Firefly

The Firefly is a two-man, one-design dinghy that was designed by Uffa Fox in 1946 and used as the single-handed dinghy for the 1948 Olympics in Torbay. There are now more than 3,800 Fireflies with fleets in 30 clubs and universities throughout the UK. It is 12 feet (3.65 metres) long, with a beam of 4ft 6.5 ins (1.4 m), weighs 163 lbs (74 kg) and has a jib and mainsail with a sail area of 8.36 square metres.

The Firefly was adopted by Tamesis soon after its launch in 1947, with Wally Maddison (Commodore of Tamesis from 1965-67) as the first secretary of its class association. Fireflies became the main focus of the club's team racing in the late 1950s and a Tamesis team won the RNVR national team racing championship in 1963, beating Castaways in the final. Tamesis won the Gnurns Trophy for the second successive year at the annual three-boat Firefly team racing contest at the Welsh Harp in October 2004. Another Tamesis team also won the inter-club team race with Thames and Minima in June 2004 for the Burgee Trophy.

The Open Meeting takes place in the Spring. Trophies competed for at this event are the Elizabeth Cup awarded to the winner, the Vines Trophy and the M25 Trophy. The Vines Trophy is national and awarded to the helm who has done best overall over the season. The M25 Trophy is for those open meetings taking place within the M25.There are seven Fireflies at Tamesis.

In 2010 the class inaugurated the Firefly Junior Cup. Competition was fierce - the maximum age of junior that year was about 4, but since has risen by the year. The juniors are now helming as they are old enough, and showing their parents the way around the course.

Last updated 09:46 on 10 April 2024