|
 soling lovers |
| CLASS HISTORY Jan Linge The Soling history actually began in
the mind of Jan Linge during the late 50's while he was doing design work and tank testing
on a 5.5 metre to be built for a Norwegian friend for sailing in the 1960 Olympics. The friend, Finn Ferner, was a successful
businessman and an outstanding helmsman, an Olympic medallist and winner of many
international events. Linge had become
convinced that a slightly smaller boat with a detached spade rudder and short keel could
be a fast seaworthy boat with the likelihood of great popularity - though such features
were not allowed under the 5.5 rules. After 1960 Linge completed his design
sketches to demonstrate his ideas for promoting a Norwegian national class. These seeds fell on barren ground for about two
years, while the IYRU was reaching a decision to encourage more international classes - to
take advantage of the research and materials developed during World War II, then becoming
available for new domestic products - materials like plastics, synethetic yarns, glass
fibre, as substitutes for wood and cotton. IYRU seeks new classes By the time of the 1961 IYRU meetings,
the forces for change had organized themselves to seek four new classes - a single hander
as companion to the Finn, a two-man keelboat to complement the Star, a three-man keelboat
like the 5.5 or Dragon, finally a catamaran. The
FD already had its companion in the 5 0 5., so there was no need for another centreboarder
- 470's, Lasers and Sailboards were to come later. There was to be a step-by-step
process, starting with an announcement in a prominent yachting magazine willing to monitor
a class, with generalized dimensions; then there would be a design competition not to
choose a boat but to allow the IYRU to illustrate the type of boat desired. Thereafter, the IYRU would hold trials under the
supervision of a "Selection" Committee which it would appoint. High performance and popularity The underlying goals for these new
boats was not explicit, but hinted: "high
performance" and "popularity" were key words for whatever boat was chosen. There was sentiment among some countries,
particularly those not performing well in existing classes, that new classes might
displace existing ones in Olympic competition, though it was vigorously denied, perhaps
out of political wisdom. Some thought the
IYRU had a leadership role for promoting changes, others believed that international
status should depend first on substantial levels of sailing activity around the world -
i.e. a class already popular. The boats
sought were all to be designated "Group A", that is the group from which Olympic
classes were picked. The two-man keelboat process started
in 1962 under the auspices of the Dutch sailing magazine "De Water Kampleon"
with the announcement of the design competition, to culminate at the 1963 IYRU meetings,
and Trials perhaps in 1965. A design competition by the IYRU It was the public announcement by the
Class Policy Committee (CPOC) in mid 1963 that started events leading to the adoption of
the Soling's Olympic status four years later. The
American magazine "Yachting" undertook to accept design sketches for
presentation at the November 1963 meeting. "It
should be a wholesome boat capable of being sailed from port to port in open water" -
not "an extreme type design", reported "Yachting" - "What IYRU
wants is a nice compromise between maximum speed and maximum seaworthiness, with a good
measure of both. The boat should certainly be
non-sinkable and have built-in buoyancy, and should be capable of racing in open sea
conditions. Since it is to be a racing boat,
our guess is that an entirely open cockpit, or at most, a minimum caddy, would be most
acceptable". Obligatory maximum limits
"LWL 22 feet, Draft 4'6", Displacement 3799 pounds, Sail area 310 sq. ft." A boat for strong winds and heavy
weather At the November meeting, Linge, then a
member of the Keelboat Committee, was armed with his plans and arguments for a smaller
boat, cheaper, as much fun to sail and much easier to trail. A majority, however, favoured the larger boat -
more like a one-design equivalent of the 5.5. A
panel of three was appointed to be judges of the competition: Peter Scott (then President
of the IYRU), Jan Linge and Rod Stephens, soon to become the world's leading naval
architect of ocean racing yachts. This group
took most of the year before, in November, awarding modest prizes (US$300 for first) to
the top three designs. Stephens wrote a
summation of the judges' thinking ("Yachting" January 1965) with this
significant observation: "There is so
much merit in the fibre glass construction ... in providing uniformity of hull form
