Solution National Championships at Tynemouth Sailing Club - Preview
by Kathryn Hayfield 12 Jul 2014 08:24 BST
19-20 July 2014
Solutions during the Ovington Inlands © Thom Touw /
www.thomtouw.com
The 2014 Solution Nationals will soon be upon us, taking place on 19/20 July at Tynemouth SC and generously sponsored by Harken. Tynemouth Sailing Club is no stranger to running Championship regattas having previously hosted the Enterprise World Championships and the International 14 Prince of Wales Cup. Tynemouth and the adjacent South Shields SC have a quickly growing Solution fleet with 5 boats now based at these 2 clubs. The host club has just re-opened after a £140,000 refurbishment so we're looking forward to being the first event in the new facilities.
The Solution class is looking forward to its first trip to the north east for a National Championship and it's quite fitting that every Solution built is hand made in the Ovington Boats factory under half a mile from the start line!
There is a training day scheduled for Friday 18 July starting at 1300 – which is free to all class association members and run by the 2012 National Champion Nathan Batchelor. Racing starts at 1400 on Saturday 19 July outside the piers on the North Sea – just off the nationally renowned Tynemouth Longsands surf beach.
There is still time to enter this exciting event – and it looks like it could be anyone's event with the 2013 National Champion unable to make it (although we've got the trophies back!). The Solution Inlands this year at Bala were a great success and we hope to see this replicated for the annual National Championships.
The Solution is a hiking single hander designed to provide exciting but manageable sailing for all sailors in the 65 to 85kg weight range. The boat was conceived by Kevin Clark and Andrew Elliott for sailors who were too light for a Phantom or a Finn but wanted more performance than that offered by some traditional classes. A light weight epoxy hull and a semi battened 8.5sqm laminate sail make the boat an offwind flyer. The Solution is hand built in the UK by Ovington Boats, if you would like a test sail contact Nathan Batchelor