I am happy to announce that Vac-U-Boat has been approved as a Manufacturer for the Soling One Meter Class. The New “Vac-U-Soling” has been built and Sailed with positive feedback from the skippers who built them. The new boat has been received well by all that have seen and sailed against it.
Phil Pace of Vac-U-Boat over the last 11 months has worked hard to produce new Molds and used updated manufacturing techniques to simplify and improve the buildability. The new boat offers a one-piece Hull with Transom as part of the hull. The Keel and Rudder are already built and ready for installation. Gone are the days of using the Soling One Meter Building jig to line everything up.
Please contact Phil at philpace@vac-u-boat.com and or visit
Vac-U-Boat – Maker of Easy To Build Model Boat Hull Kits (vac-u-boat.com)
Phil expects to be ready to start filling orders the third week of January.
Please keep in mind that in the beginning the new Kit will only include the boat. Rigging, Mast and sails will need to be built at home or purchased from others. The good news is that your existing rig/s will attach to the new boat with out modification.
Some replacement parts for your existing Victor Soling One Meter are available. Contact Vac-U-Boat for availability of replacement parts
We did manage 4 races today between rain showers and we did manage to put everything away for the winter. A sad moment at the end of a most unusual season. Today’s brave racers were Rob, Paul and Wilkie with their DF95s and Bill R and Kim with their Solings. No scores today, just some end of season fun. Will was there with his truck to convey all our “bits” in the storage box and the boat. The workers were the sailors plus Will and Jim Kelly. Many thanks to you all.Congratulations to everyone who competed in our events this year and thanks to everyone who helped in some way. Hats off to all.So now we can concentrate on the holidays, how to stay warm for at least a part of the winter and, of course, next Spring.Some thoughts on 2021 in due course, but we did agree to adopt Dick Mahoney’s thought that the club should purchase and stock Rob’s list of essential spare parts for DF95s. These parts can be used by any member by a straight purchase or a direct replacement during the order time. It will mean that no one will have to wait for a replacement part. Rob will provide the list and Kim (on behalf of the club) will provide the cash.Stay well, safe and happy. Derek Melven Commodore
Strong southerly breeze today for the 6 DF95’s that enjoyed the fun racing! Not many days left. Next Tuesday we will do it again. Bring any boat and join us !
There was a very relaxed feel to the proceedings at the cove today. A feeling like It’s the end of the season and we’re not in the playoffs. This was a “sail what you like”, fun day. Kim and Bill Raposa brought their Solings and Bill David, Rob, Manny, Dick, Paul, and Will brought their DF95s. I kept score (and took a few pictures which are attached) and Wilkie gave general support and rowed out to lengthen the start line between races. (see picture 007) It was a beautiful day with a nice wind and sunny skies. We used our “normal” course with both the windward and leeward marks taken to starboard. Once around with the line open. It was all fun and the results didn’t count for anything except enjoyment. They are attached, nevertheless, and show that Rob won the contest with Bill D second and Bill R with his Soling, third Paul Mercer only ran in two races and had brought some enormous sails (see picture 003) which didn’t quite work out today. Rob Hill’s boat had sails that he had made and, in contrast, they worked very well indeed. Manny gave his boat it’s first real outing, but unfortunately had to retire after the third race with a broken bowsie on the jib. Dick lost control of the rudder in the last race and Bill R rowed out to rescue Dick’s boat. (picture 012) It sounds serious, but it really wasn’t and everybody had a very enjoyable time. Let’s do another, “Bring any boat” meeting next Tuesday, October 13th at 11 am when the tide will be just about at it’s lowest point. Hope to see you then, Stay safe, well and happy, Derek
Editorial comment – – – Paul’s boat is a US1 Meter. Big breeze in a choppy sea made it difficult to sail this skinny hull, very light speedster.
A perfect day for DF95 Racing. Strong breeze generally southerly. Water fairly flat, a surprise given the last few days of strong wind. High Tide late morning, so plenty of water.
Jim Pascalides ran the event with assistance from Shelley Northup. Thank you both. Match Racing can be tough on the voice, and we had 55 races to complete.
Jim set up a windward/leeward course, North/South with start finish in the middle. The boats were started in pairs, and most of the time we had 3 pairs on the course at the same time.
The racing was quite competitive with only 8 points separating the entire field.
Kim Hanna won 10 of his 11 races with consistent good starts, smooth mark roundings and strong control downwind. Well done Kim!