(!)". He went on to say: "In
evaluating the designs, the judges tried to think in terms of use under widely varying
conditions. It was felt that prize-winning
designs - one or more of which may be ultimately used in a widespread one-design class -
should be suitable for almost any kind of wind and sea conditions. In a way, this became a bias toward a boat suited
to strong winds and relatively heavy weather simply because a boat of this sort is at
least safe and useful in light weather, even if it is at its best as a racing boat only in
stronger winds". The Linge/Ferner prototype Once Linge had lost his argument at
the 1963 meetings for a small boat, he returned to Norway determined to develop his
version of a three-man keelboat. His next
door neighbour, Sverre Olsen (See S.O. + LING), a successful merchant who had taken over
the insolvent Holmen boatyard, became interested in backing the effort as useful publicity
for his establishment. Given such resources,
a wooden prototype was built, for experimenting with sizes and placement of rudders,
keels, and rig. Finn Ferner, the champion
skipper and Linge's 5.5 client of 1960, became an important skilled partner in this
activity. By mid 1965, Linge and Ferner were
satisfied enough with their work to manufacture mold needs for producing complete fibre
glass boats. In November 1965, the IYRU
scheduled trials to be held off Kiel during September 1966, but for reasons not certain
(perhaps to enlarge the entry list), allowed smaller boats provided "they were well
ballasted, not a planing type". 1966 Trials - Shillalah and the
Soling The high performance revolution was
underway: The Tempest was given recognition,
Catamaran trials were set for 1967, and a 1966 re-run of the single hander event which had
had no wind in 1965 was held. During the
Winter of '65/'66, five fibreglass Solings were built which were extensively sailed
against one another during the following Summer. This
competition was destined to be helpful in the heavy weather ahead at Kiel - chosen as a
windy challenge for what the IYRU desired. The Norwegians arrived in Kiel with
two boats - one to be raced, the other to remain on its trailer ashore available for
inspection. Ferner was the helmsman, Linge
and Rudolph Ugelstad the crew. There were
eight boats, all prototype one-offs except for the Soling.
The first race was in moderate air, but thereafter for ten of the eleven
races, Kiel lived up to its breezy reputation. The final race may have been worth all
the rest for the Soling: a meeting of
helmsmen gathered in view of the forty knot wind. Not
surprisingly, the Committee's desire to race was persuasive. On the way to the starting area, breakdowns and
one sinking left but two to compete. By the
windward mark only the Soling was left to sail the course, and so was able to demonstrate
her outstanding ability to handle heavy air. The
Selection Committee, consisting of Frank Murdoch (Chairman, Holland), Beppe Croce (Italy),
Bob Bavier (US), Costas Stavridis (Greece), Sir Gordon Smith (UK) and Hans Lubinus
(Holland)) was impressed. Two boats were recommended: Shillalah, designed and sailed by US Starboat
Champion, Skip Etchells, and Soling, the boat referred to as "the undersized
entry". Shillalah won eight of the ten
races she entered - her speed was outstanding; although
the Soling was about a foot and a half less on the water line, three feet less overall, 7%
less sail area, she averaged a little over two minutes behind first place - was never
outclassed, was good in rough weather, and was very fast on the reaches. Three months later in London, the CPOC endorsed
the Selection Committee's recommendation, but wait: "The
Permanent Committee seemed on the verge of approving this recommendation without any
dissent when one of its members who had an unsucessful entrant in the trials expressed the
view that the trials were inconclusive because of insufficient variety in weather. Others then cast doubt as to whether Shillalah
could be built in fibreglass at a weight comparable to the wooden prototype and if not how
might she perform? Despite some assurance
that she could be, the damage was done and all of a sudden a number of people who minutes
before were all in favour of encouraging both boats, decided instead to delay until
additional trials could clarify the matter" - wrote "Yachting" in January
1967. 1967 - Second Trials at Travemunde So, more trials were scheduled - this
time in Travemunde at the end of the 1967 Summer. A
Committee now called "Observation" rather than "Selection" was this
time chaired by Jonathan Janson (UK) with Beppe Croce (Italy), Ding Schoonmaker (US),
