Rob Granvilles Rigging Information
May 2010
Hi fellow fireball enthusiasts,
I have put together this article out of simple frustration at trying to find a website that could show me how to rig my wooden fireball. So here you are!
Before I get started please be aware that Fireballs vary a lot. The design has been modified and fiddled with since the 60’s and some home builds have gone about the layout in different ways. I will attempt to show you the layout of a non-composite style rig. A layout that will suit a wooden boat with spinnaker bags on either side of the mast. Even if yours is a older style boat you can still apply many of the layout systems used here to upgrade it for more control. I can’t cover all the details but it will suffice to understand what goes where. You can then source various websites to cover tuning and spares.
So without further ado:
Stays:
FB’s have 3 stays.
You will notice that the foredeck has one but it is not attached to the boat with cable but rather with bungee cord or length of rope. Why is that? The forestay needs to be able to ‘stretch’ in order that you can rake the mast back to set it for sailing in stronger winds. Think of a windsurfer sailing in a strong wind. His sail is all the way back. We do the same here to reduce sail and to move centre backwards to plane more easily. We are talking inches here. 22.8” is fully upright. Raked back to 22’ 4” by slotting shroud pins lower down until the measurement is achieved. There are loads of websites detailing this process.
Here is the trick: The jib wire is the actual forestay. Once the position of the mast is set by adjusting the shroud pins, the jib tension is then applied to tension the rig in that position.
Study the diagrams carefully for system layouts and adapt to your boat to suit.
Thanks to Johnathan Piatt for checking through the illustrations for me.
Any questions please email me at rob@littlevoicemedia.com
Rob
