President’s Report Guy Mayger With 2025 drawing to a close, I thought it would be a good time to have a little review of the year and a look ahead to the 2026 season for the National Solo class. Once again, it’s been another solid season for the class with racing taking place throughout the UK region with fleets at club, open meeting, Area and national level continuing to show what a strong and active fleet we are. Solo 2025 wrap up and look forward to 2026.
Club wise, the hotspots of Salcombe and Hayling Island lead the way for weekend racing fleets pushing, and sometimes exceeding, twenty boats. With some new Solo converts joining the mix (welcome Paul Haswell, Simon Lytton) the racing is super competitive which is providing weekend fun and a great training ground for those looking to head to the Open and Super Series events. Elsewhere, the likes of Shustoke SC (hello Jamie and Olly), South Sta ff s SC (Sam, Jonathan) and the ever-present Scottish fleet, continue to show that if you want competitive fleet racing, the Solo is really the boat to get. Of course, there are many other clubs with equally strong racing who I’ve failed to mention! At open meeting and Area level, the class with support from the host clubs, laid on over 50 events through the 2025 season. This is a huge testament to the e ff orts of all the Area reps who do all the leg work to ensure a full schedule available and, as class president, I am extremely appreciative of their work. Combined with these events, we’ve also managed to run a number of training days which are free to class members. The response from those taking part has been excellent as it gives the regular club sailors and opportunity to quiz and be coached by some of our top-class sailors. How many sports (or classes) can you receive free training from the National champion? For 2026 we plan to continue with the training days and we’ve also worked on improving the open meeting calendar to avoid event clashes as much as possible to help make it easier for sailors to attend more open events. And so to 2026! For those unaware, 2026 marks the National Solo class 70 th anniversary. Jack Holt, OBE (below right) first designed the boat we know and love in 1956, and since then it has become a staple of the UK dinghy racing scene. 6100 plus boats later, we continue to be a major force in UK sailing with many champions coming to the fleet for the excellent racing. With the anniversary in mind, we will be holding a celebration at the Spring Championships at Hayling Island (25/26 th April) where we hope to have former champions competing and members of the Holt family in attendance. Prior to this event we will have an anniversary focussed Dinghy Show 21/22 nd February) stand, which will also be in combination with Winder Boats, who celebrate their own 50 year anniversary! Amazing achievement Guy, Dave, Sarah and the team.
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