Seldén SailJuice Winter Series - Warm and Windy for Datchet Flyer
by Andy Rice 4 Dec 2023 08:38 PST

Freddie Sunderland in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series © Tim Olin /
www.olinphoto.co.uk
It's a warm and windy forecast for this weekend's Datchet Flyer, the second event in this season's Seldén SailJuice Winter Series. Almost 50 boats from more than 30 different dinghy classes have already entered, with many of the usual suspects along with some new names competing in Sailjuice events for the first time.
Online entry for the Datchet Flyer, and all others in the series, is available at www.sailjuiceseries.com
WHO'S IN THE RUNNING?
After a strong showing by the Musto Skiffs at the first event, the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, will the likes of Sam Pascoe be able to repeat that at Datchet? Stuart Jones is likely to be strong in the Contender if the breeze is blowing hard, as are former Fireball World Champions DJ Edwards and Vyv Townend. Imogen Wade and Hugo Valentine will also be ones to watch in their 420 if it's upwind planing conditions. There is a huge range of classes of different speeds, with hiking singlehanders of the common and lesser spotted variety.
See Full Entry List
STICKER COMPETITION
Dave Barker, competing in his Hadron singlehander, was winner of the Seldén sticker photo competition and wins some Seldén goodies. Make sure you put the Seldén sticker on the bow - or elsewhere - on your boat to make sure you get spotted by the Series' travelling photographer Tim Olin.
RANKINGS AFTER ROUND ONE
Here are the Selden SailJuice Winter Series rankings after Round 1 at Draycote Water.
Top Class
12 classes had 3+ boats competing at the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash. It was the Musto Skiffs who headed the Top Class rankings, with the ILCA 6s in second place and the ILCA 7s completing a very close podium. Based on the best three results for each class across every race.
Top Club
There were 43 different clubs represented at the Dash, Castle Cove SC with five entries saw off a massive home club entry from Draycote Water SC, to lead the Top Club Rankings, with Rutland SC completing the podium., based on the best three results for each club across every race.
Great British Sailing Challenge (GBSC) Rankings
Based on extracted results for various GBSC ranking categories, across every race with a discard per every three races.
The Draycote Dash saw nearly a quarter of entries coming from youth sailors, local Freddie Sunderland (ILCA 6) dominated the Youth age group with 4 bullets. But things were much closer for the other places, with Draycote ILCA 6s taking the next 3 places, Sam Grayton 2nd and Joe Rowe third youth.
Youth /
Junior /
19-30 /
31-60 /
Masters
Fast Symmetric
It was very close at the top of the fast symmetric rankings, with Ed Presley (Contender) and Arran Holman/Alex Hughes (470), trading places, both winning two races, and second in two races, to end up equal 1st overall.
Fast Asymmetric
The fast asymmetrics dominated Draycote Dash, and the extracted rankings followed the same pattern as the overall event results, with Sam Pascoe (Musto Skiff) 1st, and Tom Morris/Guy Fillmore (RS800) 2nd.
Slow Symmetric
This was the biggest group at Draycote with nearly half the entries. The top of the rankings was quite a diverse range of classes, with Imogen Wade/Hugo Valentine (420) 1st, Ben Flower (ILCA 7), 2nd and former series winners, Tom Gillard/Rachael Gray (Scorpion), 3rd.
Slow Asymmetric
There was a strong RS200 fleet competing at Draycote and they took six of the Top 10 positions for the Slow Asymmetric Group, with Ben Whaley/Lorna Glen 1st, Luke Fisher (RS Vareo), 2nd and Mia Hately/Mona Nygard (RS Feva) 3rd.
Ladies
Imogen Wade, crewed by Hugo Valentine, is leading the Ladies standings ahead of Val Millward's Challenger and Felicity Angell's ILCA 6.
To enter the Datchet Flyer and the other events, go to www.sailjuiceseries.com
The Events
The following events are in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series 2023/24:
- Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club
18 & 19 November 2023
- Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club
9 & 10 December 2023
- Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey, Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
27 December 2023
- Gill Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club
30 December 2023
- GJW Direct Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club
6 January 2024
- King George Gallop, King George Sailing Club
20 January 2024
- John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club
3 & 4 February 2024
- Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club
17 February 2024
- Prizegiving at RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show, Farnborough
24 February 2024
You can find out more about the Series here: www.SailJuiceSeries.com