2025 Results | Solution Class Association

The Solution Nationals were held on 7th and 8th June at Burton

Our thanks to Burton Sailing club. Thanks also to Sea Sure for their sponsorship.

Full Report and photos to follow.

All four Solutions arrived on the Friday for POSH (Paignton Open for Single Handers). With boats parked on the green of the English Riviera’s seafront for the weekend we adjourned to an excellent local harbour side restaurant for the evening, along with a couple of non-sailing partners. A few of the other regular Solution sailors were unfortunately unable to make the event and they missed out.

Saturday dawned bright and we had a leisurely morning before the sailing started. We sailed 3 races back to back on a trapezoid course, as part of the handicap fleet, which was split into 3 starts. There was a light to moderate on-shore easterly breeze blowing from the west, but with quite a chop. Martin was comfortably the lead Solution for the first race, with Gary and Paul taking second and third. Race two was looking to be a repeat of race 1 however Kathryn got ahead of Paul to take third. In the last race of the day, Martin was leading, however Gary got past him on the final light downwind leg to take the win for race 3, with Kathryn not far behind Martin. The excellent shore team quickly delivered our trolleys and we had no problems getting ashore on the sandy beach. It was only an hour or so before high tide, so there was very little beach exposed meaning we didn’t have far to drag our boats.

We enjoyed a lovely social evening in the Paignton SC clubhouse, and caught up with ex-Solution sailor Christian Smart, who was leading the standings in the Blaze Fire Nationals fleet and went on to win their event.

Sunday the weather forecast wasn’t so good and after the obligatory bacon butties in the clubhouse we all launched. The wind was lighter and variable. Just as the Blaze Fire fleet started the wind died and the heavens opened and we had what felt like an eternity of torrential rain, although it was probably "only" half an hour. I’ve never seen older design dinghies which are not self-draining being bailed out using the sailors’ boots before!! We were all wondering whether we were going to get any racing in, and how long we could endure the cold and unpleasant conditions. Gary and Paul decided they’d had enough and went ashore, however Martin and Kathryn persisted and were eventually rewarded with 3 races. The wind finally filled in from the north and the race officer quickly set a windward-leeward course for the first race, followed by two more trapezoid races. Kathryn was quick upwind and on a reach but the 10% reduced sail let her down off wind and Martin was able to keep ahead of her.

Our thanks to Paignton Sailing club for making us feel so welcome and their superb race management in difficult conditions. Thanks also to P&B for their sponsorship and prizes and Tom Wildy for some excellent photos.

Report: Martin Tubb Photos:Tom Wildy

The Solution Open was held in association with the Phantom class Inlands at Northampton Sailing Club at the end of May. Thank you to Northampton SC and everyone involved in running the weekend. The Race Officer had very difficult conditions to cope with as the wind was very shifty, but the team did a fantastic job. There were 11 competitors at the event from 8 different clubs who competed in 6 races over the 2 days. A big welcome back to Ross Prytherch after a seven year absence.

Day 1 started with very light, patchy and shifty winds. Race 1 had Ian Morgan first to the windward mark and he basically led the whole of the race. James Jarvey was in 4/5th at the windward mark, 2nd beat he made his way through to 2nd place. Resulted in Martin Tubb 3rd and Ross Prytherch in 4th. Race 2 James Jarvey got to the windward mark first and lead the whole of the race with Ian Morgan surprisingly further down in the pack, but true to form Ian finished 2nd, Richard Brown 3rd and Martin Tubb 4th. Very competitive fleet, with a lot of changes of positions throughout the race. The Race Officer thankfully called it a day after two races as it was so light and shifty.

After the first day it was Ian Morgan and James Jarvey sharing the top spot. It was a roast pork dinner, some great race chat and a few beers in the evening.

Day 2 saw us doing four races which started at 10.30, with the wind switching round from the previous day. Race 3 Jon Steward lead from start to finish, with Ian and James chasing. Richard Brown finished 3rd. Race 4 saw Jon Steward get away, with the pack chasing him down and at the finish Ian Morgan just pipped him on the finish line. Richard 3rd and James 4th. Race 5 was won by Jon, with Race 6 having James and Ian at the front battling it out. At the end Jon overtook on the last beat to finish first. Can't finish the report without mentioning the start for one boat who had a port end flyer! Nicely done.

Report: James Jarvey Photos: Jon Steward