2025 Results | Solution Class Association

Leigh & Lowton

The Solution Inland Championships were held at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club as part of their annual summer regatta over the final weekend in August. It was great to see so many boats racing; in addition to our inlands it was also the ILCA and Wayfarer Northerns, as well as a handicap racing for the other club boats. The Solutions were met with a SSE wind which was very gusty and shifty making for challenging conditions. The sea sailors in particular had something to say about the sudden gusts! PRO Gareth Williams and his team did an excellent job, ensuring we had our own start and enjoyed close fair racing.

In race 1, after an early lunch, Kathryn Clark set off quickly and rounded the windward mark with a 40 second lead, proving that her 10% reduced sail is excellent upwind in a breeze. Richard Brown and local sailor Stephen Timbey rounded next. Paul “Basher” Nix lived up to his nickname and hit the committee boat, trying to muscle into a non-existent gap at the start, but still rounded ahead of Martin Tubb who make a rookie error and got stuck in irons mid tack. Kathryn was slowly reeled in by the fleet, especially on the off wind legs and by the penultimate mark of the fourth and final lap, after nearly an hour’s racing, Gary Patterson was leading, with Kathryn and Martin on his transom. Martin got a lucky gust to get the inside line on the short run into the leeward mark and stayed on the favoured starboard tack for the short beat to the finish, to take the win. Kathryn was just to leeward of Gary forcing him to tack off and she slipped through into second with an unlucky Gary finishing third. Richard pipped Stephen to fourth.

Race 2 was held back to back. Kathryn was keen to get away again but was OCS and got a single recall. Richard wasn’t sure and also returned. Martin built a large lead on the first half a lap, but this was steadily eroded during the remainder of the race. However he managed to hang on to win by 15 seconds from Paul, who had Gary on his tail.

We then went ashore for well-earned tea and cake, before it started raining.

In Race 3 Richard, Martin and Paul pulled away from the fleet, and had a close battle with frequent place changes. Martin threw away any chance of getting past Richard by kissing a couple of marks and having to do turns. Richard took a well-deserved win, with Martin just seconds behind and Paul in third.

Sunday’s blustery conditions were similar to Saturday’s although the wind was stronger and a 28 knot gust was recorded on the committee boat.

In race 4 we had to politely tell a Phantom that although similar he really isn’t a Solution and should wait for the next start! Unfortunately Paul’s mainsheet bridle broke and he had to go ashore. Kathryn sustained a minor injury and was forced to retire. Martin slowly pulled away to take the win from Gary in second and Richard third, with Stephen fourth.

In race 5 Martin, Richard and Gary rounded the second mark together. Martin headed off on a fetch along the bank, whilst the other two headed up onto a beat, as they hadn’t realised the course had changed. Martin did shout to highlight their mistake but this gave him a small lead, which he held to the finish. Gary capsized giving second place to Richard.

We were all relieved to go ashore for lunch, and unanimously decided to call it a day.

Local sailor Martin Tubb was the Solution Inlands winner with Richard Brown taking second spot once again, just 1 point ahead of Gary Patterson. Paul and Stephen were tied for 4th with Paul taking it on countback, and Kathryn just 1 point behind them. This was the fifth and final event of the 2025 Solution Travellers series and the win cemented Martin’s position as the series winner.

Our thanks to Leigh and Lowton for hosting us, and to Paul Hargreaves for taking some excellent photographs. Also thanks to our sailmaker Ian Morgan for loaning his flat sail for Gary to try- the verdict was it’s much better than his old Hyde sail!

Report: Martin Tubb Photos: Paul Hargreaves & Sue Tubb

Lee On The Solent

Somehow the SailGP fleet at Portsmouth got the media attention but they missed the main event at Lee on the Solent where the Solution, Phantom and Blaze classes came together for some proper close racing.

