Dinghy Show 2024

It was a busy Dinghy Show this year on the Saturday.  I was helping on the Frensham stand in the afternoon, but got there at midday to chat to my brother and have a look around the show. There were 4 Solos on display:

• Two at the Solo Assoc stand
• One at Selden Masts
• One at GOAT Marine

On the Solo stand there was Andy Tunnicliffe's Ginger Boats Solo with an Impact sail and SuperSpars mast, plus a Winder with a North sail and Selden mast.

I had a chat with Vernon Perkins when looking round the stand and also a brief chat with Maria Franco and Mike Dray. The boats both looked great - Maria told me the Winder belonged to Tom Gillard - and there were lots of people stopping by the stand, so the Association must have been pleased.

Selden had a Winder/North boat...

and GOAT Marine had a Solo with a P&B sail (not sure if it was a Winder hull) plus a Selden mast

(Wait a minute - is that Patrick Burns on the GOAT stand?)

Solo 6096 on the GOAT stand is so new it doesn't even appear in the Solo Register yet!

I met up with a host of Frensham sailors (FPSC is just down the road from the show) and also with Solo sailor Pat Overs so we could talk about 3D printed fittings - you might have seen my article on this in the latest Solo Interactive (thanks for including it, Will Loy). If you are interested in the topic, there is more at my website on this.

I was describing my Solo mainsheet arrangement (track on the transom, ratchet on the boom) to my brother - he commented on how much tech was on the thwart of a Solo (he is an Aero sailor). Solo sailors mostly think my setup is crazy, but as I was wandering round the show I spotted the high-tech Hadron H2 on the Harken stand which had exactly the same arrangement as me. Now that the Hadron H2, 29er and K1 have it too, maybe it is catching on? ⛵