Issue 4 Spring 2026
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Area Updates Open Meetings in Full Swing National Championship Venue Tips
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In this Issue President’s Report Dinghy Show Highlights. Area Updates : Scottish Series Southern Series Eastern Series Western Series B Rig Investigations P+B National Championship Venue Guide Strictly Solo
President’s Report Guy Mayger Whilst we’re now into mid-April, it still feels decidedly on the chilly side, although there have been welcome glimpses of warmer weather. With the 2026 season really getting underway, we can only hope those warmer conditions appear more often as the calendar begins to fill and activity ramps up across the country. Firstly, I’d like to offer my thanks to Maria for stepping in to cover the Honorary Secretary role— your support is greatly appreciated as always. Maria has moved over from Southern Area representative and that role has now been picked up by Ian Matthews and he has already been very active keeping Southern Solo sailors informed on regional matters. The Committee is still short of a Northern representative and we are very keen to fill this spot. Innes Armstrong has already setup the season, so it will be an easy role to take on for 2026 whilst finding your feet. Please feel free to contact myself or any of the Committee members if you’d like to be involved. As a little tempter, you may have seen in the race reports that both Ian and fellow Committee member, Jonathan Swain, recently won open meetings at Broadwater SC and Carsington SC, respectively, so Solo open meeting glorious potentially awaits anyone who picks up the Northern role. The RYA Dinghy Show proved once again to be a valuable event for the class. Many thanks to everyone who helped support the NSCA stand and to the Winder team for their continued backing of the class as they celebrate 50 years of building. We were fortunate to have boats on display courtesy of Tom Gillard and Adrian Griffin, which generated strong interest throughout the weekend—Adrian’s boat, 508, drew plenty of attention as part of the class 70 th anniversary celebrations. The show continues to deliver real benefits for the class, raising our profile, attracting new sailors, and providing an excellent opportunity to showcase the strength and appeal of the Solo fleet. The Winter Championships at Northampton Sailing Club were an excellent opener to the 2026 season and great success, with an impressive turnout of 43 boats and some highly competitive racing. Congratulations to Jamie Cuxson on a superb victory, with Harry Lucas second and Jasper Barnham leading the charge for the “old guard.” It should be noted that both Jamie and Harry had recently attended one of Olly Davenport’s excellent training days, so they are clearly working. It was particularly encouraging to see so many new faces joining the fleet. Dare I say young faces?!? Big thanks to everyone at Northampton SC, especially Iain Carpenter, for “guaranteeing” we had enough breeze when some forecasts suggested otherwise.
By the time you read this the Spring Championship will have come and gone, a massive thanks for both CB Ultimate Hikers and P+B for your sponsorship. Entries for both the Noble Nations Cup and P&B Nationals are building, with early entry deadlines set for 31st May. As usual, we expect a late surge as that date approaches. We are working with South Coast Embroidery on event shirts for both regattas, and a Google form will be circulated shortly to capture sizing requirements in advance—helping us avoid guesswork. I’m also planning some 70th Anniversary t-shirts and hoodies for those who like to be fully Solo brand. I’m happy to take further advice from the Solo fashionistas on other items of branded apparel. The 2026 season is shaping up to be another strong one for the class. Training events are already seeing excellent support, and it’s great to see so many sailors back on the water despite the lingering cold conditions. We’re also looking forward to a special 70th Anniversary race at Felpham, with plans for a unique, invitation-style event—details to follow once finalised. Further ahead, we’re delighted to confirm that Mounts Bay will host the 2029 National Championships, with dates to be confirmed in due course. A final mention to Jonathan Swain, who not only is a great Area rep and open meeting win, but also reportedly hit 16 knots of boatspeed at Carsington!! Is this a class record? We’ll leave that one open for debate, but with some many sailors tracking their sailing maybe we can see if anyone can better this number? With plenty to look forward to, let’s hope the weather improves and we can all enjoy a fantastic
season on the water. Guy – El Prez 5906
PS. Apologies to anyone who was genuinely taken in by our little April Fools joke! 🤣 My Vice-President, Paul, and I had come up with this a few weeks earlier and thought it would be a bit of fun. Hopefully, those who were initially taken in, came around to seeing the funny side… or at least got a good deal from Winders on making up a new washboard! 😉 It was certainly very interesting to see how much traffic on both the website and Facebook pages this generated!
The NSCA were once again displaying some of the finest examples of this Jack Holt design at Farnborough in February. Fittingly, given we are celebrating 70 years of the Solo, an early example was centre stage.
Salcombe’s long standing Fleet Captain Adrian Gri ffi n writes; “He was found in a garage in Salcombe by Graham Cranford-Smith. I bought it from the builder’s granddaughter Clare Parry in 2020. The hull was stripped and revarnished by Ian Brody (aka ‘Podge’) at his yard in Island Street Salcombe. Additional work to replace the thwart, self bailers and centre board slot gasket was undertaken concurrently by local shipwright M.G. ‘Banger’ Clancy.”
“The mast, boom and foils were all tipped and revarnished by me in our spare bedroom while my wife was away on holiday”.
Note the transom sheeting arrangement, which was soon replaced with a centre mainsheet though some die-hard sailors stuck with the old style of sail control which was also standard practice in many other classes including the Enterprise and GP 14. Also, (though the rudder blade is not fully down in this pic) when it was there was still quite some aft rake. The original drawings reflected the positioning but as sailors began raking their rigs aft they realised that the boat was more balanced with the rudder vertical. I do not doubt there was a rule change to accommodate the fashion.
