac Bradley. Yet again wind conditions were better than forecast to the extent that many boats went out on…

#fireball – Defending champions Noel Butler and Stephen Oram are lying fourth in a fleet of 15 after the first day of racing at the Fireball National Championships in Skerries, North Dublin writes Cormac Bradley. For those of us who…

#DBSC – To paraphrase Shakespeare, "How do I report thee, let me count the ways!" • Tight racing of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta continues into Tuesday night!• Snakes and ladders characterises Fireball evening racing.• National Champions lose their unbeaten record…

#VDLR2013 – The nine Irish Fireballs that contested a very successful Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta this past four days, had a great work out in advance of the Class Nationals which take place at the end of this week in…

#vdlr2013 – Emerging into clean air from Mk2 (lap 2)of the inner loop trapezoid course was the key to success in today's final race for the Fireball fleet writes Cormac Bradley. The fleet again concentrated their efforts on the left…

#VDLR2013 – An extended game of cat and mouse! The seventh race for the Fireballs in this year's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta was a very close affair for the first half of the race - an outer loop trapezoid writes…

#VDLR2013 – Saturday's first race of the day saw a number of leader changes and lots of place swapping before the race was finished - with a win for Brian Byrne & Stephen Campion writes Cormac Bradley. The lead changed…

#VDLR2013 – The second day of the VDLR13 for the Fireball Class yielded tight racing, excellent courses, 2 "Retired After Finish" and 3 OCSs - the latter resolved on the water! Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) dominated the results…

#vdlr2013 – Nine Fireballs sailed two tight races today on the first day of the 2013 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Sailing in winds that were slightly south of east, the 9 boats enjoyed close racing in the light breeze that…

#vdlr2013– The Irish Fireball fleet faces into seven days of intense racing with the advent of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and their Nationals on successive weekends. In a year when numbers at regattas have been under pressure, there is…

8 Fireballs started tonight's fourth round race of Series 2 of DBSC. In yet another odd night of weather, playing the waves downwind, in particular, was as important as reading the wind going the opposite direction writes Cormac Bradley. The…

#dbsc – Last night's Tuesday night race in the Fireball DBSC Series was characterized by the fact that four of the five boats racing were subject to an evening of snakes and ladders, while race winners, Noel Butler and Glen…

#fireball – The Irish Fireball scene moved away from the Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon racing in Dublin Bay to the scenic venue of Carlingford Lough Yacht Club in the South-East corner of Northern Ireland. The club, which currently enjoys…

#fireball – Tonight's dinghy race under the auspices of the DBSC was held under very difficult conditions. On the way out to the starting area it wasn't at all certain that any racing would actually take place. There was no…

#fireball – Tonight's Tuesday DBSC dinghy race presented challenges for everyone, the Race Committee had very fickle winds to contend with as did the competitors. The consequence was a very small course (physically) and only two laps of the triangular…

Specialist coaching for The Irish Fireball Class Association is not covered in the Irish Sailing Association's new coaching scheme for non-Olympic classes accoording to the latest Fireball class newsletter. One of the biggest dinghy classes in the country has investigated the new…