The Solus Story

Bjarne's background as a constructor is self-taught, and is basically due to the fact that in the late 60s, as a replacement for his Liljebåd, he was looking for a slightly larger boat with good sailing characteristics and not least "comfort". But according to his mind, the boat did not exist, so he decided to construct one himself. The Solus 24 was launched in the spring of 1971 and proved to have amazing sailing characteristics compared to boats of the time. During the build there were many comments, especially about the flat bottom, which everyone thought was completely wrong.

After Bjarne Marcussen's first Solus 24 had been finished and it was in Bådmagasinet in 1971, the interest was so great and the pressure from approx. 20 sailors who were willing to place an order in advance meant that he started actual production in the autumn of 1972. When Bjarne Marcussen then won the Round of Zealand Rundt Overalt in his Solus 24, he at one point had almost a year to live. time on the boat.

Solus Boats started in Bellinge in the middle of Funen, but already the following year Solus Boats was moved to Munkebo, not far from Kerteminde, as the space became too tight. The production of the Solus 24 went downhill in the early 80s, partly because there were the other bigger boats, people made greater demands on the boats, and partly the potato cure came. In 1982, Bjarne Marcussen sold the yard and as the last built a Solus Alta, which he sailed with great success (both racing and touring) for 18 years until he sold it in 2000. After the yard was sold in 1982, production continued, but in very small scale. And the new owner of the yard went bankrupt a few years later due to the crisis. Unfortunately, it happened to many other small yards in those years.