Bolt adjusters we’re the only means of tweaking the rig, a turn right to tighten, left to loosen and a lock nut to ensure nothing moved. Very precise but a little heavy and these days, super expensive. Note the washboards which reduced the chances of water washing over the foredeck into the cockpit. The original drawings allowed two horn cleats fixed to the capping, one for controlling the kicker while the other fixed the halyard.
Tom Gillard’s Winder 1a, fitted out with Allen hardware, Selden spars and the latest North laminate sail, possibly the P4 or L4.
Tom finished second at the Spring Champs in it’s first outing, only losing the event on count-back.
Vernon Perkins kindly lent his new P+B fitted out Winder 2 which sports the new Allen spars and the P+B maxx sail.
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RTYC Event Coordinator, Bob Penfold with Rhys Rollitt from P&B and class President, Guy Mayger, excited for the 2026 P&B Solo National championship.
I’d like to open by saying a big THANK YOU to Maria, who continues to hold my hand whilst I get to grips with the job and your expectations and needs. I’ve been on your side of the fence for many years, so I hope I have some idea of what you need and want…so be patient and know that I am a very good listener I’m based at Spinnaker Sailing Club, near Ringwood, and for those of you who don’t know me, I’m the short and portly, old and bald chap seen around the freshwater venues. Apologies, but personally, I have never been a fan of sailing on the sea, so you won’t find me rushing to launch at many of our coastal events, but just as many sea sailors are no fans of lake sailing, the ability to have a fulfilling and enjoyable weekend, whether it’s fresh or salt water, is a testament to the true versatility of the boat we all love to sail Our Area travelling season is almost upon us and as I write I’m nursing my many aches, pains and bruises from an extremely blustery and taxing Silver Wings (TV area) Open. Last Season saw Alex Butler, from HISC, become our champion, beating the 9 other helms who competed in the minimum 4 events required to qualify for the title of Southern Area Champion. In total 156 individual helms competed in our events in 2025, a number I hope we can surpass this year Reports for the first event of the new season, Bough Beech, will appear in the next issue. The Spring Championships report at HISC appears elsewhere in this issue. Then, over the weekend of 18th May, my home club, Spinnaker and then Dell Quay see out May. Details of all our events are on the Association website, and we publicise regularly via Facebook and WhatsApp All our open meetings cost a fair amount to put on, and survive only because of our participation and sponsorship, and I’d like to record our sincere gratitude to P&B for their generous sponsorship of our Southern Area events this year I know life is complicated for many, and time is such a precious commodity for us all but making the e ff ort to make even just one travelling trip, to enjoy the hospitality and friendship of another club really is good fun and is very rewarding. There are so many fantastic places to visit and sail in our area, each presenting its own unique challenge or attraction, and every event only happens because of the dedication and commitment of the local club volunteers. One or two more entries really makes a huge di ff erence to the economics of running an event, so, if you can, please try and find the time for one or two events near to you to visit this year Finally, if anyone has any ideas as to new things we can try in the area, please let me know. I look forward to meeting with you all over the summer Happy and successful sailing to you all. Southern Area News 2026 Ian Matthews
The National Solo Class Association (NSCA) Southern Area Circuit travelled to Bough Beech Sailing Club for the first event of the 2026 season. Bough Beech reservoir is situated in the Weald of Kent enjoying 400-acres of water in what is arguably one of the premier inland sailing locations in Southern England. The Bough Beech Open, along with NSCA Southern Circuit, is generously sponsored by Pinnell & Bax. 23-boats entered with 14-visitors joining the 9-home boats for an excellent, sun filled, days racing in a shifty 8/10 mph W breeze. Entry numbers were up 25% from 2025, which was encouraging to see at the first event of the series; also reflecting the popularity of BBSC as a venue. Visitors travelled from Littleton, Fishers Green, Papercourt, Hayland Island, Tamesis, Chipstead, Frensham Ponds, Langstone, Martello Lakes and Largos Yacht Club (RYA). Race O ffi cer, Mike Warwicker, set a trapezoidal port rounding course using the maximum available distance across the reservoir. This provided good tactical racing particularly upwind and on the long run back down the reservoir. Three of the planned four races were held each being approximately 40- minutes in duration. Race 1 The fleet got clearly away on a slightly port biased line. At the windward mark Jamie Clementson led from Fraser Hayden and Simon Derham. On the second lap Jamie extended followed by Fraser and John Clementson who had moved up to third. By the third lap the fleet had closed up with six boats all contesting the lead (Jamie, John C, Simon, Fraser, John Reed & James Hart). At the windward mark John R demonstrated his mastery of the shifty conditions by moving into the lead; closely followed by Fraser, Simon and James. At the finish John R took the win followed by Fraser and James with Simon taking fourth.
