Soling
| Current Specifications | |
|---|---|
| File:Solingdrawing.png | |
|
120x50px Class Symbol | |
| Crew | 2 or 3 |
| LOA | 8.15 m (26.7 ft) |
| LWL | 6.1 m (20 ft) |
| Beam | 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Draft | 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) |
| Hull weight | 1,035 kg (2,280 lb) |
| Mast height | 9.3 m (31 ft) |
| Main & Jib area | 23.7 m2 (255 sq ft) |
| Mainsail area | 15.6 m2 (168 sq ft) |
| Jib / Genoa area | 8.1 m2 (87 sq ft) |
| Spinnaker area | 35 m2 (380 sq ft) |
| Infobox last updated: 15-MRT-2010 | |
| Vintage Yachting Class | |
A Soling is a small class of keelboat designed by Jan Linge of Norway in 1965. In 1968, it was chosen from among many other boats to be the men's triple-handed boat for the 1972 Olympics. The Soling was an Olympic boat until its final appearance in 2000 at the Sydney Games. Since 2008 is the Soling one of the Vintage Yachting Classes at the Vintage Yachting Games.
The Soling is a strong boat designed for any wind and seas condition, fun to sail. Fitness, sailing and team skills are basic requirements for good racing. The boats are made in fiberglass reinforced polyester and are One Design boats coming from an authorized single plug and mould, making competition as even as possible. Masts are made of aluminum alloy and the best known brand is Abbott, although Proctor, Borresen and other brands might be available in the market.
The lifetime of a Soling is long, those produced in the early days still sail beautifully and some are still in competition (more than 30 years after being built), but the average competition life of a Soling boat is considered 15 years making the Soling the perfect cost x benefit boat for racing purposes.
Sails are made of dacron and the most used brands are: Doyle, North Sails, Elvstrøm Sails, UK-Halsey
Characteristic for the Soling is the droop-hiking[1] technique, as here demonstrated by Leo Determan and Ronald den Arend[2]
200x200px
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 International Soling Association (ISA)[5]
- 3 Wall of Fame
- 4 External links
- 5 References
History
Jan H. 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. In the linked article you find pictures of another Linge designed 5.5 Metre in with you can already recognize the future features of the Soling. (5.5 Metre Kirribilli)
After 1960 Linge completed his design sketches to demonstrate his ideas for promoting a Norwegian national class.
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 underlying goals for these new boats was not explicit, but hinted: "high performance" and "popularity" were key words for whatever boat was chosen. The two-man keelboat process started in 1962 under the auspices of the Dutch sailing magazine "De Waterkampioen" with the announcement of the design competition, to culminate at the 1963 IYRU meetings, and Trials perhaps in 1965. This resulted into the Tempest.
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. "What IYRU wanted was a nice compromise between maximum speed and maximum seaworthiness, with a good measure of both. Obligatory maximum limits and features were:
- LWL: 22 feet (6.7m)
- Draft 4'6 (1.37m)
- Displacement 3799 pounds (1723 kg)
- Sail area 310 sq. ft. (28.8m2)
- Non-sinkable
- Built-in buoyancy
- Capable of racing in open sea conditions
- Open cabin
The Linge/Ferner prototype
Linge was determined to develop his version of a three-man keelboat. His next door neighbour, Sverre Olsen (See S.O. + LING) became interested in backing the effort. 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.
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, GBR), Beppe Croce (ITA), Bob Bavier (USA), Costas Stavridis (GRE), Sir Gordon Smith (GBR) and Hans Lubinus (GER)) 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 decided to delay until additional trials could clarify the matter" - wrote "Yachting" in January 1967.
1967 - Second Trials at Travemunde
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 (GBR) with Beppe Croce (ITA), Ding Schoonmaker (USA), Eddie Stutterheim (NED) and Hamstorf (GER).
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 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.
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 for the 1972 Olympics. 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. In April 1969, after this battle, the IOC relieved the pressure on the IYRU by allowing a sixth "event". The IYRU then added the Tempest.
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 Sr. (Chief)
Since Abbott was to become the producer of more Solings than any other world wide. 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, Abbott bought a plug which arrived in June 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.
Abbottboats Inc. of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada was one of the world's lead builders of the Soling until a tragic fire in the Spring of 2006.[3]
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. "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"[4]: 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 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 today, 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.
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'.
Anders Borresen
Anders Borresen, also a member of the technical committee of the ISA, produced at his shipyard many Olympic Solings. The yard took over the Elvstrom moulds and increased the quality level of the Soling.
Nowadays, Borresen Yachts is the still a licensed builder producing the boat. The company is based in Denmark with a Soling production line in Argentina.
International Soling Association (ISA)[5]
After the class became an International class the International Soling Association was founded. This "Owners Club" became an very selfsupporting Club able to address the main issues of the class.
