Allen Solo class Winter Championship 2026 at Northampton Sailing Club

Allen Solo Winter Championship at Northampton © Will Loy

A new Solo season, new faces with dreams, new Solos and sails but the guarantee that the action and drama will be just as riveting as in previous years. If you did not follow the action via the Solo reporting WhatsApp group then this report, embellished with exaggerations and imagination will try and do justice to the event.

43 competitors made journeys from as far as Largo Bay and Windermere to contest this first event of the 2026 Super Series, the six Northampton members just eclipsing Shustoke's five hotshots, a great effort with fuel prices starting to rise. The morning light had not revealed much in the way of hope as I made the journey up from Devon, lifeless, leafless trees backing up the XC Weather algorithm that it would be pants. My spirits were temporarily lifted as I passed a Union Jack in full flight somewhere near Cheltenham, only to have that flicker of light extinguished on realising the thing was pinned up by an errant branch.

The boat park was already bursting with Solos, discarded vehicles and trailers blocking what would have been the sweet spot for my Volvo V70 so I parked further down, the 30 second walk back to the club not a problem now my new hip has been run in. I grabbed my gear and headed for the warmth of the club house, adhering penalty notices to the parking culprits as I passed by, my new NSCA DJI Mini 3 watching me go and breathing a sigh of relief, it would not die today.

Anglian Water have a strict drone policy unless you pay them £175 plus VAT and as I only planned to fly it over the water for a few minutes the cost was prohibitive but at least the local wildlife would be safe.

PRO John Wayling, assisted by legendary Phantom sailor Will Gulliver (yeah, the big guy with the silver hair) provided a short briefing on the club veranda as the breeze, stronger than I had imagined but also cooler, licked the reservoir with some enthusiasm. My confidence in the race team was high having earlier overheard them mention that one of the flags in use would require a bit more felt pen to enhance its authority. Will headed off for a marker pen and I made for the jetty and my media boat ride, jumping aboard the orange inflatable with some aplomb but knowing that I would pay for it later.

Dave and Wes would be my expert drivers today and we headed off to the far end of Pitsford, our first mission to reposition the top mark and spreader with the wind direction moving slightly right from where it had been all morning. Dave offered some sweets but I declined, the Murray Mint-Fruit Pastilles combo I had consumed during my four hour drive had rendered my jaw almost in-operable and now I needed it for commentary. That said, if you like sweets then join Northampton Sailing Club, they seem to have figured out the way to generate volunteers.

Wes positioned us in the pocket just forward from the Committee boat as the fleet lined up for race 1, the pin end marker almost out of sight and sail numbers indecipherable.

Race 1

Breeze holding at 6 knots and Oliver Davenport likes the Committee boat end along with Jonathan Swain and Mike Barnes while Spurs super fan Vince Horey's bright red P&B sail logo stands out like a PLB at the pin end from former Inland Champion Chris Brown who is sporting the new CB Ultimate Hikers, maybe an optimistic choice of apparel given the forecast.

Harry Marlow and Harry Lucas catch my attention, their bows punching forward from the pack but Jamie Cuxson's distinctive grey decked Winder leads into mark one. Unfortunately, ring rust was responsible for me failing to capture the magic moment but fortunately my two fingered speed texting was able to register the top six or seven. Therefore, Lucas, Tom Lonsdale, Neil Wilkinson, Davenport, Marlow and Iain Carpenter, take a bow. Incidentally, both Marlow and Cuxson had attended a Davenport training day the previous weekend and were reaping the dividends.

The run down to the gate was a challenge for the sailors, keeping clear air and choosing the correct side would be key and Lucas excelled with Wilkinson, Cuxson, Tom Lonsdale in the Demo Solo, reigning National Champion Davenport and Charles completing the top six. Special mention to Brenda Hoult who rounded seventh in her vintage wooden Miles 4217, after taking some time away from sailing following a bad concussion from a cycle crash, she is back and looking fast. The gate was doing a great job of splitting the fleet though most chose the left mark which would send them up the favoured right of the beat.

The breeze was solid in strength with minimal direction changes so tactical options were limited and perfect roll tacks a necessity, I witnessed various levels of prowess and some pathetic attempts but they will not be shamed here.

