So this was it. The demise of Soling racing at our club. The denouement.The end. Nostalgia reigned, thinking of those big regattas of past years.

But we’re here, now, and the weather was kind, ranging from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies and there was a gentle breeze from the north. The tide had peaked at around nine o’clock and six members had decided that this was what they wanted to do today. It really was a perfect summer day without a cloud in the sky but the gentle breeze became stronger and then weaker and was decidedly uncertain about what direction it was coming from today.

Shelley did a wonderful job of keeping score. Thank you, Shelly.

Our DF95 Regatta winner, Fokka also paid us a visit for a few races.

The course configurations were too many to mention caused by the shifting strength and direction of the wind but generally they were from the start/finish line parallel to the shore out to one, two, or three marks and back to the line. Rounding varied and, when there was enough wind, twice around.

Paul and Bill Raposa set the various courses and we managed twelve races with only two incidents. Both happened in race three when Bill Northup’s boat hatch became dislodged and water got in the boat, resulting in an inoperative servo. Exactly the same thing happened to my boat. Bill was better prepared and had a replacement servo with him and only missed two races.

Greg was in fine form and won half the races and, with one second and two third places, he became our Soling Regatta Champion.

Paul didn’t win a race today but his eight second places plus three third places meant he finished as runner-up by two points over Bill Raposa who was third overall today.

Bill had three wins, two second, and three third places 

We had two other race winners namely Bill Northup and Kim.

Well done everyone. It was a very pleasant time despite the frustrations of the flukey wind.

It’s hard to say goodbye to such an elegant class of boat so maybe we could plan a “Soling Outing” sometime next June. Any comments?

The results are on our website mhbmyc.org as always.

We only have to wait until Thursday, September 5th for more racing with the DF95s. The tide will be going out from a high at 10.17

Until then, keep smiling,

Derek