Solo Eastern and Southern Traveller Series at Broadwater Sailing Club

33 Solos lined up at Broadwater Sailing Club for the first Solo Open Meeting in 2015 qualifying for the Eastern and Southern Traveller Series. There were 24 visitors, some of whom had travelled a long way to sail on the Broadwater Lake with its shifty winds, plus 7 sailors from the home club.

The morning was sunny with a force 2 to 3 wind blowing from the south west and, with rain not forecast until the afternoon, it looked like there was to be a good morning of sailing ahead. The first two races were sailed back to back with each race lasting for about 40 to 45 minutes. The first race got off to a good start with the deceptively well behaved fleet lining up for a perfect start. The lead was taken by Mark Maskell (Solo 5010), followed by Vince Horey (Solo 5475). They maintained these positions throughout the race, with Vince finally winning in imperious style. Godfrey Clarke (Solo 5540) moved up from 8th at the end of the first lap to finish 3rd. The start of the second race was less disciplined with more than 10 boats over the line and a restart was necessary. It was Vince Horey's turn to lead throughout the race, followed by Tim Lewis (Solo 5168). Mark Maskell finished in 3rd place having worked himself up from 5th place at the end of lap 1.

A delicious lunch of lasagne was enjoyed by all the visitors, sailors and helpers. Back on the water, the disorderly start of the third race meant another general recall. Vince Horey led throughout the race, Alan Bishop (Solo 5497) moved up to 2nd place while Mark Maskell came in 3rd. The fourth race was held back to back with 24 of the 33 boats sailed. With 30 seconds to go to the start, it was obvious that there was going to have to be another general recall as more than 10 boats had already crossed the line. The second attempt at starting was no better! The fleet had already been warned that should a third start be necessary, any boat over the line in the final minute before the start would be disqualified. Unfortunately Godfrey Clark crossed the line during this time period and was disqualified. Finally, with the race underway, the wind died slightly and positions changed among the lead boats with final positions being Mark Maskell 1st, Vince Horey 2nd and Ewan Birkin-Walls 3rd (Solo 5545).

The overall Open Meeting winner was Vince Horey (Solo 5475) and he thanked Broadwater SC for arranging a successful event and commented on the excellent lunch. Thank you to all our visitors for making the journey to Broadwater and for making the event so successful.

Overall Results: