The Fireball Swiss Nationals descended at Mammern, Lake Constance at the end of April. 28 teams took part including teams from 3 other nations, GER, CZE and NAM.

Conditions were pretty steady, the wind was mostly a force 2-3 but on one day a force 4 gave the teams champagne sailing.

It was a good regatta for Speed Sails with 6 teams using Speed Sails. Claude Mermod & Reudi Moser came out on top after the 12 race series, Claude & Reudi use the standard Speed Spinnaker. In 2nd place Adrian Huber & Brigitte Mauchle powered their way using a full set of Speed Sails, Adrian & Brigitte were also using the new fuller jib. Congratulations go to all teams using Speeds.

For full report and results follow the link  
http://www.fireball.ch/REGATTEN/BERICHTE/CH/SM11mamm.htm

Speed Sails have put together this tuning guide to help you set your boat up close to its ideal settings. These settings should be regarded as a starting point for fine tuning as individual boats and crews may need to alter them slightly for best performance. When you have your boat set up, remember to mark everything so that the settings can be reproduced quickly.

Speed Sails Fireball Tuning Guide

Speed Fireball sailors Martin Kubovy and Milan Cap have won the 2009 Fireball Czech Nationals. Very tricky conditions led to only 3 races being completed in 4 days but the pair, using a full set of the latest Speed Fireball sails, handled the conditions well to successfully defend their title.

Full results can be found at http://www.yachting.cz/fireball/vysledky.php?dir=2009&name=vy_mcr.txt

The past 6 weeks at Speed Sails have been extremely busy as the business has adapted to the loss of Richard. Ben has been gradually increasing his involvement with the day to day running of the business and in the mean time there have been some new (and old) arrivals. Andy Farmer, a successful Enterprise and Flying 15 sailor, has recently joined the company to help with mail order and the online shop. At the same time Tom Jeffcoate, who worked at Speed Sails from 2005 – 2008, has also returned to help in the office.

With the new staff in place Speed Sails are looking to move forward and are pleased to offer a summer sale on all our championship winning sails. For the next 2 weeks all Speed sails are available online or over the phone with 10% off. Lead time is currently 2-3 weeks giving you plenty of time order now ready for the main summer season and all sails come ready to win. A wide range of tuning guides are available online to help you get the most from your new sails or, alternatively, we are happy to offer any advice and information we can on 01922 455503 or in person.

Speed sails have had successful spring already winning events in classes ranging from the Mirrors through to Merlin Rockets. 

Speed Sails have been working closely with Mirror sailors Tom Lovesey and Milly Pugh over the last year and 2009 has seen the pair performing well. After winning the Eric Twiname Championships and reporting good downwind speed (read Tom’s report here) they recently finished 2nd on count back at the Western Championships held at Looe SC after a last beat decider.

In the Solo fleet Andy (sponsored by Gill) has once again been on the pace following his domination of the Welsh Championships with 2nd place finishes at the Scottish and Spring Championships. 2 other Speed powered boats claimed top 5 positions as well.

This spring has seen victory for Speed GP14 sails at 2 area championships already. Mike  and Luke Shaw won the Welsh Areas in Aberdovey ahead of 3 other Speed powered boats and then followed it up by claiming the Midland Areas title at Staunton. The last week in May saw an early Fireball Nationals to allow time in the calendar for the 2 week European and World Championships in La Rochelle this Summer. DJ Edwards and Simon Potts discarded a 5th place in the 65 boat fleet as they finished 3rd overall. Speed Sails / Gill race team sailors Tom Jeffcoate and Mark Hogan were also regulars at the front of the fleet as they finished 9th overall.

The Merlin Inlands saw 2 Speed sails boats in the top 5 as they continue their impressive form after winning at Rutland the week before. William Warren and Chris Robinson led after the first couple of races but struggled in the fluky conditions on the Sunday. Matt Biggs and Andy showed good speed throughout to finish 2nd and 5th respectively.

