SailJuice Global Warm-Up kicks off with Grafham Grand Prix

SailJuice Global Warm-Up kicks off with Grafham Grand Prix

By Andy Rice on 23 Dec 20112011 Bloody Mary action © Ian Roman / www.IanRoman.com

The weather’s cold but the competition is hot...

The third edition of the SailJuice Global Warm-up kicks off in just over a week’s time at the Grafham Grand Prix. This winter championship brings together five of the biggest winter handicap racing events into a unified series, to find out just who is tough enough to race their way through a British winter. Over the past two years this Series has seen some of the biggest names in dinghy racing compete in a range of classes.

Five major handicap events constitute this winter's series. They are:

Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club (Monday 2nd January 2012)
Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club (Saturday 7th January 2012)
Steve Nicholson Trophy, Northampton Sailing Club (Saturday 28 January 2012)
John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club (Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th February 2012)
Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club (Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February 2012)

Enter the Series here.

For the first time, each of the events will be using a set of PY handicap numbers based on the analysis provided by the Great Lakes Group. This group of experts has analysed the results of past grand prix events and produced a set of numbers that should yield a much more even spread of success across a greater number of classes. The success of this approach has already been proven at recent editions of the Bloody Mary.

SailJuice.com has once again teamed up with SailRacer.co.uk to provide an online entry system. This enables competitors to enter four of the five events in advance. To enter the Series, all you need to do is sign up for at least one of the events online. This costs exactly the same as entering on the day, but saves you the hassle, and means you qualify for the Series and give yourself a shot at the prizes.

With each event run on a different format, SailRacer has also devised a scoring system to balance up the relative value of each event, whether you're competing in one massed fleet such as at the Draycote Dash, Bloody Mary and Tiger Trophy, or in smaller divisions such as at the Grafham Grand Prix and Steve Nicholson Trophy. This scoring formula was used successfully in last year’s series, won by Andy Peake in a Musto Skiff.

There are some big incentives on offer, to be distributed to the winner, the runners-up and other competitors randomly drawn from further down the fleet. Prizes are being provided by; Laser Performance, Rooster Sailing, Holt, Hyde Sails, Ovington Boats, RS Sailing, Yachts & Yachting, SailJuice.com.

Further details of the prize list will be announced shortly. Prizes will be awarded at the RYA Volvo Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace on the weekend of 3/4 March 2012.