Photo credit: Sarah Seddon
Race 2 Another clean start with the fleet bunched towards the middle of the line. At the windward mark John C led from John R and James. By the leeward mark Jamie had moved into the lead exhibiting good downwind speed followed by James and John R. Jamie extended up the second beat to lead by 25m at the windward mark followed by Simon, John R and John C. Jamie and John R continued to extend their lead down the run as the fleet compressed approaching the bottom mark with a bunch of six boats all contesting third place.At the finish Jamie took the win followed by John C and Simon with John R taking fourth. With the third and fourth races scheduled after lunch there was everything to play for with only 3- points separating the top six boats. Race 3 The breeze dropped as the start of three approached making it di ffi cult for the fleet to find clear air. The Race O ffi cer stopped the race halfway up the beat and went into a restart once the breeze materialised. Due to a big shift on the start signal the fleet mostly crossed the line on port. At the windward mark Jamie was leading followed by Timothy Barr and Fraser. The breeze settled during the run allowing Timothy to sail deeper overtaking Jamie in the process. Nick Pighills rounding the leeward mark in third. Jamie played the shifts well going up the second beat giving him a 50m lead over Fraser in second and John R in third. The front three boats continued to stretch their lead up the next beat with Simon moving up to fourth. At the finish Jamie took the win by a good margin with Fraser second and John R third. John C pulled through to take fourth. Race 4 was not held due to the events time limit being exceeded.
NSCA Southern Area Training Day
Hayling Island SC hosted a NSCA training day on 24th April. 14 sailors enjoyed champagne sailing conditions with cloudless skies and a moderate easterly breeze Olly Davenport was the coach for the event and started the day with a detailed session covering rig set up, sail trimming and body position and movement, this stimulated healthy debate and discussion
After a brief break a 2 hour on water session took place between Emsworth Channel and East Head. Olly ran a number of gate starts, following individual sailors upwind in the rib giving real time feedback of set up and technique. 4 line start races followed, again with Olly providing bespoke and individual feedback from the rib The day ended with a brief sum up session with all attendees with smiles on their faces a lovely suntan Special thanks go to Doug Latta and Greg Swift (HISC Solo Class Captain) for giving up a Friday to man the 2nd rib and of course to HISC and to Olly Our next NSCA Southern Area training day is set for Friday the 10th July at Felpham, again with Olly, - planning for this event has already started with details to follow soon
Ian Matthews NSCA Southern Area Rep
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Eastern Area Spring update Mark Maskell At time of writing and still in pain after the Hunts Open meeting, we are now 20% of the way through the event calendar for the year. So far it has been racing of complete contrast. Broadwater was a nice warm day but light and variable winds from all directions and at times drifting conditions. Hunts was the opposite cold, very windy and shifty blustery conditions. Both events had good turnouts compared to previous years and with new members racing which is great to see. At Hunts, Gary Ungless wisely decided to sit out the last race of the day and decided to send up his drone to capture the action. You can access the videos at the link below. There are 4 files, the sequence is 1,2,4 and 3 to follow the race almost to the finish. ood-online.com/DroneVideo/SoloOpen.html The Top10 places after two events are as follows.
Rank Boat Class SailNo
Club
HelmName Broadwater SC Hunts SC Total Nett
1st
Solo 5953 Hunts
Martin Brooking
4 2 6
5 9 9 10 12 12 6 12 12 2 15 15 15 32 32 1 42 42
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Solo 5838 Hickling Broad Brian Morum Solo 5249 Fishers Green Nick Pighills
Solo 6007 Brightlingsea
Mark Maskell
13 17
Solo 5417 Rickmansworth Steve Forester
Solo 5887 Snettisham Beach Jasper Barnham 41.0 DNC
Solo 6112 Spinnaker Solo 5723 Hunts Solo 5158 Warsash
Ian Mathews
1 41.0 DNC 42 42
David Cronk 41.0 DNC
3 44 44
Nick Charles
3 41.0 DNC 44 44
Solo 4801 Fishers Green Godfrey Clark 41.0 DNC
4 45 45
The next events in the series are Rollesby Broad on the 18 th April (which may well have taken place by the time you read this) followed by the Eastern Area Championships at Brightlingsea on 9 th and 10 th May.
Action from Rollesby. Photo Below: Ellie Edwards
Training day at Hunts The first training day for the Eastern Area for some years was held on 10 th April. The weather was perfect for the events. RYA performance coach Vince Horey led the days training. Starting with a briefing on the plan for the day followed by two, two hour on the water sessions. The focus for the day was on low-speed boat handling and control. Starting and getting o ff the line, anticipation on starting followed by some reaching and running control, finished o ff with some short course racing to conclude the day. It was very well received by all attendees. (Photos below from Simon Maskell)
Gary Ungless of Hunts SC had brought his drone and TV equipment with him; he recorded a number of the training exercises which were replayed during the day. This link is to the first recording; you can select others from the website. ood-online.com/DroneVideo/SoloTraining.html Lastly here is the link for the Area facebook page, where more information can be found on events happening in the Area. Eastern area solo dinghy | Facebook
Sixteen competitors faced a day of unpredictable, often testing conditions at the Eastern Area Solo Open hosted by Rollesby Broad Sailing Club on Saturday. With six visiting sailors joining the ten strong home fleet, the racing quickly proved both close and tactical. Local knowledge helped in moments, but it was the visitors who consistently occupied the sharp end of the results. Positions changed constantly throughout the day, and several tie breaks were ultimately needed to separate the overall standings. Race 1 began in a shifty westerly, and an early pile up at the windward mark allowed a handful of boats to escape. Jasper Barnham seized the opportunity, breaking clear and leading unchallenged to the finish. Godfrey Clark steadily closed the gap on the final lap but settled for second, with Chris Bunn taking third. After a course change, Race 2 got under way in very light airs. Despite the wind being all over the place, Clark again emerged as an early leader, being able to extend this into a comfortable win. Daniel Bull, normally seen in his ILCA at Rollesby, handled his borrowed wooden Solo impressively, holding o ff Bunn for much of the race. However experience told in the final stages, and Bunn slipped past at the last mark to secure second.
