Originator and co-organiser of the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series, Andy Rice of Sailjuice.com, explained the plans: “Of the seven events in the existing Series, three venues are capable of taking entries from catamarans, so this season we are running a special multihull championship, with competitors counting their best two scores from the three events.”
The three events that will make up the Winter Cat Series are:
Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club
Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 December 2016
Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club
Monday 2 January 2017
John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club
Sunday 5 February 2017*
* visiting catamarans are eligible for the Pursuit Race on Sunday 5 February
Chairman of the UK Cat Racing Association (UKCRA) Will Sunnucks commented: “It’s great to have a focal point for multihull racing over the winter, and it will be a great opportunity for the cat community to showcase some of the exciting boats and developments in the multihull world right now.”
Special prizes will be awarded for the Winter Cat Series, and cat competitors’ scores will also be counted in the overall GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series.
Entry to the Winter Cat Series opens on Tuesday 25 October, where you can sign up for events at www.SailJuiceSeries.com
At the official launch of the eighth season of the overall Series, GJW Direct’s Business Development Manager Glen Wallis said he was delighted that the company had now been the title sponsor of the Series for five years. “The GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series has become such an integral part of the dinghy racing calendar in the UK, and it’s great to see an extra push to get the cat racing community involved this winter.”
Last year’s GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series saw over 1,000 competitors taking part in 82 different racing classes. The Series has a massive online following each winter, with a big growth in mobile access. Last year attracted more than 36,000 unique users who totalled more than 107,000 visits to the Series website,www.SailJuiceSeries.com
Last year a number of classes scheduled the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series as a key part of their calendars, with SailRacer producing class specific extracted results. Any class interested in their own Winter Series as part of the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series, please contact Simon.Lovesey@SailRacer.co.uk, with class prizes for any achieving 15+ entries.
For boats that are eligible for the whole Series, the same seven events are back from last year. Once again, you must count your best four results from these seven events. Of course, you’re welcome to enter and compete in as many events as you like – all seven if you’re big enough to take on the challenge. This will give you more shots at getting a set of four good scores to put on the board. Christmas time was looking a bit congested in past years, and so the Oxford Blue has been moved back to February and is the final event in this year’s Series.
THE EVENTS
The following regattas constitute the GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series 2016/2017:
Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club
Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 November 2016
Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club
Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 December 2016
Brass Monkey, Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
Tuesday 27 December 2016
Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club
Monday 2 January 2017
Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club
Saturday 7 January 2017
John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club
Saturday 4 & Sunday 5 February 2017
Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club
Saturday 18 February 2017
Photo credit (of cats racing at Grafham Grand Prix): Tim Olin
Navigators & General SailJuice Winter Series, UK's premier winter handicap racing.
