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Walt Hedrick brought two Solings to the Oklahoma City Boat Club in 1993. He needed the second boat as a trial horse since he was trying to make the Olympics. A few years later, he sold the second boat to Martin Radloff. Although OCBC has had these two competitive Solings for several years, the fleet officially started in 2007. John Kuper found a boat for sale in Chicago, actually in late 2006, and couldn't pass the deal up. The boat didn't really start racing until the next year. That seemed to start a domino chain reaction. By the end of the year, Harold Eiseman, Kurt Schrantz (current fleet captain) and Jim Alspaugh had also found boats to purchase in Texas. Six boats, all highly active, makes us one of the most competitive fleets in the club. In both 2007 and 2008, our fleet championship consisted of 15-18 races, spread over most of the summer. Both years, the determination of champion came down to the last race. That's close, I don't care who you are. For 2009, the Oklahoma City Boat Club, with its Soling Fleet, has a distinct honor and privilege. The US Soling Association, USSA, has awarded it the 2009 Soling US Championship. The event will be held June 25-28, in conjunction with our annual Lighthouse Charity Regatta. Fabulous entertainment and meals are included. Thursday and Friday, we will have the water to ourselves. Saturday and Sunday will be shared with 50 or so other boats but, we will always have a separate start. Your entry fee registers you for both regattas so you have a double chance of winning. Check the Lighthouse Web Page for further details on the charity regatta. Unfortunately, the Soling championship had to be cancelled due to inadequate participation of visiting boats. The OCBC Soling Fleet, in conjunction with the Soling national class president determined that a national regatta should be more representative of the national status of the class. See below for some of what you might have missed. Lake Hefner is one of the best inland lakes in the country for sailing. Central Oklahoma is fairly flat anyway and the lake sits on a relatively high location. There are no significant hills, trees or other obstructions to disturb the wind. Well, there is one but our race committee promises to keep the races well away from it. Our annual average wind is about 14 knots. There is the occasional flat day but those are mostly in August. Of course, there is the occasional day that offsets the occasional flat one to make that average. Those tend to be in April and May. The weather in June and July tends to be ideal. Temperatures usually hover in the mid 90s and there is very little rain. If you are not from the southwest, be sure to be ready to apply plenty of sunscreen.OCBC has ample facilities to handle any load expected. We held the J/22 North American Championship in 2005 and hosted 56 boats. See the OCBC main page for details about the club and its facilities. For this regatta, there will be local Soling fleet members ready and eager to assist our visitors in launching boats (we have two suitable hoists available) and locating mooring facilities. We will make every effort and should be able to find floating slips but be sure to bring fenders in case mooring along a wood sea wall beomes necessary. |