Speed Miracle sails development has moved on significantly in recent years. Following a 3rd at the North East championships, the Puddleduck trophy at Girton saw Gemma and Tracy Amos claim their first championship win of the season just weeks after receiving their new Speed sails. With other strong performances at Delph and open meeting at victory at Taplow in 2009 Speed Miracle sails are becoming the sails to beat.

In the Scorpion class the new Speed laminate main has made a real difference for Andy Mckee and Tarren Jones. Just weeks after claiming their maiden open meeting victory in the class at Shotwick Lake they claimed their 2nd at Bala over the bank holiday weekend. Andy was really impressed with the extra pointing ability they had compared with their old sails without any loss in boat speed.

And finally back off the water, before Richard passed away, www.speedsails.co.uk were working on updating the online shopping process to make things easier for our customers. This is in the process of being finalised and should soon include clear information regarding postage costs, with accurate stock level information and delivery times for customer orders to follow later this year. We would still however welcome any thoughts and feedback our customers can provide as we try to make the new process as user friendly as possible.

The 2nd hand boat list on the www.speedsails.co.uk for sale has now been updated including 2 week old GP14s, a Championship winning Fireball and a brand new Fireball. There should also be a new Lark and the Nationals winning Scorpion available soon so don't forget to check for updates over the coming weeks!

Team Speed / Gill sailors Tom Jeffcoate and David Hynes have claimed the 2008 Fireball European Championship after only 1 race was completed on the final day of racing. Held at Nieuwpoort, Belgium between the 5th and 11th July the event saw plenty of wind with 4 of the 10 scheduled races lost due to severe conditions.

The win is the latest in a string of recent victories for Speed Fireball sails at major events which also includes the 2007 National and World titles. Using an ODL06 main, the new RS4 jib and an AirX spinnaker Tom and Dave discarded a 4th place and claimed 2 race wins during the 6 race series.

As well as Tom and Dave, Speed Sails were well represented in the top 10 with Irish team Kenny Rumball and Dave Moran, recent Czech National Champions Martin Kubovy and Milan Cap and local Belgian pair B van Antwerpen and Wilfried De Backer all performing well.

There is still time to get a new set of Speed Fireball sails in time for the National Championships this August at Mounts Bay. All sails come complete with numbers, battens, windows, tell tales and sail bags where appropriate and can be delivered to the event free of charge.

Fireball laminate main - £664.07
Fireball Dacron mainsail - £539.40
Fireball jib - £224.43
Fireball spinnaker - £347.02

For more information please contact Tom Jeffcoate or Richard Estaugh on 0845 50 40 600 / or www.speedsails.co.uk

Fireball Europeans at Nieuwpoort

Speed / Gill race team sailors Tom Jeffcoate and Dave Hynes have won the Fireball European Championships.

Merlin Rockets Salcombe Week

Speed / Gill race team members Andy and Ellie have won Merlin Rocket Salcombe Week.

GP14 Welsh Areas

Speed Sails claimed another GP14 area title in 2008 with a 1,2 finish for both the hulls and sails at Neyland. In the last major event before the World Championships at Abersoch Richard Instone and Steve Parker (sponsored by Gill) added the Welsh Areas to the Southern Areas they won at Poole last month. In an extremely close finish they won the event ahead of Carl Jeffs and Jim Toothill courtesy of victory in the final race.

Miracle Southerns at Margate

After a 3 month break from racing Tracy and Gemma Amos were straight back on the pace as they finished 2nd overall at the recent Miracle Southern Area Championships. Using a complete set of Speed Miracle sails the pair showed good speed in both the strong breezes on the Saturday and the lighter winds on the Sunday.

Enterprise Open at Notts County

Jonathan Woodward and Alex Halliwell ran out convincing winners of the recent Enterprise open meeting at Notts County SC. Using a complete set of Speed Enterprise sails and also trialling the new flyaway jib stick system they

reported excellent boat speed both up and down wind. The flyaway jib stick is currently under development and is legal for open meetings but not the Nationals and Area Championships. Jonathan Woodward is working with Speed Sails to develop a simple conversion kit for people wishing to try the system for themselves and this should be available from August onwards.

