Solo Specific Spring 2015 Sponsored by Solo Specific Advertisement 2 Solo Specific Contacts N.S.C.A. Officers and Committee 2014-2015 ! Title/ Name Address Telephone Email Address President 24, Mundells, West 01992 626377 [email protected] Roger Gravatt Cheshunt, Herts, EN7 6BP Vice President 28 Bassett Gardens, North 07763 381285 vicepresident@solosailing Claire Clark Weald, Epping, Essex. .org.uk Hon.Treasurer 8B Huggins Lane, North 01707 259665 [email protected] David Walford Mimms, Hatfield, Herts. Membership 6 Tor Bryan, Ingatestone, 07802 484103 membership@solosailing Phil Sturmer Essex CM4 9HJ .org.uk Hon. Secretary 4 Snowberry Court, 01376 347366 [email protected] Robert Lawrie Braintree, Essex, CM7 9FT Chief Measurer 98 Norwich Rd, Chichester, 01243 789162 [email protected] Gordon Barclay West Sussex, PO19 5DF Technical Adviser 17 Shaggy Calf Lane, 01753 529170 Jim Gates Slough, Berks, SL2 5HL Newsletter Editor 74 Tumulus Rd, Saltdean, 01273 304421 [email protected] Will Loy East Sussex, BN2 8FS [email protected] Coaching 93 Eaton Rd, Appleton, 01865 863595 [email protected] Tony Thresher Abingdon, Oxon, OX13 5JJ 07729104117 Midland Area Rep [email protected] Nigel Davies Northern Area Rep 5 Field Hurst, Barkisland, 01422 820212 [email protected] Nick Hornsby Halifax, HX4 0OJ Eastern/T Valley Rep 28 Bassett Gardens, North 01992 523262 [email protected] Godfrey Clark Weald, Epping, Essex. 07713 871802 [email protected] Western Area Rep [email protected] Richard White Southern Area Rep 07809 761623 [email protected] Andrew Thompson Sea Series Vacant [email protected] Webmaster Vacant [email protected] Championship Venues 53 Seaview Avenue, West 07919 171493 [email protected] Steve Ede Mersea,Colchester, CO58BY Committee Member [email protected] Chris Brown Scottish Area Rep Crab Apple Neuk, Sea 07939 062156 kevangibb@ardnastangestates. Kevan Gibb Rd,Drumeldrie, Upper co.uk Largo, KY8 6JD Welsh Area Rep [email protected] Brian Holland GM and Vet Rep [email protected] Andrew Smith 3 Solo Specific Committee Editorial Firstly, a very Happy New Year to all our members, I regard you as friends off the water and adversaries on it. This is the first publication using the new Apple Mac and Fuji digital camera, I hope you see an improvement in quality if not material. There is also a change to the cover with the inclusion of a National Solo corporate image, The synonymous white sail with five full length battens set on a more modern raked mast. The insignia is slightly larger and the font used is Tahoma. Roger and myself put our heads together on this project, let someone on the committee know if you like it or not, we can then decide if to adopt it or not. !The breaking news is that Selden Spars are set to sponsor the National and Nation’s Cup at East Lothian Y.C. in August. We are now set for a fabulous championship, we just need a nice south easterly from the Sahara to warm the banks of North Berwick and 90 + Solos’. The Veteran and Grandmaster Series seem! to have been overlooked in previous years but since i am fast approaching 51 I will be focusing more time and magazine pages to these series. Andrew Smith is the co-ordinator and prompted by Mike Wilkie the two series will have perennial trophies awarded at the EOS. The winner of the Vets will receive the Danny Butler Trophy, named after one of the forefathers of the class and the Richard Lovett trophy will go to the victorious Grand Master. For those new to the class, Richard built some of the finest a fastest wooden Solos’ in the 70-80s and helped develop the shape and flared gunwales so prevalent today. !Hopefully you will receive this magazine before the Dinghy Show, the prelude to the sailing season although I am not sure there is even a closed season these days. The committee will be on hand to meet/greet old friends and show off the two lovely new National Solos’. There is masses to see and lots to buy so take the credit card away from your partner and earn some air miles. !Rule 42 continues to be a hot topic and there are some interesting points made by Steve Cockerill in his article in this issue. I had a long chat with Tony Thresher a while back and we agreed that it is down to the competitors to protest if they see illegal actions. As Tony commented ‘’ even at Olympic level the competitors know when it is safe or not to pump, that is what the crew is there for’’. My own view is that there were more protests when a red flag had to be displayed. The commitment to fly it at the first sign of an infringement adds conviction to the hail. It is all too easy to