Class Presidents
The main strategy of the Soling President has always been: "one-designedness", and creating opportunities that bring club sailors and Olympic aspirants together.
| President | Country | From | Until | Major achievement |
| Eggert Benzon | File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark (DEN) |
1968 | 1972 | Initiation of the International Soling Association |
| Jack Van Dyke |  United States (USA) |
1973 | 1975 | 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. |
| Geert Bakker |  The Netherlands (NED) |
1976 | 1979 | He 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. Geert was elected to the Presidency in 1976, the year he represented The Netherlands in the Kingston Olympics. |
| Ken Berkeley |  Australia (AUS) |
1980 | 1982 | 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 a new secretary (Dinny Reed) in 1980 after the death of Eyvin Schiotz who had been Secretary since the early years of the Class. At this moment Mathias Collins from Argentina is the secretary. |
| Karl Haist | 88x80px Germany (GER) |
1983 | 1986 | He encouraged The German Democratic Republic (DDR) Soling sailors 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 | United States (USA) |
1987 | 1990 | During Sam Merrick's Presidency the IYRU hierarchy launched a major program 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 with correct hatch covers have sunk since this time. |
| Stuart H. Walker | United States (USA) |
1991 | 1994 | 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 license 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 | 88x80px Hungary (HUN) |
1995 | 1998 | George Wossala, as Vice-President and then President of the ISA, became a major influence in the Hungarian Yachting Association , 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 | 88x80px Great Britain (GBR) |
1999 | 2000 | 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. Tony had to give up the Presidency after a serious horseback riding accident. |
| Rose Hoeksema | United States (USA) |
2001 | 2006 | After the discontinuation as an Olympic class after the 2000 Olympics Rose was able to keep the class together and to make a start of a new Soling strategy. A part of that strategy was to make the Soling one of the Vintage Classes for 2008. |
| Johan Offermans | The Netherlands (NED) |
2007 | Now | Johan is fighting really hard to keep the numbers of competitors as high as possible as well as the number of countries involved in Soling sailing. He also steers in the direction of making the International Soling Organization a more commercialized institute. |
Wall of Fame
Olympic Games[7]
Vintage Yachting Games
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias NED|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias NED]] [[Template:Country IOC alias NED at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias NED]] (NED) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 20px Wildcards (NCO) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias GER|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias GER]] [[Template:Country IOC alias GER at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias GER]] (GER) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
2008, Medemblik |
Template:NED (NED) Rudy den Outer Leo Determan Ronald den Arend |
20px Wildcard (NCO) Steven Bakker Sven Koster Joost Houweling |
Template:GER (GER) Holger Weichert Laurent Scheel Martin Setzkorn |
| 88x80px 2012, Lake Como |
7-15 July 2012 |
World Champions
Worlds Fleetrace Championship[8]
Worlds Matchrace Championship[9] (Infanta Cristina)
Worlds Masters Championship[10]
Continental Champions[11]
Pan American Championship[12]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias USA|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias USA]] [[Template:Country IOC alias USA at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias USA]] (USA) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias BRA|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias BRA]] [[Template:Country IOC alias BRA at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias BRA]] (BRA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias CAN|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias CAN]] [[Template:Country IOC alias CAN at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias CAN]] (CAN) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88x80px 1979, San Juan |
 United States (US)
|
Template:BRA (BL) |  Canada (KC)
|
| 88x80px 1983, Caracas |
Template:BRA (BL) | Canada (KC)
|
United States (US)
|
1987, Indianapolis |
United States (US)
|
Canada (KC)
|
Template:BRA (BL) |
North American Championship[13]
European Fleetrace Champions[14]
European Matchrace Championship[15]
South American Championship[15]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias ARG|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias ARG]] [[Template:Country IOC alias ARG at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias ARG]] (ARG) | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16 |
| 2 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias BRA|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias BRA]] [[Template:Country IOC alias BRA at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias BRA]] (BRA) | 4 | 6 | 6 | 16 |
| 3 | [[File:Template:Country flag IOC alias URU|22x20px|border|alt=|link=|Template:Country IOC alias URU]] [[Template:Country IOC alias URU at the Olympics|Template:Country IOC alias URU]] (URU) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
National Champions[16][17]
External links
- International Class Page
- US Soling Class Page
- Canadian Soling Class Page
- Norwegian Soling Class Page
- Danish Soling Class Page
- Swedish Soling Class Page
- Argentine Soling Class Page
- Brazilian Soling Class Page
- German Soling Class Page
- Austrian Soling Class Page
- Soling Class World Championship Page
- Soling Class European Championship Page
- Soling Class licensed builder Page
- Swiss Soling Team
References
- ↑ Article by Hans Fogh and commented by Stuart H. Walker on the matter of droop hiking
- ↑ Droop hiking made easy"
- ↑ A fire decimates Abbott Boats in Sarnia, Ontario
- ↑ Sailing World
- ↑ ISA
- ↑ Olympic results
- ↑ More Olympic results
- ↑ World champions fleet racing
- ↑ World Champions Match racing
- ↑ Masters Fleet racing
- ↑ Continental Champions
- ↑ http://sports123.com/sai/opa-sol.html
- ↑ http://sports123.com/sai/ona-sol.html
- ↑ http://sports123.com/sai/oe-sol.html
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 http://www.soling.com/indexmore.asp?Seccion=Events&Evento=Search
- ↑ National Champions
- ↑ More National Champions
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