Allen and CB Cover Store Midland Area Solo Championship 2025 at Northampton Sailing Club - Preview
by Will Loy 25 Nov 04:54 PST
29 November 2025
Jamie Cuxson - Ferry Marina Solo Inland Championship at Grafham © Will Loy
The planets have aligned in the favour of the Midland Championship which, having been postponed earlier in the season, has now been bequeathed the last big Solo regatta of 2025 and so the focus will very much be on who can claim this hotly contested title and with it, bar bragging rites, kudos and most importantly, space in the next Solo Magnificent publication to share with the membership how they did it.
Northampton Sailing Club have stepped in to host the event and I understand teams of volunteers have been forming a human chain with buckets in hand to top up Pitsford, I do hope the water source is not from the reservoir itself or they may be there sometime.
Anyone who has raced at Northampton will testify that it can be a tricky venue, the 413 hectares of water can get surprisingly narrow at some points and it's orientation from east to west certainly favours a wind direction from either of those two quadrants, fortunately the current forecast, albeit a little premature is predicting 12-22mph from the west. From memory the clubhouse is to the right so it should make for a short sail to the race area and a long beat to mark 1.
There are already just under twenty pre-entries and these include CB Coverstore CEO and former Inland Champion Chris Brown who has been keeping his finely honed body in shape by participating in the Sailjuice Series. Chris has utilised the Winder 1/Superspars M2/North F4 this year and is convinced the hull shape has much to offer the more portly figure and this final regatta may determine whether he sticks with it or not.
Meanwhile, Jasper Barnham, who has come in to a rich vein of form with race wins at the Ferry Marina Inlands and EOS, subsequently winning that title and a holiday on the Norfolk Broads courtesy of the sponsor Chris Bunn will be favourite (based on current entry list and subject to change by about five places if Davenport, Walters, Davis et al turn up).
Among the other pre-entered, Steven Dickinson showed strong boat handling skills at the Inlands and Jamie Cuxson has been knocking on the door for a podium finish all season.
I would expect Midland rep Jonathan Swain to feature along with Andrew Wilde and Mike Sims, if these guys turn up then my camera and the Solo Event WhatsApp community is in for a treat. You cannot put a cigarette paper between the likes of Bunn, Brown, Honnor and Davies and with local sailors Graham Wilson and Peter Warne keeping the fleet honest, it should be tight competition from front to back...Oh yes, and it is friendly too.
Enter at webcollect.org.uk/nsc/event/solo-open-meeting-11-10-2025
If you are going then please enter online asap, the Solo media team will be covering the event via WhatsApp and the Solo Facebook page, you can join the reporting WhatsApp and catch up later via the NSCA Solo page.
See you on the water.