Eddie Stutterheim of Holland and Hamstorf from Germany. While the IYRU proceeded with
deliberate speed, the '66 Trials had generated action in Norway. The three promoters, Linge, Ferner, and Olsen,
formed Soling Yachts A/S to build and sell the boats and to license builders. Paul Elvstrom obtained a boat for testing and
sailing in the '66/'67 Winter; he became an
enthusiastic supporter. Even before the
second (1967) set of Trials, some sixty boats were sailing in Scandinavia - a
"local" class, even without international status. Several new boats, a fibreglass
Shillalah, also a 5.5 and a Dragon to compare speeds, assembled in Travemunde for the
second Trials - this time in what became a moderate air series. Again Shillalah was the big winner, but again
Soling finished respectably. This time she
was sailed by Per Spilling (destined to win the first European Championship in 1968) with
Sven Olsen and Linge again as crew. Without
comment, the Observation Committee recommended Soling alone; this result passed unanimously through the IYRU
meetings. The Soling had become an
international class, but not without the help of the Norwegian Embassy where hitherto
non-existent Class Rules were put together one Friday night by Beecher Moore (subsequent
host of many Soling parties), Jan Linge and Finn Ferner, and then reproduced by the
Embassy staff just in time for the Saturday morning meeting of the CPOC. Soling gets chosen Needless to say a celebration was in
order. The supporters of Shillalah could
grumble about European politics and IYRU's misleading campaign for a big boat, but the
Norwegians hit the town for an all night blast, with the blessings of a friendly innkeeper
selling his brew long after closing hours - one snag: the bill, product of the hours of
carousel by fifty happy people unprepared to pay. The
innkeeper was willing to wait for his money until Soling Yachts A/S could return to Oslo -
a short time, but enough for a 40% drop in the British pound; so the party had been a bargain! New Olympic Class The 1968 Games in Mexico were held
before the Class acquired its Olympic status. Because
there was a five-class limit set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the CPOC
had recommended 5.5, Soling, Tempest (its two new boats), FD and Finn - these at the cost
of Dragon and Star. The Permanent Committee
was heavily lobbied by Dragon enthusiasts and so dumped the 5.5; in the same process the Star owners forced
abandonment of IYRU's Tempest. It took
another four years after the '72 Games for the Soling to become the single three-man
keelboat, when the Dragon was finally retired. In April of 1969, after this bloody
battle, the IOC relieved the pressure on the IYRU by allowing a sixth "event". When the IYRU added the Tempest, a fourth keelboat
out of six, sailors throughout the world of small boat racing rose up in fury at the
keelboat bias by the elders of yachting. These
events, while not quite germane to Soling history, describe the dynamics of IYRU decision
making when Olympic classes are changed. Solings multiply The news of the Trials' results not
only assured the Soling's status, but stimulated a building spree: three hundred in 1968 and as many or more in 1969. Elvstrom became the dominant builder in Europe,
particularly after he won the first Soling World Championship off Copenhagen in 1969. One of the best American helmsmen, George O'Day,
was given a licence to build for the US market, just as Bill Abbott Sr. acquired the
Canadian market. Bill Abbott Since Abbott, alone of the original
builders, has remained a steady supporter of the class and was to become the producer of
more Solings than any other world wide, his own story bears telling. The "Chief" (as he is now known in all
the hemispheres) had been looking for a small racing boat in 1966 to build in fibreglass
for the use of local sailors at the southern end of Lake Huron. Pictures of the Soling competing in the '66 Trials
showed such a boat, and it attracted him as a solution to his search. After negotiations with Jan Linge, who preferred
to sell boats rather than license them, Abbott bought a plug which arrived in June of
1967. Molds were then built so that six boats
were produced by the end of the year - at a leisurely pace, because Abbott was unaware of
the pace of developments at the IYRU. But in
1968, be built 40, 129 in 1969, and then up to one per day as the American market opened
to his benefit. Abbott had struck oil without
looking for it. Not all fibreglass boats are
identical It was clear by 1969 that the Soling
had arrived. Now it was essential that a
responsible class be formed to govern, to encourage measures for its safety and to adopt
restrictions against expensive "improvements".
