The Soling was designed as a day racer/sailer (without any compromising cruising accommodations) by Jan Linge and appeared as a National Class in Norway in 1965. In 1968 after a series of trials the ISAF selected the Soling (over a number of designs created for the occasion) to be the Olympic Three-Men Keelboat. Despite the subsequent appearance of vast numbers and varieties of similarly sized keelboats, its superiority continued to be recognised by its selection for every Olympics since 1972 until the Australian Olympics in the year 2000.
You have entered a One-Design Class whose rules are vigilantly guarded to retain that one-designness. But a reading of the Class Rules (which you should do) demonstrates that there is much room for individualism so that you can develop your rig (and your speed) to your heart’s content. The Soling is a challenging boat both in the depth of its competition and in its critical responses to minimal changes in trim. We trust you will be stimulated by these challenges, but remember that all your fellow sailors (including the top ones) will be happy to help if you need it.
On joining you will receive aaccess in the website to check all articles once published at the Tuning Guide (the Soling Manual) that contains a distillation of articles previously published in our quarterly newsletter, Soling Sailing, and new issues of the latter publication as they are produced. You can also check the Soling Guide the Class Rules and other historical information. Please tell us how you would like these publications to serve you – and please contribute material to them whenever you are able.
The Soling Class is an ISAF International Class and was adopted by the ISAF as the only Class to offer Match Racing in the Olympic Regatta from Barcelona 1992 until Sydney 2000. We hope that you will be interested in match racing as well as fleet racing and will take advantage of the many opportunities that the Class offers to match race.
