Noble Marine Solo Winter Championship 2022 at Carsington Sailing Club

Davenport wins the Noble Marine Solo Winter Championship 2022 © Will Loy

Yes, he did go in... Noble Marine Solo Winter Championship 2022 © Will Loy

Jamie Morgan keeping his feet dry during the Noble Marine Solo Winter Championship 2022 © Will Loy

Carsington Water hosted the Solo fleet on Saturday March 5th and 33 entries were in for a treat, 17-28 mph and an air temperature not out of place in Siberia. This though was balmy in comparison to the water temperature.

Carsington is 30 metres deep in some places and rumour has it that Nessie visits occasionally when Scotland is too warm. I made my way to the club from my overnight stay in Ashbourne, stopping temporarily to recover a trolley cradle which was abandoned in the road. I took a moment to admire the build quality then chucked it in the boot before continuing my 2 mile journey. Vernon Perkins was waiting at the entrance and acknowledged that his Solo did seem to be sitting lower than normal on the combi, amazingly the hull was undamaged!

The club's galley was busy dishing out bacon butties and hot tea, all in attempt to offset the physical trauma which the competitors would have to endure out on the water. I stood in the queue, filtering backwards for 20 minutes before someone finally offered to buy me breakfast, Oliver Turner the patsy this time (thanks mate).

PRO Henry Wright invited the sailors outside and delivered a short and concise briefing, another clever trick to lower the body temperature gradually before submergence. I would assume he has a military background as there were no questions from the troops and not one dissenter to his immediate application of the U flag.

I wondered around the dinghy park, looking for a weak link to which I could attach a transom cam. Ian Hopwood, the 'Capsize King' is always good entertainment, he once followed a dolphin which was serving as lead boat at WPNSA rather than bare off for the leeward mark. That is my first mark sorted then.

My second 'volunteer' was an easy one, Shane MacCarthy. Straight out of Grafham Water's training camp is a handy sailor and his million-dollar smile will wow the female viewers and some males.

My last mark is Andy Davis, the baby blue Winder 2 is easy on the eye and Taxi is the dogs nuts in a Solo. With Richard Estaugh influence in his style, his tech will serve as a great example to those new to the class and to his fellow racers.

I finished my pre-race interviews, to be honest I wasn't sure some of them would make it back to shore, and legged it to the media rib. Spectators marvelling and applauding at my new found athleticism. The new hip replacement had been successful then.

Race 1

Clean start but Hopwood and Turner have a bit of a tussle at the pin end where I have situated myself. The winner is MacCarthy who timed his run to the line perfectly and tacks and crosses the fleet. Michael Gifford touches the pin and has to re-round which always concentrates the mind. P&B jockey Oliver Davenport works the right of the course as the fleet battle with the elements and process tactical decisions, all the time being doused with buckets of ice-cold water. Pretty sure I have seen the same training techniques in 'SAS Who Dares Wins'.

At the top and it is MacCarthy with the transom cam from Davenport, Kev Hall, Rich Pepperdine and Alexander Alcock. Inside my mind I feel a satisfying warmth at my choice.

The triangle sausage course will provide a stern but exciting test and this first reach is just about controllable but the gybe mark is screaming towards the competitors at some speed. The leading two have squirted out a 75-metre lead, the gusts are picking and choosing who to favour. Andrew, my rib driver has stationed me perfectly behind the wing mark and I lick my lips at the unfolding drama. Goodfellow has powered through to third but bins it on the gybe, Hall nails it and Pepperdine goes wide. Davis rounds 7th from Jamie Morgan who is jumping around the boat with some haste and they both miss the stricken Alcock by inches.

Up front Davenport and MacCarthy are powering up the beat, the P&B sailor using all of his leverage to free off and go for speed over pointing ability. It's working and he increases his distance by the top mark. Hall, Pepperdine and Morgan round some way back with Davis improving to 6th. The run is a slow burner but gets exciting half way down as white horses put in an appearance. What I thought were smiles turn to grimaces and any vestige if fun is quickly snuffed out.

Davenport holds for the remainder of the race despite some sterling 'seat of the pants' downwind sailing from MacCarthy with Davis, a fast-finishing Turner and Hall completing the top 5.