There was a yellow warning of thunderstorms and steadily increasing winds as the fleets started day one. Fifteen Solutions all got away from the start cleanly with the lighter conditions suiting some better than others. Ian Morgan was first to round the windward mark and held that position throughout the race while remaining positions swapped around but eventually Col Smedley pulled clear in second place with Nick Martin third.

As the wind became more firmly established for races two and three, so did the rankings. Ian Morgan demonstrated his consistency and clocked up another two bullets while the battle for second place was heating up, with Jon Stewart and Richard Gibbon each taking a second place and a third place.

The forecast for day two was for strong squally conditions so the committee held a fourth race on day one, a good decision for event planning but did little to break the established pattern in the Solution fleet with Ian Morgan first, Jon Stewart second and Richard Gibbon third.

Only two races were now needed on day two but with squally showers blowing across from the Isle of Wight cancellation was seriously considered. The official start time came and went while everyone sheltered in the clubhouse but eventually conditions moderated enough for a slightly apprehensive group of sailors and rescue boat crew to head out.

Six Solutions launched but a gear breakage for Ian Morgan meant he didn't make it to the start line. That left Jon and Richard now battling for the event lead. Jon took the first race to give himself a two point lead in the overall standings. Squally conditions delayed the start of the last race, but it finally went ahead with a significant wind shift allowing Col to lay the first mark in one tack with Jon and Richard close beside. Line honours eventually went to Richard with Col a whisker ahead of Jon, leaving Jon and Richard both on level points. With completely even score cards, the position in last race was the final discriminator, making Richard the event winner, Jon second and Col third overall, giving the first two places to LOSSC sailors. In 6th place was Mark Fox, the only sailor outside the top 3 to complete all 6 races.

This was a fantastic event with some challenging sailing and all thanks to LOSSC for the excellent rescue/shore provision, facilities and organisation. Even laying on the spectacle of the SailGP F50s passing the shorefront each day!

Report: Col Smedley Photos: Karen Ward

The Solution Nationals were held on 7th and 8th June at Burton, with a training day on the Friday.

On Saturday the weather was changeable, sun, breeze, gusty and shifty. Race 1: Nick Martion started with a port end flyer across the whole fleet. Close battle up front between Ian Morgan and Jon Steward. Result: 1st Jon Steward, 2nd Ian Morgan and 3rd James Jarvey.

Race 2 was started, then abandoned at the windward mark due to the wind shifting so much. Race started again, in a breeze with heavy rain shower, which led to the wind going and very light winds thereafter. Ian was out in front and left us all behind. Changing positions and close racing. Result: 1st Ian Morgan, 2nd Colin Smedley and 3rd Phil Kemp

No further racing due to lack of wind.

On Sunday Race 3 started at 1030. Fairly strong winds and gusty conditions. Again Ian and Jon out in front battling it out, changing places for the rest of fleet due to the wind shifts. Result: 1st Ian Morgan, 2nd Jon Steward and 3rd James Jarvey.

Race 4 started but abandoned due to a large wind shift which made the first leg a reach. Re-start and similar to previous race. Result: 1st Ian Morgan, 2nd Jon Steward and 3rd Colin Smedley.

Race 5 was a a battle between James Jarvey and Colin Smedley to see who came out in 3rd place overall. Result: 1st Jon Steward, 2nd Ian Morgan and 3rd Nick Martin.

Well done to Ian Morgan who won the Solution Nationals for the 4th year in a row, with Colin Smedley the first Master.

Our thanks to Burton Sailing club, who looked after everyone, and made it a very enjoyable event. Thanks also to Sea Sure for their sponsorship.

Report: James Jarvey Photos: Viki Myatt & Martin Tubb

All four Solutions arrived on the Friday for POSH (Paignton Open for Single Handers). With boats parked on the green of the English Riviera’s seafront for the weekend we adjourned to an excellent local harbour side restaurant for the evening, along with a couple of non-sailing partners. A few of the other regular Solution sailors were unfortunately unable to make the event and they missed out.

