Solo Class Ambassador Steve Townsend A sailor who sails and promotes the Solo Class
The Class is lucky to have amongst its ranks, a number of essential yet unseen characters who, like missionaries spreading the word of God, seem to have spent their whole lives preaching about the virtues of the National Solo and in doing so, converted the non believers into the welcoming arms of the NSCA. Steve Townsend is such a person and has provided us with a really colourful and humorous insight into all things Solo.
Ambassador champion Will Loy asked me for an article for this magazine about my experiences, boats and people I have met over the last 52 years of Solo sailing. Since most readers are Solo association members I’m a bit unsure about what subjects to cover. So a bit about me, comments about the characteristics of wooden boats I have owned.My thoughts on tuning and trim providing the basis for my observations of Solo racing from the committee boat in the next issue. So a bit about me I started sailing Gulls and Leaders with my school in 1965 on a gravel pit near Theale near Reading. Much better than Rugby and Cricket obviously during spring and autumn. In the winter the boats needed to be varnished and painted so o ff to a local workshop by bike in frosts and snow to get the Gull fleets ready for the season ahead. Gulls are great. Actually nothing has changed . Its my retirement job now, finding and doing up Solos and recently other wooden or composite dinghies. Joining a youth sailing group I sailed from Burghfield, Chidham/Bosham and Lyme Regis in the school holidays. Lyme Regis bay is a spectacular place to sail especially as a “ no fear “youth I remember sailing a borrowed Minisail three miles o ff shore with a sea mist and a large swell. Surfing back was “quite” fast. So much so that I decided to buy a Minisail kit to build on the lawn at home. It came in a box consisting of plywood ,sails, glass kit, spars. What a great start.
Action from the Vintage Championship 2025
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