Gillard and Gray are repeat winners of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series crown
by Andy Rice 26 Feb 05:45 NZDT
22 February 2025
Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray sailed their Scorpion to overall victory in this season's Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series. The last time a Scorpion won the Series was back in 2011/12 when Rachael Rhodes (her maiden name) was crewing for Pete Gray (her then future husband).
A year later in 2012/13, Tom Gillard won the Series in a Fireball crewed by Simon Potts. Now, more than a decade later, those past champions - Tom and Rachael, that is - have shown they remain top of the crop in UK dinghy racing. Gillard is also the reigning Fireball World Champion, having won the title in Melbourne just over a year ago. He was out recently competing in another Aussie Fireball event and was due to fly back and land at Heathrow Airport just in time to make it to the prize-giving for the 16th edition of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series.
It was a packed crowd who turned up for the 1015am prize-giving at the Main Stage of the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show. Unfortunately Tom Gillard had been bumped off his overbooked plane and was detained in Australia for another 24 hours, so didn't make it to receive the big prize in Farnborough last weekend.
Nonetheless, the prize-giving was a celebration of the nine events that spanned the season from the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash in November (albeit it was postponed due to the unwanted attention of Storm Bert) through to the Zhik Oxford Blue on 15 February.
In amongst the named storms such as Bert, Darragh and their equally unloved cousins Ashley and Conall, the wind was surprisingly and disappointing light. A year after the winter that was dominated by Sam Pascoe flat trapezing his way to victory in the 2023/24 edition, this was a season for the slower-handicap, predominantly hiking classes. The only trapeze boat to make it into this year's top 10 overall was the Osprey in 8th place, sailed by Roger and Iain Blake.
Behind the winning Scorpion, Simon Hawkes finished runner-up in his K1 keelboat, with Matthew Wolstenholme & Lloyd Roberts third in their Snipe.
Here is a list of other prize categories:
Top Lady
Megan Pascoe (2.4mR)
Age Category Winners
Youth
With a total of 67 entries, there were eight winners of £75 vouchers presented by CFbyL&L for top youth finisher at each event.
Sophie Forbes sailed her Topper into top spot in the Junior and Youth categories.
Age 19-30
Out of 64 entries in this age category, Jamie Blake won in his ILCA 7
Age 31-60
Out of 144 entries in this age category, Megan Pascoe won in her 2.4mR keelboat
Masters
Out of 95 entries in the Masters category, Roger Blake won in his Osprey, crewed by Iain Blake
Boat Type Rankings
Fast Asymmetric
Stuart Harris & Beccy Gooch-Kelsall (RS400)
Fast Symmetric
Roger & Iain Blake (Osprey)
Slow Asymmetric
Luke Fisher (RS Vareo)
Slow Symmetric
Jamie Blake (ILCA 7)
Zhik Old Boats
The Zhik Old Boats league was hugely successful in its first season. With support from Laurence Mead, the UK distributor for Zhik high-performance clothing, sailors put their older boats on the water and competed against the newer craft in the fleet.
Boats 20 years and older were eligible, from turn-of-the-century RS300s and 400s to the 66-year-old Norfolk Punt sailed by young racers Edward Clifford & Alex Standley, who were overall winners of the King George Gallop. Zhik provided more than £600 worth of high-performance apparel up for the top finishers in this fast-growing category.
Overall winners of the Zhik Old Boats trophy were Paul Young & Igor Bakowski sailing an Enterprise.
Seldén Photo Competition
The Seldén sticker competition has been running successfully for a number of years. Every year Tim Olin travels to all the events and takes around 4,000 photos across the winter season. The best shots displaying a Seldén sticker earn the chosen sailors a prize.
Full list of winners in all the various categories here
Simon Horsfield Coaching sponsored by GJW Direct Insurance
One of the big innovations this season was remote and on-the-water coaching provided by top coach and competitor Simon Horsfield. A three-time winner of the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series, Simon was supported by GJW Direct Insurance to provide valuable insights for weekend warriors, keen sailors who perhaps have never benefited from coaching before. To look back at Simon's work and insights across the season, go here...
www.facebook.com/SeldenSailJuiceWinterSeries/videos
Overall Results from the Series
1. Tom Gillard & Rachael Gray (Scorpion), Sheffield Vikings SC, 13.66 points
2. Simon Hawkes (K1), Castle Cove SC, 20.96 points
3. Matthew Wolstenholme & Lloyd Roberts (Snipe), 44.82 points
4. Ben Flower (ILCA 7), Paignton SC, 50.21 points
5. Megan Pascoe (2.4mR), Frensham Pond SC, 52.31 points
6. Sam Watson & Charlie Cotter (GP14), Nantwich SC, 52.55 points
7. Jamie Blake (ILCA 7), Great Moor SC, 60.35 points
8. Roger & Iain Blake (Osprey), Great Moor SC, 67.95 points
9. Luke Fisher (RS Vareo), Emberton Park SC, 96.54 points
10. Paul Young & Igor Bakowski (Enterprise), Midland SC, 105.90 points
Full Results and Category Winners...
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/content.asp?id=50608&eventid=226008
Sailjuice Challenge
It's still in the making, but the brand new Sailjuice Challenge plans to bring together boats from all classes to compete in a multiclass handicap series throughout the year, not just the winter.
Opening event of this new circuit is the Magic Marine Daffodil Trophy at Ullswater Yacht Club on the weekend of 26/27 April. More details to follow soon...
The Events
The following events were in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series 2024/25:
- Sailing Chandlery Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club (7 & 8 December 2024)
- Robline UK Polar Chase, Chase Sailing Club (14 December 2024)
- Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey, YDSC (27 December 2024)
- Gill Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club (29 December 2024)
- Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club (4 & 5 January 2025, re-scheduled from November 2024)
- GJW Direct Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club (11 January 2025)
- Magic Marine King George Gallop, King George Sailing Club (18 January 2025)
- John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club (1 & 2 February 2025)
- Zhik Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club (15 February 2025)
- Prizegiving at RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show, Farnborough (22 February 2025)
You can find out more about the Series at www.SailJuiceSeries.com