I can't wait for the race report! Well done to Andy Davies and Olly Davenport for their win/2nd places. But in third place was Ben McGrane. Now Ben is the current Mirror World Champion among many other wins and he works for Hyde sails, so it is no surprise that he can do well in Solos too. But what is suprising is his sail number 4257. According to the Solo Register that is an all-wood Gosling built in October 2000. I am hoping he really sailed the Gosling into third place and didn't just use an old sail number. It would be a nice thing for us all-wood Solo owners to see what Ben can do in that boat ๐
Results here, by the way: https://www.chewvalleysailing.org.uk/files/results/solowinters2024.html
Its great to see a wooden boat get a good result. In fact i think it saved my solo from going on apollo duck as i was just feeling do defeated. last year i was always at the back of the fleet at opens and at my club i had just resigned myself to defeat. But this has cheered me up and made me more optimistic about it. Unfortunately this year i wont qualify for the midland series so I'm hoping to do the nationals next year if i can get a newer sail and afford to go!
Lovely to see a wooden Solo sailed so well - gives me hope that I can eventually drag 4110 closer to the front, although my own skill will of course be the determining factor ๐
It would be nice to read more tuning tips aimed at older boats...
Loz
4214 making Jim look good ;-)
Mr Hunt in Simon Hoults Gosling.
Dont look at the short battens๐
as someone who has been droning on about the tiny difference about decent wooden and plastic boats- and the significant difference in helm speed- well done Ben!
I think I have a photo of Mr Hunt going very fast in the same boat years ago
Hi Ian,
Yes, Ben sailed 4257 very smartly on Saturday at Chew Valley, as I can confirm since I was in close proximity most of the time. In fact, I beat him in 3 of the 4 races, but still managed to finish behind him overall!?! ๐คฃ
4257 has been very well cared for and, in Ben's hands, showed no sign of being slower compared to her FRP cousins, uphill or down. She was just another Solo (good looking Solo, mind) to race on the course.
Report is coming soon, but will make mention to this result. Importantly, Ben said he'd forgotten how much he enjoyed racing in the Solo fleet, so I hope we see him attend a few more events.
Thanks for picking up this point.
Cheers,
Guy (El Prez)