Paul Mercer placed second, 1 point behind. Right behind Paul by 1 point were Bill David and Dick Mahoney. One more point had a tie with Wilkie and Rob.
The rest of the field, in order: Rich Field, Bill Northup, Will Plante and Nick Bailey. Jim Kelly retired with a broken halyard.
First of all, please join me in saying a big “Thank You” to Wilkie for running this very enjoyable event and to Rob for preparing the roster. > Sue and Steve had to withdraw from racing today because of a tummy bug Sue had. Get better very soon, Sue. My boat had control problems early on so everyone racing me had a bye or a win. > . > That left seven boats to compete today. The breeze was from a southerly direction so the boats headed south to the black/white mark to take to port, then downwind to the northern mark with the line closed, take it to starboard, and back to the line. > Every boat raced every other boat, and at the end of racing, Wilkie added up the wins and byes for each boat to get some provisional results. > When I got home and while enjoying a cup of tea, I went over the sheets very carefully, and here are the final results > 1st Bill David 8 wins/byes > 2nd Paul Mercer 6 > 3rd Kim Hanna 5 equal with > Pat Donovan 5 > 5th Bill Northup 4 equal with > Bill Raposa 4 > 7th Bruce Collemer 3 > > Some very close racing and usually we would have had run-offs for third and fifth places, but rain started during the very last race. It didn’t last long, but most people had started to pack up. > > A good time was had by all and now for the DF95 Match Races on Thursday. The tide will be going out with a low at 1.48 pm and a super wind is forecast, So with eleven boats in the water, it should be a lot of fun. > Jim Pascalides will be running the event so don’t forget to thank Jim and Rob for preparing the roster. Please bring lunch and a chair and please hang around after the races because there may well be some runoffs. > Stay well and safe and happy, > Derek
What a great day yesterday. There were 17 entrants so we had to divide into three fleets.we ran 15 races so each fleet had 10 races each.There were a few casualties, but everyone still had a great time.Unfortunately, the AFleet software could not cope with a three fleet situation. AFleet really means A or one…..not three.So we had to resort to a computer-assisted manual approach and the full results are attached.We welcomed four members of the Newport DF95 group.Our DF95 Fleet Captain, Jim Pascalides was first overall. One of our guests, Brad Read, finished in second placeAnd in third place was our Vice Commodore, Rob Hill Bill David was fourth and Dick Mahoney was in the final award-winning position.Well done all competitors and special thanks to our scorekeepers, Manny and Shelley. That was not an easy job.Thanks to everyone who attended for making our first annual DF95 Regatta such an enjoyable event. Stay safe, well and happy, Derek PS I did take a few photographs and I’ll send them out over the weekend.
It was a chilly start to the morning, but the water was still quite warm. We were all disappointed to hear that Bill Raposa was the victim of an over-enthusiastic ‘flu shot and would probably not make it down to the cove today. Recover very soon, Bill. We also heard that Bill David wouldn’t be with us today as his wife, Judy was in the hospital. We heard later that she was OK and Bill was taking her home. Full recovery soon, Judy.So we lost two of our fiercest competitors and we started racing with only six boats in the water.Wilkie kept score (many thanks to Wilkie), Will, Pat, Ned, and I, and later Manny formed the cheering crowd. We also welcomed Mike Troy, a friend of Paul’s to the cove.The wind was from the northwest and quite strong and Race Director, Rob Hill explained the course to the six racers starting today. The diagram of the course is attached. From the start line head to the white mark 1, taken to starboard then towards shore and round the red mark 1 also taken to starboard then sail south to take red marks 2 and 3 to starboard and back to the line. The first 5 races followed this course, but for the 6th and last race of the morning, Rob added an additional link. After rounding the first mark the boats returned to the start area, rounded the yellow pin, and then back to white 1 to follow the original course.The six morning races resulted in five wins for Paul and one for Dick Mahoney. Dick was second in three and Paul was second in the one he didn’t win. Kim and Jim Kelly were the other second place finishers and they each had one third place. Bill Northup had three third place finishes.The session ended with drama: Bruce’s boat drifted off out of control, so Bruce rowed out a long way to rescue it. I asked Bruce if he was exhausted, but he replied, “No, but I’m ready for lunch”. It turned out that Bruce’s boat had stripped a servo gear and he retired. After lunch, the wind had shifted to come more from the west, so Rob adjusted the start line and we went back to the original course. Just for the eighth race, Rob again added a link, this time from white 1, back to the