The S.O.I.A. was founded in 1957 with the object of promoting the interests of Silhouettes and similar small craft. 'The Silhouette Owner' our association magazine is sent several times a year to members. It relies for its contents on members' contributions and the editor is always delighted to receive letters, accounts of cruises or hints on maintaining and refurbishing our boats. Membership
of the S.O.I.A. is world-wide but with the majority of members living
and sailing in the U.K. Sailing and social programmes are organised
throughout the year, while for members in
more isolated areas, the Facebook group serves as a lively means
of communication. Highlights of the S.O.I.A. calendar are several meetings
and cruises which take place in different parts of the country. See the
Facebook group or Journal for information
of what is currently planned.
Note that cruises are organised by members themselves and
the S.O.I.A. accepts
no responsibility for the organisation or running of cruises. It is a member’s
responsibility to ensure they hold the correct
levels of insurance required and take whatever steps would reasonably be
required to ensure safe participation.
The association is managed by a committee
of about ten members elected at the Annual General Meeting. It is chaired
by the Commodore and includes the Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer
and Hon. Editor. There are
usually two meetings a year as well as the Annual General Meeting.
Unfortunately there are no Silhouettes being built commercially today, and so the nature of the association is somewhat different to what it was in the nineteen seventies, when there were a thousand or so members, many of whom had just acquired new boats and were enjoying the companionship of the S.O.I.A. both on the water and through the journal. Today, there is a balance of interest
between sailing the boats and maintaining, restoring and improving them
and again, the association serves to communicate the experiences of members
and to keep the spirit of Silhouetting alive.
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