Sailing Club Series, Race 7 - Solo

Published 18:52 on 1 Jun 2025

May came to a close with fifteen Salcombe Solo Sailors coming to the starting area for the sixth race of the Salcombe Yacht Club Sailing Club Series.

Race Officer Simon Dobson set a classic course for a force 4 South Westerly by sending the fleet to Blackstone to Gerston followed by two laps of the main harbour.
Having been entertained by the premature start of the Handicap Fleet, the Solo fleet exercised more restraint, with a clean start.

With an ebb tide, Tim Fells and Tim Law lurked at the Portlemouth shore and were first to tack onto port and hold their lanes, getting them to Blackstone first and second in clear air, whilst the rest of the fleet fought for air whilst trying to cheat the tide on the run down the Portlemouth shore.
Whilst the Tims held formation on the screaming reaches to and from Gerston, Gavin Stevens established himself in third place, whilst the recently bionic Chris Cleaves chipped away into fourth as the fleet returned into the harbour.

By this time, it had got quite windy, and there was much excitement dealing with the big shifts on the beats and the massive gusts working through on the runs, with a few fallers.
As the fleet came through to finish the second lap, Tim Law took a dip and while breaking his tiller extension, gifting Cleaves second place who had worked past Stevens in third with Roger Guess holding off a pack of pursuers in fourth.