CVRDA

The Fireball was indeed an earlyish example. I spoke to Turks about her and learnt that she was built at the yard for personal use of the owner. However, there was no record of her sail number - it wasn't carved in the thwart and wasn't on the sails. Unfortunately any relevant paperwork had been des...

In club handicap racing FB6 sails off 1046. As David suggests, she was given a slightly more generous figure at Bosham.

Chris Turner
FBs 6 & 14463

Actually, FB341 is more original than FB6. When I found 6 she was in a poor state: lying undecked and full of leaves and water in a garden in Chichester. Renovation proved a bigger job than envisaged and she ended up being re-skinned. At that time she was retro-fitted to 1962 spec. FB66 is also more...

Hi Roger!

Great to hear you've got FB341 home. She looks an amazing boat!

Three FBs at Bosham would be great. If it starts to look a possibility I'll see if I can interest one or two other owners as well.

Chris Turner
Fireballs 6 & 14463

I'm delighted to say Fireball 66 has found the good home I hoped for. The new owner is planning to work on Clickiticlick over the winter and has already pencilled in the Bosham Classic Revival as a possible outing.

Chris Turner
Fireballs 6 & 14463

Hi Roger, You have a fantastic Fireball on its way! Congratulations! Hopefully I'll see her first hand sometime next year. Bosham perhaps? I'm hoping the recently-restored FB1 will be there to keep me company in FB6. My recent move to Emsworth is prompting all sorts of (positive!) change but I do ha...

Fireball 66 'Clickiticlick' is probably the earliest surviving example of a transitional Fireball (i.e. upgraded to take a trapeze c.1965 but not a spinnaker when they were introduced in 1969) and has spent most of her life garaged. She is in remarkably good, original condition but needs a new home ...

The Solo website has a boat register: http://members.ziggo.nl/broekvd/Solo.xls Solo 7 is recorded as being built by Jack Holt 1/4/56. Solo 2 is still around and is a well known boat. I have a feeling I recently saw a reference to Solo 1 also surviving but can't recall the details. Might be mistaken ...

Hi Simon, I have an alternative view but, I'm afraid, not necessarily one that you will want to hear. FB341 is a superb example of an early Fireball (is she still named Mah Jong by the way?) and should be kept exactly as she is. The key, as you have already identified, is to find the 'right' owner f...

I'd hazard a guess that FB7747 was built in 1972 as one or two competitors at the Worlds that year had slightly higher sail numbers. This presumes the sail number was allocated soon after issue by Fireball International: sometimes it could take a national association a while to work its way through ...

Hi!

Response left on the UKFA site!

Chris Turner
FBs 6, 66 & 14463

I have FB6 insured with Craftinsure at a reduced premium due to lower risk profile (no trapeze or spinnaker). They're very happy to chat things through and the premium has hardly changed over the years.

Chris Turner
Fireballs 6, 66 & 14463

I remember my father building Mirror 6261 in the dining room. He made a terrific job of it and the only hic-cup was discovering, once completed, that the beautifully finished blue Mirror was just a fraction too wide to be removed from the room. So, off came the dining room door and a little careful ...

I bought a pair of Rooster Hot Socks a couple of years ago and christened them in a Frostbite race when, for the first time in almost 50 years years at Dell Quay, sheets of ice had formed on the water. I was as warm as toast and have used the socks ever since; wouldn't be without them! Chris Turner ...

I came across several Foils in the late '60s both in the UK and Singapore all fitted with bowsprits and jib - my own example being one of them. Then, in the mid-70s, I tripped over one at Dell Quay that didn't have a bowsprit (but had a jib I think). I always presumed the design had changed at some ...