Formula 18 wins the Grafham Grand Prix
by Andy Rice 11 Feb 06:35 GMT
8 February 2026
Grafham Water's own Adam Piggott and Reece Webb sailed their Formula 18 to overall victory in the Grafham Grand Prix last Sunday. Pushed back from its original date to Sunday 8 February, the reduced entry of 94 boats quickly filled up for the 43rd edition of Grafham Water's winter handicap event, with a mixed fleet of dinghies, catamarans and small keelboats.
The Grafham Grand Prix is the only event in the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series to run separate race courses, although the usual three courses were condensed to 'Fast' and 'Medium & Slow' race tracks for the smaller overall entry. When the results and the timings of the two courses were merged together for the purposes of scoring in the Series, Piggott and Webb came out ahead, with scores of 2,2,1 giving them clear overall victory.
Finishing in second overall were the ever-improving son-and-father duo of Benjamin and Sam Pascoe in their 2000 hiking dinghy. They came out ahead on a three-way tie for 5 points overall, relegating the almost-invincible Merlin Rocket of Arran Holman and Rach Gray to third and reigning Musto Skiff National Champion Eddie Bridle to fourth overall.
The top 16 places were occupied by 16 different classes, with no particular boat type showing any dominance. The breeze of around 9 knots, later dropping to 7 knots, proved to be quite a leveller.
Here's John Aston's report from the host club, Grafham Water Sailing Club.
Race Report from Grafham Water SC
The 43rd Grafham Grand Prix was sailed on Sunday 8th February 2026. The event was originally due to be held at its traditional time of shortly after Christmas but was postponed because of the severely cold weather. The Grand Prix is a part of the Selden Sailjuice Winter Series.
Overall entry was capped at 94, to enable sailing to be managed sailing over two race tracks.. The entry included 39 boats from the home club. As usual racing was split between three fleets: Fast (27 boats), Medium (31), and Slow (36).
Competitors arriving from 0800 onwards for an 1100 start. The heavy rain of the last few days abated. Wind was a gentle 8 knots from the South, with a few lulls during the day and the air temperature was a hospitable 10 deg C. So overall a good light wind winter sailing day.
Fast Fleet
The Fast Fleet sailed an upwind downwind course at the West end of the Lake, taking full advantage of the wide expanse of open water with beats of up to 1km. The fleet contained a wide range of multi-hulls and asymmetric monohulls, including a couple of F18s, a Nacra F20 Carbon, a K6 and a Norfolk Punt. Winners of the first race were Adam Piggott and Reece Webb in their Formula 18, followed by the Musto Skiff of Eddie Bridle.
Adam and Reece made it a perfect day with further wins in Race 2 and Race 3, with Grant Blake and Andrew Jarvis second in the K6 in Race 2, and Eddie Bridle second again in Race 3. Adam and Reece, from Grafham Water Sailing Club, were overall winners and winners of the trophy for first multihull, with Eddie (Brightlingsea) second overall and Grant and Andrew (Oxford SC) third.
Medium Fleet
The Medium and Slow Fleet sailed a trapezoid track in the middle of the Lake offering magnificent views to spectators watching from the top floor of the Clubhouse. Notwithstanding the large numbers on the race track, discipline from the fleets was good with no general recalls and only 2 BFD all day.
The Medium fleet contained a wide range of single and double handers with a sizeable number of "traditional" classes including 2 Ospreys, 6 Flying Fifteens and 3 Merlin Rockets. Aaran Holman and Rachael Gray (Hollowell) won all three races in their Merlin Rocket, but different boats took second place in each race: Jamie Mawson (Notts County) in an RS600 in Race 1, Peter Gray and Richard Peperdine (Staunton Harold) in Race 2 and Malcon Hutchings (Royal Corinthian) in a Blaze in Race 3. Aaran and Rachael were clear overall winners, with Malcolm Hutchings second and Jamie Mawson third.
Slow Fleet
The Slow Fleet was dominated in numbers by ILCAs of various rigs but there were also a couple of Snipes and a solitary Topper, as well as a comprehensive mix of other classes. First place turned into a battle between two father & son combinations: Ben Pascoe, crewed by his father Sam in a 2000, and Jasper Barnham, crewed by son Fergus in a GP14. Ben and Sam took Race 1, with Matt Wolstenholme and Lloyd Robert second in their Snipe. Jasper and Fergus won both Races 2 and 3, with Ben and Sam 2nd in both. So Jasper and Fergus, from Snettisham Beach, were the overall winners; Ben and Sam (Castle Cove) second, and Matt and Lloyd (Bough Beech) third.
Big thanks to the Race Officers, Ian Kelly (Fast) and Nigel Denchfield (Medium and Slow), for laying on excellent racing, and to the many others helping, both volunteers and staff (nearly 40 in total).
Combined results
Top speeds
1st — William Smith (F18) 12.33 kts
2nd — Adam Piggott (F18) 11.20 kts
3rd — Mark Rushton (A Class Foiling) 9.93 kts
Top speeds, corrected to handicap
1st - Will RUSSELL — (RS600) 8.58 kts
2nd - Tim SWINBURN — (Prindle) 15 8.49 kts
3rd - Jamie MAWSON — (RS600) 8.37 kts
Just one more event to go in the Series... the Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club, 14 February 2026
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.
Join Simon for his coaching debrief here and look forward to the final event, Oxford Blue, this Saturday.
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 at www.SailJuiceSeries.com