Photo credit Ellie Edwards Race 3 saw a developing sea breeze prompt a major course adjustment and the sailors set o ff after lunch down to the far end of the broad for a committee-boat start. Clark continued his strong form, taking his second win of the day. Barnham followed closely in second, while John Saddington used his knowledge of Rollesby's quirks to claim third. Race 4 almost finished without any wind shenanigans until the final lap when the wind dropped further and swung more easterly. Barnham again claimed another race win after successfully holding o ff Bryan Morum, with Martin Brooking in third. With results extremely tight, competitors gathered eagerly as the Race Team calculated the final standings. The overall winner was Jasper Barnham, representing Snettisham Beach. Godfrey Clark from Fishers Green was second overall. Chris Bunn completed the top three in third overall, representing Lady Yacht Club. The visitors rounded out the top six and first Rollesby Solo was Robert Hawkings, who finished seventh overall. Event media can be found on the club's Flickr, Facebook and Instagram.
Scottish Solo Area The HD Sails Scottish Series this year will consist of eight events including the Scottish Champs at some of the best sailing venues across Scotland both sea and inland. Some we have visited last year and some we are returning to after a few years and all o ff ering a very warm friendly welcome to the Solo class with fabulous sailing waters. To kick things o ff on 18 th April we travel to CCC’s Bardowie Loch where sailors are kept on their toes with small tight courses with plenty of wind shifts to contend with. Largs is our next venue a month later 16 th May as part of their One design regatta, Last year was glorious sunshine but very light winds so this year we shall be hoping for a little more breeze. June sees two events the first at Helensburgh 13 th June, every time we have been to this venue they put on a great event what ever the weather conditions. Chanonry S C will host the Scottish Championships 27 th -28 th June and several of the growing Solo fleet there have been out training since the middle of February in all weather conditions. We return after a few years to Prestwick SC 25 th July, a venue which o ff ers great sea conditions just in time for those travelling to the Nationals at Torbay at the start of August. Two Inland venues follow this when we go back to Loch Venacher SC 22 nd Aug a venue tucked away in the beautiful Trossachs, we had high winds last year with every sailor swimming at some point during the event! Our last Inland venue and Penultimate event ,and another venue we have not been to for a little while Loch Tummel 12 th Sept this will be part of their regatta weekend the Solos having an individual start. The Season final will be at Dalgety Bay SC 3 rd Oct, a venue which has tidal influence to consider every lap. Huge thanks go to all the clubs who have agreed to host the Scottish Solo fleet and to Andy Davis at HD Sails for his continued sponsorship, help and support of the Scottish Fleet.
Charlie Brecknell Scottish Rep. Below: action from Bardowie.
The HD Sails Scottish Travellers series kicked o ff on Saturday 18th April at Clyde Cruising Club's Bardowie Loch. For the first time in many years the sailors arrived to find the water covered in waves generated not by swans and ducks flapping about but, by a good westerly breeze blowing down from the far end of the Loch. Bacon rolls and cups of tea on o ff er in the warm dry clubhouse were a welcome excuse to pause rigging the boats and get out of the rain and cold for a while and attend the race briefing. Racing was scheduled to start as close to 12.30 as possible and the safety boat crews rushed about to get marks positioned and the line set, a triangle course was laid. The first start was a general recall with the eleven competitors all trying to get a good spot on the short line. The RO kept the start sequence the same so the Solos still started before the Streaker for the restart. This time clean away with the wind up to about 15 knots and very shifty. Stuart Gibson using his local knowledge led o ff the line from the committee boat end with the bunch behind all following his wake. A shift just near the windward mark allowed Charlie Brecknell and Ian Baillie to be lifted into the mark while Stuart had to put in a tack. Charlie stayed ahead for the next lap before. The wind lightened allowing the fleet to close the gap by the leeward mark. Charlie rounded first and tacked immediately whilst the rest hung on a little longer and got on the right side of the new shift as the wind swung round meaning they could sail directly to the windward mark whilst Charlie found himself needing to tack to get back to the lay line dropping back to 4th whilst Stuart, Ian Baillie and Callum Gibb rounded ahead and stretched away. After four laps Stuart took the win from Ian with Callum third and Robert Signer just getting his nose in front of Charlie to take 4th. Course change for race 2 with the wind moving further round and the start line moved to the club pontoon in the middle of the Loch. A good spread down the line with the fleet sailing down to the port hand lay line. The front 6 boats all converged on the mark together but the front few found the wind died and trying to keep momentum was di ffi cult. Ross Watson found himself on starboard and the wind shifts going back and forth took an unexpected swim as a boat under him tacked onto port leaving him nowhere to go. Callum was round first, closely followed by Keith Milroy Ian and Stuart. By the leeward mark Keith rounded first but places changed all the way up the beat. Ian worked the shifts best and got himself into the lead on the third lap and with Stuart and Callum fighting it out for second and third. Behind, Alistair Stevenson, Charlie and Ross had slowly worked their way back up through the fleet, and this is how it remained after the four laps. Race three with the wind still very shifty but probably getting stronger, the fleet went into the last race with Stuart and Ian on equal points and Callum strong in third overall. Ian got away cleanly at the start and rounded the top mark with Cullum Alistair and Keith close behind. Ian extended on the two reaches whilst behind places changed with first Callum taking a quick swim allowing Charlie and Keith through before Keith fell into windward in a big gust. This meant Ian and Alistair taking first and second comfortably and Charlie just managing to hold o ff a fast finishing Callum for third. Several sailors had had a capsize at some point during the event with Iain Morton at his first Solo event also having his first capsizes in a solo.