shout protest once and then not follow it through to the protest room. !Congratulations to Mike Sims and all the other sailors who competed in the Sailjuice series over the winter. The winds for the six event series were generally windy and freezing cold, no surprise for dec/Jan I guess. I did some videoing at the Bloody Mary and also had a camcorder on Pete Mitchell’s Solo. He was doing ok albeit behind Mike by some way but hooked in to a massive gust on one reach. Even for a man of his supreme talent it was too much and he tipped it in..on camera. The shot below is just before the crash! !See you on the water. Will Loy 4 SPRING INTO ACTION Inject some colour into your kit bag this season on the Rooster Stand at the 2015 Dinghy Show, with even more colours & products now available in our best selling Aquafl eece® range. Check out the NEW PROLite Aquafl eece®, our most exciting product development for 2015. We will also have the latest RaceArmourTM and RaceArmourTM Lite shorts on the stand - THE ‘must-have’ versatile partner for any hiking dinghy sailor whatever you wear. FREE Delivery to Mainland UK online at www.roostersailing.com [email protected] | t: +44 (0) 1243 389997 | Follow Us: SPRING-INTO-ACTION_A4_Jan15.indd 1 4/2/15 13:40:58 Solo Specific Presidential Report THE PREZ SEZ A! happy 2015 to all National Solo Class Association Members and I wish you all good sailing throughout the year. !I can start by conveying the good news that Noble Marine will continue their Sponsorship of our Class for 2015. They are of course the named sponsor of our Winter Championships but their financial support goes much wider than this and includes training courses, trophies and the like. Your continued use of Noble for your dinghy insurance cover helps us secure this valuable support. !On the subject of Sponsorship I am hopeful that Selden Spars will title sponsors for this year's National Championships / Nations Cup event in Scotland. Selden have offered to help and I await Committee approval before finalising details. !I am typing this with crossed fingers in the hope that the previous concerns with our favourite D+ masts have diminished. Insurance claim numbers have reduced although I know of at least one problem at the windy Bloody Mary race. I am still hopeful that a front taper Cumulus section mast will provide part of the solution. So far the taper provided ( similar to the D+ ) has not provided enough power release in gusts but perhaps a maximum length taper (with minimum tip dimension) as allowed by our Rules will provide what we need. I understand that 6 examples have been built for thorough testing on the water. !Whilst I love our current National Solo the alleged success of newer designs like the RS Aero worries me a little. I wonder if we should reduce our hull minimum weight requirement ? Modern Merlin Rockets carry up to 22 kg correctors so I do not believe it is beyond the wit of our leading builders to build a strong National Solo hull substantially lighter than we currently allow. How about members agreeing that in future (say) 12kg correctors be allowed (this would enable lighter ends to the hull) and then in (say) 5 years we reduce the hull minimum weight requirement by 10kg and boats built in the interim period can stay competitive by removing some of the lead and having their boats weighed again and a revised Certificate issued. Perhaps it is a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but we must ensure that our boat appeals to the next generation. What are members views on this ? !Finally, I remain hopeful that we will soon have a new and revised website. Updating / changing the current site is not straightforward and therefore the information contained is never entirely up to date. I am hoping that a new site which is amendable even by an old duffer like me will enable Members to get better value from the Association. Watch this space. !Best wishes to all. Roger Gravatt ! 6 Solo Specific Financial ! Treasurer’s Report !Happy New Year to you all and in financial terms I am looking forward to another prosperous and profitable year for the National Solo Class Association. After a successful 2014 the aim is for this to continue and at least emulate this in 2015 The annual subscription renewal process is well underway. Thanks go to Phil Sturmer our Membership Secretary for recently launching ' Webcollect ' an automated process for subscriptions. The initial take up has been good and no doubt HSBC will also appreciate this introduction as I will no longer need to pay circa 1000 cheques into the bank.