But more important, the class had to control the shape of the hull, keel and
rudder. The effort continues even today. Class Rules were therefore a priority, and were
built upon those assembled by Linge and Ferner in 1967.
Uniformity, the unrealizable goal of one-design mystique, was assured in the
Sixties to have been accomplished by fibreglass construction. Experience was to prove a different reality. That called for vigilance by Class Officers. Many influences were at work even as
the Soling was brought into existence. Sailcloth
in dacron became available as the replacement for the best Egyptian cotton by 1960, but it
took a few years for sailors to learn the significance of draft location and how to adjust
it underway. To do that required an
assortment of marine hardware for the creation of systems of control. Compare, for example, the vang (alias, kicking
strap) of 1968 with its 5:1 advantage tackle to the multi-block 25:1 arrangements on
today's boats. Harken and Holt among others
arrived in time to make the Solings a sophisticated boat just as complexity was converting
the sport into more science and head work. Leading
sailors like Elvstrom were the first to grasp the potential for these developments in boat
speed. The Class Rules had to ensure a
measured pace. Paul Elvstrom The first World Championship was won
by Paul Elvstrom in a boat named Bes, one of three Norwegian boats built in 1968. Elvstrom spent much time testing his idea, while
"customizing" three of these boats - one for himself, one for King Constantine,
and one for Erik Johansen, a fellow Dane. One Design challenge Said one knowledgeable sailor: "Paul Elvstrom's boats tested the limits of
the Soling class in every direction" (see Article by Graham Hall, "One Design
and Offshore Yachtsman", November 1969, now known as "Sailing World": 3
pages of detailed photos and comments). When
measured and protested "on general principles", Elvstrom's boats were faulted on
only one point: he "had raised the floor about ten inches and had fibre glassed them
to the inside of the hull, making an effective double bottom". With "Elvstrom bailers", the boat was
self-bailing. The floorboards were deemed to
be "overweight"; holes were required to be drilled so that water in the cockpit
could collect below in the bilge and be pumped like the rest of the fleet. The article concluded: "Whenever a boat like Elvstrom's
makes such an impression on a class, there always emerges a re-written set of rules
dealing with the major "loopholes" that allowed the development. Such was the case with Buddy Freidrich's Dragon
after the 1967 Worlds in Toronto. The newly
elected International Soling Class technical committee will have to deal with any
questions that the 1969 Worlds have brought to light.
Chief among them will be rulings on floorboards and double-bottoms, hiking
straps, devices, handles, hull weight, builder inspections, template enforcement,
underwater keel location, and flush-hulled rudders. Recommendations
of the ISA technical committee will be forwarded to the IYRU technical committee to ensure
that the rules reflect accurately the intention and design of the original boat as adopted
by the Union. The answers to these questions will
tell whether and how far the Soling class is actually going in a "one-design"
direction. "The thing that bothers
me", George O'Day said at breakfast during the Worlds, "is that we have reached
a stage where unless the class makes some far reaching decisions, people won't buy into
it". Melges makes the boat
"simple" While the Elvstrom boat of 1969 seemed
a miracle of ingenuity that year, it nevertheless offered an extraordinary contrast to the
Melges boat of 1972 in which Buddy Melges won the Class' first Olympic gold medal. The drums used in Elvstrom's boat to provide
mechanical advantage at either end of the cockpit, the centre horse, the four big winches
for trimming the jib and spinnaker, the clutter of lines coming into a console at the
forward end of the cockpit, the spider web of shock cord to raise the spinnaker boom, the
free standing handles on each rail for the crew, the tracks to change clew positions, and
even the shroud tracks - all became victims of the Melges systems below decks or behind
the bulkhead hatches. Marine hardware had
come of age between the Elvstrom boat and Melges'. The value of the raised floor (now
called the cockpit sole) as an essential element in the construction and sailing of the
Soling is apparent to anyone in 1996, but it was not in 1969. The ISA meeting of that November adopted it only
