2016 Results | Solution Class Association

Grafham- Ovington Champs

It was windy, and just 4 races were held with 3 to count. Christian was consistently first, Kevin would have been second had he launched on the Sunday. Ross sneaked ahead of Kevin by virtue of sailing 1 race on the Sunday. Sam also only sailed on Saturday and rounded off those who started. A couple of others ventured out but took up swimming and never started.

Chase Inlands

15 boats attended the 2016 Inland Championships at Chase SC this year, although 17 sailors took part in the racing with Solutions 404 and 416 being loaned by other Chase members for the second day of racing.

Race 1 - Saturday morning brought a light shifty breeze from the South which offered the RO the best option for getting the longest beat out of the reservoir. The 15 boats all lined up on a nice short square line, and even though 2 boats were over at the gun the rest started working their way up the challenging beat, trying to avoid the odd weed patch whilst looking for better breeze. Christian Smart (405) led the way with (me) Ross Prytherch (438) and Jack Turnbull (419) in hot pursuit. Christian then managed to get ‘weeded’ up and Jack and I pulled about 200m ahead, with Katherine Clark (455) and Leslie Jeaves (446) also passing Christian on the reach. Jack and I had a great battle, Jack tending to get the better of me upwind and then I would gain down-wind. While I was fending off Jack, Christian had now de-weeded and on the next lap he was closing in again... I covered everything but the kitchen sink up that beat and with about 50m to go Christain managed to squeeze past Jack for second place and got within 5 boat lengths of me... but I did it, my first even win in a Solution Open event, well chuffed!! Katherine and Leslie held onto fourth and fifth respectively.

Race 2 – The wind shifted to the right so a different course was required. Clean start this time and all was good at Mark 1, but then it went pear shaped at Mark 2… The leaders, Christian and Jack could not remember which way to round the Mark! They had a brief conversation about this dilemma whilst about 5 boat lengths from the mark and then Christian duly took the easiest option which was to round it to Port at that time. 6 boats followed him…! Whilst rounding last said mark Ross and Paul Nix (440) got tangled up which resulted in Paul, (now known as ‘Basher Nix') having to do turns which put him out of the lead pack. Meanwhile Katherine being the clever one in the fleet was now rubbing her hands, as Katherine had written the course down. So although everyone at the front carried on racing they were unknowingly DSQ’d so the real race was now with Katherine, Peter Fisk (436), Graeme Kerr (430) and Steve Turner (441) and this is the order in which they finished.

Race 3 – ‘Basher’ was at it again for the start of this race... trying to take out both Christian and the committee boat at the same time, nearly knocking the RO off the boat. Jack and myself got an early lead but such were the conditions that the whole fleet would catch again down-wind. Christian, Jack and I pulled away again and ‘Basher’ pulled through to fourth with Peter Fisk and Katherine close behind at the finish.

Now it was time for a quick scrub and prepare for ‘Curry Night’ – 7pm sharp! The ladies of Chase SC put on a fabulous spread that consisted of Poppadum’s, Samosa’s, Onion Bhajis and 3 Curries that was attended (and greatly enjoyed) by about 60 Sailors and club members in all, and what a fine feast it was! After quite a few alcoholic beverages and the odd Coke (Kev), we were all gently caressed out of the bar by 10:30pm, but in typical fashion Christian had not had enough beer, so invited those that dared, back to his motorhome to polish off his emergency supply of Corona! I fell asleep at some point soon after my fill of Corona, Peter and Leslie slipped off too, back to their beds on wheels, leaving Christian watching TV and half a crate left…. I was then awoken at 7:30am with Christian making Coffee and watching Match of the day… and only 2 bottles left!!

Sunday morning brought rain… lots and lots of rain! But luckily for us all it cleared by 10am with a bit more breeze, anything from 5-15kts and the shifts were big, very big!!