The prize-giving saw the top three receiving new HD sails bobble hats along with Cairngorm brewery bottles of beer and Iain, the Bardowie Quaich, as winner. Ian thanked the club and all the volunteers for all their hard work to put on a fantastic first event of the year with some fantastic close fun racing.
Photo credit: D Whyte
Photo credit: Charlie Bracknell Callum Gibb, Ian Baillie and Stuart Gibson
Q5 Prestwick July 25
Western Area 2026 Report
After the conclusion of the 2025 Western Series sponsored by P&B and Dinghy Shack, we now look forward to another year of racing. Mike Dray was crowned the 2025 Western Series Champion following his superb performance at Salcombe, a venue he had never sailed before. The 2026 P&B Solo Western Series continues to be sponsored by P&B following their great support through 2025. With them also sponsoring the P&B Solo Nationals at Royal Torbay YC, also in our area, and the Southern Series. It is great to have a company that provides so much support to our class including presenting a Solo, my 6139, at the Dinghy Show this year which got huge attention. Our goal is to try and get more travelling this year and as part of that we have stopped the double headers, i.e. 2 local events on the same weekend, following the results of a small survey. Hopefully this will help, however we do encourage more of our regular sailors to travel to other events in the region to help out their fellow clubs, and support the series, but we also appreciate that last year was heavily a ff ected by the wind resulting in Starcross and South Cerney being cancelled and Torpoint and Porthpean being very windy events. At the time of writing this article the P&B Solo Western Series should have started at Torpoint Mosquito SC on 11 th April and we could have lovely photos and results, however, with the wind at 25kts+ and gusting well up in the 30kts+ range we had to make the sad decision to cancel the event. However, Steve Roberts has worked hard to reschedule the event for Saturday 22 nd August shared with the Phantom’s and with their Regatta on the Sunday you can stay on for a 2 nd days racing. The weather also resulted in the Porthpean open being removed from our calendar as the storms earlier this year took out their concrete slipway to the beach and all are awaiting the local council replacing it with no certainty of when. The Western Series will now o ffi cially kick o ff at Dittisham on 10 th May, a fantastic, picturesque venue and very welcoming club. This is followed by our first visit to a new venue for the Solos at Llandegfedd, near Usk, for the P&B Welsh Solo Champs on 23/24 May. A new venue so worthy of being well attended. Then the P&B Western Champs at Chew Valley on 20/21 June, preceded by a NSCA Training Day with Olly Davenport on the 19 th June. The full list of events is on the modified P&B Western Area poster and in the NSCA website calendar just waiting for you to put them in your calendars. The series culminates with the South Cerney Open and our Western EoS on 31 st October with events scheduled for every month, so nicely spread out. We look forward to seeing you at our events this year. Vernon Perkins – Western Area Rep
Please note, P&B have increased the discount they are giving to NSCA Members to 10%. Members can get the code from the NSCA Website, another good reason to make sure your
Northern Series 2026 Burwain Open Meeting
Ten Solos turned up to Burwain on a bright sunny day. The winds were light and variable from the NW which built and switched around as the clouds passed by. The small but competitive fleet got away first time from the tight start line. Closely packed at the first mark led by Martin Honnor from Ogston SC. There were regular place changes behind but Honnor fought o ff all challenges to take first place followed by Andy Carter and Steve Denison. Competitors enjoyed a bolognaise pasta lunch and cake. The second race started, finding Andy Carter over the line and having to restart. Places changed often in the testy conditions, Carter returning to the battlefield at the front quite quickly and sailing well to win from Denison 2nd and Honnor 3rd. Competition down the fleet also intense with locals Innes Armstrong and Stephen Graham pushing to be leading home boat. Also Budworth sailors Ted Garner and Graham Ellis finishing close. No one wanted to be last! The 3rd race followed on back to back. Stephen Graham won the pin end continuing on starboard towards the lay line along with Honnor. A fortunate header at just the right time for them seeing them tack to cross the rest towards the first mark. Honnor with better boat speed took the lead but a little local knowledge so Graham past him to round first. Honnor now in 2nd knew he just needed to hold Carter o ff to take the event. Graham managed to retain his lead to win, Ed Grey from Royal Windermere pushing hard for a good 3rd place with Honnor 2nd and winning the event. The battle at the tail end so Justine Davenport and a good final race in 7th putting her ahead of Stephen Restak from Delph. Graham's race win giving him 3rd overall from Carter 2nd overall. It was a jolly crowd in the bar afterwards. Martin Honnor gave a speech of thanks to the organisers.
