The Solo

As to where you should be in a solo, I've never sailed one am in no position to comment but will anyway, looking at it I would think you need to be ahead of that traveller thing in that front bit, certainly nowhere near those foot slot things they give you to hook your plates of meat in. I'm fairly sure Solo man down the lake was right up front, I rarely actually got to watch him, if you look back you're dead in stuff like that, just heard and reacted to his constant calls for water at marks then couldn't see him because he was behind my sail as I tried to shut off his air supply.

Edited by iGRF - 04 Dec 13 at 10:25am

Position in the boat is critical in the solo, especially (not being rude Jimbo) at your weight.  Too far forward and the bow will dig and you will be dog slow, to far back and you will see the wash through the transom flaps.  Its a fine art to find the right position, i keep an eye on the transom and listen to the noise off the bow.  i found one leg in front and one behind the traveller worked for me at 92-95kg (at the time)  I wouldnt want to be any heavier in a Solo really as i think it would be a struggle to sit anywhere correctly

Like most boats, I'd think the lighter you are, the further forward the optimum sitting position in light winds becomes. GRF would be able to sit on the foredeck, weighing as he does about the same as one of Santa's Elfs.

Just imagine what he would be like in an EPS...

Well now I've sailed one and did I ever pay the price, sit down get the popcorn and listen up...

So today the forecast was for 18-25 down here, but it had been moderating over night, however calm as the lake appeared, I helmeted up and rigged the EPS for wind (which means the full batten sail it came with) there had been a strange air when I got there, the undead were all eyeing me quizzically and I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong and then Uncle Bob accosted me 'do you want to sail a Solo ?' it wasn't a question, Uncle Bob has pretty much run the lake since the dawn of time if he speaks to you (which is rare) you just wait to see how high you're going to need to jump.
So & So (I'm having memory problems, the dementia set in fairly soon after I got in the boat, but more of that later)has bought his sails down, I'd forgotten showing a passing interest and since he'd accosted me as I was examining the underside of Solo mans bottom to see what made it so fast last week there was nowhere to hide so the beast was duly unwrapped and prepared.
It's a long enough tale this so cut short my watch had given up the ghost, flat battery so I'd got this swinging thing round my neck annoying me every time I tried to tack, the wind at this stage was drifty like last week, I managed to manoeuvre into a good start even got to the first mark first, but as we began the run the all carbon Miracle broke out its kites and a Rooster Laser followed shortly after by just about everyone else as the wind filled in from behind pushed me back to third which I managed to hold for the first lap Solo man had been amongst the catch up gust and we traded places as the wind steadily increased.
Not an exciting boat, very matter of fact but with things in the way, I found myself sat astride the middle bit just by the thwart with the dusty old traveller which looked like it had never been moved in a hundred years. Pulling the ropes was a bit weird as well, it's got some kind of sixties offset cam lock devices you engage and disengage by sliding the rope in and out from the side. The main sheet jammer er didn't, so my technique of tacking which when it's in this position is not unlike the Alto, is to drop the sheet into the cleat whilst I switch hands, that wasn't happening the way it should so my tacks sucked. Offwind it has that elastic doo dah which should help prevent what happened next, which was a massive shift and crash gybe that slammed the side of my head so hard it knocked my helmet clean off virtually stunning me, then the centreboard which off wind seemed to have a mind of it's own had unbeknown to me come right up, the first I realised was lee helm then the whole thing just span and hardened up sending me careering across the middle of the lake, having re-acquired control, I gybed and came in to the lee mark on the other tack, but in the surreal mists of pain and panic nothing seemed to be working right and being in a totally strange place in time and space, I then noticed a spider.
It wasn't panicking nor did it seem to be ready to abandon ship just yet and after another lap, I kind of got back into some form of control, still swapping tacks with Solo man, but Mildred the new epoxy go fast Solo had gained thanks to my sudden swerving off back upwind when we should have been going down.
Down the next run, the Spider set about building a web in the lowers as I contemplated how I'd degenerated into this place, here I was trading tacks with the undead in an old wooden coffin built God knows how long ago (its 31 something)with a Spider for company and then to cap it all my reverie got disturbed by even more bad news, I got overtaken by a bloody Steaker how did that happen?

Got them all back round the next mark with an inside overlap and re-established myself as lead Solo. At least I seamed to be able to more than match them upwind, even when the gusts hit, it hasn't got any hiking straps, but I stuck my feet in those hole things cut in the wood and it was surprisingly easy, then it all went wrong on the next downwind bit, another crash gybe from an unexpected shift this time Solo man had gotten ahead he also span out to the wrong side, I managed to get the boat gybed round and hardened up to take the mark the right side, then Crash! A bloody Splash rammed me amidships, unbeknown to me at the time opening up a nasty gash in the wood, (another reason to hate wood, that wouldn't have happened to epoxy) no question he was in the wrong or anything but when those big gusts hit who is ever absolutely in control, but I wasn't and had another mare to sort myself out of.

At the end of the day the Streaker and the Epoxy Solo nailed me but I had the slight satisfaction of holding off Solo man so not a complete disaster given how strange a device it is and with all it's irritations, so what do I think? I can see why it's so popular, if i can just jump into it and race in quite tricky conditions and lets face it, I'm not exactly super helm, had that been the EPS I would have almost certainly swam at some point and I never felt worried that that might have occurred, indeed I had a couple of moments when I thought to myself, 'nice move'.

But, I'm now so screwed because I've buggered his boat, so now naturally feel obliged to buy the bloody thing, the other guy offered his insurance to effect a repair, but do I really want it, no. Would I have a newer one? Maybe, did I enjoy racing like for like no, all that entails is Solo man banging on a cover the moment he gets a chance and me having to sail in the wrong places behind Starboard boats to get him off me, I hate all that crap and I've got the headache from hell from mild concussion to boot.

So I get to put it down to another experience, I need to work out how much they're worth it seems a lot of money 800 quid for an old minger and never a lender nor borrower be in the future but the way things are looking unless i can sweet talk my way out of it, I'm going to end up owning the one thing i hate the most..

Poetic justice I hear y'all whale in laughter...

Edited by iGRF - 08 Dec 13 at 5:50pm