The high-performance clothing brand Zhik is the latest sponsor to come on board for the 16th edition of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series. With just over two weeks to go to the first of nine events this winter, entries continue to come in for the Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash on the weekend of 23 & 24 November. With entries from boats as diverse as the Albacore and the Vortex, the line-up is already almost the A-Z of dinghy classes in the UK and yet the winter season has barely even got going.
The Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series has long been a circuit that is aimed at grass roots small-boat racers in the UK, but which still attracts some of the best and most accomplished competitors to practise and hone the skills throughout the quieter off-season.
WINNING FORMULA
Last year for example, Sam Pascoe put together a concerted campaign to win the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series, which the Castle Cove sailor did indeed manage to do. Helped in part by a predominantly breezy set of events over the 2023/24 winter, Pascoe powered his Musto Skiff to victory and then went on to win the Musto Skiff World Championship at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in July. Pascoe says that competing in the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series was a critical part of his preparation for the Worlds, where his boat handling and race craft was in a different league.
Laurence Mead, who has recently taken over the UK distributorship and marketing of Zhik, is a big fan of grass roots sailing. He’s also excited about the new initiative to promote the use of older boats in the Series by applying different PY handicap numbers depending on the age and condition of the boat.
ZHIK AIMING AT GRASS ROOTS
A successful businessman who spent many years building brands in Hong Kong as well as racing keelboats like the Etchells at a high level, Mead returned to the UK a few years back and was racing director of Cowes Week for six years. His passion for helping to promote the sport at grass roots level is what has brought him to supporting these winter events.
“We are delighted to be supporting Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series. I spent a couple of very happy winters as a kid racing my Fireball (unbelievably number 3383) at Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club. To me, dinghy racing at local sailing clubs is the heart of the sport. Passionate sailors in wetsuits out there in winter battling around inland lakes, big and small. When my kids were small, we were racing at Redoubt Sailing club in Kent, a tiny gravel pit but loads of fun, and one January afternoon (on the third lap I think it was) it started snowing. At least two of us still remember it as a brilliant day,” says Mead with a wry laugh.
DINGHY MAD
Fortunately technical sailing clothing has improved in leaps and bounds over recent decades, and Australian brand Zhik has been at the forefront of those developments on the Olympic circuit as well as being used by the winning team in the Volvo Ocean Race in 2018. Mead is keen to use the brand’s high-profile successes to show weekend sailors just how much more enjoyable sailing can be in the cold months if you dress in the best kit available.
“Zhik is the dinghy sailors’ brand,” says Mead. “It’s where the company started and the team is now led by Mat Belcher, three-time Olympic 470 medallist and 10-time world champion. Mat knows a thing or two about dinghy sailing and is also passionate about supporting the grassroots of our fabulous sport. If you can race a dinghy well, you can race any boat well. I look forward to competing over a couple of weekends myself, so you may well see me in a Solo or a Fireball. And I’m also delighted that Zhik is lending its name to the final event of the season in February, the Zhik Oxford Blue.”
To find out more about the build-up to the Series and all the new initiatives coming in for this winter, tune into a Facebook Live show going out this Sunday at 7pm UK time.
THE EVENTS
The following events are in the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series 2024/25:
Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club
23 & 24 November 2024
Sailing Chandlery Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club
7 & 8 December 2024
Polar Chase, Chase Sailing Club
14 December 2024
Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey, Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
27 December 2024
Gill Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club
29 December 2024
GJW Direct Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club
11 January 2025
King George Gallop, King George Sailing Club
18 January 2025
John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club
1 & 2 February 2025
Zhik Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club
15 February 2025
Prizegiving at RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show, Farnborough
Photo Credits: Tim Olin
Previous winners of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series
2023/24 Sam Pascoe (Musto Skiff)
2022/23 Peter Gray & Geoff Edwards (Osprey)
2021/22 Roger Gilbert & Ben McGrane (505)
2020/21 Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge/ Natalie Johnson (2000)
2019/20 Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge (2000)
2018/19 Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge (2000)
2017/18 Alistair Goodwin (Laser)
2016/17 Matt Mee & Emma Norris (RS200)
2015/16 Ian Dobson & Andy Tunnicliffe (GP14)
2014/15 Nick Craig & various crews (Merlin Rocket)
2013/14 Michael Sims (Solo)
2012/13 Tom Gillard & Simon Potts (Fireball)
2011/12 Peter Gray & Rachael Rhodes (Scorpion)
2010/11 Andy Peake (Musto Skiff)
2009/10 Olly Turner & Richard Whitworth (Merlin Rocket)
SailJuice.com is the ‘how to sail and race faster’ website, with hundreds of articles and exclusive interviews with National, World and Olympic Champions. Professional sailing journalist and editor of SailJuice.com, Andy Rice, came up with the concept of the SailJuice Winter Series (originally known as the SailJuice Global Warm-Up) as a way of increasing participation levels in dinghy racing during the off-season in the UK.
SailRacer manages event websites and processes online entry for major National, International, Youth and training events, providing online scoring, analysis and advanced sports presentation including GPS tracking and live video.
Seldén Mast Ltd is the world leader in dinghy spars. More races are won by Seldén Spars than any other brand. Dinghy spars are made using Seldén unique XPS aluminium with CNC cut tapers, automated welding and heat treating resulting in the highest quality and most consistent dinghy spars available. Seldén also produces about 400 carbon masts per year for boats including high performance dinghies and race yachts using state of the art Mandrel Filament Moulding Technology.
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