Race 4 – Martin Tubb (456) was tuned in to these fresh conditions and showed great speed out of the blocks with Christian alongside and just managing to get ahead of him at the end of the first beat. Martin was unlucky as he held third position for all but the last half of the last beat, where he took one bad shift and was passed by the ever present and keen Jack into third place with me alongside side him but half a boat length behind... ‘Basher’ Nix and Peter followed with Jo Musson (416) showing good pace in her loaned boat from her father John Cassidy who raced all of day one but was unable to race the second day.

Race 5 – A Port end flyer did not quite work for Christian in this race which resulted in him retiring from the race in the end, so it was all go for Jack, Martin and I to get the best out of this. Jo was getting to grips with the boat now and sailed a great race to finish third. Jack took this race with Martin still going strong and getting second. The wind was now starting to build and a few boats were starting to dip their masts in the water, albeit a few said it was just to check for weed...!

Now it was time to break for lunch and with the wind still steadily increasing what could happen next? After a hearty Pork & Stuffing roll supplied by the Chase ladies again all the sailors hit the water, some more tentative than others... It turns out that due to the retirement in the previous race it would all come down to the sixth and final race, as Christian had now used up both his discards and had to win the last race to be sure of retaining the Inland trophy as Jack could effectively win on count-back if he were to win the last race...

Race 6 – The wind was now 10-25kts with big teasing shifts. Kevin Clark (458) now found his mojo and flew up the first beat! Alex Watson (loaning 404 from Ellie Williams who had a great weekend as the youngest sailor in the fleet), was flying too. Ross, Jack and Christian lagging a little behind these and the rest of the fleet close behind. Kevin led round the top mark with Alex close behind, followed by Christian, Jack, myself and Jo. Alex managed to get passed Kevin on the first reach, but these positions then remained the same for these three reaching legs, which involved some pretty full on hiking and mainsheet adjustment to keep the boat upright in the big gusts. At the leeward mark, Kevin and Alex hardened up and sailed up the left of the beat on Starboard, Christian still a little behind opted to go right a little and head up the middle and with Jack still in the hunt too, what would happen? Christian came through to lead at the top mark narrowly ahead of Alex, Jack very close too. In the slightly less wind of this lap Kevin lost out slightly and dropped to fourth and I was closing on him whilst still keeping an eye on Jo and ‘Basher’ who were not too far behind. Down-wind again now and still all to play for, Christian started to pull away again but Jack also managed to overhaul Alex, they were first and second again. Alex came in a comfortable third, I managed to get through Kevin to get a fourth, and Jo then held sixth behind Kevin. So Christian in his aptly named boat ‘Bandit’ managed to retain his title, with Jack a comfortable second and I was third – a very happy third at that...

We would like to thank Chase SC with sponsorship from local company ‘Stealth Marine’ for providing some very generous prizes, not only to the Top 3 but also Top 3 Ladies along with many spot prizes also which was greatly appreciated. Although thanks were given by Katherine on behalf of the Class, it must be duly noted again that a great weekend was had by all who attended, and we would be very happy to return sometime soon for another great meeting. A very friendly and well organised Club to go to. Great to see some new faces in the fleet too, always good to come to these events as everyone is prepared to help anyone else with tips from boat set-up to travelling tips and even Basher Nix repairs...lol

Derwent

Sailors started arriving at Derwent Reservoir SC from Friday lunchtime to enjoy the warm weather, rig boats, BBQ and to hear Seven Sins playing in the marquee until late into the evening.

Saturday dawned with a light to medium breeze. In the conventional fleet all classes seemed to have their time at the front but the Scorpion of Steve Walker and Jerry Hannabus came out on top, with Sam Davy taking a second place in his Solution.

Saturday night was a hog roast, giant inflatable games and music from the Future Echoes, who played to a busy marquee. Sunday was a lighter (and wetter) affair – race officer Howard Steavenson set a course for the pursuit race using the entire reservoir – 1 lap took the full 90 minutes. An Enterprise sailed by Neal Piper and Ali Mackay took an early lead which they never relinquished, and Sam came home in 4th overall

Oxford

A mix of regular and new faces arrived at Oxford SC early on Saturday morning to be met by a warm and largely sunny day, with a westerly Force 4.

