This is a first attempt to chronical the history of Fireball sailing on Lake St. Louis. It is full of holes but hopefully with the help of past and present Fireballers we will be able to add more information.

Any information or old photos would be greatly appreciated. Please click on the email button to contact webmaster.

The beginnings - the 1960's

The start of Fireball sailing on Lake St. Louis

Rumour has it that a bunch of Brits working at Canadair (now known as Bombardier Aerospace) brought some hot design boats from England and started sailing in Ile Perrot.

Here are some of the first boats registered in Quebec:

The golden age of dinghy sailing - the 1970's

The golden age of dinghy sailing on Lake Saint Louis of which Fireballs were a key element .

Claude Hoskins became the honourary class comodore and donated his property to help promote sailing. Beacosnfield Yacht Club (BYC) was born and became the hotbed of Fireball activity. It was not unusual to see 60 plus boats at important regattas.

We now see in the main lounge at BYC a framed photo showing the start of the 1971 North American championships . Will try to post this on the site later.

Race on Lake St. Louis	State of the art	CORK 1973
The procession	Getting a tow	Fairview shopping center ?

The 1980's saw Pointe Claire Yacht Club (PCYC) became the home of Fireball sailing in Quebec.

In June 1986 PCYC hosted the World Championships. It was supposed to be a light wind regatta but the winds blew like stink for two solid weeks.

	Yes, a total of 15 false starts

The worlds in 1986 where a great boost to the caliber of sailing at PCYC. The depth and skill of the Brits and Aussies did rub off and the Pointe Claire fleet got stronger. Dinghy sailing popularity is waining all over the world and yet the Fireball still is the most competitive racing dinghy on the Lake.

The world championships returned to Canada in 1996 and were held in Kingston Ontario. The crew from PCYC; Toff Nichol Grifiths and Peter Kelly took third place.

The new decade -2000 and beyond

Fireball continues to maintain its leadership position as the most active dinghy class on Lake St. Louis. Efforts must be made to introduce more people to this wonderfull sport.

Come give it a shot, after all,

Balling is truly more fun !