The second beat stretched from the clubhouse back up to the far end of the reservoir and a slight increase in pressure was very welcome for both competitor and spectator perspective, some of the lighter sailors even hooking their sweet little size 7 feet under the hiking straps. Lucas, former Inland Champion Wilkinson and Cuxson consolidated while Davenport in a one year old Winder Mk 1a and Marlow in a 25 year old Mk 1 locked horns, a great advertisement for the modern FRP Solo. Top mark sees the top three around and off to the gate and finish with their gap remaining constant with each other and the pack while Davenport holds off Charles and a fast finishing class president Guy Mayger in the Boatyard at Beer/HD Maxx.

Allen Solo Winter Championship at Northampton - photo © Will Loy

Race 2

The breeze has dropped a click, the temperature likewise but the intensity with a few seconds to go is high and so are several competitors, like an elbow twitch from a sprinter awaiting the starter gun, they instigate a concertina of early trigger pulls and an inevitable general recall.

The re-start is all clear under the U flag, full marks to the team for colouring it in so nicely and Mike Sims dominates the Committee end with Brian Morum, who has thrown me by swapping out his Miles wooden Solo for an FRP hull in close company. Cuxson and Lucas are bow forward a third of the way down the start line which must have been close to shore while Chris Bunn in the Winder 2/Allen/Impact Radial and Andrew Wilde head right, the generously long beat providing some effort and a few smiles from the heavier sailors with puffs in the 8 knot region.

Top Mark and it is Sims from Lucas, Charles, Mayger, fellow HISC sailor Alex Butler, Simon Maskell, Bunn and Cuxson. The wind is fickle now and Marlow finds himself parked on the mark, taking out a good proportion of the fleet but if you are going down, take as many with you as you can. Those who over stood the buoy sail over the top of the incident, passing the camera with various degrees of relief and glee, the aroma of roses drifting along as they go.

Sims heads right up the second beat from Warsash sailor Charles, Lucas and Mayger while Maskell opts for the left which is a relief for the race team who were beginning to question their skill of race course 101, 'set a gate which splits the fleet'. Simon's brother Mark follows with Bunn, Edward Gray and Horey all opting for the less favoured side but with clearer pressure and a fleet induced wind bend, it would prove beneficial.

We re-positioned ourselves half way up the beat, Sims, Charles and now Maskell locked into a close battle with a lap to go while behind, the peloton began to close. My eyes were distracted by a group of Solos heading downwind, Mayger, Bunn, Mark Maskell and Lucas all rounding the outer distance mark before hardening back up onto the beat. Now not being a competitor I had missed part of the briefing and also had not read any SI's but apparently the start line was part of the course on the upwind legs!

I took a moment to remember my own long and varied degrees of stupidity on and off the race course before re-focusing on the race.

Maskell takes the lead just after the bottom mark from Sims and Charles and they are closing in on the finish line and all the riches it promises when the sound of a hooter echoes across the water. Ignoring this I focus on the leader who crosses the line to silence..Oh no, Maskell must have missed the line on lap 2. Oh no, Sims missed it too. You have to be kidding, Charles too gets no finish gun. Finally, fourth across the line and winning a valuable bullet is Bermudan Stephen Dickinson with Lucas and Jasper Barnham, Cuxson and Wilkinson completing the top five.

I was confused but it later transpired that the race team had shortened the line after lap one as they were unable to read the sail numbers on Solos who were at that end, possibly a potential for a protest and I would imagine that is it was a mark of the course, a sound signal as the leader approached the bottom mark would have been appropriate.

Allen Solo Winter Championship at Northampton - photo © Will Loy

Race 3

The wind had tracked right and there was a short delay as the race teams repositioned the top mark and spreader buoy, had I fallen overboard, even I could have swam to shore. Interestingly, the fleet seemed to favour the pin end, possibly wanting to stay in the strongest pressure and away from the wind shadow generated by the local topography. The first attempt was recalled, there were more Solos over the line than behind it. Second attempt and Andrew Beston from Redditch is early and bails out at the pin, Swain and Dickinson nailing it on the gun while Cuxson fires out at the Committee end with Mayger, Marlow and Michael Cossey, another member of the Shustoke mafia. Simon Maskell is bow forward mid line from Bunn, Matthew Frary and Davenport with the wind holding at five knots and all to play for as they file towards the top mark.

