News / 2010 Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy

Over 150 boats enjoyed fantastic winter sailing conditions at the 2010 Steve Nicholson Memorial Trophy held at Northampton Sailing Club in aid of Asthma UK raising over £3000 for the charity.

With fantastic sponsorship from some of the top marine companies, there was a great array of prizes available to win. These included Gul, Harken, Gill, Zhik, Musto, Henri Lloyd, Selden, Magic Marine and Pinnell & Bax.

The event is divided into four fleets; double-handed, single-handed, asymmetric and foilers.  

Double-Handed Fleet

The double-handed fleet boasted sixty starters, which made the start line very challenging, so unsurprisingly the black flag was needed. Andy Smith and Tim Needham led both races in their 505 but never got far enough ahead to win on handicap, they were, however, good enough for third overall. In the light and fickle conditions, the Merlins were often able to outpace the Fireballs and so dominated the event. The Merlin of Matt Biggs and Ben Hollis had a great first beat finding more wind on the left of the course, they were then able to sail away from the chasing pack of Fireballs and Merlins. The second race was won by Olly Turner and Carly Turner in another Merlin, crossing the finish line just inches ahead of local Merlin Tom Stewart and Liam Dempsey. Matt and Ben recovered from a bad start and managed to pull up to seventh place which was enough for them to win on count back, ahead of Ian Dobson and Matt Mee, also in a Merlin. Tom Gillard and Christian Birrell launched their new 420 at the event and sailed fantastically in the light stuff to finish 4th overall. 10 Fireballs were racing on the day. The old school pairing of Vince Horey and Jonny Mildred were the leading Fireball overall, placing 2nd Fireball in each of the two races. Dave Wade & Tim Saunders taking the first 'fleet" race and newcomers Joshua Pistol and Piers Strong the second.

Results

Full Results