Musto Skiffs at the GJW Direct SailJuice Series

Schooling versus Gillard at the Datchet Flyer © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

I was asked me to write a few words about my experience of the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series now in its seventh season. As the website describes; Last year's GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series saw over 1,000 competitors taking part in 91 different racing classes. The Series has a massive online following each winter, with a big growth in mobile access. Last year attracted more than 34,000 unique users who totalled more than 90,000 visits to the Series website, www.SailJuiceSeries.com

This year again saw a huge number of competitors across the seven events which is impressive considering the relentless onslaught of low pressures being channelled at the UK from the Atlantic this winter.

The first event of the series was the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash which unfortunately I wasn't able to make but new Musto convert Tom Gillard put up a strong performance to win in his 505. Event 2 was the Datchet Flyer that also doubled as the Skiff Inlands after they were cancelled again due to storm force winds. This was a game of 2 halves with a single big breeze race on the Saturday that Richard Stenhouse comfortably won, then 2 very light heats on the Sunday. I had a great battle with Richard and was pleased to take a narrow win and with it retain the Inland champs. Congratulations to Mark Cooper on a rock steady performance to finish 3rd.

Round 3 was the Brass Monkey up at Grimwith Reservoir in the Yorkshire Dales which is just too far to travel a few days after Christmas. Only one race was completed in the fickle breeze won by an RS200.

Next event was Grafham Grand Prix with 8 skiffs competing. Despite a feisty forecast the conditions were near on perfect, especially for Big Dave who disappeared over the horizon to notch up 3 bullets in the Mustos and the fast handicap win. I was a rather frustrated second as couldn't get anywhere close to Dave (I've just got to accept I'm not 6'4 and 90kgs!) and my Winter series buddy and chauffeur Paul Molesworth was 3rd.

Round 5 was the Oxford Blue on the 2nd Jan and once again the forecast did not deter a record entry of 146 boats, 5 of which were Mustos. Race 1 the breeze was a bit too strong/gusty so we couldn't really carry the kite on either reach - the Fireball of Ian Dobson and Rick Peacock could carry and finished only 2 minutes behind so I knew they had smashed it. By race 2 the wind had eased a little so I could hold the kite most of the bottom reach and on the last lap carried it right to the finish so that certainly gained me a few places.

By race 3 the wind had eased further and shifted left so we could hold the kite easily along the final reach. I started on port and had a nice shift up the beat to just get round the windward mark ahead of the main fleet and on the heels of the RS800. There was just enough wind for me to stay on the plane all the way round and with the slower boats falling into displacement mode I knew it was looking good.

I felt I had a pretty good day, probably top 10 so it was a pleasant surprise to learn I'd won. I was using the RS800, Fireball and Scorpions as benchmark's as they're all good sailors so I had a fair idea how I was tracking against them - it's impossible to tell how we're ranking against the medium and slow handicap boats but if we're planing then generally we can hold our own on handicap.

The decision to hold the kite on the reaches of a trapezoid course is always tricky. On the top reach I'd tend not to unless I can climb high (at Oxford the bank was in the way!) and be confident I won't have to drop it again before the turning mark. As the race course gets busier on laps 2 & 3 on catching up the slow fleet it's too risky to fly the kite as there is such a small margin for error in the Skiff. I tend to go high or low of the rhumb line and not pass any boats too closely to avoid getting into any situations. On the bottom reach the kite is already up so the trick is just to carry it as long as possible. It's worth staying outside all of the slower boats at mark 3 as they all tend to sail high searching for clear air. When the time comes to drop it's best to try and find a lull to give yourself the best chance of staying in control, don't wait until the gust hits and you're on the edge!

Round 6 was the Bloody Mary and a traditionally the biggest attended event of the series. This year was no exception with 275 entries. The conditions of the race turned out to be biased towards the quicker boats with the breeze building throughout the 150 minute race. I had a pretty steady first two laps keeping out of trouble with the large volume of traffic and with only 20 minutes to go and realising I could see the leaders within reach I started to push on. The lead I14 came through with about 14 minutes left so victory was no longer possible but a podium result was on the cards if I could hold off the RS800's. With about 8 minutes left coming into one of the Leeward marks I had a nasty crash with a back marker which ripped both my sails and turned the boat turtle costing a good 2 minutes. I was pleased to recover and hold onto a 6th place overall. I had my Garmin GPS on an my average heart rate was 153 and maxed at 182 with over 1200 calories burnt during the 1hr 40 min race.

After the weighted scores were re-aligned I had a narrow lead in the series albeit a somewhat false one with Ian Dobson and Tom Gillard only needing to start a race to look favourable for the title.

The final event was the John Merricks Memorial Tiger Trophy at Rutland. Once again on cue, storm Henry rolled in on the Friday night with WindGuru turning purple for the following day!

Its tradition that the Tiger is never cancelled so Team Molesworth and I went ahead our early morning Datchet rendezvous. Only 4 Mustos braved it and 3 launched into ferocious 30kt squalls for the sleigh ride down to the start line. With the committee boat unable to hold anchor the racing was canned for the day in favour of the 6 Nations Rugby in the sanctuary of the club house. The worst of Henry blew through overnight and Sunday dawned sunny and with more west in the wind looked marginally more inviting on the race course, I even put the kite up the run down to the start but regretted it soon after capsizing on the drop!

Stenhouse showed his intentions in race 1 to lead round the windward mark ahead of the chasing pack of Fireballs and 505s. Paul and I rounded further back in the fleet and I took my first swim of the race as the kicker pinged off on the top reach causing the boat to violently roll into windward. Sten extended his lead until the 2nd lap where a nasty capsize allowed Paul to slip through. Paul held on for a lap but then got carried away and hoisted on the final lap with unsurprising results gifting the lead and win to Sten. I meanwhile had a rapid pitch pole on the top reach which ejected my rudder blade clean out of the stock landing a good 10ft away!

Race 2 the wind had eased slightly but the gusts were still as ferocious. Sten put in a more solid performance and finished further up the fleet It was clear it wasn't a day for skiffs with Fireballs ahead on the water so Paul and I headed in with only Sten staying out for the 3rd race. He was rewarded for his efforts with a 32kt rain squall that had most of the remaining fleet swimming! Congrats to the young 420 team who followed in John Merricks' footsteps to take the overall win from the Fireball of Dave Hall. The GP14 of Ian Dobson and 505 of Tom Gillard both finished in the top 10 so came through to take first and second respectively in the series but I was happy to round out the top three behind these two world champions.

The series was great fun and I'd highly recommend entering at least one event next year. 4 of the 7 are just one day events so if nothing else you get very quick at packing up the boat after a cold day on the water! All of the events are for a good cause with a percentage of the entry fee going to charity and the team do a great job of real time updates and blogs to create a decent amount of hype for the sponsors.

I look forward to seeing some of you on the circuit later in the season when it warms up a bit!