Solent sailors

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Daydream believer

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I am an east coast sailor so know little about the goings on in the solent
So can someone tell me why , when they want to make derogatory remarks about sailors in general they often refer to them as "Solent sailors". As is often noted on this forum
Is the sailors non racist equivalent of " paddy" jokes?
Are they really as depicted in this forum?
What proof have you of this?
 
As an observation after 4 years in the solent there seem to be a fair number of large sailing boats that never sail out of the Solent and the owners are consequently quite insular and uninterested as to what happens on the water in other parts of the country. I would interpret someone being called a Solent Sailor as someone who only sailed in familiar waters: not so much an insult as referring to someone who liked being in their local waters.
On reflection in 4 years in the Solent I have come across more arraogant and pompous boaters than the previous 20 years in the North west-but there are probably 100 times the number of boats down there.
 
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I don't think Solent sailors are any more insular than sailors from any other area - are East coast sailors more likely to sail places other than the east coast, do West Country sailors sail to a greater number of places than other people? I doubt it. The Solent probably offers more variety of destinations and conditions than any other similar sized areas and has a greater concentration of boat users too. They can't all be wrong. The derogatory remarks usually come from the unknowledgeable and uninformed.
 
ahabdonal said:
As an observation after 4 years in the solent there seem to be a fair number of large sailing boats that never sail out of the Solent and the owners are consequently quite insular and uninterested as to what happens on the water in other parts of the country. I would interpret someone being called a Solent Sailor as someone who only sailed in familiar waters: not so much an insult as referring to someone who liked being in their local waters.
On reflection in 4 years in the Solent I have come across more arraogant and pompous boaters than the previous 20 years in the North west-but there are probably 100 times the number of boats down there.
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I wansn't there for 4 years, I was there for about six weeks on and off when I was preparing the boat I'd just bought for the voyage home to Lancashire. I was at Mercury Yacht Harbour. It's wrong to typecast and there's good and bad everywhere but my impression was that the yactsmen and women down there often seemed to have an element of snobbery about them or at least a level of self-regard that would be considered objectionable up North. For example the restaurant by the marina was patronised by both yachties and caravanners from the nearby site. It was quite common to see the yachties arrive in their sailing gear (or some part of it) even on a mild Summer evening when all they'd done was walk along the pontoon from their boat. It was my belief that they did this to proclaim that they were "sailing people" and thus a cut above the mere caravanners. I'm pretty definite about this because I had time for a lot of people watching.

I need to say that the above didn't apply to the profesionals: riggers, mechanics etc. who helped me with my boat: they were down to earth with no trace of edge and a pleasure to deal with.
 
JimC said:
...It was quite common to see the yachties arrive in their sailing gear (or some part of it) even on a mild Summer evening when all they'd done was walk along the pontoon from their boat. It was my belief that they did this to proclaim that they were "sailing people"....
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You should come to Cowes or Lymington and see all the moboers walking around in their Quba sailing jackets, it's almost compulsory... ;)
 
Some very interesting replies here. I learned on east coast and go back sometimes but present boat is on the Hamble.

There is a difference but I think it's more socio-economic. The Solent is probably the best sailing location in easy reach of west London and the Home Counties. This area has probably the highest per capita income in the country and a disproportionate number of "professional " people. No coal mines down here and the supply/demand has pushed many lower income people to perhaps look at other areas - e.g. If you live equidistant between Poole and Lymington could many justify the cost of Berthon over a deep water swinger in Poole Harbour.

People with a high income can afford to pay high prices - and let's face it most sailors don't need that much encouragement to spend on the boat. If your boating budget is £10k p.a. You can afford more toys than if your boating budget is £1k p.a. and so people have more toys, the "best" gear, all the layers , the "right" brands, not out of any desire as such to fit in, more that was what was in the chandlers, or got best product in YM and it was only £1k.

I think what others see and perceive incorrectly is well paid middle class people and they do a Daily Wail on it - they are all of a sudden POSH YACHTIES. But get speaking to them and they are no different. Yes there are some dicks but they exist in all walks of life, I think it's just that many who sail in other areas are not prepared for the sudden socio-economic shift.
 
jac said:
Some very interesting replies here. I learned on east coast and go back sometimes but present boat is on the Hamble.

There is a difference but I think it's more socio-economic. The Solent is probably the best sailing location in easy reach of west London and the Home Counties. This area has probably the highest per capita income in the country and a disproportionate number of "professional " people. No coal mines down here and the supply/demand has pushed many lower income people to perhaps look at other areas - e.g. If you live equidistant between Poole and Lymington could many justify the cost of Berthon over a deep water swinger in Poole Harbour.