start line and around the white pin taken to starboard then back out to white1 and the original course. Bill Northup’s boat also had a problem and was out for the afternoon which left only 4 boats sailing.After the first two races of the afternoon, the wind died and we decided to end the regatta after ten races in total and allow two throw-outs. By the end of the contest, there were only three boats in the water! Wilkie also rowed out to rescue Jim’s boat in the ninth race. Paul won three of the four races and Dick won the other. Dick was second twice as was Kim and it was no surprise that the survivors were the top three finishers today. Regatta Winner Paul Mercer Runner-up Dick Mahoney Third Place Kim Hanna Fourth Place Bill Northup Fifth Place Jim Kelly Rob made the awards to the top five and, despite the low entry and the 50% attrition we all had a good time. We expect at least double the entry in the DF95 regatta. In other news, Ned Popovic told Rob and me that he intends to concentrate on DF95 racing and will donate his Soling to the club. That’s very generous of you, Ned and we accept with many thanks. I took some photographs today and,as soon as I sort them out, I’ll send some out. Probably tomorrow. As always, these days, Paul has posted the results to our website MHBMYC.org
The next event is the First DF95 Regatta just two days away on Thursday, Sept. 17th. Just get there by 10:45 to enter and don’t forget to bring lunch and chairs. Awards will be made soon after the end of the last race, so stick around for a while.
The next Soling event is Match Racing on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd. Tide will be coming in with a high around 1 pm. This will be limited to 12 entrants, first come first served. Please let me know if you wish to enter before 5 pm on the day before, Monday, Sept. 21st Rob Hill has offered to run proceedings. See many of you on Thursday. Stay safe and well. Derek
No racing today, but we did complete 5 days of racing this season. Thursday weather has not been great for us, but we had some good days and a lot of fun and camaraderie.So the regular season is over and the 2020 DF95 champion is………………………… Champion Rob Hill just one point ahead of Runner-up Paul Mercer Third place Bill David Fourth place Jim Kelly who was one point ahead of Fifth place Jim Pascalides Next for DF95s is the First Annual Regatta next Thursday…..more to come on this. Thanks to all who participated as racers or helpers for this series.The history of the five days is attached.Take care, have fun, stay well and stay safe,Derek
Another near-perfect summer day although we could have done with a little more wind. Soling Fleet Captain, Bill Raposa, laid out the course which was our usual course for low wind conditions.For the wind vaguely from the south, Bill had the start line vaguely east-west. South from the start line around the south mark, then downwind to the north mark and back to the finish. All to starboard. Paul Mercer kindly offered to coach once again. Seven members raced six races today, but a number of other members visited without boats. Manny did his usual fine job of scoring and it was good to see Bill and Shelley Northup. Will, Pat, Dick Mahoney, and I cheered on the competitors. We had four different winners today. Bill David and Jim Kelly won two each yet neither finished in the top three today. In Bill David’s case, he had a problem with his rudder and finished last in race 4 and was out for the last two races. In Jim’s case, he didn’t start in the first two races as he spent that time helping someone else. Typical Jim!Our two other winners today were Sue (with some assistance from Paul) and Bill Raposa. Bill also had two second and two third place finishes to be our overall winner today.Bruce also had two second and two third place finishes to finish second this morning. Kim had two second place finishes and one third to capture third place overall The only other finisher in the top three in any race today was Steve Walsh.The only problem we had today, apart from Bill David’s loss of steering, was Sue’s failure to start race 4. The cause was a plastic bag wrapped around the rudder.Paul has posted today’s results to our webpage mhbmyc.orgEverybody had a really good time, not only today but for the whole nine day series. And our Soling Champion of 2020 is…………………………………………….. Champion Bill David Runner-up Paul Mercer Third place Bill Raposa Fourth place Kim Hanna Fifth place Bruce Collemer The full history of the Soling Championship is attached. As if that wasn’t enough excitement, next Tuesday we have our Twelfth Annual Regatta for Solings. Just turn up before 10.45 to enter. No entry fee. Just bring your boat, lunch, a chair, and friends and family to cheer you on. Awards for the Regatta and the Soling Championship will be made following the Regatta. Low tide around noon so let’s hope for a perfect breeze. Before all that we have the sixth and final day of DF95 racing on this Thursday, Sept.10th, weather permitting. See you at one or all these events.Stay happy, healthy and safe,Derek
