Tom Gillard & Rach Gray raced their Merlin Rocket to victory at last weekend’s Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, the opening event of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series. The all-conquering duo repeated their victory from last season’s Dash when they took their Scorpion to the win, and to repeat the feat against a fleet of 93 assorted dinghies demonstrates the strength and versatility of the Gillard and Gray combo.
This was a weekend of two halves, with Saturday’s four back-to-back handicap races held in horrible drizzle throughout the afternoon. At least it started breezy although by the final race the wind was ebbing away. Sunday was an altogether more pleasant outing, with good breeze and bright blue skies for the pursuit race, although there would be a sting in the tail for some unfortunate competitors.
Three Winners on Saturday
Rob Richardson opened his day in the perfect way, the two-time World Championship runner-up taking his Musto Skiff to victory in the first race. Gillard and Gray took the next two wins in their Merlin but in the lighter breeze of the last race it was the turn of Matthew Wolstenholme and Lloyd Roberts to win in their Snipe.
The Sunday pursuit race was a bright and breezy affair as the slower boats set off first, ready to be chased by the faster trapeze boats in the later starts. With the breeze sometimes gusting to 20 knots there were a few swims along the way, but local Topper star Tom Moriarty managed to keep the lead for the first hour before another local, Alex Stainton, took his ILCA 4 to the fore.
Two Shades of Gray
Peter Gray hiked his Streaker into the lead with 50 minutes to go, and now it was his wife Rach along with helm Tom Gillard who looked closest to stealing the Streaker’s thunder. The Merlin got to within 200 metres of the Streaker but Peter Gray held on for the win and didn’t quite let his wife have it all her own way. Even so, a second place was more than enough for Gillard and Gray to seal the deal and take overall victory in the event.
Katie Byne, crewed by Richard Bailey, steered her Fireball to ninth overall and was top female helm. The only boat to score twice in the top 10 was the RS600, with Jamie Mawson taking fifth overall and Will Russell in 10th.
Rob Richardson suffered a wipe-out on a beam reach in his Musto Skiff and failed to finish the non-discardable pursuit race. A decent finish would have seen him well up there. The same is true of the RS800 champions Morris and Fillmore who were one of a number of boats that came a cropper when they ran aground on a shallow spot. Travelling at speed, Fillmore was hurled round the front and landed in the jib, busting a few jib hanks and forcing their retirement with some repair work to be done on the daggerboard case.
Results from the Draycote Dash can be found here.
Navigators & General Debrief with Simon Horsfield
On Tuesday evening, resident coach of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series, Simon Horsfield, ran an online debrief of the event. Supported this season by new sponsor, insurance company Navigators & General, Simon aims to provide practical tips and coaching input to competitors.
Watch the video debrief here:
Here are some of the things Simon discusses in the debrief:
Enter the Datchet Flyer
Meanwhile it’s not long until event No.2 in the series, the Datchet Flyer near Heathrow Airport. It takes place over the weekend of 6 & 7 December. Get your entries in ASAP…
The Events
The following events are in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series 2025/26:
Prizegiving at RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show, Farnborough – 21 February 2026
You can find out more about the Series at www.SailJuiceSeries.com
Navigators & General SailJuice Winter Series, UK's premier winter handicap racing.
