Solo End of Season Championship Preview
by Will Loy 20 Oct 21:23 BST
30 October 2021
Oliver Davenport curently leads but will not be there © Will Loy
October 30 is the date and Draycote Water is the venue for the final major event for the Solo class in 2021 though some in the West of the UK may argue that South Cerney open meeting (November 27th) will be the last one.
Superspars, who have become the weapon of choice for quite a few of the circuit sailors including National Champion Andy Davis and Inland Champion Chris Brown will be sponsoring this event and thanks to Simon Bevan at Superspars for his generosity in providing vouchers which will be awarded at the prize-giving.
It is good and healthy to see variety and choice within the class and the Superspar M2 has become a fine adversary to the Selden D+. The stiff Superspar B2++ boom is also becoming popular though to be honest, some sailors less agile may want to choose a boom of softer composition.
The EOS forms the final act of the North Sails Super Series and the global sailmaker has kindly donated a discount sail voucher to the sum of £500 so the prize draw should be fun, it's not unusual for scuffles to break out at these gatherings.
The North Sails Super Series has, along with many events across the planet, been hampered by Corona cancelations, below I list the Acts that we managed to complete.
The Nigel Pusinelli Trophy took place at North Berwick in July, The Winters, Springs and Nation's Cup, Covid casualties. The event was won by Oliver Davenport (P&B) from Jamie Morgan and Andy Tunnicliffe (Impact Marine).
The Presidents Trophy at Portchester S.C. was played out in glamour conditions with Portchester Castle a dramatic backdrop. Hayling Island's Alex Butler took the title from Guy Mayger and Mark Maskell.
The Rooster National Championship was hugely successful with 98 entries and, despite loosing some days with no wind, the cream rose to the top with Andy Davis (HD Sails) claiming the title from Tom Gillard (North Sails) and Paul Ellis.
The Dutch Nationals (Sneek) was included in the series but travel restrictions thwarted any chance of UK participation. It was however a great regatta and so pleasing to see the Solo fleet so strong across the Channel/North Sea depending which ferry you take.
The Inland Championship saw 75 entries arrive at Grafham Water, this was the limit set by the club and Chris Brown, after 20 years of trying and failing miserably, took the trophy home to Brown Mansion with Richard Pepperdine and Olly Turner completing the podium. Turner racing the NSCA Demo Solo looked very comfortable in a single hander and went and picked up a nice secondhand example right after leaving the club!
Just to add to the drama, the Area Championships are also included as a qualifier but only one of these per competitor.
So, just to be clear to those Solo sailors considering the pub or lawn mowing on Oct 30, you need 4 results to qualify, you can include an Area Championship result.
Qualified:
Oliver Davenport 1-4-10-13 28pts
Jamie Morgan 1-2-24-25-29 52pts
Steve Ede 7-45-17-2 71pts
Doug Latta 12-16-39 -9 76pts
Richard Instone 14-33-22-9 78pts
Lawrence Cavill Grant 10-48-11-10 79pts
Andy Fox 16-36-27-11 90pts
Patrick Burns 22-55-67-16 160pts
Requiring the EOS to qualify:
Chris Brown 8-1-6-
Mark Maskell 3-50-26-
Alex Butler 1-6-13-
Guy Mayger 2-11-7-
Nigel Davies 14-9-3-
Paul Davis 14-9-1-
Tom Lonsdale 4-22-2-
Tim Lewis 5-30-7-
Ian Hopwood 9-28-7-
Mark Lee 21-21-4-
Vernon Perkins 16-87-64-
Nick Fisher 7-88-58-
Graham Wilson 15-71-60
Peter Warne 63-61-12-
Ian Bartlett 5-72-45-
Martin Honnor 98-12-1-
John Steels 62-42-14-
Paul Bottomley 60-43-33-
Malcolm Buchanan 23-79-10-
Phil Sturmer 67-35-15-
Andy Hyland 28-53-13-
Tom Gillard 2-74-1-
Kev Hall 4-37-20-
Simon Derham 3-11-40-
Vince Horey 26-25-8-
Nigel Thomas 20-28-8-
I have it on good authority that Oliver Davenport is unable to attend due to a stag weekend though Tom Lonsdale will be there representing team P&B. I understand Tom Gillard will be at the EOS but has a 74 as a counter which was his no show result at the Inlands. That might sting come the end of the Super Series.
It promises to be a fascinating contest with more permutations of a winner than Euro millions.
I would say that Chris Brown, who recently won the Inlands is in a strong position with Alex Butler a close rival if he makes the journey from HISC.
So, the scene is set, Draycote Water S.C. are providing prizes and Superspars and North Sails are generously providing the prize raffle pot, do not forget, you have to be there to be in the draw.
We have a new EOS Trophy and Tom Gillard is returning the Super Series Trophy (dont forget Tom) so that will be awarded too.
Class President Patrick Burns may don his kilt and it just needs a good breeze, mild air temperature and the usual bumper turnout of Solos. Do enter online as soon as possible and if you fancy attending the training day (if there are still places) then you can do this online via the Draycote Water Webcollect facility.
See you on the water.