Saturday dawned bright and we had a leisurely morning before the sailing started. We sailed 3 races back to back on a trapezoid course, as part of the handicap fleet, which was split into 3 starts. There was a light to moderate on-shore easterly breeze blowing from the west, but with quite a chop. Martin was comfortably the lead Solution for the first race, with Gary and Paul taking second and third. Race two was looking to be a repeat of race 1 however Kathryn got ahead of Paul to take third. In the last race of the day, Martin was leading, however Gary got past him on the final light downwind leg to take the win for race 3, with Kathryn not far behind Martin. The excellent shore team quickly delivered our trolleys and we had no problems getting ashore on the sandy beach. It was only an hour or so before high tide, so there was very little beach exposed meaning we didn’t have far to drag our boats.

We enjoyed a lovely social evening in the Paignton SC clubhouse, and caught up with ex-Solution sailor Christian Smart, who was leading the standings in the Blaze Fire Nationals fleet and went on to win their event.

Sunday the weather forecast wasn’t so good and after the obligatory bacon butties in the clubhouse we all launched. The wind was lighter and variable. Just as the Blaze Fire fleet started the wind died and the heavens opened and we had what felt like an eternity of torrential rain, although it was probably "only" half an hour. I’ve never seen older design dinghies which are not self-draining being bailed out using the sailors’ boots before!! We were all wondering whether we were going to get any racing in, and how long we could endure the cold and unpleasant conditions. Gary and Paul decided they’d had enough and went ashore, however Martin and Kathryn persisted and were eventually rewarded with 3 races. The wind finally filled in from the north and the race officer quickly set a windward-leeward course for the first race, followed by two more trapezoid races. Kathryn was quick upwind and on a reach but the 10% reduced sail let her down off wind and Martin was able to keep ahead of her.

Our thanks to Paignton Sailing club for making us feel so welcome and their superb race management in difficult conditions. Thanks also to P&B for their sponsorship and prizes and Tom Wildy for some excellent photos.

Report: Martin Tubb Photos:Tom Wildy

The Solution Open was held in association with the Phantom class Inlands at Northampton Sailing Club at the end of May. Thank you to Northampton SC and everyone involved in running the weekend. The Race Officer had very difficult conditions to cope with as the wind was very shifty, but the team did a fantastic job. There were 11 competitors at the event from 8 different clubs who competed in 6 races over the 2 days. A big welcome back to Ross Prytherch after a seven year absence.

Day 1 started with very light, patchy and shifty winds. Race 1 had Ian Morgan first to the windward mark and he basically led the whole of the race. James Jarvey was in 4/5th at the windward mark, 2nd beat he made his way through to 2nd place. Resulted in Martin Tubb 3rd and Ross Prytherch in 4th. Race 2 James Jarvey got to the windward mark first and lead the whole of the race with Ian Morgan surprisingly further down in the pack, but true to form Ian finished 2nd, Richard Brown 3rd and Martin Tubb 4th. Very competitive fleet, with a lot of changes of positions throughout the race. The Race Officer thankfully called it a day after two races as it was so light and shifty.

After the first day it was Ian Morgan and James Jarvey sharing the top spot. It was a roast pork dinner, some great race chat and a few beers in the evening.

Day 2 saw us doing four races which started at 10.30, with the wind switching round from the previous day. Race 3 Jon Steward lead from start to finish, with Ian and James chasing. Richard Brown finished 3rd. Race 4 saw Jon Steward get away, with the pack chasing him down and at the finish Ian Morgan just pipped him on the finish line. Richard 3rd and James 4th. Race 5 was won by Jon, with Race 6 having James and Ian at the front battling it out. At the end Jon overtook on the last beat to finish first. Can't finish the report without mentioning the start for one boat who had a port end flyer! Nicely done.

Report: James Jarvey Photos: Jon Steward