The fleet sought some sort of sanctuary from the icy wind in a nearby lee shelter as the back markers complete the course, you would think someone would have set up a soup stall there by now.

Davenport and MacCarthy did battle in races 1 & 2 during the Noble Marine Solo Winter Championship 2022 - photo © Will Loy

Race 2

The fleet clean away once again, Henry's U flag doing the trick to quell anyone's enthusiasm to start too soon. Pepperdine owned the pin end with Davis two thirds down and Alcock in a nice pocket down the middle. Davenport had a more conservative start, a third of the way down but his trigger finger clearly numb. I held my Nikon on the fleet just long enough to catch our Hon Chief Measurer Nick Hornsby capsize while tacking which he will be chuffed about.

The right of the course once again proved productive and Davenport was the dominant player with MacCarthy in tow. Pretty much a carbon copy of race 1 for these two, so I will concentrate my reporting to the action behind them. Pepperdine was in third with Alcock, Davis, Adam Froggitt and Chris Brown next. The sunlight filtered through the cumulus, picking out and illuminating fields of green while the Carsington Water fans rotated at some speed. I did wonder if there was some evil masochist sitting in his concrete bunker with trembling swollen fingers twisting the control switch from windy to brutal, his bloodshot eyes lighting up with every increase of increment.

Back to the course and Davenport extended for a 'comfortable' win from MacCarthy while Brown improving to third. Survival was the key and competitors who kept upright made the gains. There were some chicken gybes from usual superstars, such was the ferocity of some of the gusts. Davis and Pepperdine completed the top 5.

So, with 2 bullets, Davenport had won the event but such is the enthusiasm of youth and the professionalism of the sailor, he stayed out to play some more. MacCarthy was sitting on two seconds which is a vulnerable as Leeds defence and Davis and Brown had a 3rd each so all was to fight for.

Davis styling it out for 2nd overall in the Noble Marine Solo Winter Championship 2022 - photo © Will Loy

Race 3

Clean start but with one pre-start casualty in the form of Turner who dumped it in with 30 seconds to go. Testament to the endurance and determination of the sailor, he continued to race and finished a valiant 10th. The Solo is a dinghy that needs time and practice and Turner was not going to waste this opportunity....he had also driven 230 miles to get here!

Davis chooses the pin end with Pepperdine and Hopwood while Brown MacCarthy and Davenport work the middle right. A nice left hander half way up the beat sees Davis round first from Hopwood, Davenport is in the middle of the pack after a dip but he clearly did not like the experience as he is up in a flash.

The fleet round the top mark as the cloud snuffs out the last vestals of sunshine, the moody panorama clicks up a few notches to 'foreboding' while the guy in the bunker lets out a little evil chuckle from his thin purple lips.

I instruct my driver to place us once again in the death zone as the white wave tips multiply quicker than a kid who's top of the maths class.

I train my camera on the approaching train wreck, a little evil chuckle escaping my numb lips.....BATTERY EXHAUSTED!!

Competitors filtered past, some putting on the bravest face while inside they were dying, least there would be an epic photograph to mark their defining moment in the history of the class... so I pointed the camera and pretended to shoot.

The rest is history. Davis extends for the bullet which would get him up to second overall while Hopwood takes a dip and relinquishes 2nd to Davenport (though I think Oli had already passed him). MacCarthy is 3rd and third overall while Kev Hall improves to 4th in the race and fifth overall, one behind Brown.

The fleet return to the safety and warmth of the sumptuous club, pork and apple sauce 'cobs' soon deleting the short-term traumas on the water while hot tea and coffee combat the effects of hypothermia.

Davenport showed some supreme heavy air technique, his winter training with the Grafham posse reaping dividends while Davis inflicted a body blow on MacCarthy's dream of a major win. Chris Brown is 1st Veteran; Ian Bartlett is 1st Septimus and Carsington Water local hero John Webster is 1st GM.

Davenport thanked Noble Marine for their continued support of the Solo class and congratulated Carsington Water, the PRO Henry Wright, Solo liaison John Webster and the Galley for arranging an excellent event.

Congratulations to all competitors for displaying various degrees of skill and bag loads of courage.

MacCarthy, Davis, Davenport, Hall, Webster and Brown at the Noble Marine Solo Winter Championship 2022 prize giving - photo © Will Loy

Overall Results: