|
There are possibly still more Fireballs at Draycote than the combined membership of all other performance boats on the site, and we always outnumber them on the start line too.
In fact, we appear to be the largest racing fleet in the club during the winter months. This may be attributable to the fact that our hotly contested race series run all through the year, or it may just be that we
are enjoying our racing so much that we don't want to stop for a bit of cold weather. This winter the weather has been kind to us, and frankly it's been nearly as good as summer, and windier.
We enjoy good class racing, and are benefitted by the large area (700 acres) of water which allows for some long uninterupted spinnaker legs. Draycote is renowned for being
windy, and for its tricky wind shifts which encourage skillful sailing.
The Draycote boats are a typical spread of wood, fibreglass and foam-sandwich, and we currently boast around 15 white Winders and 10 composite boats. The latter are in their
element at Draycote, and frequently beat the white items (in fact, the fleet championship has been won for the last 3 years by a 14 year old composite Winder). And with boats like this on offer for as little as
£1500, there is no reason why any Fireballer should not be able to do well without spending a fortune.
At the other end of the fleet, boats change hands for as little as £30 for a fixer-upper, with entry level 'ready to sail' boats starting at about £450. We respect our wooden
boats as they represent incredible value for money and offer a budget route into performance dinghy sailing.
To support boats of this ilk, the fleet runs separate 'Gold' and 'Silver' fleets, with boats numbered below 14000 generally racing in the Silver fleet (although the skill of the
sailors is ultimately the deciding factor). We also run our popular fleet pursuit events, where sailors are individually handicapped and the slower boats start up to 15 minutes before the fastest (see 55 Go Mad).
|
