Mead takes third race in Solent Solo Series

Victory for young solo sailor

The rain stopped and the breeze settled into the west at 14 knots for the start of the third in Solent Solo Series on Sunday, David Guilbert parked his committee boat, Sea Fever, near to B&G buoy north of the Hillhead and set a testing couse of 18 miles for the single-handers to enjoy.

The first leg was a 2.5 mile beat against the tide from B&G to Royal Thames on the Calshot shore, followed by a long run east to Craft Insure off Wooton. It was then planned that there would be a tight reach across the solent to East Bramble followed by a beat to South Bramble and a 'spinnaker' reach back to the committee boat off B&G. On the day, the early wind direction provided the forecast 13 to 17 knots from just south of west, but it veered progressively through the race to finish WNW. The result was that the planned tight reach across the solent became part of the beat, with East Bramble becoming a passing mark for most boats on their way to the shallower water on the mainland side, and the spinnaker reach to the finish became a white sail reach...for most.

The first veer of the day just before the start gave a bias to the committee boat end of the line with Peter Olden on Solan Goose and Simon Curwen on Voador fighting for bragging rights. The first beat to Royal Thames, close to the shore between Calshot and Lepe Spit, was probably the most tactical of the day, with choices to be made as to whether to hide from the flooding tide over Bramble Bank (always a dangerous option at low tide), or to head over to Calshot with the lighter and more variable winds.

Mike Moxley on Malice (HOD35) rounded Royal Thames first ahead of Oscar Mead on Juneau, followed by Voador, Graham Wilkinson on Outlandish and Solan Goose. Juneau moved ahead of Malice after a rapid spinnaker hoist, and Voador crept past Malice in the approach to the leeward mark off Wooton, only to be passed again up the subsequent beat.

Juneau held the lead up the beat and on to the finish to take line hours and a win on handicap, despite risking all in attempting to fly the big mast head spinnaker on what had become a tight reach to the finish. Malice crossed the line 62 seconds behind, with Voador close enough to take second on handicap despite following Juneau's example with the spinnaker. Solan Goose was next in for line honours in Class 3 and 4th place on handicap and the last participant crossed the line after 3.5 hours of racing.

Juneau leads the series in both the open and IRC rankings, ahead of Malice in the Open class and Solan Goose (J/92s) in the IRC class .

Voador sits third in both classes and it is all to play for in the final race when the discards are used.

Oscar Mead describes his winning moves: "My intention was to start on the committee boat end of the line and head straight for the tidal protection of the Bramble bank, with this in mind I lined myself up for the start when to my horror the start gun fired, glancing at my watch it became clear technology had let me down, my watch had stopped! Simon Curwen onboard Voador had a flying start in clear air and he made straight for the bank. I followed, now playing catch up. Splitting tacks, Simon chose to stay on the bank, however I was being lee bowed across the channel widening the gap. By the top mark I had snuck into second behind Mike Moxley on Malice, once round a quick spinnaker hoist kept the distances even, but an extra puff and a late spinnaker drop gave me the edge coming in to the leeward mark, and I managed to round Craft Insure in first place.

The final beat back up the Solent was a simple one; hide behind every bank on the way until you reach the top mark. Again as always, I was amazed at how high and fast Malice can go up wind. Having rounded the final windward mark (South Bramble) I decided to throw up the big spinnaker as I felt the breeze was going aft and I could hold it. Speaking to Simon Curwen after the race, he agreed as he had made the same call. Unfortunately we were both wrong! This poor choice of spinnaker meant a very wet drop and big gains were made by Malice who had intelligently decide to white sail reach it."

"Many thanks to Dave Guilbert for a fantastic days racing on the Solent."


The final race of Petit Bateau's Solent Solo Series is on Sunday 18th October, with shorter legs and more marks promised to keep the skippers warm as the season closes.