written by Matias Collins on January 1 of 2001 and read by 1911
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I have, in fact, just ordered a new Soling - my sixth. It's a great feeling to order a new boat. It somehow happens, like a new romance. ·. but cheaper. It's not like buying a car. Maybe like buying a nice painting. I know now that the object of my excitement is not going to fulfill my dreams (like with the romance). I also know that I must not try to oversee the consequences of starting again with a new boat. I mean the real consequences, like all the wet and cold you will again be most likely exposed to, all the criticism you will have to endure after you wanted to be in all corners of the race course at once, all those thousands of kilometres of driving towards that one supposedly heavenly place where you are going to get all those laurels. The way back, after you did not get them (with a hole in your boat?)· Once I told Bertrand Cheret, the famous French helmsman and sailmaker, that, if I would be sent to hell, I would have to pack my boat and sails in the rain every day. He then added: ""and drive (home) a thousand kilometres!
Let's start the circle
Once you feel the wish (urge) to sail Olympic you must realise that you are pretty ambitious. You want to win man! Winning, however, is not easy in an Olympic class. There are some more guys out there who nurse the same feeling and probably have the same good background in sailing as you. If you want to go for the metal you must find two more guys with the same ideas and by sheer perseverance, mold the three of you into a powerful, smooth running machine, pulling all the right ropes at the right time. The boat to do it in, in a most exciting and ideal way is, of course the Soling!
The builder
Apart from the fact that we want quality,! l like to have some personal relationship with the builder as I feel that he is making a very personal thing for me, a thing I will have to live many emotions in and a thing I want to be proud of. (""Can I come aboard and look at your .... ).
It helps very much to have a builder who sails the boat himself. He will understand all the above and will be able to help you much better with the lay out.
The lay out
Paul Elvstrom, Buddy Melges and Bill Abbott have done most of the development for the Soling class and that is why we have now a very mature one design boat with everything working as it should.
There are many ways to play a tune and that goes for arranging your working room in and on your Soling too. Let me mention a few (working) principles and possibilities as in the end you'll have to make up your own mind anyway on this very important issue.
Buddy Melges once told me (he told me many things!). ""If you can't do it right away, with a minimum effort, it's wrong. It's got to work and if it does not, the boat will sail you instead of you the boat!
Everything must work and smoothly at that. That's one very important principle.
Don't overdo it; simple is almost always good,
You must decide whether to have all the controls at your (the helmsman's) fingertips, or let the guy up front handle some. (For instance, the jib halyard, the jib foot and the main Cunningham).
Is my crew going to want hiking starps or bars with anklets?
Who is going to hoist the spinnaker?
At the hoist (or how to avoid a disaster)
I is your responsibility ti ascertain that your boat is ready to be lifted either with th mast laid down or standing up, depending on the type of crane. If the mast is up then you must take away the back stay but not before you have supported the mast with your spinnaker pole. (One end in the pole ring, the other on the deck - with the pole downhaul tensioned and cleated·) The mast should tilt slightly forward but without the support of the spinnaker pole the mast would fall forward!
·Your hoisting cables are 100 per cent;
·They are not twisted at their fastening eyes;
·They are supported sideways with rope to prevent the boat from heeling in the air;
·Your mooring ropes are in position and hanging down;
·You have one man at the tip of your keel to prevent it from hitting your trailer. (It'll save you so much work!).
REMEMBER, A BOAT FALLING OFF A CRANE CAN DESTROY LIVES!
Maintenance
Fresh water and a sponge do most of your maintenance work. If your hull had a speed rubdown job the hull looks like an egg shell and you dispose of stains with a Scotch cloth or sandpaper. Once or twice during the season you may polish the hull with a quality brand of silicone wax (Hempel) to preserve the resin in the fibreglass of your hull. It will also make the hull less adhesive for dirt in the water. (Oil!) If you must leave your Soling in the water for longer periods of time you need a good anti-fouling which does not necessarily slow down the boat. (Teflon with bronze!).
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