Solution Open at Seafarers Sailing Club

11 Solutions for the Seafarers SC open © Solution Class

11 Solutions made their way to Seafarers Sailing club from clubs as far a field as Ripon and Delph (Bolton) to enjoy a warm welcome and perfect sailing conditions. The Race Officer accurately predicted the general wind direction, despite significant swings early in the morning, setting a classic triangle and sausage course.

Race 1 was dominated by Simon Maskell (Hunts) pursued by (Andy McKee Hunts) who, after initially being disadvantaged by making a decision to head too far inshore after the start, soon used his superior boat speed to pass most of the rest of us and then follow closely behind Simon Maskell together with the one of the designers Kevin Clark sailing in his home waters.

Behind this group the positions changed a few times with Peter Thomas (Lyme Regis) eventually taking the lead from Patrick Manning (Delph) who was cruelly dunked by a sudden gust at the gybe mark.

Race 1 was sailed in winds of 9 to 10 knots but the wind steadily increased to 12 or 13 knots by race 3. The early planing characteristics of these very light but powerful boats meant that the reaches were fast from the start, and just got better and better as the day progressed.

The talented two from Hunts plus Kevin Clark again dominated race 2 but this time the stronger winds disadvantaged the less well ballasted Simon Maskell who finished third behind Kevin Clark (second) and Andy McKee (first). Peter Thomas was again in fourth position for most of this race but was challenged hard throughout by Ted Cordall (Bosham) who just managed to cross the line a few feet in front.

The starts of all three races were very competitive but incident free (apart from 1 OCS), with no consistently clear leaders appearing until well into the first lap. The first beat of race 3 followed this pattern with a large group rounding the windward mark together. The Hunts team then demonstrated their skill in using the gusts to sail low and, as a result managed to pass most of this group on the first reach but this time John Taylor (Bartley) held on to second position behind Andy McKee for the first two laps to be overtaken eventually by Kevin Clark and Simon Maskell. Peter Thomas took fifth position followed by Ted Cordall and Patrick Manning.

The fleet in the first race was well spread out but by the third race the gaps had narrowed considerably which suggests that the event, apart from being great fun, also helped disseminate the techniques being developed for sailing this new but rapidly growing class.

Overall Results: