P&B Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy 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:

Double-hander Results: