Fireball

Current boat name

Fireball

Boat class

7061

Function

Sports and Leisure

Type

Dinghy

Length (m / ft)

4.94 / 16ft 2in

Beam (m / ft)

1.37 / 4ft 6in

Leeward

Keel - fin

Masts

1 Wood

Rig type

Bermudian Sloop

Propulsion

Sail

Designer

Milne P

Date of build

1962

Place of build

Haywards Heath

Present use

Museum/NMMC

FIREBALL is the prototype of the Fireball class. It was designed and built by Peter Milne while working in the design office of Norris Bros at Haywards Heath. The Fireball was designed to be built by anyone with a knowledge of simple carpentry with the following principles in mind. Need for the use of two pairs of hands cut to a minimum: all joints to be as simple as possible and fitting the skin to be straightforward. Full sized working plans and instructions were available at £2.10s from Norris Brothers. By May 1962 73 sets of plans had been sold and 8 orders had been received by Chippendale Boats's who had built a production prototype. The Fireball class of dinghy was marketed through Norris Brothers and contemporary advetisements describe it as - something completely new and quite different 16 feet long, with 123 square feet of sail and yet weighing only 175 lbs, she has an 'out- of- this- world' performance. Whilst referred to in its early days as a dinghy beloved of 'hairy young men in wet suits', Fireball's innovative design, quite different to contemporary classes, held a broad appeal: since it did not demand heavyweight sailors, women were just as attracted as men and, in terms of skill, championship-winning old-hands mixed it with beginners. The class quickly developed a strong overseas following - the first world championship event was held in 1966 - and sail numbers, already rapidly increasing, accelerated further through the introduction of a trapeze and, shortly after, spinnaker. International status was gained and during the early-mid 1970s, in which period the class lost out to the 470 for the Olympic two-man dinghy berth, new registrations were increasing at a startling rate of 1,000 a year. Today with over 15,000 examples built, Fireball remains very well supported, both in the UK and overseas, and competes strongly against much younger classes - a testament to a truly inspirational design. Peter Milne's development prototype was stored in the home of Lew Norris. After his death in February 2009, the boat was donated to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall by his widow. GH Jul 2010