Soling
One Meter
The
Soling One Meter class is a one design class.
The boat must be purchased from a single manufacturer as either a kit or
a fully ready-to-sail boat. If purchased
as a kit, the instructions must be followed exactly. No shortcuts allowed.
This
was the last boat my father raced. Like
most of the other plain sailboats and racing yachts he sailed, it was
white. There are quite a few trophies as
testimony that the guy didn’t need a better boat to win a race. In 1996 my
father was diagnosed with Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis. As his
health deteriorated, it became more difficult for him to participate in his
hobbies. The first boat to go was the
IOM. He sailed his Soling a few more
times and sold it shortly after. I had
the pleasure of watching him sail with his friends one last time. He stopped sailing about six months after
that.
His Soling next to a Big
Wind 10 Rater
In
1998, a club called Florida Marbleheads planned its first Forest Godby Trophy,
as part of their winter series of races.
It became known as the Forest Godby Memorial Trophy when my father
passed away about a month before the event.
It was a rather large event. I
couldn’t find any news about the race today except that the club still exists.
The
Space Coast Model Sailing Club runs an annual race today known as the Memorial
Regatta with several people, including my father, being honored. In it they race East Coast 12 Meters,
International One Meters and Soling 1
Meter boats with trophies for each class.
