HD Sails Solo class Scottish Travellers at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club

HD Sails Solo class Scottish Travellers at Dalgety Bay © Ian Baillie

The Scottish Solo fleet gathered at Dalgety Bay on September 28 for the last in the HD Sails Scottish Solo travellers series of 2024. The club is situated on the north shore of the Forth opposite Edinburgh. We were sailing as part of the club's annual regatta and were starting after 25 Lasers, mostly Radial rigs. In the light shifty conditions this meant that we spent a lot of time trying to find clear wind up the beats.

On arrival we were directed to the grassy area in front of the club to rig up. We shared the area with a fleet of Mirrors and these attracted a lot of positive comments about the family crews sailing them. One sailor aims to be doing the same with his grandson next season!

Willie Todd arrived already wearing his HD cap and Tony King had decided to use his HD sail for the first time. As events turned out this was clearly fast.

At the briefing race officer John McKenzie outlined his plan for the day and said he intended to start on time and encouraged everyone to get ashore early as we had to beat against the already ebbing tide to reach the sailing area to the west of the club.

HD Sails Solo class Scottish Travellers at Dalgety Bay - photo © Ian Baillie

In the event the shifting wind meant a slight delay before the Mirrors were first away. A big shift to make the line starboard biased meant the rest of the starts were postponed until the course had been relaid. At the Solo start Willie Todd timed it perfectly at the pin end with Ross Watson above him and these two went left.

This was not the way to go and at the first mark of the trapezoid course it was Tony King leading from Patrick Burns. Up the second beat Tony kept the lead with Ross coming through to second with Willie and Kevan Gibb next. Down the second run we found ourselves mixed up with the Lasers, and then the leading D-Zeros appeared alongside. At the finish it was Tony leading from Ross and Willie.

For the second race there was a bit more wind which meant that the Lasers were less of an issue. The start was the same as before with Willie again lining up early and starting at the pin, clearing the mark boat with inches to spare. With a port bias on the line this looked good but he capsized tacking back inshore and fell back. Tony had tacked inshore early and picked up a nice right hand shift to lead round the mark from Ross who had not gone as far inshore.

HD Sails Solo class Scottish Travellers at Dalgety Bay - photo © Ian Baillie

Tony was far enough in front to keep his wind clear on the downwind legs and kept his lead to the end. On the last reach to the finish the wind increased until we were planing towards the line. Kevan got the breeze first but Ross was able to hold him off.

For the last race the wind had died again and we were sub-powered throughout with the wind seldom over 5 knots. There was quite a port bias at the start and once again Willie lined up early with Kevan and Ross above him. All three tacked onto port as soon as they could as did Tony who had started in the middle of the line. At the first mark Willie led with Ross two lengths behind and Tony next.

Down the reach there were no changes in position but Willie and Ross were amused by the two young Laser sailors chatting to each other as they sailed along - clearly the Solo sailors take it more seriously!

HD Sails Solo class Scottish Travellers at Dalgety Bay - photo © Ian Baillie

At the mark Willie and Tony continued on starboard but Ross gybed immediately. The run felt slow with only 3 knots of wind and the tide under us. Ross got round the mark ahead and crucially had reasonably clear wind. Willie had to tack away whilst Ross was able to sail towards the shore and find a nice right shift. This beat was tricky in the light shifting wind with plenty of other boats to complicate things. The fleet got stretched with Alistair Stevenson coming through to take second behind Ross.

On the last reach the wind again strengthened and Kevan luffed hard to stay ahead of Tony. He succeeded in keeping the place but capsized just as he crossed the line, a move much appreciated by the race team!

With two first places Tony King was the clear winner of the travellers event and was clearly impressed with the speed of his HD sail! Ross was second followed by Alistair Stevenson whose second place in the last race saw him finish ahead of Willie.

The overall HD Sails Scottish Solo travellers was also going to be decided at Dalgety Bay. Keith Milroy and Malcolm Worsley had some good results from earlier in the season but neither was able to make the last event. Willie Todd was best placed as we went afloat but in the event a first and second place was enough for Ross Watson to take the overall series.

HD Sails Solo class Scottish Travellers at Dalgety Bay - photo © Ross Watson

The most coveted trophy for the Scottish Solo sailors is however the trailer board awarded to the sailor who has done the most travelling and this was retained by Robert Taylor who was the only sailor who managed to attend every event of the season. Well done!

Planning for the 2025 season has already started and with the National Championships due to be held next August at North Berwick it should be a big year for the Scottish Solo fleet. Expect several new sails to appear with most likely to come from our sponsor HD Sails.

Overall Event Results: