Exhibitions Manager Ben Lumby will be flying the flag for the Maritime Museum from the 2nd through 8th August 2008 at the National Firefly Championships in Torquay. Ben and his crew Liz Evans are preparing to take their 1962 Firefly Kong to the event, which marks the 60th anniversary of Torquay hosting the 1948 Olympic Sailing events - the Firefly was chosen for the 1948 games as the Olympic single-handed class and has remained a hugely popular dinghy ever since.
“It’s a great class to be involved with," says Ben, "because there are so many Fireflies around the country. Other classes have come and gone but Fireflies remain as popular as ever. Their history goes way back and some of sailing’s great names have sailed in them. The Maritime Museum is home to the very first Firefly - No.1 - called Fe. The first four Fireflies were called Fe, Fi, Fo and Fum. I can see why everyone calls them pretty boats - the designer Uffa Fox certainly had an eye for elegant design.”
Ben will be competing along side six or seven other boats from Restronguet Sailing Club where he is currently Fleet Captain. “We can’t wait to get stuck in, although 100 boats on a start line is going to be scary! We are going pretty well this season, so we’re hoping for a top-third position. We’d be really happy with that.”
You can keep up with Ben’s progress at the Nationals by following his daily blog online at www.nmmc.co.uk
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