after a tie compelled Bill Abbott to cast a deciding vote after overnight thought. His agony was in Canada where twenty unsold boats
had been built without those floors. The cockpit sole A committee of IYRU technical people
with help from the class was left to re-draft the rules which could be used by sailors
preparing for the 1972 Games. Elvstrom had
more ideas for strengthening the boat with support from the floor downward rather than
have it rest upon members built up from the keel. He
attempted to get IYRU approval without success, but went ahead with his plan in the sixty
boats he built in 1970. Although his ideas
were ultimately allowed "he had his knuckles slapped". IYRU too had difficulty in this age of fibreglass:
the templates made by the IYRU for the 1972 Games created a major problem because many
boats built by licensed builders with approved tooling did not fit - fibreglass
construction was more complicated than making muffins. Jack Van Dyke It was in this state of confusion that
on 1st January 1973 Jack Van Dyke, the then President of the US Soling Association,
succeeded Eggert Benzon as ISA President. In
1972 the Soling had been redesignated as an Olympic Class, looking towards the '76 Games. But the signals at the IYRU were to shape up with
better control over the boat's construction, as well as its potential for high cost
improvements contrary to the intention of Section 1 of the Class Rules. Van Dyke's previous years with the
IYRU helped to make 1973 a watershed year. A
"Measurement Seminar" was held in Genoa with the IYRU's new President, Beppe
Croce, Nigel Hacking (Executive Secretary), Tony Watts (IYRU Chief Measurer) and others,
for a new and successful effort to tame the tigers of creativity. Since then the class has been able to confront
problems, one by one, as they arose. There
proved to be many down the years: hiking devices, shroud tracks, jib self tackers,
reinforcement of the mast step area, rudders shaped by templates, sail inventories, steps
to ensure watertight compartments, more keel templates to discourage excessive fairing and
keel shaping contrary to the rules. Old Friends at the 20th Birthday
Party In 1985, the Class held a birthday
dinner party to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.
Present to celebrate with us was the late Beppe Croce, then President of the
IYRU; and the Chairman of the CPOC during the turbulent years of our birth - Jonathan
Janson - who was also Chairman of the 1967 Observation Committee who recognized the beauty
of the little boat Jan Linge had designed; and King Constantine of Greece, a competitor at
our first World Championship. HRH King Harald In 1991 HRH King Harald of Norway
graciously accepted the Class' invitation to succeed his father as Honorary President and
he has been extremely supportive of the Class' aspirations. Presidents Since Jack Van Dyke the ISA has had
seven Presidents: Geert Bakker - 1976-1979,
Ken Berkeley - 1980-1982, Karl Haist - 1983-1986, Sam Merrick - 1987-1990, Stu Walker -
1991-1994, George Wossala - 1995-1998 and Tony Clare the current President. During this period the major themes of the Class
have been the strengthening of its Class Rules to ensure the maintenance of its
"one-designedness", the continuance of its Olympic status (often against
significant opposition), the promotion of match racing, and the support of events and
opportunities that bring club sailors and Olympic aspirants together. Geert Bakker Geert Bakker provided a transition
that led the Class from its pioneer days to its pre-eminence as the world's most active
and admired three-man keelboat. Katrina
Bakker says that she knows how much (her husband) Geert (who died far too young in 1992),
"loved the Soling Class and what great pleasure it gave him to be President". Geert was elected to the Presidency in 1976, the
year he represented The Netherlands in the Kingston Olympics. Ken Berkeley Match racing became a regular feature
of the Class' European schedule in 1983 when Ken Berkeley (who had just retired) donated a
trophy for annual competition based upon experience over several years on Lake Balaton in
Hungary and in Berlin. Ken Berkeley recruited
the present Secretary in 1980 after the death of Eyvin Schiotz who had been Secretary
since the early years of the Class. Karl Haist Karl Haist had been President of the
large and enthusiastic German Soling Class before he became the first central European
President of the ISA. He encouraged East
Germany (then the DDR) to become more active in the regular events of the Class and
