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Jefferson High School
Introduction... Before building a Fireball, one should set a standard of how the boat is to be sailed and at what level of racing one wishes to compete at. If one is going to sail the boat occasionally at a club level of racing and does not care about racing at a more competitive level, then the basic plans will yield a general purpose boat that is fast and exciting. If one is more serious about his racing and is looking towards a national title or a chance of racing at a world competition, then the rules allow the builder to make slight alterations with non-measured areas of the boat that produce a hull shape that is a bit more competitive then the standard shape. The level of racing one wants to compete at will dictate how the boat is to be constructed. A Fireball can be built along one of two different design options. One option is to build a boat with a narrow bow, or what is referred to as the standard hull shape. The other option is to build a boat along what is referred to as a wide bow design. Points of measurement can be pushed to create more volume in the bow area, producing a boat with a distinctive wide bow. This, coupled with a flattened rocker curve, makes the Fireball more responsive and plane sooner in certain wind and water conditions. Most of the commercially produced boats follow this design and are of the wide bow type. Because the wide bow utilizes the tolerances to create the wide bow, the tolerance for error with this type of boat is very small and is difficult to correct. It is possible however, depending on the builder’s skill level, to produce a wide bow boat at home from scratch. Note that once a builder commits to one of the designs it is impossible to switch back and forth between the designs with success. Keeping these options in mind, we will describe the building process that we at Jefferson-Morgan School District have adopted. We recognize that if two or more builders gather together one will encounter two or more philosophies of boat construction. There are, however, certain elements of boat construction that are standard. We will stress a conservative but sound approach to the building process that will yield you, the builder, a light, strong and stiff hull. The Internet is a great source of information and help, and may be used as a resource as you build. Message boards at the national class association’s website provide an easy way to pose questions and obtain advise on lofting, building, rigging, and sailing the boat. Be wary of individuals on the Net that claim to have THE answer or claim to be experts. It has been our experience that the most reliable and useful information given to us has been presented as AN answer and not THE answer to a problem. Most home built boats are unique to themselves and each building process varies slightly from the previous project. With this in mind, good luck and let us begin.
© Fireball International, 2003
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