The following is a selection of tips & comments from over the past year or so. The messages are more or less as they appeared originally, though I have taken the liberty of editing out some of the irrelevant byplay. Where they are useful parts of the originating questions are included italicized & in (brackets). Editor’s notes within messages are enclosed in <brackets>.
MISCELLANEOUS
Bob Rose (2000)
One of the greatest <and sometimes most frustrating> things about Fireballs is that you can rig them almost anyway you like! Seriously though, most Fireballs are rigged by copying what other boats have or by sailing for hundreds of hours and changing things as you get ideas. There is no instant solution other than to go to a regatta with camera and tape measure in hand and bring lots of beer to hand out! Good luck!
Mike McEvoy (2000)
Start with the Harken Equipment page at http://www.paw.com/sail/harken/fireball.htm for some general ideas on rig layout. Then for the foils check http://www.magma.ca/~locker/foils/index.html
Thomas Egli (2000)
(Is it allowed to use the new tacktick-compass in the fireball class?)
With the exception of an electronic timing device, Rule 8 (Prohibitions) specifically excludes electrical or electronic instruments. The Tacktick is therefore prohibited. A number of issues will have to be resolved before considering modifying the Rules to allow the Tacktick. The first is the price, which, at US$395 (CAN$560), is almost triple that of a Silva Tactical. If you visit the Tacktick web site and check out the class list, you'll notice that only price-insensitive classes have allowed it. The second is the number of suppliers. You cannot change the rules to accommodate a single supplier, thereby giving him exclusivity. The third is the advantage, or perceived advantage, that the graphical lift/header indicators provide. I do not know the reaction time of these indicators, but perception is quite often reality.
gary van tassel 2nd (2000)
The new electronic compasses may be more costly at this time but there are a few advantages. For one you don't need to buy two compasses is you travel out of your half of the world. Some of us learned that lesson in OZ! Also the technology is still new and the price will probably go down later. Just an idea but I think it should be thought about more closely.
G2 (July 10, 2000)
A little afterthought! Vectran can replace ANY wire on your boat right down to the headstay with the proper size application. The 1/8 inch has a working strength of like 2000 pounds or something ridiculous like that. And if your super brave the new PBO fibers have doubled that and could quite easily be used has shrouds. We want to use them for the Cap shrouds on the 49er but its not legal yet. As far as Fireball shroud go....there’s no reason it wont work but little 1/8 strings holding up your rig is kinda scary I think
Steph on Aug. 14, 2000
Call a Fleet Captain at one of the local clubs for used parts. They are usually stripping down a dead CL-16 and would part with the parts at a reasonable price. The thing is they take your money and buy the new Harken/Ronstan gear.
BOOKS
Adrian Marsden (2000)
While it is not a Fireball Tuning Guide, "Dinghy Helming" by Lawrie Smith, Sail To Win Series, Fernhurst Books, contains plenty of sailing tips 75% of which are in a Fireball (lots of photos) Also most sailmakers of Fireball sails have Tuning guides, I know North sail Canada has one.
Jeremy Smith (2000)
There is also a book, perhaps by the same person - I can't remember, on setting up/rigging a dinghy for racing. It is very good for getting a general idea if you don't have other boats around you to copy from. Does anyone know what it is called??? Perhaps you could try the combo of that book, and the "Dinghy Helming". The combo should be an excellent Fireball Primer.
Gary Russam (2000)
I think the book Jeremy is thinking of is "tuning your dinghy" by Lawrie Smith its one of the sail to win series from Fernhurst books although again its not specifically Fireball tuning he uses a 470 and 505 for a lot of the photos. Another good book in the same series is "Boatspeed" by Rodney Pattisson that talks about the preparation and maintenance of the boat. The address for Fernhurst in the book is: Fernhurst books, 53 High Street, Steyning, West Sussex, BN4 3LA U.K.
Nicki Green (2000)
Try "Rig Your Dinghy Right" by Mark Chisnell and John Hodgart. It is good, and paired with other two books aforementioned, will be a good guide for making your Fireball go fast.
John Cavell (2000)
The book "Racing - A Beginner's Manual" by John Caig and Tim Davison (Fernhurst Books, ISBN 0 906754 37 2)is also useful as a lot of the pics are of Fireballs.
CENTREBOARD
Malcolm Osborne (2000)
My centreboard has three pulleys on its `nose'. Two of these are for a 4 to 1 downhaul system (taken to the back of the boat so the helm can operate it). The other is for a 2 to 1 uphaul system (operated by crew or helm). This latter is double sided - there are two fairleads on the thwart, each with a cam cleat behind. A 10mm dia. line with stopper knots on each end can be pulled from either end to lift the board. The other system has a 5mm line dead-ended on the one of the forward sides of the c'bd casing. The line then goes thru' on the c/bd pulleys, round a turning block mounted on top of the c/bd casing (just behind the mast, back round the remaining c'bd pulley, round (yet another) turning block on the (other) side of the c/bd casing (way forward and down, then back to the back of the boat to a cleat. Hope this is of some use, no guarantees that the description is 100% accurate - its the best I can recall at the moment!
Iain Mackay (2000)
Our CB is simply rotated by hand - no pulleys in either direction. While I can see that the pulley system could provide marginal convenience, for us it would have the serious disadvantage that, where we sail, the channels aren't marked that well and occasional mud contact is more or less guaranteed. In this situation, I'd rather know I can rely on the CB to retract itself when necessary!
Malcolm Osborne
When you are sailing, there is quite a lot of pressure on the centreboard, making it difficult to move directly by hand. With a purchase system, the skipper can adjust the board position without the crew having to come off the wire to do this. The system doesn't get cleated, thus the board can still kick up if you run out of water!
REDUCING SPAGHETTI
Phil Locker (2000)
With the amount of purchase that most systems on the Fireball have, you can end up with some fairly long rope tails cluttering the cockpit. Has anyone played with shock-cord spagetti eaters to clean up the cockpit? On what systems? Where? How?
dan edwards (2000)
try starting and ending the jib sheet at the jib clew; i.e. no tail. also the bungee cord center-board lifter reduces centerboard control to 1 line only; i use 3 cheapo racelite blocks since the lines are not heavily loaded, 2:1 pull down, with 2 turning blocks near the mast base; then form a loop of shock cord thru an eyestrap on top of the board, thru each turning block then aft to the end of the centerboard case where you tension the stuff till the board stays up with the boat on the trailer. not exactly the harken website setup, but it works for me
Tom Egli (2000)
Main and jib halyards: Store in pockets sewn to spinnaker bags.
Spinnaker halyard: Spend the time and money for a one-to-one (no purchase) bungee take-up system with a pump cleat. This will keep the halyard clean, and will give a bit of resistance on the take down. In this case, a resistance is a good thing, since it will keep the chute from falling into the water if the crew is a bit slow. Another alternative is a reverse-purchase (3:1 or 4:1) system with a tail, but my experience is that it is problematic in heavy air (if you don't get it up on the first pull, you're f****d).
Mast ram, outhaul, cunningham and other controls that aren't adjusted twenty times a leg: The simplest system I've seen is a couple of bags on each side of the case. They have a velcro closure on the top and you just stuff the control tails in and are really useful for travelling. You can get these bag from Pinnell or make them yourself.
Vang: The ultimate system is the one used on some 470s, and consists of a continuous control line with a bungee take-up. This allows the vang to be adjusted from both sides without worrying about running out of rope. If required, I can send you a sketch. The downside is the amount of hardware required to do it properly. My vang system is a 24:1 (weak helms!) and all what I've done is dead-end the tails to either side of the case. Dead-ending the tails prevents knots in the tails, and since the vang is the only "loose" control in the cockpit, nothing happens.
Henry (2000)
The spaghetti eaters work as follows. A control line will be sucked into a hole or turned by a block or fairlead. Then, have a becket right near the turning point. The shock cord is tied to a small single block. The control line comes through the fairlead, through the small block and back to the becket, 1:2. This also doubles the amount of line you can suck up.
However, I had full spaghetti controls on my older boat and got rid of them. If you get the purchases right you don’t have tails if you trim them right.
Strut down: 16:1
vang 16:1
outhaul (on boom, 4:1 internal)
cunningham 4:1
centerboard- continuous 4760 style
jib sheets- tied to opposite handle
spin sheets, small bags on each side of boat
spin halyard 1:4
twings- continuous
jib halyard (tension) 14:1 to spin bag pocket
main hal- spin bag pocket
jib cunn. fordeck (2:1)