XOD and Folkboat Central Solent Championship 2024 at Hamble River Sailing Club
by Kathy Smalley & Trevor Pountain 23 Jul 15:15 BST
20-21 July 2024
The 2024 XOD and Folkboat Central Solent Championships were hosted by the Hamble River Sailing Club over the weekend of 20th & 21st July
The XOD class has been around for over a century, so the Central Solent Championship, organised by the Hamble XOD Division, is a relatively new event being only 20 years old. Traditionally it runs just before Cowes Week and gives visiting boats an opportunity to race in the Central Solent and suss out the main opposition from the other XOD divisions. For the third year running the Folkboats were invited too.
Day 1 saw a relatively steady south westerly breeze so windward-leeward races were the order of the day, followed by a round-the-cans race to end the day and take the teams home. Caprice, Hamish Calder, won the first race in the XOD class, but Gone Away, Stephen Lawrence, won the next two to put him top of the pile.
There was close racing in the Folkboat fleet too, with Cidron Too, James Walters, winning two races, and Svenja (Michael Stoner) snatching the middle one.
These traditional boats tend to be crewed by "gentlemen of a certain age" (Kathy's words, not mine!), so it was great to see young Emily sailing on XOD Kathleen, and three nippers on the Folkboat Svenja, flying the Jolly Roger. This was quite a change for Svenja, as Michael is normally seen out on a Wednesday crewed by his dog.
Back ashore there was much discussion as to which way to go up the beats, and quite a bit of beer was drunk too.
Day 2 was more difficult with a forecast of 7-10 know NNW moving to 3-5 knots West. Northerly winds are renowned for being shifty, which makes life hard for the racers and race management team alike. To start with, PRO Kathy Smalley, called for a short postponement. But never one to hang around too long she reverted to a "Let's just go for it" attitude, rather than waiting forever for the breeze to settle.
The wind dropped for the second race and on the run the boats were all over the place, so the race was shortened after one lap. The last race of the day was again designed to finish at Hamble Point, but a huge hole appeared ahead of the last mark leading to some rapid course shortening by the committee boat before towing everybody home up the Hamble River.
The overall winner of the XOD class was Gone Away (Stephen Lawrence) with five firsts to count. In second place was Caprice, Hamish Calder with Gary and Claire Rossal's Little X placed third. In the Folkboat class, Cidron Too, James Walter, had to count a second place in his low 6-point score! Valhalla, Kim Morley, took second place with Svenja, Michael Stoner, in third. Kim Morley had rushed back from the Nordic Folkboat Gold Cup 2024 at Halmstads Segelsällskap, Sweden on 15th July just for this event.
Back ashore, the prize-giving was held at our affiliate club the Royal Airforce Yacht Club. There was much discussion about which way to go up the beat in a northerly and as more beer was drunk thoughts turned to which Folkboats were going to Copenhagen in 2025. Valhalla was for sure! Kathey Smalley read out the results as only she can and HRSC Commodore, Trevor Pountain, handed out the prizes.