National Solo Spring Championship at Draycote Water Sailing Club

Solo Spring Championship © Caroline Loy

Solo Spring Championship © Caroline Loy

Andy Davis (2nd) and Charlie Cumbley (1st ) at the Solo Spring Championship © Caroline Loy

With the shocking news that dinghy sailing is in decline I arrived at Draycote Water Sailing Club with the deportment of a broken man.

The excellent report by David Henshall certainly identified a growing problem within our sport, the demographic of the average sailor is growing older and despite new designs bursting on to the market with the sort of financial backing older more established classes can only dream of, they seem to be missing the mark. Actually I would argue that there is no problem with the designs, they embrace all the latest construction methods and hydrodynamic breakthroughs. Third generation technology taking on designs that were sketched on tablecloths, beer mats and built in work sheds and bomb shelters, backyards and backrooms in the post war era. The problem lies with too many new designs coming onto the market. How can a new class establish itself when a newer, lighter shinier one is just around the corner. It is the dilution of single handed classes which has led to lower open meeting attendees and smaller club fleets though menagerie fleets have risen, whoopee.

With regard to the younger generation not following in their Javelin wearing parents bootprints, well the great thing is they are still sailing but are drawn into the 21st century pyramid of youth sailing. Bracketed into the classes that most suit their weight and height and, understandably but crucially, are supported in sports ribs and camper vans by the very people who provided the weave that held the club racing together, their parents.

With these thoughts feasting on my grey matter I shuffled into the dinghy park on race day, the weather was a very pleasant 10 degrees with a light to moderate west-south westerly, that is from just to the left of the sumptuous clubhouse if you have been there. XC Weather (other weather stations are available) forecast 10-12 mph dropping to 5mph by midday and then increasing to 14-20mph by 4pm. They once again nailed it, Is it any wonder that entry levels fall when the forecast is inclement.

The reasonable forecast did little to lift my hopes of a decent attendance, so weighty was the silver dream racers article in Y+Y. National Solos' continued to arrive as I looked down into my coffee, attempting to nullify the empty feeling in my gut with a bacon filled bap.

PRO John Rhodes, ably assisted by Chris Avery delivered his briefing to the competitors including myself, my inclusion at least swelling the number of boats on the water by one, though as an over fifty it would do nothing to dispel the theory that the Solo is for old buggers.

Out on the water and with the wind dropping off to around 8mph a good clean start would be essential, even more so as there were 70 Solos' on the line. 52 entries three weeks previously at Chew Valley and now 70 at the Spring Championship. My back straightened and I sat a little taller as the five minute countdown inevitably reduced to zero.

Race 1

The majority of the fleet chose the committee end and, with just one competitor over the line the race had begun. I was in a group at the pin end and we headed left, the words of local hotshot Chris Brown still ringing in my ears, "go left and wait for the header off the shore". Charlie Cumbley, National Champ and victor at Chew in the Noble Marine Winters was surprisingly only a few hundred yards ahead and had shunned the masses on the right of the course. It was looking ugly but Cumbley is no muppet and with the timing of a circus ring trapeze artist (quote courtesy of Paul Elvstrom) he tacked into a nice left hand lift and rounded first. Martin Frary who had chosen the middle of the course was second from Vanda Jowett. The PRO had chosen a windward leeward course and the fleet split left, right and middle as they searched for pressure and a shadow free angle. With the wind light, on water Jury Steve Watson's presence was as welcome as a hair in your soup but the fleets behaviour, save for only two rule 42 penalties was very British. As a nation we are experts at queuing and there was plenty of that at the bottom mark.

Charlie Cumbley held on for the duration of the race with Frary, Guy Lonsdale, Andy Davis and Andrew Wilde completing the top 5. The breeze was picking up and there was some excitement as the remaining fleet dead ran through the finishing line to the bottom mark as those in front headed back up. Vanda Jowett had dropped to sixth but still a great result, dispelling the rumour that Solos' are not for women. 7 of the top ten in race 1 were not old enough to be Veterans, old man's boat?

