Montreal, September 9 - Fireball World by Joe Jospe

In August of 2019, Pointe Claire Yacht Club hosted Fireball sailors from around the world, competing in the Fireball North Americans and the Fireball World Championship. There were 46 boats competing, with sailors from ten countries and four different continents. Containers from overseas had boats from South Africa, Australia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland. American and Canadian sailors came from Arizona, Tennessee, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec.

The race committee was headed by Madeleine Palfreeman and ably assisted by Tof Nicoll-Griffith and Ross Tellier, all local nationally certified race officers. The local race management team did an outstanding job, running 5 out of 6 scheduled races in the North Americans and a complete 10 race series for the Worlds.

The international jury was led by Quebec’s David Pelling, a certified international judge. International judges from the USA and Bermuda joined locals Michael Anderson and David Covo to complete the roster.

The weather cooperated, providing sunshine, warm temperature, and a variety of wind conditions to challenge the competitors. The North American Championship was won by Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff of GBR. The Swiss team of Claude Mermod and Ruedi Moser were second, and locals Joe Jospe and Tom Egli were third overall.

The World Championship title was awarded to Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff of GBR in a hard fought battle with Heather Macfarlane and Chris Payne of Australia in second and Ludovic Collin and Rémy Thuillier of France in third. The racing was exciting with close finishes in almost every race.

Sailors from afar had an opportunity to sample some of the best that Pointe Claire and Montreal had to offer. The social calendar was well organized, providing plenty of opportunity for sailors and officials to mingle. Many of the sailors were provided accommodation by PCYC members, building friendships that will last. Efforts to promote local products and merchants were rewarded, to even include trophies created using bottles of Quebec maple syrup. The Fireball fleet will compete for the 2020 World title in Ireland next August.

Full results ; https://bit.ly/2miP3ON