Enter The Tiger!
by Andy Rice 30 Jan 2023 01:26 PST
4-5 February 2023
John Merricks Tiger Trophy © Tim Olin /
www.olinphoto.co.uk
The John Merricks Tiger Trophy is event No.8 in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series, and it's happening this weekend...
The Fireball duo of Dave Hall & Paul Constable have never yet missed a John Merricks Tiger Trophy at Rutland Sailing Club, and the Fireball duo are among the early entrants to have booked their spot at the eighth event in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series. Hall & Constable are back to see if they can win the Tiger which they conquered in 2021.
Taking place on 4 & 5 February, the dinghy classic consists of a series of back-to-back races on the Saturday and a Pursuit Race on the Sunday. Once bitten by the Tiger, sailors come back year after year in anticipation of another hotly contested event backed up by great hospitality at Rutland Sailing Club. Principal race officer and Olympic silver medallist David Wilkins has a well deserved reputation for running exciting and fair racing on England's largest reservoir.
Six Nations Weekend
Up to four club-based RS21 keelboats are expected to take part in the competition, which also coincides with the first weekend of Six Nations rugby fixtures. "We'll be off the water well in time for the England v Scotland match on Saturday afternoon," says David. The Tiger is also open to other small keelboats and catamarans as well as the usual spread of dinghy classes.
As ever for Rutland, there's a sit-down dinner on the Saturday night and a chance for old friends from across different fleets to catch up before the summer season gets going again and people disperse back into one-design competition.
To sign up to the Tiger Trophy and the final event of the season, the Oxford Blue, visit www.sailjuiceseries.com
Hikers v Trapezers
Last year's overall winners of the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series, Roger Gilbert & Ben McGrane, were also winners of an extremely Tiger Trophy in 2022, and will have to be at their best to beat 505 rivals Michael Sims & Carl Gibbon. Sims was overall series winner nine years ago hiking out his singlehanded Solo. Another interesting duel of trapeze boats will be the ongoing battle for Osprey supremacy between Pete Gray & Geoff Edwards versus Roger & Iain Blake.
Musto Skiff National Champion, Sam Pascoe, was recent runner-up at the Bloody Mary at the start of January. He'll be up against last year's World Championship runner-up Andy Tarboton. But will they and the other Musto Skiffs be able to beat Ben Schooling, who has won a number of events in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series over the years?
Currently the forecast is for mild conditions in light to medium winds from the west, so perhaps a gentler than normal Tiger is on the cards. After recent years have gone well for the faster trapeze boats, will this be one for the slower hiking classes? The recent King George Gallop was a good outing for the Enterprises, so maybe a chance for Paul Young & Nathan McGrory to move further up the rankings from their current 5th overall. Or others further down the Top 10 overall rankings, such as Finlay Cochrane (Laser 4.7) or James & Samuel Clancy in their Merlin Rocket.
With current overall leader Ben Flower absent on Olympic campaigning duty for Canada in his Laser, could the Tiger be an opportunity for the second and third overall competitors to pounce? Respectively, that's Jamie Blake's Laser in 2nd overall and Sam Mettam's RS Aero 6 in 3rd overall.
The series after a magnificent seven so far
After so many years of cancellations due to Covid or lack of water, so far it's been a successful 7 from 7 for this season's Seldén SailJuice Winter Series, with a full schedule of 20 races completed this far. Here's an update of how things stand with a month to go to the prize-giving on the Main Stage at the RYA Dinghy Show in Farnborough.
Overall
No change for the top five, but a few more people qualifying and jumping into the Top 10. Of note, Series regular Jonathan Carter (Vortex - Rickmansworth) up 10 to 6th overall, and 13 year old Finlay Cochrane (Laser 4.7 - ILCA 4 YDSC), one of the youngest competitors also up 10 places to 7th overall.
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/content.asp?eventid=224528&id=48408
Craftinsure Top Class
66 different classes have now competed across the Series. For the King George Gallop, the Enterprises dominated, holding off a strong Merlin fleet, with the Toppers third. Overall the Laser (ILCA 7s) hold onto to top spot, with Laser Radial (ILCA 6s) moving up to second, demoting the RS200s to third. Based on the best three results for each class across every race.