arranged for the first European Championship behind the "Iron Curtain". Karl was particularly concerned to maintain the
one-design character of the boat and during his tenure additional templates were
introduced to control the shape of the keel. As
the number of entries in championship events had become excessive, Karl devised a quota
system that assured the participation was equitably distributed amongst the nations. Heike Blok brought forward the concept of an
international ranking system and donated the Soling World Trophy. Sam Merrick During Sam Merrick's Presidency the
IYRU heirarchy launched a major programme to make sailing a spectator sport, part of which
was to introduce match racing into the Olympics. Sam
persuaded the Class and the IYRU that if match racing were to be introduced, the ideal
means was to use the Soling in a fleet/match event and he presided over the establishment
of the present Olympic format in which the top fleet racers advance to a match racing
final. The first Soling manual (a guide to
racing the Soling), edited by Heike Blok, was published and distributed to all Soling
sailors. The number of sails allowed in a
regatta was reduced to one main, two jibs, and two spinnakers. Perhaps most importantly, Uli Strohschneider's
campaign to make the Soling unsinkable was successful and the Class Rules were modified to
require that hatch covers be screwed into place. No
Solings have sunk since this time. Stu Walker Stu Walker campaigned successfully to
keep the Soling in the '96 Olympics and to continue the fleet/match format. Early in his Presidency the attempt of a builder
to construct "Solings" using an illegal foam sandwich was detected and the
builder's licence was withdrawn. Stu
established a strong, well organized Technical Committee that included the major builders
and which has been successful in openly recognizing and solving problems before they
become significant. As President, Liaison
Officer, and Umpire, he actively promoted match racing in the Class, and developed with
Mundo Vela Cadiz the Infanta Dona Cristina Match Racing Series as the premier match racing
event of the Class. George Wossala George Wossala, as Vice-President and
then President of the ISA, became a major influence in the Hungarian Yachting Association
(he is President of the HYA), and subsequently was appointed to several important ISAF
Committees. Thanks to his excellent links
with ISAF (and with his ability to communicate in any one of a dozen or so languages) he
was, and continues to be, instrumental in maintaining the status of the Soling Class as
the Olympic fleet/match racer. During his
reign as ISA President he also strove to improve the status of the Class' club racers,
while aspiring to, and achieving, an Olympic berth himself (in the 1996 Olympics). He has also instigated the first
Soling Masters' Championship - to be held at Lake Balaton in September 1999. Tony Clare After serving as Chairman of the ISA
Technical Committee from 1980 - 1998 and as Vice President (Administration) from 1990 -
1998, Tony Clare became ISA President in January 1999.
He first became a Soling owner in the Seventies for the best possible reason
- he saw it as a boat in which he could have tremendous fun racing against a hard core of
like-thinkers based at his beloved Burnham-on-Crouch.
And of course he was right.
Tony is blessed with an enquiring and analytical mind which he has turned to
finding out all about the guts of a Soling and what makes it go. He has spent an enormous amount of time and effort
over the last 20 years to make the Soling machine work smoothly and to make the Class and
its administration the most respected of all the Olympic classes. Jean-Pierre Marmier Another very long serving ISA worker,
Jean-Pierre Marmier (Chairman of the ISAF Measurement Committee, and also appionted as the
Chairman of the 2000 Olympic Regatta Measurement Committee), was the Class Chief Measurer
from 1980 - 1998 and became Chairman of the ISA
Technical Committee in January 1999. He keeps
a very close eye on the Class Rules (and updated them to comply with the new ISAF standard
class rules in 1997) and has always required competitors to adhere to the highest possible
standards. He has been regularly attending
ISA Committee meetings since 1977 (in the early days as a proxy, then sometimes as the
Appointed member for Switzerland, and sometimes as an Elected member). We cannot imagine Committee meetings without his
wise presence. |
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