Please select your home edition
Edition
Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

Changes afoot for next year's Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series

by Andy Rice 23 Feb 17:12 UTC
Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series founder Andy Rice out in his Musto Skiff during the Oxford Blue © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Great weather and excellent attendance contributed to one of the most successful editions of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series in its 15-year history, so why change anything?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. So the saying goes. So after one of the most successful editions of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series in its 15 year history, why consider changing anything? Co-organisers Simon Lovesey and Andy Rice are looking to move elements of the Series in a slightly different direction whilst wanting to keep the core of its success intact.

"Simon and I are always interested in where we can take things next with the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series," explained Andy. "Not all of the innovations we have brought in have been met with universal acclaim, far from it in fact. There was some resistance to introducing advance online entry via a website, rather than accepting cash and cheques on the day, believe it or not. Now it seems like a no-brainer.

"Moving from standard RYA PY handicap numbers and adopting the more radical Great Lakes numbers drew conspiracy theories that we were changing the numbers for dubious motives, but I think mostly people can see after a decade of Great Lakes experience that their numbers are producing very fair racing for many more classes than used to be the case.

"And GPS tracking of the races is not only there for entertainment purposes but is also proving to be a very useful back-up for cross-referencing the accuracy of finishing positions and resolving scoring queries."

One of the less controversial moves was to bring in a photographer for the Series, the indefatigable Tim Olin who goes out in all weathers to take such amazing photos of so many different boats and sailors.

New Life for Old Boats

The Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series has always attracted the very best sailors, such as former season winners like Peter Gray, Nick Craig, Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray, Simon and Katie Horsfield, and Roger Gilbert and Ben McGrane. "It's great to see such high-calibre competitors," said Simon Lovesey, "but we also want to attract other sailors who can't necessarily afford state-of-the-art equipment. We're really pleased to have seen such an upswing in youth and junior participation this winter, particularly sailors from Greig City Academy using old Lasers that they have refurbished themselves, and Edward Clifford and Alex Standley racing their 65-year-old Norfolk Punt around the circuit. That's what we'd like to see more of in the future."

Seldén Mast's Richard Le Mare agrees. "One of the reasons why Seldén has continued to support the Sailjuice Winter Series over the past five years is we really want to support the grassroots of the sport. It's not just because we love the sport, which of course we do, but ours and other marine businesses depend on the grassroots being healthy. There's no shortage of boats in boat parks around the country, there's far too many of them sitting under mossy-green covers, unloved and mostly unused. So anything that can be done to get those boats out sailing again is something we at Seldén are very keen to promote."

With that in mind, Simon is drawing from various data sources including SailRacer GPS tracking to create an 'Old Boats Ranking', and is looking for broader support from the industry. "We're reaching out to the trade to back this initiative with prizes to help people upgrade their boats. Like Richard and his colleagues at Seldén are saying, this has the potential to work for everyone in the sailing world."

If you'd like to find out more and get involved in this initiative, please email and/or say hello at the prize-giving this Saturday (see below).

Coaching Support

Many sailors across the fleet are using the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series to hone their skills. Where else can you compete against 100 boats and some of the country's top sailors in some very close racing? Next winter we will be introducing coach support from an event briefing session, dinghy park coach advice and post-event debriefing based on video and tracking content from the racing.

New Ranking Categories

Many sailors compete representing the forces (ASA, RAFSA, RNSA) or their school, this winter there will be new extracted rankings for Forces and Schools.

Handicap Forum - 26 March

Your chance to understand how handicaps work and contribute to new developments.

More updates at the Prizegiving

Simon and Andy will be talking more about their future plans this weekend at the prize-giving for the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series. It takes place this Saturday, 24 February, at 1015am on the Main Stage at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show in Farnborough.

You can find out more about the Series at www.SailJuiceSeries.com

Related Articles

In Conversation with Andy Rice
Chatting about the Draycote Dash, Vendée Globe, America's Cup and more! Mark Jardine chats with Andy about the Draycote Dash, which would be taking place this weekend if it weren't for Lockdown 2.0, the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series, the Vendée Globe, the build-up to the 36th America's Cup and his 'Road to Gold' series. Posted on 20 Nov 2020
Hamish Willcox unveils his blueprint for victory
Road to Gold is a brand new 12-week practical course Designed by world-class sailor and coach from New Zealand, Hamish Willcox, in partnership with British sailing journalist and commentator Andy Rice, Road to Gold uses online video and live webinars to communicate and interact with sailors. Posted on 7 Nov 2020
Henry Bomby accelerates keelboat learning curve
Lack of time is always the biggest enemy for an ambitious sailor Lack of time is always the biggest enemy for an ambitious sailor. Which is why Olympic aspirant Henry Bomby is using every trick and tactic at his disposal in speeding up the learning curve. Posted on 29 Jun 2020
That elusive final 1% of boatspeed
Andy Rice discusses how to get it with dedicated professional sailor, Henry Bomby How much time and money would you put into finding that last, elusive 1% per cent of boatspeed? How much for a new set of sails, for example? Posted on 11 Jun 2020
Mark Jardine joins Andy Rice for Sailjuice Podcast
Could the Corona Effect send the Vendee Globe stratospheric? Mark Jardine joins with Andy Rice to see how the sailing world is coping in the virtual world forced by the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. While most events are suffering, could the Vendee Globe actually profit from the circumstances that we're facing? Posted on 29 Apr 2020
Sailing adjusts to a Coronavirus world
Andy Rice & Mark Jardine discuss worldwide sailing events Andy Rice & Mark Jardine discuss a rapidly changing world held in the grip of coronavirus, and celebrate the fact that the 18ft skiffs still competed on Sydney Harbour for the JJ Giltinan Trophy. Posted on 20 Mar 2020
What's it like after 8 weeks of self-isolation?
Andy Rice talks to Choni Lin who is 'crawling up the walls' in Shenzhen Andy Rice talks to Choni Lin who is 'crawling up the walls' after two months of self-isolation in Shenzhen, the tech capital of China. Posted on 18 Mar 2020
Coronavirus didn't kill the Dinghy Show
Mark Jardine and Andy Rice discuss the show and the Sydney SailGP Mark Jardine from Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com joins Andy Rice to look back on their favourite bits of an RYA Dinghy Show in North London. Posted on 6 Mar 2020
Podcast: An extraordinary 10 years of sailing
Andy Rice, Mark Jardine and James Boyd discuss the sailing decade In the last podcast before Christmas, Andy Rice joins with fellow sailing journalist James Boyd and Mark Jardine, managing editor of Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com to look back on an extraordinary 10 years of sailing. Posted on 21 Dec 2019
The Top 10 Biggest Sailing Stories of 2019: Part 2
Andy Rice and Mark Jardine discuss the most popular stories Intro paragraph to go here...In the second and concluding part of the Top 10 biggest stories of 2019, the list from 5 to 1 looks like more familiar territory (compared with some of the wild and wacky revelations in Part 1). Posted on 17 Dec 2019
Selden 2020 - FOOTER