Sam Pascoe steered his Musto Skiff to a masterful victory at a breezy 109-boat Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, the first event of the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series (15th Edition).
Multiple dinghy champion Sam Pascoe trapezed his Musto Skiff to a one-point victory at the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash last weekend, 18 & 19 November. This was the first of eight events in the 15th edition of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series.
Competing in a 109 boat handicap fleet made up of 44 different dinghy, catamaran and keelboat classes, Pascoe won the weekend by a single point from the RS800 sailed by Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore.
The breezy weather made for a trapeze boat top three, with Olympic aspirants Arran Holman and Alex Hughes sailing their 470 to victory on Pursuit Race Sunday and third overall.
There was a diverse entry of sailors ranging from 11 to 76 years old, and 41 youth competitors, all looking to enjoy close racing in four back-to-back handicap races on the Saturday followed by the two-hour Pursuit Race on Sunday morning.
With low pressure dominating the UK's weather, the forecast was not too encouraging, with storms, wet and windy conditions predicted. Fortunately conditions at Draycote Water turned out much better than expected, with a moderate but gusty breeze and mainly dry conditions. The trapeze boats were powered up most of the time, making it good going around the square courses on Saturday for the faster boats and hard work for the hikers.
Rob Richardson sailed his Musto Skiff to victory in the first race of the weekend, but the next three went to Sam Pascoe, with the RS800 of Morris and Fillmore in hot pursuit with a bunch of 2nd places.
The breeze was slightly higher for the Sunday as local Topper sailor Oscar Rowe took the lead for the first hour of the tortoise-and-hare competition. Bronwen Thomas, another local sailor, hiked her ILCA 4 singlehander into the lead, then to be overtaken by Series veteran Val Millward from Rutland in her Challenger trimaran. Eventually the trapeze boats started to come through, first the 420 of Imogen Wade and Hugo Valentine of Draycote, before they were overtaken by the eventual winners Holman and Hughes in their 470.
As the 470 took the lead, Pascoe was down in 17th and a good mile behind the leader, but still catchable. Pascoe was pushing hard but capsized with 13 minutes to the finish yet still managed to recover to 4th by the finish. He finished just a place behind the RS800 who crossed in 3rd, so Pascoe won overall by the smallest of margins.
Pascoe breathed a big sigh of relief after a big weekend out. “Proper brutal today with lots of death angle reaching,” he grinned. “The lake was completely full of white caps and we were doing 17 knots hanging on for dear life without the kite.” Pascoe finished runner-up at the GJW Direct Bloody Mary at the start of the year and is planning on coming back for more this winter. “They’re brilliant, well-run events and it’s great training for next year’s Musto Skiff Worlds in Weymouth.”
Behind the front three podium finishers it was Ed Presley’s Contender in 4th and Ben Flower hiked his ILCA 7 to 5th overall, first non-trapeze boat at the event just ahead of former Series winners Tom Gillard and Rachael Gray in their Scorpion. First junior was Draycote’s Freddie Sunderland who took his ILCA 6 to 8th overall.
The GPS tracking always brings up some interesting viewing during and after racing. The breeze was strong enough for even the Toppers to be hitting sustained speeds over 8 knots.
Next event on the schedule is the Datchet Flyer on 9 & 10 December, with 30 boats already entered including a Norfolk Punt crewed by Ed Clifford and Alex Standley.
You can find out more about the Series here: www.SailJuiceSeries.com
Photo Credits: Tim Olin
GALLERY
Previous winners of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series
2022/23Peter Gray & Geoff Edwards (Osprey)
2021/22Roger Gilbert & Ben McGrane (505)
2020/21Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge/ Natalie Johnson (2000)
2019/20Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge (2000)
2018/19Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge (2000)
2017/18Alistair Goodwin (Laser)
2016/17Matt Mee & Emma Norris (RS200)
2015/16Ian Dobson & Andy Tunnicliffe (GP14)
2014/15Nick Craig & various crews (Merlin Rocket)
2013/14Michael Sims (Solo)
2012/13Tom Gillard & Simon Potts (Fireball)
2011/12Peter Gray & Rachael Rhodes (Scorpion)
2010/11Andy Peake (Musto Skiff)
2009/10Olly Turner & Richard Whitworth (Merlin Rocket)
SailJuice.com is the ‘how to sail and race faster’ website, with hundreds of articles and exclusive interviews with National, World and Olympic Champions. Professional sailing journalist and editor of SailJuice.com, Andy Rice, came up with the concept of the SailJuice Winter Series (originally known as the SailJuice Global Warm-Up) as a way of increasing participation levels in dinghy racing during the off-season in the UK.
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About
The Selden SailJuice Winter Series is based around the UK's biggest winter handicap events. Sailors from many different dinghy fleets now consider this series as one of the main goals of their winter racing. With great prizes on offer, it attracts some of the best sailors in the country to compete against each other. The series is managed by SailRacer.
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