SYC Sailing Club Series, Race 1 ~ Solo Report

Published 21:48 on 21 Apr 2025

With a Force 3 to 4 East North Easterly breeze in the main harbour the thirteen Solos that arrived at the Salcombe Yacht Club start line looked forward to a good afternoon of beat and running racing.

Race Officer Phil King, the legend who is multiply promulgated on the Merlin Rocket winners board in the SYC Bar, sent the fleet to Saltstone, via Crossways before returning for the much anticipated laps of the harbour.

Martin Hodgson the erstwhile 505 sailor from Stone, rounded Crossways first, but lost out after the first restart below Ox Point. In fact, there were at least three restarts, as the fleet played the odds of how close you could be in the wind shadow Halwell Point on the route to Saltstone.
However all came to naught as the whole fleet reassembled on the way back from Saltstone at Tosnos Point, which allowed a few that had called the wrong side of the first fleet to get back into the game.

First to find the new breeze at Saltstone was Simon Yates, who yotted away into what appeared to be an insurmountable lead, with Tim Law making good progress to leeward of a large chasing pack of nine boats.

The chasing pack ran at increasingly high speed through the harbour as it approached Blackstone in line abreast. With Yates well clear, Greening secured inside berth, only to round the mark poorly, giving away positions to Tim Law, Chris Cleaves, William Wall and Simon Dobson.

Law eventually ground down Yates while short tacking up the Salcombe shore to take the lead with Cleaves working through to third place, and Wall behind. Then on the final run to Mill Bay, Yates and Wall carried on toward Blackstone, allowing Cleaves to move up to second and Greening through to third.