P&B Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy 2024
by Clare Butterfield 2 Feb 14:13 GMT
27 January 2024
Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy - start of Race 2 © Clare Butterfield
Light winds and a crisp, fresh day greeted sailors at Northampton Sailing Club who took part in this year's Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy event on 27 January.
There was a good turnout with 22 single-handed dinghies and 18 double-handers in this one-day handicap open meeting.
The event is run in memory of Steve Nicholson, who was a young, popular and well-respected sailor at Northampton Sailing Club, and raises money for the Asthma + Lung UK charity. The trophy alternates between the fleets and this year it was the single-handers who were competing for it. In addition, prizes for both fleets were provided by event sponsor P&B.
It was very shifty weather which made it difficult to set a decent course for all the different types of boats sailing in the first two races. After lunch the wind improved which made setting a good course easier.
Race one: Single-handers
After a few technical hitches, the racing got under way with the first race for the single-handers. It was a closely-fought race with Adam Froggatt (Chase SC) finishing first in his Phantom, Oliver Goodhead (SSSC) second in his OK and Rob Cook (Northampton SC) third in a Phantom.
Race two: Double-handers
Race Two was the double-handers, and first over the line was Ian Pinnell and Alex Davies (Northampton Sailing Club) in a 505, closely followed by Imogen Wade and Matthew Rayner (Draycote SC) in a 420. Adjusted times saw Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy holders Tom Gillard and Rachel Gray (Staunton Harrold SC) win the race in their Scorpion, with David Wade and Ben Rayner (Draycote SC) second in a Scorpion and Ian Pinnell and Alex Davies third.
There was a break for lunch when the caterers at Northampton offered a good selection of hot food and drinks, then the single-handers were back on the water.
Race three: Single-handers
Race three was won by Lawrence Creaser (Hollowell SC) in his ICLA7/Laser, Mark Addison (Upper Thames SC) finished second in his Phantom, Rob Cook was third again. Unfortunately Adam Froggatt was over the line at the start.
Lawrence Creaser was awarded the Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy. First Septimus (over 70) in the single-handed fleet was Northampton's Graham Wilson in his Solo, who finished fifth overall. First Veteran (over 50) and sixth overall was James Dyas (Cookham Reach SC) in his OK, and first Grand Master (over 60) was Simon Cowood (Rutland SC) in a Finn. He was ninth overall.
Race four: Double-handers
The final race of the day was the second race for the double-handed fleet. Tom Gillard and Rachel Gray finished first again and took overall first place. David Wade and Ben Rayner were second, taking overall second place and Fergus and Jasper Barnham (Northampton SC) were third in their GP14. Pete Gray and Rich Pepperdine (Staunton Harrold) finished fourth in their Scorpion and took third place overall.
It was great to see some younger sailors from Northampton and Hollowell Sailing Clubs taking part - Keali Rhodes and Olivia York from Northampton finished 16th overall in their 420. The Toppers battled it out in races one and three with Hollowell sailors getting the upper hand - Alex Stainton (11th) William Clarke (17th) and Edward Croxton (18th). Charlie O'Neill from Northampton finished 20th.
Thank you to all the competitors who took part and the volunteers at Northampton Sailing Club who hosted the event.
Donate to the charity at action.asthmaandlung.org.uk/page/99141/donate/
Single-hander Results:
Pos | Class | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R3 | Pts |
1st | ILCA 7 / Laser | 211874 | Lawrence Creaser | Hollowell SC | 4 | 1 | 5 |
2nd | Phantom | 1496 | Rob Cook | Northampton SC | 3 | 3 | 6 |
3rd | OK | 2128 | Oliver Goodhead | SSSC | 2 | 7 | 9 |
4th | Finn | 0 | Andy Crouch | Blithfield SC | 6 | 4 | 10 |
5th | Solo | 5721 | Graham Wilson | Northampton SC | 7 | 6 | 13 |
6th | OK | GBR 73 | James Dyas | Cookham Reach SC | 10.5 | 5 | 15.5 |
7th | Phantom | 1489 | Mark Addison | Upper Thames SC | 14 | 2 | 16 |
8th | Phantom | 1500 | Richard Nurse | Northampton SC | 5 | 11 | 16 |
9th | Finn | 651 | Simon Cowood | Rutland SC | 8 | 10 | 18 |
10th | Phantom | 1504 | John Wayling | Northampton SC | 9 | 9 | 18 |
11th | Topper | 46512 | Alex Stainton | Hollowell SC | 16.5 | 8 | 24.5 |
12th | Phantom | 1420 | Bill Taylor | Creeksea SC | 10.5 | 14 | 24.5 |
13th | Phantom | 1449 | Adam Froggatt | Chase SC | 1 | UFD | 25 |
14th | Finn | 38 | Will Gulliver | Northampton SC | 12 | 13 | 25 |
15th | RS Aero 7 | 3888 | Marcus Pakes | Haversham SC | 15 | 12 | 27 |
16th | Devoti D‑Zero | 191 | Nigel Austin | Cransley SC | 13 | 15 | 28 |
17th | Topper | 46770 | William Clarke | Hollowell SC | 16.5 | 16 | 32.5 |
18th | Topper | 44437 | Edward Croxton | Hollowell SC | 18 | 17 | 35 |
19th | Phantom | 1303 | Dave Patrick | Broadwater SC | 19 | 18 | 37 |
20th | Topper | 42830 | Charlie O'Neill | Northampton SC | 20 | 20 | 40 |
21st | Phantom | 1389 | Bob Yates | Upper Thames SC | 22 | 19 | 41 |
22nd | Phantom | 1471 | Alistair Paterson | Upper Thames SC | 21 | 21 | 42 |
23rd | Solo | 5736 | Iain Carpenter | Northampton SC | DNC | DNC | 48 |
Double-hander Results:
Pos | Class | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R2 | R4 | Pts |
1st | Scorpion | 2057 | Tom Gillard | Rach Gray | Staunton Harold SC | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2nd | Scorpion | 2061 | David Wade | Ben Rayner | Draycote SC | 2 | 2 | 4 |
3rd | Scorpion | 2045 | Pete Gray | Rich Pepperdine | Staunton Harold SC | 4 | 4 | 8 |
4th | GP14 | 14238 | Fergus Barnham | Jasper Barnham | Northampton SC | 6 | 3 | 9 |
5th | 420 | 56943 | Imogen Wade | Mathew Rayner | Draycote SC | 5 | 5 | 10 |
6th | 505 | 9238 | Ian Pinnell | Alex Davies | Northampton SC | 3 | 9 | 12 |
7th | Flying 15 | 3918 | Paul Busby | Neil Barford | Northampton SC | 9 | 6 | 15 |
8th | Scorpion | 2026 | Ian Cadwallader | Ellie Devereux | Chew Valley SC | 8 | 7 | 15 |
9th | Enterprise | 22901 | Paul Young | Nathan McGrory | Midland SC | 11 | 8 | 19 |
10th | Fireball | 15066 | Mark Maskell | Nigel Sheppard | Northampton SC/Blackwater SC | 7 | 13 | 20 |
11th | Merlin Rocket | 3781 | David Hall | Paul Constable | Blackwater SC | 10 | 10 | 20 |
12th | Flying 15 | 3903 | Gary Stuart | Tom Evans | Northampton SC | 12 | 11 | 23 |
13th | Flying 15 | 3465 | Andrew Dyson | Rob Dyson | Northampton SC | 13 | 12 | 25 |
14th | Flying 15 | 4100 | John Tuckwell | Graham Tuckwell | Northampton SC | 14 | 14 | 28 |
15th | Flying 15 | 3829 | Tony Everard | Lynn Everard | Northampton SC | 15 | 15 | 30 |
16th | 420 | 54785 | Keali Rhodes | Olivia York | Northampton SC | 16 | 17 | 33 |
17th | Laser 2000 | No number | Tom Powell | Gaston Buchaud | Northampton SC | 17 | 18 | 35 |
18th | Flying 15 | 3765 | Chris White | Rachel Powell | Northampton SC | RET | 16 | 36 |
19th | Graduate | 3020 | Fresh Abendstern | Ross Southwell | R.D.N.B. YC | DNC | DNC | 40 |