2026 SOLO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP INVITE
Royal Torbay Yacht Club August 6-9th Registration on the 5th
Solo National Championship sponsored by P&B, at Royal Torbay, 5th-9th August. Entry for this years Solo National Championship, sponsored by P&B, is now formally open. Registration and measurement checks will start on the 5th August with 4 days of racing taking place on the 6th through to the 9th. Entry includes Commodores' Reception, class meal, event t-shirt, along with support from our title championship sponsors, P&B. As many of you know, Royal Torbay YC is one of the countries premier championship hosts, with boat berthing along the harbour wall leading to the challenge of the English Riviera waters that o ff er a range of conditions to test the fleet. Full details and online entry can be found here... https://rtyc.org/event/ solo-nationals/ Speaking to sailors during the Dinghy Show it sounds like we will have a very keen and competitive fleet. Current pre-entries stand at 33 with multiple Champion Charlie Cumbley the most prominent name so far. Below: Cumbley crosses ahead of Brenda Hoult at the 2017 National Championship.
Venue Tips by Jim Saltonstall (accreditation to Sailjuice for this article). Torbay is a large bay, facing east and situated on the English Riviera. It is one of the most popular venues for major yachting events in Great Britain. The venue is serviced by three clubs: Royal Torbay Yacht Club to the north; Paignton Sailing Club in the middle; and Brixham Yacht Club to the south. All three clubs have an excellent reputation for hosting major events. They o ff er first class hospitality, a friendly atmosphere and a professional approach to the running of big events, both ashore and afloat. But book early to save disappointment, as it is a very popular venue. Race Areas The three race areas could operate easily at any one time: north, middle and south in the bay. However, if there is just the one major event going on at one of the clubs, then they normally plum for the middle of the bay, or the area nearest to the club hosting the event. North Race Area Wind Direction 330-040 degrees: 'Orrible direction for Torbay, with the wind coming over the top of a high land mass to the north it is all over the place. This is both a competitor’s and a race committee’s nightmare. Should you have to race in this wind direction, don’t forget to take the prayer book with you! The wind shifts over a wide arc - perhaps 80 degrees. Worse, the wind is very gusty as it comes over the top of the hill. Normally, the race committee will not race you here. They will take the fleet further to the south or east, away from the land for cleaner wind. 040-090 degrees: A clearer direction for the wind and also for the sea. The wind coming anywhere from the eastern sector will give you the roughest sea state, with big waves and swell having gathered momentum along the English Channel. It normally pays to go left up the beat for the wind, as there is more velocity on the left, as well as the header on starboard tack as you go in towards the shore, with lifts as you come out on port tack. 090-140 degrees: This is the clearest sector for the wind, whilst racing in the northern circle in the bay. The wind now tends to be more stable in both direction and velocity. So the tidal scenario will play more of a role in the decision making process, which we will address later. 140-270 degrees: We are once again land locked and back into the shifts mode, however, even this sector for the wind can be broken down into smaller sectors: 140-220 degrees: In this sector, the wind is not too bad in terms of direction and velocity, as you are quite some distance away from any high and mass. The shifts are over a narrow arc - 10 degrees, with not too much change in velocity. Know your numbers on the compass, highs and lows, as on starboard tack with the wind in this direction, there is no land for reference. 220-270 degrees: Use the shifts left-of-middle, where you will find more velocity in the wind. If you get too far over to the right too early, you will find less wind on that side of the course.
270 degrees: In the northern circle with the mean wind at 270 degrees, it once again pays to work the shifts left-of-middle, because of the divergence - a lighter wind band along the northern shore line. 270-330 degrees: With the wind now in the north-west sector coming over relatively high ground, it’s back into the shifty/gusty mode. Once again, know when you are high and low on either tack, and keep your eyes more out of the boat, looking for the gusts and shifts. Middle Racing Area Normally positioned due east of Paignton, this race track is the furthest from the land to the north and south. Wind Direction 330-040 degrees: From this sector, the wind is still in the shifty mode. So use the shifts, but work the course left-of-middle, looking for the increase in wind in the convergent band to the left. In the top left hand corner of the course, you may find a lift on port tack, on or near the port layline, so be careful not to overstand the mark. 040-140 degrees: This is the clearest direction for the wind and the roughest for the sea state. We have raced in some big waves and swells when the wind is in the eastern sector - exciting stu ff ! The wind is at its most stable in both direction and strength, no great gains either side of the course, tide may be a factor now, which we will look at later. 140-180 degrees: Facing the wind direction, we now have the land mass on our starboard side. If you get close enough to it, there is less wind, so you will need to be working the beat middle and left, for more wind. 180-240 degrees: Shifts again with the wind in the south-to-south-west sector, with the land mass now predominantly on the starboard side. Once again we should be working the shifts middle-to-left for more wind, staying away from the divergence wind band on the right side of the course. 240-330 degrees: Shifts again, watching for high and low numbers on the compass. The shifts are more frequent and over a wider arc as you get closer to the shore. Also, keep in mind that as you get closer to the shore, if the windward mark is within half a mile of it, the first shift of wind as it blows from land to sea is to the right, so look for more lifts on Wind Direction 330-020 degrees: Small shifts, coming o ff the northern shore, but small and not that frequent. Do not tack on them unless they are large enough to gain an advantage in the design of boat that you are in. 020-120 degrees: If the wind is a north-easterly, this is a rough part of the bay with the backwash of waves coming back at you from the south- west corner. This is the clear wind sector with the wind at its most stable in both direction and strength. 090-140 degrees: Once again, we now have the land mass on the starboard side of the course. That is the divergence side for the wind, there’s less wind on the right, so work the beat middle-to-left to stay in more pressure. port tack when you close with the land. South Race Area (North of Brixham)
