4214 making Jim look good ;-)

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!?! 🤣 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)

Hi Darren, lots of members at HISC very happy to help you get up to speed :-) Whilst there are some differences, Chris' advice gives a great baseline to work from. As you say, it's a bit of a tough fleet but I/we are all happy to give you some help whether that be with your rig or navigating the harbour... which is perhaps the area of biggest gain. I'll be there Wednesday and most Sundays. Cheers, Guy 5691

Hi Doug, drop me an email guy.mayger@monotype.com and I'll send you the little piece I did for the magazine a couple of years again. Cheers, G

Hi Daren, The basic reason for the strops is to have reduce the amount of mainsheet you have in the boat. 6 to 8 inches of strop multiplied by 4:1 will save you a few feet of rope washing around the cockpit floor. Pretty marginal, but everyone seems to have it, so it must be fast ;-) Strops are easily made with dyneema. Just copy the lengths from another boat. Ideally, you'd want to use Brummel splicers to ensure nothing comes undone :-) Hope that helps. Cheers, G

Hi Donald, beyond the Ian's responses... whereabouts are you sailing? If on the sea, you really need to work on getting in the rhythm of the wave pattern, inland working the gusts. In both cases, it is very subtle as conditions get lighter and more tricky without the grunt of the 505 power. Play around with centreboard height and get a feel for where the "bite point" is. Approx half board (mark it). Too little and the boat gets too rolly and too much is just creating extra drag. In general, I'd say keep the boat flat unless steering (via heel) around waves and have a look back at your tiller to make sure you're not carrying lee or weather helm... more drag. Compared with faster boats it's a case of working on all the small things and concentrating, a lot! :-) As Mr McDonald mentioned, try lining up against a fast sailor at your club and see what they're doing (board, sail controls, body position etc). Oh, and take the mainsheet 2:1 for a better feel for the pressure in the sail.

Hi Ian, if you can go just to the point that the leech wants to gybe and then luff slightly from there you can get a little bit of an auto-pump (think that's what the Laser sailors call it/do). A bit more tricky in a Solo with the full length battens, but it can still work. In the absence of any other boats around it's quite easy to go from a very broad reach to going by the lee and "steering" between, ideally using the heel of the boat. This kind of sets up a subtle rolling action, so be mindful of rule 42, but on the sea you can use this to work the waves. Tactically though, it's not always a good idea, unless you have a big gap behind. With a group of boats somewhat line abreast to windward you can end up sailing in their dirty air. It's then better to consider playing the angles or at least keep a clean lane. All of this is very subtle and varies with wind strength. Can is very quick if done right, but can also end up with a swim :-) Practice, practice, practice... ideally with a mate who sails straight downwind so you can see what works. Cheers, Guy 5691