British Soling Championships at Lochaber Yacht Club
by Iain Loudon 21 Jul 2010 16:16 BST
17-18 July 2010
British Soling Championships at Fort William © Iain Loudon
Gary Richardson travels from Australia to win the British Soling National Championships
The British Soling Championships were sailed at Lochaber Yacht Club, Fort William, on July 17th-18th.
LYC has had a Soling fleet for many years. These 27' keelboats are sailed by three people and offer excellent class racing. There is always some piece of string to pull - the boats were designed for the Olympics and everything is adjustable. There are not many boats where the mast rake changes by twenty degrees at the weather mark; and that means that you have to remember to pull the mast from leaning 5degrees forward to 15degrees aft when you get to the leeward mark...
It was raining. But British Soling sailors laugh at rain and nine boats started the first race. Gary Richardson, who now lives in Australia, won with his crew from Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club, Stewart Lee and Karl Sloane. But Derel Priestley, Chairman of the British Soling Association, won the second race; then David Fish won races three and four with his son Daniel and Tim Seddon. The final race of the day was won by Paul Harkness, William Mitchele and Paul Davis. This crew is new to Soling sailing and one of them had travelled all the way from Lymington on the south coast.
Lochaber Yacht Club entertained the fleet on Saturday night, when the weather was charming, and the sailors assembled again on Sunday morning. It was raining. Gary and his team on GBR155 Buzz won both Sunday's races narrowly from David Fish's GBR144 Gerda to clinch the championship by one point. David Fish was not just runner-up; he also won the Master's Award, at the age of 70, and the President's Trophy for the fastest boat over twenty-five years old. Paul Harkness's team in GBR138 Dinnae Ken came third and Derek Priestley, sailing with son Shaun and Jo Buss, came fourth; Jo also won the trophy for first woman.
Overall Results:
Enter your Soling nationals Gear Guide information here
| Pos | Boat Name | Helm | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Buzz | Gary Richardson | 155 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | Gerda | David Fish | 144 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| 3 | Dinnae Ken | Paul Harkness | 138 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
| 4 | Mr Crusty | Derek Priestly | 170 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 24 |
| 5 | Just Gonnie No | Andy McKenna | 157 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 30 |
| 6 | Romance | Iain Loudon | 16+ | 9 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 31 |
| 7 | McPs | Duncan MacPhee | 156 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 42 |
| 8 | Solaris | Hamish Loudon | 161 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 48 |
| 9 | Hussoling | Peter Watt | 104 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 49 |