Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series forecast - A Bloody good opportunity for the slow boats?
by Andy Rice 9 Jan 20:52 UTC
11 January 2025
A light wind Bloody Mary © Tim Olin /
www.olinphoto.co.uk
A Bloody good opportunity for the slow boats?
Aside from the storms at the end of 2024, this winter so far has been a light affair and it's shaping to be a soft Saturday for the GJW Direct Bloody Mary. A chance for the slower boats to get their revenge on the skiffs?
Could the GJW Direct 49th Bloody Mary offer a chance for a slower boat to take one of the biggest prizes in UK dinghy racing? This weekend sees Event #6 of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series take place at Queen Mary Sailing Club, not far from Heathrow Airport. Not that anyone is likely to be flying around the reservoir this Saturday afternoon, as it's looking like a sub-planing forecast.
Following a series of breezy Bloody Marys in recent years - the past four winners read 29er, 420, 29er, Musto Skiff - could 2025 be the revenge of the slow boats? A year ago Sam Pascoe trapezed his Musto Skiff to victory at the GJW Direct Bloody Mary. Since then Sam went on to win the Musto Skiff World Championships last summer and just a few days ago finished third crewing for Nathan Batchelor at the 505 World Championships in Australia.
While Sam is absent from this year's line-up, his sister Megan Pascoe will be competing in a 2.4mR keelboat. George Barker won in a 2.4m back in 2002 and just last weekend Megan finished runner-up at the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash in a single-race light-airs contest. So the 2.4mR had form in light airs. Perhaps Megan could continue the Pascoe family run of success this Saturday.
Or maybe a chance for the Fireflys. Alex and Thomas Davey's Firefly was the last non-trapeze boat to win the Bloody Mary back in 2017 and there are a few contenders this year. Nigel Wakefield and Emily Saunderson finished third in last year's Firefly Nationals and could be among the frontrunners in a light airs pursuit race this Saturday. Their boat, F3007, more than qualifies for the Zhik 'Old Boats' competition running for the first time this season in the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series.
Zhik Old Boats
Thanks to the Zhik 'Old Boats' scheme, there's a growing number of old boats competing in this year's Series, some of them scoring in the top 20 overall.
"I'll be sailing 61-year-old Firefly this weekend," said Nigel Wakefield. "I got it free from the bramble bushes at Chipstead Sailing Club." It's part of a growing trend for sailors looking to renovate old boats and compete against the newer boats. Among the other 'old' entrants are a 1981-vintage Flying Dutchman sailed by Richard Burton and Dave Bourne, and a 60-year-old wooden Merlin Rocket sailed by Rob Cage and Nicola Scaddan.
So you don't need a new boat to succeed. There will be prizes across each event and an overall rankings presented at the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show. If your boat is 20 years or older you are eligible. Please email with your boat details and you can get on the list.
List of Legends
Whoever wins this Saturday will join an illustrious list of winners that includes Olympic medallists such as Jo Richards, John Merricks, Ian Walker, Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks. Among past winners already signed up to race this weekend are Graham Camm in a National 12 crewed by Blue Camm, and Tom Gillard who won exactly ten years ago helming a Fireball with Richard Anderton.
See the full list of past Bloody Mary winners at www.queenmary.org.uk/racing/bloody-mary/bloody-mary-past-winners
Winner of the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash last Sunday with Rachael Gray in a Scorpion, Gillard and Gray are setting out to see if they can make it back-to-back wins and further boost their bid to win this season's Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series.
For more about the incredible history of this iconic event, here's a Covid lockdown video chat about how the Bloody Mary first came to be, and how it grew into the massive event it has since become: www.facebook.com/SeldenSailJuiceWinterSeries/videos/258493785616734
Other notable competitors include Neil Peters, the ILCA 7 sailor from Queen Mary who sailed a £50 battered old Laser around Britain in 2019, and a Thames A-Rater helmed by Jamie Stewart and crewed by Ben Palmer and Dicken Maclean. With win in short supply this Saturday, the tall rig of the A-Rater could prove to be a winning asset.
Simon Horsfield Coaching sponsored by GJW Direct Insurance
Aside from sponsoring the Bloody Mary, GJW Direct has also been supporting a brand new initiative this season, coaching for competitors, many of whom have never experienced coaching in their sailing careers. Three-time winner of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series, Simon Horsfield is running a preview of the Bloody Mary tonight, Thursday, 9 January, at 20:00 hours.
Join via chat.whatsapp.com/KFlRWkTrhxpDMkqcJbanWR or www.facebook.com/SeldenSailJuiceWinterSeries/videos
Overall Standings in the Series
Currently there are 235 boats on the overall rankings, and 36 boats completing two or more events. There's still four events to go, so there is still a chance to qualify, and with four different winners rankings are wide open.
Top Class
Can the RS200 class make this their Series? See enter.sailracer.org/eventsites/content.asp?id=50614&eventid=226008
Get your entry in quick
The Bloody Mary is open to non-foiling dinghy classes with PY numbers ranging from the International Topper to the 49er and to selected keelboat classes. The first start is scheduled for 12 noon with the slowest boats starting first and the faster boats starting progressively later. The race lasts 150 minutes.
Online Entry closes: midnight, Thursday, January 9, 2025 at www.sailjuiceseries.com
The following events are 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
- Magic Marine 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
- 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 here: www.SailJuiceSeries.com