My previous sailing life included a lot of time standing on the side of a Fireball, too small again for that role but thoroughly enjoyable. As the decades rolled by I ended up crewing for my big brother Mark, we did well up to a F4 but any more than that I was far too short & light to be standing on the side. Still, we had our moments in the limelight when conditions were right for us. And amazingly I can’t recall a single cross word when we sailed together, we seemed to bring out the best in each other. Moving on to life in a Solo however and the red mist descends and mutual hatred ensues, such is life for sibling rivalry, although with age comes a mellowness and now just finishing is an achievement with places no longer of so much importance. Still nice to beat the b*stard though! I’m happy for it to be called aqua, but not green! And please don’t ask about the boat name, the explanation takes too long.
I’ve had a Solo for about ten years now starting with a Winder 2, moving to a 1a and then back to a mark 2 again. I find this hull suits me as most of my racing is at small inland venues and I find the mark 2 rolls through the tack a little quicker. Sail choices have been HD, North & P&B - I’ve found all work really well and I can’t say I’ve noticed any performance di ff erence between them. One of the best things I’ve found with the Solo class is the excellent open meeting circuits and quality of racing competition there is available. Combined with my home club racing it provides the best of both worlds.
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