Some readers may be aware of the passing last year Eric Murray. Eric was a well known person in the yachting world here on the island and his business Solaris based in Port Andratx was responsible for educating many sailors in how to handle a boat and stay safe out on the waves. The family are happy to announce that the business is going to continue, with a new chap at the helm: Paul Hodgson. Paul took over a couple of weeks ago and is making great plans to expand Solaris past its original sailing boat (Beneteau 343) and 6 metre 150hp rib set up with the addition of a dinghy, a smaller Beneteau 211 and a Sunseeker Apache 42 (via Mark Collins from Apache Charters). He’s teamed up with another Port Andratx resident, Derek McDermott, and he’s gathered together a team of multilingual instructors and skippers as well: Dennis, Rafael, Pete and Sven. The family are very proud of the reputation that Solaris had because it was directly reflected on Eric and his small team of instructors. Paul’s intention is that this is going to be carried on with the same people and in the same spirit.
Paul first fell in love with sailing in 1957 when he and his brothers built a Mirror dinghy and took it out and about on the Welsh reservoirs. He first discovered Mallorca about a decade ago when he started to come for holidays here. He found Port Andratx by chance four years ago and fell in love with it on the spot. Now he’s quite familiar with the local waters and says his favourite day trip out is to the island of Dragonera and back which was also one of Eric’s favourite jaunts. Paul has been sailing the Solaris coded boat, Southerly Gael, in the local Club de Vela winter regattas and this is something that you can jump onboard with if you are looking for ways to get your mileage up. Paul’s plan is to expand the business to offer possibilities for charter as well as the existing family holiday business and RYA courses that were already on offer. Good luck Paul and the team at Solaris, make Eric proud!
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