Barney Greenhill - Solo Open
Published 19:59 on 18 May 2026
The Solo Open in May has long been sponsored by Barney Greenhill, time-honoured member of the Salcombe Yacht Club and Yawl and Solo sailor of distinction. Barney kindly provides all competitors with a £15 food and drink voucher redeemable at the Club which, in light of the entry fee of £30, makes for a very good value weekend indeed.
The May Open in Salcombe is not part of any Solo Class Association Series and is thus off-calendar for those seeking Series glory. Nevertheless, 23 entries were received, one of which was from a visitor albeit not a proper visitor as this was Will Wall, formerly of this parish but now sailing under the Queen Mary burgee. If 20 plus competitors, several with national and international titles to their names, and nigh on six hours of racing in breezy and tidal conditions is your idea of a good weekend, come and join us next year. The welcome is always warm. If that sounds a bit much, theres always the Dittisham Open the weekend before.
Race One. Course Blackstone, Gerston, Blackstone, Crossways, Blackstone, Crossways.
Race One got away just as the tide was starting to flood, making short tacking the favoured option but not at the expense of neglecting the bigger shifts in the gusty westerly breeze. Simon Dobson led at the first mark, followed by Tim Law, Will Henderson and Paul Rayson. Dobson extended on the way to Gerston but on the return leg found himself becalmed in The Bag whilst these three stormed through on a big gust of wind from behind. Over the subsequent two laps of the harbour, Dobson recovered to take second from Tim Law with Rayson third, Henderson fourth and Tim Fells fifth.
Race Two. Course Blackstone, Crossways, Mill Bay, Yalton, Blackstone, Crossways.
Tim Fells made the early running in this race but forgot that the Race Officer had set the Mill Bay mark to starboard to make for an easier rounding when coming off the Portlemouth shore in the strong flood tide. Unwinding and re-rounding dropped him back considerably allowing Tim Law to establish a solid lead from Will Wall. Chris Cleaves came through strongly as the breeze freshened to take second from Law with Rayson third, Wall fourth and Fells recovering to fifth.
Race Three. Course Blackstone, Crossways, Blackstone, Crossways, Blackstone, Crossways.
Sunday mornings race started in a moderate westerly breeze with the ebb in full flow. The fleet arrived at Blackstone closely bunched and headed for the Portlemouth shore where they parked up at the Biddle Head tidal gate. Will Henderson (who else!) found a way through the melee to escape to Mill Bay, followed by Iain McGregor, Dobson, and Cleaves. Henderson sailed on to a comfortable victory, Dobson got through to second ahead of McGregor, Cleaves and Robin Hodges.
Race Four. Course O, M, Mill Bay, N, Crossways, Blackstone, Crossways.
Race Officer John Burn had even seasoned locals reaching for their course cards to work out where to go for this race, marks M, N and O being out beyond the harbour entrance. The influence of the cliffs of Bolt Head, lying to the west of the harbour entrance, is invariably significant. This was certainly the most memorable race of the weekend some will have trouble ever forgetting it! Flat calms, huge gusts of wind from random directions and Lady Luck all played their part as the fleet enjoyed not one but two trips out to sea.
Despite multiple place changes, Fells and Cleaves were always in the mix at the front and they led the fleet back into the harbour for the final lap and a half. At this stage Law was pretty deep and it looked for a while that Cleaves might pinch overall victory from him. However, Tim gritted his teeth, hiked hard and gradually ground his way through the fleet, eventually finishing third behind Fells and Cleaves. This was enough to take the win overall.
Cleaves was second on countback ahead of Dobson in third with Fells, Rayson and Henderson rounding out the top six.
A huge thank you to the Race Teams for putting on such a challenging set of races. There were a few broken bodies in evidence at the prize giving but no doubt well all be back again next year.
By Simon Dobson
