Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series - Hadron moves to the top

Five events completed in this season's Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series, and Gavin Fleming has taken the top spot in the overall standings with his Hadron H2 singlehander.

The Grafham Water/Hunts SC competitor sits ahead of the Enterprise sailed by regular participants in the Series, Paul Young and Igor Bakowski from Midland Sailing Club. In third place, Alistair Hodgson and Ella Spain's RS200 from Draycote Water Sailing Club.

The top 12 boats in the overall standings all represent different classes, with the hiking boats dominating the top places. Highest placed of the trapeze classes is the Osprey sailed by Roger and Jamie Blake from Great Moor Sailing Club.

GJW Direct 50th Bloody Mary - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Sitting in fifth is the Merlin Rocket that won the first three events of the Series, but with Tom Gillard and Rach Gray being away from competition for the Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey and the GJW Direct Bloody Mary, they drop to fifth overall. However, in the best of four scoring to determine the outright winner in a few weeks' time, Gillard and Gray would only need one more good result to put them right back in contention for repeating their season victory from the previous winter. They have three more opportunities to do that in the coming month, with Rutland, Grafham and Oxford Sailing Clubs all hosting events in quick succession.

Coming up...

Next event in the series is the Tiger Trophy at Rutland Water, fast approaching this weekend of 31 January and 1 February. The weekend after, it's the Grafham Grand Prix which was postponed from its original date a few weeks ago. Enter here...

Enter here

Navigators and General Coaching debrief

Resident coach of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series, Simon Horsfield, is providing tips and advice throughout the eight events of the season. Supported by new sponsor, insurance company Navigators & General, Simon is a three-time winner of the series and well qualified to help sailors of all levels. Here's Simon's debrief from the Bloody Mary...

Overall Standings in the Series

Category Standings

Old-Boats
1st: ILCA 6 / Laser Radial, John CANT, Erith Yacht Club (18)
2nd: Enterprise, Paul YOUNG & Igor BAKOWSKI, Midland Sailing Club (19)
3rd: Scorpion, Steven MCCARTHY & Delyth HOPKINS, The Chase Sailing Club (69)

Junior
1st: ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7, Toby TURNER, Draycote Water Sailing Club (27)
2nd: ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7, Faith TURNER, Draycote Water Sailing Club (38)
3rd: 2000, Benjamin PASCOE & Sam PASCOE, Castle cove (81)

Youth
1st: ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7, Toby TURNER, Draycote Water Sailing Club (39)
2nd: ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7, Faith TURNER, Draycote Water Sailing Club (51)
3rd: ILCA 6 / Laser Radial, Will SADLER, Reading Sailing Club (104)

19-30
1st: Snipe, Matthew WOLSTENHOLME & Lloyd ROBERTS, Bough Beech SC (52)
2nd: ILCA 6 / Laser Radial, Hugh LEACH, Reading Sailing Club (85)
3rd: 2000, Jack BARRETT & Edward SKEITH, RNSA (89)

31-60
1st: Merlin Rocket, Thomas GILLARD & Rach GRAY, Sheffield Vikings SC/ Staunton Harold SC (10)
2nd: Streaker, Peter GRAY, Staunton Harold (55)
3rd: RS200, Alistair HODGSON & Ella SPAIN, Draycote Water Sailing Club (73)

Masters
1st: Hadron H2, Gavin FLEMING, Grafham Water Sailing Club (30)
2nd: Enterprise, Paul YOUNG & Igor BAKOWSKI, Midland Sailing Club (46)
3rd: Osprey, Roger BLAKE & Jamie BLAKE, Great Moor Sailing Club (69)

Female
1st: ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7, Faith TURNER, Draycote Water Sailing Club (25)
2nd: Fireball, Katie BYNE & Richard BAILEY, Draycote Water Sailing Club (80)
3rd: Supernova, Serena STEWARDSON, Emberton Park (86)

FastS
1st: Merlin Rocket, Thomas GILLARD & Rach GRAY, Sheffield Vikings SC/ Staunton Harold SC (9)
2nd: Osprey, Roger BLAKE & Jamie BLAKE, Great Moor Sailing Club (55)
3rd: Contender, Nathan MCGRORY, Poole YC (87)

FastA
1st: Vortex, Jonathan CARTER, rickmansworth sailing club (58)
2nd: Musto Skiff, Richard SMITH, Medway Yacht Club (67)
3rd: RS500, Nigel DAVIS & Aaron DAVIS, Draycote Water SC (103)

SlowA
1st: RS200, Alistair HODGSON & Ella SPAIN, Draycote Water Sailing Club (25)
2nd: 2000, Jack BARRETT & Edward SKEITH, RNSA (37)
3rd: RS Vareo, Luke FISHER, Emberton Park (61)

SlowS
1st: Streaker, Peter GRAY, Staunton Harold (59)
2nd: Hadron H2, Gavin FLEMING, Grafham Water Sailing Club (96)
3rd: ILCA 4 / Laser 4.7, Toby TURNER, Draycote Water Sailing Club (98)

Next event in the series is the Tiger Trophy at Rutland Water, fast approaching this weekend of 31 January and 1 February. The weekend after, it's the Grafham Grand Prix which was postponed from its original date a few weeks ago. Enter here .

The Events

The following events are in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series 2025/26:

• Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club - 22 & 23 November 2025
• Sailing Chandlery Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club - 6 & 7 December 2025
• Robline UK Polar Chase, Chase Sailing Club - 13 December 2025
• Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey, Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club - 27 December 2025
• GJW Direct Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club - 10 January 2026
• John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club - 31 January 2026 & 1 February 2026
• Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club - 8 February 2026 (rescheduled from original date)
• Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club - 14 February 2026
• Prizegiving at RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show , Farnborough - 21 February 2026

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

27/1/2026 10:42