Mirror Irish Westerns

Speed Mirror sails have added another major title to the UK Eastern and Eric Twiname championship titles already claimed in 2008 with victory at the Irish Western Championships. The sails have also seen strong performances at the Southern, Scottish and National Championships after development on the 2007 World Championship winning sails was conducted over the winter and throughout the spring.

Already this summer Speed sails have been recording some excellent results at major events and last weekend was no different.

Solo Inlands at Rutland 

Speed Solo sails took an emphatic 1,2 finish at the Solo Inland Championships at Rutland and with it their 2nd Solo “major” of the year. Neil Wilkinson took overall victory in the event which saw over 100 competitors fighting it out for the title. It was only his 2nd open meeting victory with both wins coming since switching to a new Speed Solo sail only a few weeks ago. Chris Brown finished runner up also using the latest Speed Solo sail which now holds the UK National, Dutch, Welsh, Scottish and Inland Championship titles!

Merlin Rockets at Lyme Regis and Weymouth

 Speed Sails recorded another Merlin Rocket double over the weekend with victories at both Lyme Regis and Weymouth Silver Tiller open meetings. Roger Gilbert and James Stewart used a complete set of Speed Merlin sails to win both events.

Swiss Fireball Nationals 

3 out of the top 4 at the Swiss Fireball Nationals used Speed Fireball sails to achieve their results. Despite shifty conditions all 3 teams were able to consistently work their way to the front of the fleet.

Already the traditional summer holiday championship season is fast approaching so if you are looking for that extra bit of performance on the race course time is running out to get a new set of championship winning sails before the big event for your class. To help make sure you get the new sails you need in time we are also now offering FREE delivery to various championships around the country.

Not sure on whether to trust brand new sails? At Speed Sails we appreciate that some people like to test new sails a couple of times before a major event and, with this in mind, may also be able to arrange delivery to a local open meeting free of charge. However, we also have such confidence that all our new sails will be on the pace straight away that Speed Sails staff used previously unused sails at 3 National Championships and 1 World Championship in 2007. Overall victory in all 4 events emphasises the performance advantage available and the lack of ‘wearing in’ time required to get the boat up to speed. In fact, 2 of the Nationals titles were achieved in Speed Sails boats which had never been on the water before either!

All of our sails come ready to sail with the numbers, battens, tell tales and sail licences all attached wherever appropriate. Also included is a tuning guide to make sure your rig is set up to the optimum settings and for many classes we can even arrange to have the sails measured before they leave the loft meaning all you have to do is pull the sails up and go!

Standard delivery time on new sails is currently 3 weeks but with staff attending events throughout the summer this can grow very quickly; make sure you don’t leave it too late to get your order in by contacting us today on 0845 50 40 600. Alternatively, sails for all our major classes can be purchased online at www.speedsails.co.uk. If you need your sails by a particular date please remember to let us know either directly or by filling in the special instructions box during the online check out process. For those sailors not planning on attending open meeting events this summer all of our sails can be delivered to your door using a well known next day courier service.

Events with free delivery to the Championships available:

Enterprise Nationals –                Tenby                           August 9th – August 15th 
Fireball Europeans –                  Belgium                        July 5th – July 11th
Fireball Nationals –                    Mounts Bay                  August 16th – August 22nd
GP14 Worlds –                          Abersoch                     August 2nd – August 8th
Lark Nationals –                        Bridlington                    July 26th – August 1st
Merlin Rocket Salcombe Week –   Salcombe                     July 5th – July 11th
Merlin Rocket Nationals –            Looe                            August 16th – August 22nd
Scorpion Nationals –                  Abersoch                     July 26th – August 1st
Solo Nationals –                        Torbay                         July 19th – July 25th 

Delivery to an open meeting will depend on which events staff are attending, please contact us to see if we can arrange free delivery to your next event.