Please select your home edition
Edition
X-Yachts Leaderboard 2024 2

Solution Open at Felpham Sailing Club

by Kathryn Clark 15 Jun 2023 07:08 BST 10-11 June 2023

We'd like to start this report by saying that Felpham SC welcomed the Solution fleet once again with wall-to-wall sunshine, perfect breeze and champagne sailing conditions. Unfortunately, the wind that they'd ordered was delivered late, only arriving in time for the last race.

Nevertheless, the club put on a fantastic open meeting and the final race was as good as it gets weather-wise, leaving everyone with smiles on their faces. Race officer Richard Bentley and his team did a sterling job to get 6 good races in given the challenging conditions. Even the local fishermen were supporting the Solution fleet, marking their lobster pots with a friendly Solution fish.

In terms of racing, Martin Tubb took a dominant lead and was virtually untouchable in the first two races. By race 3, newcomer to the fleet Richard Gibbon decided he'd had enough of being polite and decided to take a turn at the front instead. Behind Martin and Richard, the racing was very tight with places changing all over the place. Come Sunday morning, Richard once again took line honours making it 2 firsts apiece and the title to play for. In race 5, Kevin Clark, sporting a new flat-cut sail, decided he'd had enough of these lightweight leaders. After spotting a left-hand shift in the light and fluky breeze, he took the lead from Richard and Martin and managed to just sneak his way around the bottom mark before a major windshift turned the rest of the race into a procession. With Kevin Clark not just completing a race in light winds but actually winning it as well, the fleet started to worry that hell had finally frozen over.

There wasn't much time to worry though, as the major windshift foretold the arrival of the breeze and with all to play for in the final standings, the last race was completely different to the previous 5. Kevin once again took the win, which meant the top 3 each had two 1sts and a 2nd with four races to count. Richard's other result was another 2nd place, Martin was counting a 3rd and Kevin's next best result was 4th meaning they finished overall in that order.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmClubR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1st413Richard GibbonLee‑on‑Solent‑2‑211226
2nd456Martin TubbLeigh and Lowton112‑33‑47
3rd464Kevin ClarkLee‑on‑Solent‑54(DNF)2118
4th455Kathryn ClarkLee‑on‑Solent‑7334‑5515
5th469Mark FoxLee‑on‑Solent‑6‑5454316
6th405David CraddockThornry Island SC‑86(DNF)76625
7th431Tony LordFelpham SC4(DNS)(DNS)6DNCDNC28
8th439Ian KingFelpham SC3(DNS)(DNS)DNSDNCDNC30

Related Articles

Solution Class Looking for Secondhand Boats
Owners of unused dinghies urged to sell Solution Class Association Urges Owners of Unused Dinghies to Sell Amid Growing Demand for Used Boats Posted on 7 Dec
Solutions at Leigh & Lowton
2024 Travellers Trophy decided during the final event Of the six Solutions that came to Leigh & Lowton, only 2 were in the running for the 2024 Travellers Trophy. Having travelled to all events this year, Richard Brown and Martin Tubb were ready to fight it out for the last trophy of the season. Posted on 4 Sep
Lee-on-the-Solent Solution Open
Visitors from as far away as Leigh and Lowton SC and Great Yarmouth and Gorleston SC The weekend of 10th-11th August saw 11 hardy Solution sailors arrive at Lee-on-the-Solent Sailing Club for the combined Solution and Phantom open. Posted on 13 Aug
Solution Inland Championships at Northampton
Sensible retirements were the order of the day The Solution Inland Championships were held in association with the Phantom class at Northampton Sailing Club on the 3rd weekend in June. Posted on 17 Jun
Solution National Championship at Felpham
Five bullets for Ian Morgan The Solutions arrived on Saturday to a sunny and breezy Felpham Sailing club for the first day of the Nationals. With thirteen boats registered and the first gun at 12:00 boats started to congregate on the beach ready for launch. Posted on 6 Jun
Solution Nationals at Lee-on-the-Solent
High winds at the re-scheduled event After a complete blow-out at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston SC when we first tried to hold the Solution National Championship, the re-scheduled event at Lee-on-Solent SC on 12th & 13th August attracted a dozen mostly local boats. Posted on 15 Aug 2023
Solution Inlands 2022 at Leigh & Lowton
Very much a game of musical chairs The 2022 Solution Inlands was very much a game of musical chairs. The first race was a taste of things to come, with almost everyone taking a turn in almost every position in the fleet. Except Peter Blackman. Posted on 11 Oct 2022
Solution Nationals at Lee-on-the-Solent
A pleasant breeze allows the full schedule to be completed With the forecast threatening light and variable winds for the whole weekend there was actually a pleasant breeze for most of the races thus allowing a full six race program to be completed. Posted on 13 Aug 2022
2021 Solution Nationals at Great Yarmouth
15 helms race on the sunny Norfolk coast After a grey forecast leading up to the weekend, 15 Solution sailors turned up to a sunny Norfolk coast for the 2021 Solution Nationals hosted by Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Sailing Club. Posted on 7 Sep 2021
Solutions at Burghfield
No-one was expecting to have such great sailing event The forecast was for light winds and rain, no-one was expecting to have such great sailing event. A total of seven races were held in a shifting f2-f3 SSW breeze. Posted on 8 Jul 2021