According to my calendar, the following things have occurred since the last exciting instalment of Unshackled:

In April we had our prize-giving evening, shared with the Solo and Miracle fleets, which filled the lounge nicely and was a very relaxed sort of event with a real sense of camaraderie between the members of the various fleets. This is definitely one to repeat next year.

The AGM was also in April and resulted in the fleet unanimously re-electing yours-truly as Fleet Captain, primarily since nobody else was daft enough to stand. We also secured the services of Paul Roe, Bob Morris and Paul Butler to do committee stuff, many thanks to them for volunteering. One of the suggestions at the AGM was that we do some crew-swapping immediately after the 2^nd race on Sundays, so that the back half of the fleet can get some quality time with members of the front half, and maybe learn something useful. This looks like a great idea, and one we will endeavour to put into practice now that the weather is getting a bit nicer.

May brought the Firebowl personal handicap event, contested by 11 boats and won (by a single point) by Dave Merritt and Iain Jennings, whose handicap on that particular day included a broken spreader bracket on top of the allotted 6 minutes. Well done boys!

Looking ahead, we have the Fireball Nationals at Looe in July, followed (back at Draycote) by the Marriott Bucket personal handicap event in September and the Inland Championships in October. Then the fleet championships in October and November, and all this on top of the usual Sunday race series which run throughout the year.

We now have a Facebook page where you and everyone else in the entire world can keep up with the fleet's antics. This is the place to go for your crew requests, pictures, videos of Pete Slack capsizing, info and gossip. All this and more at www.facebook.com/groups/DWSCFireball

The Fireball fleet boat has seen a fair amount of use, which we tend to view as a good thing. It is primarily there for people who don't have their own boat, so they can give it a try and decide if a Fireball might be the right boat for them. If you think you'd like a go in it, please let us know. We can help you with rigging it (it takes ten minutes, tops) and give you advice on how to sail it, and I think you'll be impressed by just how easy and enjoyable it all is. What's the catch?…well there isn't one. Come and have a go.

Mike Deane

Fireball 14778