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/content.asp?id=48394&eventid=224528&templ=
Top Club
89 clubs have now been represented across the Series. For the Gallop, hosts King George SC were the top club, fighting a close battle with local rival Fishers Green SC. Overall Staunton Harold SC who have held the top spot since the start, has been knocked off first place by Great Moor SC. Based on the best three results for each club across every race.
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/content.asp?id=48395&eventid=224528&templ=
Seldén Sticker Winner
Nathan Clark (Topper - Waveney & Oulton Broad Yacht Club) wins an R60 ratchet block from the Seldén range, thanks to his photo taken by series photographer Tim Olin at the King George Gallop.
Who will win the best social media engagement? - watch Facebook Live this Tuesday, 31 January.
Facebook Live - 6pm Tuesday, 31 January
Simon Lovesey and Andy Rice, series organisers, will be looking back through the events so far, and looking forward to the next, on Facebook Live.The winner of another Seldén R60 ratchet block will also be announced, based on which sailor's photo by series photographer Tim Olin has featured prominently in social media. Join the live show this Tuesday...
www.facebook.com/SeldénSailJuiceWinterSeries
Category Scoreboards
GBSC (Great British Sailing Series) extracted results, based on every race with one discard per every three races
Female
1) Rachael Gray (Scorpion - Staunton Harold)
2) Maddie Childs (Laser Radial (ILCA 6) - King George Sailing Club)
3) Ellie Craig (RS Aero 6 - Bfyc)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=Female
Junior
1) Finlay Cochrane (Laser 4.7 (ILCA 4) - Yorkshire Dales)
2) Freddie Sunderland (Laser Radial (ILCA 6) - Draycote Water)
3) Dilara Soyer (Topper - Draycote Water SC)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=Junior
Age 31-60
1) Paul Young (Enterprise - Midland Sailing Club)
2) Peter Gray (Osprey - Staunton Harold)
3) Jonathan Carter (Vortex - Rickmansworth Sailing Club)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=31-60
Masters
1) Roger Blake (Osprey - Great Moor SC)
2) Ann Jackson (Enterprise - Burghfield Sailing Club)
3) Richard Sims (K1 - Carsington)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=Masters
Fast Symmetric
1) Roger & Iain Blake (Osprey - Great Moor SC)
2) Peter Gray & Geoff Edwards (Osprey - Staunton Harold)
3) James & Samuel Clancy (Merlin Rocket - Desborough SC)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=FastS
Fast Asymmetric
1) Jonathan Carter (Vortex - Rickmansworth Sailing Club)
2) Richard Smith (Musto Skiff - Medway Yacht Club)
3) Nigel Davis (RS500 - Draycote Water Sailing Club)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=FastA
Slow Symmetric
1) Jamie Blake (Laser (ILCA 7) - Great Moor Sailing Club)
2) Paul Young & Nathan McGrory/ Alex Homer (Enterprise - Midland Sailing Club)
3) Rachael Gray & Amy Clay (Scorpion - Staunton Harold)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=SlowS
Slow Asymmetric
1) Luke Fisher (RS Vareo - Emberton Park SC)
2) Paul North (RS Vareo - Milton Keynes SC)
3) James Williams & Sarah Tuppen (RS200 - Chew Valley Lake SC)
enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/results_mainp.asp?eventid=224528&templ=224528&classtype=SlowA
Seldén SailJuice Winter Series 2022/23 Events:
- Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club
20 & 21 November 2022
- Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club
3 & 4 December 2022
- Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey, Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
27 December 2022
- Burghfield Breezer, Burghfield Sailing Club
27 December 2022
- Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club
2 January 2023
- Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club
7 January 2023
- King George Gallop, King George Sailing Club
21 January 2023
- John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club
4 & 5 February 2023
- Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club
18 February 2023
- Prizegiving at RYA Dinghy Show, Farnborough
25 February 2023
You can find out more about the series at www.SailJuiceSeries.com