140-240 degrees: This is back to the shifts o ff the shore scenario, the numbers game on the compass, heads out of the boat looking for the shifts and gusts. We need to know which is the lifting tack out of the starting area, and the same thing at the beginning of subsequent beats. Don't forget that as you approach the windward mark area, there may well be more lifts on port tack if the windward mark is within half a mile of the shore. 240-270 degrees: We are still in a shifty sector for the wind. However, the land mass is not only ahead of us to the west, it is also to the left and south of us, creating a convergence area of wind. We should be working the shifts on the left side of the course (looking upwind) in more pressure. And looking for the header as you go in on starboard tack towards the shore, with lifts on port as you come out. 270-330 degrees: A similar scenario to the above. Shifts, with more pressure on the left side of the course upwind. There should be lifts on port tack over on the port layline for the windward mark. Sea Breeze The signs for a sea breeze in Torbay are little or no gradient wind, clear blue sky in the early morning, with a light, western sector wind. As the and heats up, and the cumulus clouds develop, the sea breeze normally comes in from 160 degrees (ish). Then backs slightly as it fills in. It then follows the sun in the afternoon, ending up at around 240 degrees (ish) in the evening. In the afternoon, protect the starboard side of the course! Tide The main flood stream flows from south to north across the face of Torbay, and the ebb from north to south. In the bay, the flood tide may have a clockwise rotation, with a back eddy anticlockwise along the northern shore. During the ebb, there maybe an anticlockwise rotation around the bay, with a clockwise back eddy along the southern shore of the bay. All this being more so during spring tides, as there is not much movement during neaps.
Roy Barnes was one of those guys who was ever-present at many of the Solo events in the eighties and nineties, father of Mike who was our Magazine Editor before becoming NSCA President, Roy was full of enthusiasm and support for the fleet, his cheerful and no-nonsense pragmatic approach was reflected in Mike’s own persona and these qualities ensured the class flourished. Therefore, we all owe him many thanks. Mike scattered his father’s ashes into Hayling Bay at the Spring Champs, on the start line and just prior to the first race on Sunday morning with the wind blowing a nice force 3 and the Sun high in the sky, a perfect finale to the great man’s life. Will Loy. ROY SIDNEY BARNES Some words from Mike. Dad was born in Poole in Dorset on 31 st December, 1926, to Priscila (Nee Le Rossignal, unfortunately not the Sports brand) and Henry Barnes. Priscila’s family were from Guernsey but can be traced back to the 1600s in France. Dad went to school in Poole, joined the Sea Scouts and was sailing on Poole Park Lake at 5 years old. He then went on to Poole Grammer School. On leaving School he went to work at the Bournemouth Echo, before being called up as an O ffi cer Cadet. Whilst at the Bournemouth Echo he met my Mum. She was singularly unimpressed initially. However Dad’s persistence, a quality he possessed in spades, (or maybe hearts in this case) was rewarded, and the romance started. Dad went on to graduate from Sandhurst as a Captain and joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers where he narrowly missed being posted to Burma by a month and instead ended up in a rather elegant Schloss in Austria keeping the resistance at bay. Living in Parkstone in Poole, Dorset, Dad left the army and joined the Fire Service. In October 1948, I arrived, my deceased brother, Christopher, followed in September 1950 and Michael in Jan 1952. My poor Mum, 37 months between us and all under 3 ¼ . Fireman’s pay was not great, especially with all those little mouths to feed, so Dad supplemented his income by painting and decorating, skills he used to good e ff ect throughout his life. Dad began to do well in the Fire Service was deeply ambitious, highly competitive and regularly promoted. This resulted in a semi-nomadic life as we moved from Poole to Highworth near Swindon, Swindon to Bristol, Bristol to Aldershot, Aldershot to Winchester, Winchester to Chichester, and Chichester to Brentwood in Essex, 8 di ff erent places in fourteen years! He was what these days, you would call “fast tracked”. He retired at age 55 as Chief Fire O ffi cer of Essex, the second biggest risk Brigade behind Greater London, turning down the o ff er of becoming Chief Fire O ffi cer of Greater London, to buy an elegant Gift Shop in Rye in Sussex with my Mum. It was here that Dad really got back into dinghy sailing, particularly A Tribute to the Late Roy Barnes
Solos. He purchased a Seamark Nunn Solo which he took to the Championships but was told by Ron Green that it didn’t measure to which my father replied “I paid for a Solo who do I sue” a dispensation was rapidly granted!! But in 1986, disaster struck when my Mum lost her life to cancer. My Dad was devastated. He idolised my Mum. He never fully recovered from that loss. However, Dad pulled himself together, sold the shop and moved to Hayling Island with a big, vibrant Solo fleet providing accommodation and Gin to many attendees as Solo open meetings. Having been told that a Lovett was required to go fast he purchased 3252,a boat which I never could persuade him to lend me (indeed I never sailed it) but he did lend it to Geo ff Carveth who won the Championships in it. He then moved on to a Becket 3637 until retiring from sailing and buying a series of ever bigger cruisers with which he would follow the fleet at Championships. Dad spent longer in retirement than he did at work. In the past 12 yearsmy kids provided him with 5 great grand children, Freddie, twins Jack and Seb, Bertie and last but by no means least, a girl, Willa. He was very proud of them all. He loved his life on Hayling Island. He thought that it had the best of everything. RIP Dad.