Race 2

As is always Sods Law the wind dropped just before the start of race 2 though my position in the third row of the grid was probably a factor too. The fleet had amassed at the committee end like a colony of ants drawn to a discarded sweet wrapper, save for a few who had sniffed out the impending shift to the left. There was panic as the seconds evaporated and with the sound of the gun, a mass tack onto port. Phil Sturmer, Jeremy Atkins and Jon Clarke, in that hardy moment of self awareness, knew the race was theirs. Like the aftermath of a party for five year olds it was a mess behind them. Davis was buried and Cumbley was just in front of me, he was in a place he knew not. The National Champ tacked off to the right and the next time I saw him he was 500 yards ahead and just outside the top ten. Davis though was stuck in a dearth of Solos' and no matter what he did it was Pete Tong.

Back to the pointy end of the race and Jeremy Atkins was ahead but Olly Wells who was hitting the right of the course on every beat was up to second with Sturmer in a holding pattern in third.

These positions would remain until the finish but behind there would be drama as dark clouds and rain rolled in from the hills of Banbury. The leaders hooked in to the new breeze, control lines and hiking straps adjusted, quadriceps beginning to flex. Close hauled on starboard was a good point of sailing and no better time than with 60+ Solos' heading down on every other point of the sailing compass. I kid you not. Faces and other things contorted as the fleet converged on the little orange buoy, poor thing must have wished it was still in the boat shed. There were bail-outs a plenty as the three length zone was obliterated by the panic stricken sailors but amazingly no carnage.

At the gun it was a very chuffed Atkins from Wells, Sturmer and Martin Honner, all the way from St Mary's Lock, Scotland. Jon Clarke claimed fifth from Mike Sims and Vanda Jowett.

Race 3

The wind was doing what XC said it would, granted slightly earlier than forecast, providing a gusty start to the final race. Sailors dug into their tanks for more fitting attire as the temperature dropped. Some went for the pin end, well it had worked last time. Alas, no way back from there as the fresher winds tracked in from the right. Cumbley, Davis and Jonathan Swain squirted out of the middle of the course, hooked into a little land mass created left lift and rounded in that order.

The PRO, hopeful that the surfing conditions would hold, had set a triangle sausage course and the spectators got a great view as 70 Solos' broad reached passed the club bar to the wing mark.

Cumbley and Davis exchanged the lead with Davis finally shaking of his rum induced coma from race 2 to take the win. Swain had been chipping away at Cumbley and eventually broke through with Honner claiming his second fourth of the day. Steve Ede was fifth with Andrew Wilde sixth.

So congratulations to Charlie Cumbley, who has won the Spring Championship with a 1-8-3 scoreline. We wish Charlie all the luck he needs to reach the top of the International OK fleet and we thank him for taking all our games to another level. Andy Davis, with a 4-dont talk about it-1 gives him second overall from the consistent Martin Honnor in third with 29-4-4. Martin is also first Vet (50-59).

Vanda Jowett finished seventh with 6-7-25 and is also the Ladies Champion. First Grandmaster (60-69)is the consistent John Webster 19-24-23 in twenty fourth overall. Congratulations also to Brian Fisher, our only Septimus qualifier (70 and over) but highlighting the balanced polite nature of the Jack Holt design and the skills and resilience of it's more mature members.

A massive thank you to Draycote Water for delivering a great event, also to Noble Marine who continue to sponsor the NSCA, and most of all a big thank you to all NSCA competitors who continue to turn up at National Solo events up and down the country.

You can build new designs, you can throw money at marketing but the National Solo Class continues to buck trends and deliver BIG fleet racing. 60 years old but like the sailors who race her, you would not know it.

If that is not enough, the Nation's Cup, which is to be held in just twelve days time (April 22-24) in Medemblik, Holland, promises another great event with around 60 National Solos registered to date. With currently 27 British entries, the UK fleet is taking the fight to the Dutch on the magnificent Ijsselmeer. I will be there to report and video the action, on the water, in the dinghy park and in the bar and look forward to sharing all the drama with you. It is never too late to enter so grab your passport, hitch up your Solo and I will meet you there.

Overall Results: