With strong south-westerlies forecast for this Sunday’s Grafham Grand Prix, the weekend’s racing looks set to provide a spectacular finale to the GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series.
The Grafham Grand Prix was rescheduled from its late December date due to a lack of water at the time, but the water levels are up and the change of timing has not deterred entrants from travelling to the big reservoir near Huntingdon. This season’s GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series (also supported by Gul, Trident, Overboard and Lennon Sails) has attracted some of the newer classes on the dinghy scene, such as the RS Aero and the Devoti D-Zero in particular, the latter drawing 15 pre-entries to Grafham.
Recent events in the Series have seen the Fireballs enjoy a good run of form in the strong breeze of early 2015, so it will be interesting to see if other contenders can break the Fireball dominance at Grafham. Series leader Nick Craig is racing his Merlin Rocket with Oli Wells and, after some excellent performances earlier in the winter, cannot be caught for the overall title. However, the points remain close in the battle for the other top overall placings. Tom Gillard and Richard Anderton’s 505 could be knocked out of 2nd by last year’s Series winner, Michael Sims’ Solo, or perennial performer in the Winter Series, Craig Williamson in his Laser. In the multihull fleet, three A-Class cats have entered, and there are also three VX-One sportsboats set for a good inter-class contest.
Already there are close to 100 online advance entries to the Grand Prix, with online entry open until 8pm this Friday, although it is possible to enter at Grafham on the day, for an additional £5 on top of the advance entry fee of £19. You can enter by going to: www.SailJuiceSeries.com
Keep an eye on the Grafham Water website for up to date information on the Grand Prix, at: www.grafham.org
For results in the GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series after seven events: http://events.sailracer.org/eventsites/content.asp?id=39820&eventid=195890
PRIZES FOR COMPETITORS, CLASSES & SPECTATORS
Thanks to generous support from Series sponsors, we have some great prizes up for grabs.
In addition to title sponsor GJW Direct Insurance (www.gjwdirect.co.uk/dinghy), the UK’s largest direct boat insurer, our silver-level sponsors are:
Gul – Experts in Performance Apparel www.gul.com
Lennon Sails – “If you want to win…” www.lennonsails.com
Overboard – The Leaders in Waterproof Bags & Cases www.over-board.co.uk
Trident – The Dinghy & Yacht Shop on the Web www.tridentuk.com
Navigators & General SailJuice Winter Series, UK's premier winter handicap racing.
