National Solo End of Season Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Dave Mitchell powering upwind during the Solo End of Season Championship at Grafham © Will Loy

Olly Wells working hard during the Solo End of Season Championship at Grafham © Will Loy

Event and Super Series Winner Charlie Cumbley during the Solo End of Season Championship at Grafham © Will Loy

Sixty Solos journeyed to the popular venue of Graham Water to contest the final event of the Season and with it the conclusion to the Super Series, sponsored generously with a new sail from North Sails. The sail was also joined by some absolutely stonking prizes from Rooster Sailing, Harken and C2 Marine.

These would be given away at the prize giving draw but firstly we had some business to attend to on the water and with a steady 13-18 knots, temperatures akin to Florida and only 30% cloud cover, the sailors were more than ready for action.

Race 1

PRO Peter Saxton set a three great start lines for all three races and was rewarded with three clean starts. The majority of the fleet headed towards the left from the pin end while others elected to throw the dice and hope for some favourable wind shifts. Half way up the 1100 metre beat reigning National Champion Charlie Cumbley, who needed a top two result to pip Andy Davis for the Super Series title was in a controlling position. So, with the wind holding at Andy Fox hiking conditions (everyone else was out on their toenails) it was Cumbley with a slim lead over recently retired and looking for a new exciting role (nudge nudge) Big Dave Mitchell. Third around was Andy Davis with Mike Sims, Olly Wells and Martin Frary completing a talented top six. The PRO opted to use a sausage triangle course with the hope that this would compress the fleet. Davis had broken through Mitchell by the wing mark, gusts were fickle in their choice, some gaining and some losing but with on water jury Steve Watson on the scene, at least the racing was fair.

Cumbley and Davis continued in a personal battle with Sims moving into third but unfortunately not close enough to worry or influence the leaders. Davis seemed to be pointing higher but Cumbley was footing off and hooking into the next shift slightly earlier. The fleet completed the triangle and Cumbley had stretched out to a comfortable lead with Davis and Sims in a holding pattern and it stayed this way for the remainder of the race. Wells, Frary and Chris Mayhew sailing his John Poulson wood/frp/wood Solo was a creditable sixth.

Race 2

The clean start and with the wind increasing as the nearby cloud compressed the breeze, gold and silver sails glistened like Cartier as the fleet powered up the course. There was some left in the main shifts and Dave Mitchell who, when fully hiked is something to see, rounded first with Martin Honnor second and Doug Latta, sailing Solo 6000 third and loving it. I wonder what Patrick Burns was thinking who had sold her only a few months earlier? Cumbley and first beat maestro Robert Laurie completed the top five while behind the fleet merged from left and right in a reasonably orderly fashion. One casualty who had not even made the top mark was Ewan Birkin Walls who suffered equipment failure, well, the boat is 5 months old!

Stunning conditions for the Solo End of Season Championship at Grafham - photo © Will Loy

As the fleet tore down the first reach (the PRO had set an altered course to Triangle Sausage (TS) Martin Honnor was seen making his way back to round the spreader mark which must have been more painful than the ache in his quadriceps. This error handed second to Doug and with Davis pulling himself ahead of Cumbley by the wing mark, there was still all to play for in the event and the overall series. At the bottom mark and the leaders all chose the left hand gate with Mitchell, Latta, Cumbley and Davis in close proximity.

Latta took the lead up the second arduous beat, his heart beating louder than a soho nightclub at 5am and was still hanging on by the skin of his teeth at the leeward mark but Cumbley and Mitchell are not big on quitting early and had other plans for the Southern based competitor as they slogged once more into the very eye of the breeze. by the top Latta had slipped to third and eventually succumbed to Davis and Vince Horey by the gun. Nonetheless, a fantastic sight to see Solo 6000 at the pointy end of the fleet!

Doug Latta in Solo 6000 during the End of Season Championship at Grafham - photo © Will Loy

Race 3

My report for race three is somewhat short due to my need to assist with setting up the prize giving. So, in a nutshell, the wind was holding at 13-17 knots with some more cloud cover but that did nothing but add to the drama. Chris Brown and all the main players had started at the pin end, Horey in the box seat but Brown judged the laymen in perfectly to round first from Cumbley with Sims and Wells completing the top four. Cumbley laid the event and the series to rest by the leeward mark, taking the lead and eventually the bullet after the PRO had shortened the course at the windward mark. You can all thank Dave Mitchell for that extra beat! Brown held on for second from Wells who completed his season with a third overall and, having chosen the Solo EOS over the Endeavour Trophy courtesy of a medical note saying he could only play for one day, he was suitably chuffed. Sims finished on the same points but his reverse score gave Wells the nod but will hopefully be hungry for some revenge in 2018. Just don't play football two days before an event Mike. Big Dave Mitchell completed the top five and was also first Veteran. Godfrey Clark was first Grand Master and one place overall behind first Septimus, John Webster.

So, with the EOS overall results done and dusted it was a quick count up of the Super Series and to keep things short it was Charlie Cumbley who with four wins pipped Andy Davis to the title he has held since the series inception in 2015.

In a fittingly ironic twist, Andy Davis won first prize in the Super Series draw and received, to the delight of all, a brand new North sail. No doubt Jim Hunt, joint CEO of HD Sails may be wetting his HD Gold Maxx pants with laughter but someone is going to get a great deal on a secondhand, never used sail soon!

There were further prizes for many of the qualifiers thanks to the generosity of Rooster Sailing, Harken and C2 Marine. Thanks to all our sponsors, thanks to Noble Marine for another year of guaranteed dinghy insurance cover and to Peter Saxton and the whole team at Graham Water who made this a very enjoyable event for 60 sailors.

Thanks to our "on water " Judge, Steve Watson. Full Super Series results will be published soon.

Please visit our new website in a few weeks time to see how we rock, that is legally as we have the 'on water jury'.

See you on the water in 2018.

Overall Results: