Solo Open at Salcombe Yacht Club

by David Greening 13 May 11:40 BST 10-11 May 2025

A bumper turnout of twenty-seven sailors turned out for the Salcombe Yacht Club Solo Open meeting over the weekend of the 10th and 11th June. The higher turnout and increased quality of the fleet could be attributed to the shift away from the Salcombe Yawl weekend, which allowed some of the helms to have a foot in both camps.

Saturday saw a East North Easterly in the high teens, gusting through to thirty miles per hour in the closing stages of the second race, over a flood tide. Race Officer Ian Stewart wisely set windward leeward courses in the harbour, ignoring the temptation of subjecting the fleet to the vagaries of the Bag.

With strong winds to Tim Law's liking, in the first race he rounded Crossways in first place, a lead which he extended as the following pack fought out for the minor placings, eventually John Burn broke free of the pack to control second place, with Simon Dobson holding onto third.

Of note was Ross Borne rejoining the Solo fleet, albeit briefly when righting Iain McGregor's capsized boat, a great service from the Safety team, and no doubt this will be welcomed in the future by the fleet's ageing demographic.

Once again Tim Law revelled in the increased breeze in the second race, and this time Tim Fells emerged from the pack to become a contender in second place, with Will Henderson sailing the downwind legs effectively to emerge in third, to the sound of multiple capsizes when several of the fleet capsized trying to manoeuvrer in knee deep water off Mill Bay.

Sunday dawned with a downpour and the fleet reflected on how miserable a Sunday must be at home if sailing in sheeting rain and little wind was a better option.

The rain knocked out most of the forecasted wind, so when the fleet got away, the fleet was split between a group working the Portlemouth shore, and another on the Fairway boundary trying to beat against the tide to make the windward distance mark. The result was that regular visitor Mark Maskell made the X mark on a long tack from the Portlemouth shore, and sailed a flawless race to take first place, whilst several contenders either got stuck off the Fairway, or were swept down tide at Crossways, these included Burn, Dobson and Henderson. Tim Law managed to salve a fifth place, which was enough to secure him the meeting.

With a flood tide under the start of the fourth race, the PRO flew the first General Recall flag of the weekend and consequently a Black Flag for the recall. In what proved to be a close race, with the fleet compressing at the end of the first run to Blackstone, John Burn emerged in the lead with Fells and Dobson in pursuit.

This result left Law and Burn tied on seven points, with Law's two wins giving him the event for the third time, from Burn with Commodore Tim Fells in third place.

The Barney Greenhill Picture, for perseverance went to Mark Sanken.

At the prize-giving Tim Law thanked the Race Team for running an excellent event, the safety teams, bar, catering staff and sponsor Barney Greenhill for making it such a great weekend.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1st	5966	Tim Law	SYC	1	1	5	(DNF)	7
2nd	5879	John Burn	SYC	2	4	‑7	1	7
3rd	5739	Tim Fells	SYC	‑6	2	4	2	8
4th	5898	Simon Dobson	SYC	3	5	‑13	3	11
5th	5851	Roger Guess	SYC	‑11	6	3	6	15
6th	5601	Simon Yates	SYC	‑9	7	2	7	16
7th	5560	Will Henderson	SYC	4	3	‑12	10	17
8th	6007	Mark Maskell	Blackwater	8	11	1	‑17	20
9th	5096	Robin Hodges	SYC	‑12	8	10	4	22
10th	6105	David Greening	SYC	7	10	‑11	9	26
11th	5876	Gavin Stevens	SYC	10	‑18	17	5	32
12th	6119	Iain Aplin	Bowmoor	‑13	13	8	13	34
13th	5107	Martin Hodgson	SYC	14	9	‑16	11	34
14th	5749	Mike Hicks	SYC	‑16	14	15	8	37
15th	5658	Rob Peebles	SYC	17	‑19	6	16	39
16th	5741	John Evans	SYC	‑20	15	9	15	39
17th	5726	Andy Jones	Burghfield	‑19	16	18	14	48
18th	6099	Graham Cranford‑Smith	SYC	5	(DNF)	20	DNF	49
19th	5951	Billy Jago	SYC	18	(DNF)	21	12	51
20th	4543	Mark Sanken	SYC	15	21	‑23	18	54
21st	6063	James Le Couilliard	SYC	DNF	(DNC)	14	19	60
22nd	5411	Stuart Cartwright	SYC	‑24	20	19	21	60
23rd	5183	Malcolm Mackley	SYC	23	(DNC)	22	20	65
24th	6088	Iain McGregor	SYC	DNF	12	(DNC)	DNC	69
25th	4857	Mike Hodges	SYC	22	17	(DNC)	DNC	69
26th	6030	Adrian Griffin	SYC	21	DNF	(DNC)	DNC	76
27th	5364	Mark Waterhouse	SYC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	90
27th	5622	Geoffrey Cox	SYC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	90
27th	5734	Chris Spencer‑Chapman	SYC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	90