Six of the Best ! K 6

Current boat name

Six of the Best ! K 6

Boat class

7061

Sail number

6

Function

Sports and Leisure

Type

Length (m / ft)

4.93 / 16ft 2in

Beam (m / ft)

1.37 / 4ft 6in

Leeward

Keel - fin

Masts

1 Wood

Rig type

Bermudan Sloop

Propulsion

Sail

Designer

Milne P

Date of build

1962

Place of build

Fareham

Present use

Sailing

The early history of SIX OF THE BEST ! Is sketchy. She is believed to have been named originally SATAN and, anecdotally, first sailed at Newhaven. The hull was rescued in a poor state of repair from a garden in Chichester in 1991 by the present owner and renamed SIX OF THE BEST !. However she was only renovated in 2005 after being passed to Richard Mansfield, a member of Brightlingsea S C, who restored her to the original 1962 specification (with the occasional nod to modernity in the interests of hull longevity). She is rigged with a Proctor 'B' mast without spreaders and the original wooden boom. She does not have a trapeze or spinnaker since they were later developments in the class. Shortly after renovation had been completed, Richard sold her back to the present owner. She is now sailed at Dell Quay S C - the spiritual home of the Fireball. Peter Milne, Fireball's designer was a long standing member of the club and it was from Dell Quay that the prototype Fireball '0' ( now held at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall) was worked up. SIX OF THE BEST ! Won the vintage section of the Peter Milne Memorial Fireball Open Meeting held at Hayling Island Sailing Club in 2009. GH July 2009