Fireball
Description
The Fireball is a thrilling, two-person sailing dinghy renowned for its speed, planning ability, and accessibility to both novices and experts. Designed by British naval architect Peter Milne in 1962, it was conceived as an affordable, amateur-buildable one-design racer using plywood construction. Over 15,150 units have been built worldwide, with active fleets in the UK, USA, Australia, Europe, and beyond. It's a development class, allowing minor innovations like "widebow" hulls for slight performance edges while maintaining strict one-design rules. Ideal for club racing, open meetings, and world championships, the Fireball excels in planning from Force 3 winds (about 10-15 knots), making it a "sailing surfboard" that thrives on flat water or waves. It's forgiving for beginners yet challenging for pros, often crewed by mixed teams (e.g., parent-child or couples).
Construction Details
| Designer | Peter Milne |
|---|---|
| Length | 16.000 ft |
| LOA | 16.170 ft |
| LWL | 13.250 ft |
| Beam | 4.420 ft |
| Displacement | 170 lb |
| Max Draft | 4.000 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Documents
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 18.75 ft - (5715 mm) |
| Foot | 9.33 ft - (2844 mm) |
| Leech | 20.65 ft - (6294 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88.68 ° |
| Diagonal | 20.75 ft - (6325 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 6 in - (152 mm) |
| Area | * 92.52 ft² |
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 14.167 ft - (4318 mm) |
| Foot | 5.67 ft - (1728 mm) |
| Leech | 13.25 ft - (4039 mm) |
| Length Perpendicular | * 5.3 ft - (1615 mm) |
| Area | * 37.52 ft² |
| Sail Type | SPINNAKER |
|---|---|
| Stays | 14.28 ft - (4353 mm) |
| MidGirth | 9.85 ft - (3002 mm) |
| Foot | 11.82 ft - (3603 mm) |
| Area | * 143 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.