Midland Series 2026 Sponsored by Allen and CB coverstore
70th Anniversary
Q1 Sat 07 March Winter Champs Northampton Midlands & Big Lakes Q2 Sat 21 March Staunton Harold SC Q3 Sat 28 March Carsington S.C. Midlands & Big Lakes series Q4 Sat 11 April Draycote SC Midlands Big lakes series Q5 Sat 18 April Barnt Green SC - Midlands Q6 Sat 16 May South Staffs SC
Q7 Sat 13 June Shustoke SC Q8 Sat 27 Jun West Oxford Q9 Sat 12 September Notts County SC
Q10 Sat 26 September The Chase SC - Midlands Q11 Sat 24 October rutland-Midland Area champs Big lakes series
Jonathan Swain crosses ahead of Brenda Hoult at the Spring Championship, HISC
B RIG UPDATE Will Loy
I have to be honest and report that I have hardly sailed over the Winter months and if fact there was little opportunity to test the B Rig with winds cancelling racing or no wind at all. One of the members at my club , Joddy Chapman opted to swap his standard rig with my cut down mast and boom, there forecast promising fresh to strong winds in the region of 30 mph but instead he launched into a light easterly of no more than 4 mph and it only increased marginally over the next two hours. “ Many thanks for the opportunity to try the small Solo rig. I thought I should share some observations and thoughts: 1. It was an unfair test! 2. Once I got somewhere where there was some wind, towards the end of the race, I found the boat was well balanced and well behaved. Gybing was less stressful on both me and the boat. Upwind it was much easier for my 60kg mass to hold the boat flat - not withstanding the shifts and lulls which want to tip me in to windward. 3. My impression was that the sail was very flat. I could make it flatter but I didn't feel i could put much draught into it. 4. Sailing in company with other boats or if proper racing it could benefit from a window. 5. I guess a smaller sail is always going to loose out in variable winds, but if the intention is to encourage novices to venture out on days when they otherwise would not I think it can work. 7. I think you'll need to test it somewhere with a much steadier wind and more experienced sailors to really find out if the top part of the mast is flexing as it should and so on. Anyway, it was fun to try on a day when i may well have chickened out and stayed at home, so to that end it was a success.”
Jon Clarke at Edge Sails had re-cut a donor sail, I believe it was a North SM8 and I asked him to increase the leech by 100 cms from that set out in our current rules, I wanted the sail to provide some power lower down and still look ascetically pleasing. I had reduced the mast length by 75 cms, lobbing it o ff the bottom of course and re- positioning all associated fittings, shortening rigging lengths by a similar amount. I also chopped 20 cms o ff the outer end of the boom, this historically hits the water in a gybe and trips you up though a legal lifter is now available as an option of course. There were weight savings to be had and the mast was 1 kilo lighter which is a benefit, the advantage of boom length more noticeable when you hit your head on it. Overall, the general feeling was that the rig looked easier on the eye than the current set-up with a B Plan sail rigged on a standard set of spars. The sail, as Joddy reported, would certainly benefit from a window though to be fair, when I sailed it I had my eyes shut much of the time, having not sailed for nearly two years.
My own experience was based on a long distance race towards Stoke Gabrial which is further up the river Dart and we started with a 35 minute reach and run down to a bottom mark with multiple gybes but not exactly testing in a force 2. I rounded the mark and hardened up just as a sea breeze hit the fleet and ordinarily I would have relished this turn of events but the Solo seemed very underpowered. In hindsight, would did I expect! The fleet drew away from me and even those who I would have considered to be overpowered were very competent, pulling their control lines accordingly to de-power before changing back down a gear as the wind softened. Meanwhile my Solo felt very unbalanced and obviously being well overweight did nothing to help, the sail not providing much grunt and it would need to disperse a lot of water to push me through the short chop that was quickly building.
Anne Marie Coyle opted to put up the B Plan sail but the wind did not get above 5 mph.
There were some other factors which made the voyage unpleasant, my rudder was lifting slightly and I crushed my tiller extension so maybe my judgement is unfair. I would suggest the biggest issue Joddy and I faced was the dilemma of knowing which rig to use, the fa ff of swapping rigs time consuming and ultimately wrong on both occasions.
In Conclusion I would say that the biggest problem with a B Rig is that you have to make an early decision as to whether you use it or not, it can take 20 minutes to change and if the forecast is inaccurate you will be very underpowered. In my experience the shorter mast and therefore gust properties were undetectable as the rig was too busy trying to generate enough power to push the heavy hull through the water. I would suggest that the ILCA and AERO both have vastly lighter hull weights so the smaller rigs can still operate e ffi ciently. Having witnessed some of the club sailors master the blustery conditions with a standard rig I would conclude that the control systems we have are readily able to de-power through rig while still providing enough horse power to push the hull forward. While I would not recommend a B Rig, the B Plan sail is still a viable option though learning to utilise the current controls on a standard rig will provide a more balanced ride. Thanks to Jon Clarke at Edge Sails for donating the sail and his time and to Spoons at Stoke Gabriel who donated the mast.
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