People with a high income can afford to pay high prices - and let's face it most sailors don't need that much encouragement to spend on the boat. If your boating budget is £10k p.a. You can afford more toys than if your boating budget is £1k p.a. and so people have more toys, the "best" gear, all the layers , the "right" brands, not out of any desire as such to fit in, more that was what was in the chandlers, or got best product in YM and it was only £1k.

I think what others see and perceive incorrectly is well paid middle class people and they do a Daily Wail on it - they are all of a sudden POSH YACHTIES. But get speaking to them and they are no different. Yes there are some dicks but they exist in all walks of life, I think it's just that many who sail in other areas are not prepared for the sudden socio-economic shift.
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There's nothing wrong with being wealthy and sucessful, there are wealthy & sucessful people in the North also. It's rather a way of behaving that makes your wealth and sucess unfittingly apparent. It's a bit like the old negaive definition of a gentleman: Anybody who claims to be a gentleman can't possibly be one because no real gentleman would be so boastful as to make such a claim.

The founding fathers of my club called it a Sailing Club because they wanted to avoid the snobbish ring that the term Yacht Club has to some people, and they included some very wealthy people.
 
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Daydream believer said:
So can someone tell me why , when they want to make derogatory remarks about sailors in general they often refer to them as "Solent sailors".
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It's a reference to people who feel the need to compensate for the size of their jibs.

Doesn't apply me. I've always found a 140% genoa to be the sailing equivalent of peril sensitive sunglasses
 
laika said:
It's a reference to people who feel the need to compensate for the size of their jibs.

Doesn't apply me. I've always found a 140% genoa to be the sailing equivalent of peril sensitive sunglasses
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Nice Douglas Adams reference there, and I'm happy to report I usually set a blade jib !

The Solent is not the ' yachtsmans' playground ' as sometimes described, it can get decidely lumpy at times, I met an American chap who had sailed across the Atlantic; " you're from Chichester ! That's the roughest place I've ever seen, don't people get killed there ?! "

The answer being ' yes they do if they don't treat the entrance with respect ! '

It's not for nothing that even the J Class boats developed the ' Solent Jib ' with a high clew to avoid scooping the Solent Chop.

The Solent does offer a tremendous diversity of options as to where to go though; usually I don't make my mind up on our destinatition until feeling the wind and waves well outside Chichester !
 
I think what's meant by "Solent Sailor" when used in the derogatory is someone who has all matching foulies, expensive deck shoes etc, insists his crew call him "skipper", only goes out a couple of times a year in their brand new 40 foot AWB (which is changed every 5 years at the most), then frets about getting into Yarmouth before it's full so doesn't actually sail at all, just motors full chat from Hamble to Yarmouth in order to raft up and complain about the neighbours, whilst telling each other how amazing sailing is.

Whether or not people like this actually exist is another matter altogether.
 
There is another element to "Solent Sailor" that hasn't been mentioned.

That is the sailor who tells you endlessly about his many years of experience, but who only ever sails the Solent.

I think many non Solent based sailors believe it to be just like a lake with salt water and therefore someone who only sails there can have no valid input to whatever is being discussed.
 
I grew up (well, spent my youth) in the Solent and have just spent a week there passing through to the west country. Currently in Weymouth waiting for a decent forecast.

What struck me about the Solent is the ease of navigation. It's all 'line of sight' and there's always a port of refuge a couple of miles away. That's why I call it 'Lake Solent' We heard three maydays and assisted in one. None were situations where the vessel of life was in danger, though in one a lady had lost a finger.

First stop was Itchenor. Lovely place. Second was Port Solent. Don't bother. I'm sure it's handy to keep a boat there but nothing for visitors. You can eat in a chain pub, go to the cinema or buy a pair of £200 brouges but can't buy provisions.

By contrast, Bucklers Hard, Lymington town quay and Newtown Creek are lovely.

To me a Solent sailor is one who is used to easy short hop day sails without having to worry about passage planning or navigation as it's all line of sight pilotage, then pops into an overpriced and crowded marina overnight. Or has all the trendy yachty gear and just goes racing around the cans.

In short, a Solent sailor is one who goes out to play and takes a safety net for granted.
 
Call em what you will but my gripe is with those who always wear shorts over thermal undies, chunky white sunglasses regardless of whether it's sunny (or even daylight), dubarries and immaculate oilskins. The worst of them are those who then always wear a climbing harness.

I suspect Flaming sees rather a lot of them.
 
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