There were 7 visiting Solutions, although unfortunately local sailor Alun Griffiths had unavoidable family commitments, and we were joined by 6 Lightnings, for an all single-handed open meeting.

The race officer set a simple trapezoid course using most of the lake and being faster the Solutions were the first fleet to start from just in front of the clubhouse. This gave the spectators the opportunity to watch and critique the action.

There was a port end bias to the start line and both Jack Turnbull and Martin Tubb were a little too eager, and with just a little encouragement from Kathryn Clark, both were over the line at the start of race 1. This left Kevin Clark with the opportunity to build an unassailable lead up the first beat. Jack and Martin both ducked back, and Jack was able to pull back through the fleet to take second place. Rounding the pin, Martin went right up the beat, but there was more pressure on the left and despite a good battle he was only able to pull through into 4th. Lesley Jeanes sailed a great race at her first Solution open to take 3rd place ahead of Kathryn.

Peter Weatherhead and Graeme Kerr, both new to the Solution, completed the fleet and picked up some good tips over the day.

Whilst the rest of the fleet went ashore after race 1 for a hearty lunch and to top up on sun cream, Kevin stayed afloat to provide demo sails to those interested in the Solution.

Race 2 was similar to race 1, but with a return to the Solution norm of a civilised clean start. Although Kevin won, he was pushed hard, especially by Jack. Martin took third, and Lesley just pipped Kathryn to 4th by half a boat length on the final reach into the finish line.

Race 3 was back to back and this time Jack finally found a way past Kevin to take the bullet. Kathryn also found her form to take 3rd place, ahead of Martin, who just hung on to beat Lesley who ended the day as leading lady.

At the post race analysis over tea and cake, everyone agreed that it had been a great day's sailing. Having missed much of his lunch, Kevin found a home for several left over slices of cake!

Redoubt

On a gloriously sunny day Alan, Jack and Graeme were joined by Graeme Kerr from Henley Sailing Club for the Solution open meeting. With a very gradually building breeze 4 races were held and with a relatively consistent direction the course was kept the same for all of them, which was a bonus for the traveller as there were 8 buoys constituting a lap.

The first race was led from start to finish by Graeme Fuller with Jack Turnbull almost keeping him honest in second after a terrible start. Alan Baker and Graeme Kerr were battling closely throughout.

After a quick water stop the second race was underway with the slightest shifts making the difference in the battles Jack and Graeme Fuller were switching places right until the last leg where Graeme tacked earlier than Jack who held on and managed to get the shift to overtake and claim victory.

The third race had fractionally more wind which suited Jack Turnbull who managed to lead from the beginning with the 3 following boats all battling and enjoying the sun.

The 4th race led a largely similar pattern with the Graeme, Alan and Graeme all getting closer through the day as people tweaked their boats and learnt a few tricks on the lake. A thoroughly enjoyable in beautiful conditions.

Llandudno 10th Anniversary Nationals

Some Englishmen, an Irishman and some Welshmen (and Kathryn) turned up to Llandudno SC on the weekend of 4/5 June for the 10th Solution National Championships. They were greeted by bright sunshine and temperatures in the 20's.

A lack of wind saw Nathan Batchelor and Karl Milford tiring themselves out on paddleboards while the rest of the fleet waited for the breeze to fill in. It appeared on cue allowing the first race to start on time albeit still fairly light which suited the Pembrokeshire contingent. Christian Smart took 3 bullets and Ross Prytherch finally showed the fleet what he is capable of, which led him to take it easy on the beers on Saturday night – something that gave the rest of the fleet cause for concern.

Sunday's sea breeze did a better job of building to give ideal conditions: good wind in warm sunshine. As a result, the finishing positions on Day 2 were less consistent which made for some good competition in the overall results.

Thanks to Llandudno Sailing Club for serving up an excellent event of great sailing coupled with a warm and friendly welcome.

Peter Fisk won the Masters Trophy and Martin Tubb the "Ted Funnell" mid-fleet trophy.

Report: Sam Davy
Photos: Sue Tubb