Swain leads in from the left lay line from Simon Maskell, Cuxson and Gibb with Mike Murley-Hughes, Butler, Mayger, Charles and Andy Carter completing the top nine. Horey should be mentioned too, coming around in tenth which is higher than Spurs will manage this season. Staying in clear air is once again the priority and Swain is able to extend on the pack down the long run to the bottom mark with Charles moving into second ahead of Gibb with Maskell, Mayger and Cuxson dropping back from the front runners.

On reconfiguring the course, one of the bottom gate marks was found to be stuck so this would be a simple mark rounding, unfortunately thirty five Solos converging into one mark is a recipe for tension and drama and like a rubber necker passing a pile up on the M6 I was unable to evert my eyes.

Swain extended for a comfortable win from Charles, Gibb, Mayger and Simon Maskell, Jamie Cuxson in sixth moving into the overall lead (3-4-6) with Harry Lucas unable to add a counter to his 1-2 but with a fourth race added to the SI's, he could still win, along with Swain, Mayger and Charles.

Race 4

You know the breeze is light when sailors are standing up in their Solos and so it was but fair play to the thirty-two competitors who started the race, unfortunately three were OCS including Wilkinson who had also been in the mix for overall honours. Neil is my kind of sailor, quiet and understated, he anticipates trouble and avoids it and there was plenty of that today. The fact he was over the line early and has upgraded to a newer Solo this year implies he is hungry for another major trophy and the Inland title he won in 2008 would look good on the mantelpiece.

Brown and Bunn, which sounds like a great name for a biscuit factory make a decent start down towards the pin end with Hughes-Morley just too keen, OCS. Swain, Mark Maskell and Carter opt for the Committee end which is looking lighter from my viewpoint on the media rib. Lucas looks in trouble, deep and on the unfavoured right of the course and needing a top ten to ask the question of Cuxson who is also mid fleet.

Top mark and it is light wind specialist Jasper Barnham who leads from Edward Grey who is attending his first Solo event, a fine start to his Solo career. Hughes-Morley has the moral victory of rounding third from Ross Southwell, another new face on the circuit and youthful too. Bunn, Mark Maskell, Andrew Bownes, Carpenter, Carter and Brown with Brenda Hoult tenth in the Miles/Zeta/North L3. Lucas is twenty-third and his grasp on a first major title is slipping away but with youth and athleticism on his side is one to watch this season. His dad, big Dave Lucas is out of action but we wish him well in his recovery from an op, I didn't ask which one because at our age it could be any of about twelve.

The breeze was fading and with it my enthusiasm and will to live so I instructed my RIB crew to drop me off at base so I could procure interviews once the fleet completed the short two lap race.

The fleet had spread out evenly across the course so the bottom mark rounding was without incident and the final lap saw Barnham extend to take a bullet which catapulted him to third overall with Mark Maskell and Chris Bunn completing the top three. Hoult moved up to fourth which will have warmed her cockles and Grey took an impressive fifth. Harry Lucas moved up from twenty third on lap 1 to twelfth and this would secure him second overall to Cuxson who discarded a last race 7th.

Jamie Cuxson wins overall - Allen Solo Winter Championship at Northampton - photo © Will Loy

So, overall it is a first Super Series win for Jamie Cuxson who has been putting in the hours on the water at events over the last few seasons and is now reaping the benefits. Harry Lucas is knocking on the same door which has winner stamped on it and Jasper Barnham, third overall and first GM continues to feature at the pointy end of the fleet. Jonathan Swain counted a ninth which squeezed him into fourth overall, a great result for a sailor who could be categorised as a unit and Wilkinson (first Vet) was fifth having done the hard work in the first three races.

Brenda Hoult was first lady in tenth and also first wooden Solo (circa 1999) proving that these older vintage examples still have the legs to perform. Andy Bownes was first Septimus and toughed it out, still suffering from a back injury, the draw of the Super Series is just too strong.

Huge thanks to sponsor Allen Brothers, Northampton Sailing Club's team of enthusiastic volunteers, race management, catering, safety and media teams and special praise to Linda who had the race results on the club website in record speed, providing me with the knowledge to interview the winner before even he knew he had won.

Next Super Series event is the Spring Championship/Tyler Trophy at HISC April 25-26, see you there.

Photo gallery

Harry Lucas, second overall - Allen Solo Winter Championship at Northampton - photo © Will Loy

Overall Results: