Olympic sailor and coach and Firefily stalwart Steve Mitchell will draw the winning ticket for the brand new Rondar Firefly in six weeks time.
Amid much speculation about the identity of the celebrity guest, the National Firefly Association (NFA) can now reveal that Mitchell will be drawing the raffle tickets for the F4000 prizedraw at the Firefly end-of-season party in London on November 14.
One lucky sailor will walk away from the party, not just having met the legendary sailor but as the proud owner of a brand new Firefly.
“This will be an exciting finale to the 2009 season and we are delighted that Steve, a long time Firefly legend and Olympic sailor, will be there to do the honours at the prizedraw,” says NFA chairman Chris Guy.
Mitchell is one of the UK’s top sailors career having competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics finishing sixth in the Star class with Iain Percy. He coached the medal winning 2008 Olympic Ladies team that won gold, and is five times World and European champion in the Star and Etchells.
With such a pedigree sailing career, it is touching that he claims one of his greatest achievements was in the Firefly class when he won “Best Kept Boat” at the 1994 Spinnaker Firefly open.
There has been much anticipation in the fleet about who may win F4000 — a cash-strapped student, a wooden Firefly owner interested in the latest design or a crew who will start helming? Whoever wins, it is likely to be a sailing career changing result.
Don’t miss the chance of claiming the winning ticket in person — tickets for the party, which will take place at the Walrus Social pub in Waterloo London from 7 pm to 1 am on November 14, cost £5 including a buffet and are on sale from NFA publicity officer Jo Mason through the website or in person at sailing events. The raffle has been running all season, with every sailor (both helm and crew) that competes in a Firefly open in the 2009 calendar receiving a ticket for the draw. Close to 600 tickets have been issued from 21 events so far.
There are three more chances to get your hands on a raffle ticket before the end of the season, with team and fleet racing at Spinnaker on October 10/11 and at Welsh Harp on October 24/25 and the Inland Championships at Chew Valley on October 31/November 1 rounding off the season.