The 2020 Bloody Mary will go down as yet another very windy event. This did not deter the 6 D-Zero sailors who had signed up for the event. D-Zero poster boy Tom Southwell came out of hibernation again and was joined by perennial traveller Nigel Austin, local sailor Seb Prowse, class newcomer Gareth Griffiths, from the rapidly growing fleet at Shoreham, along with Emily Britton and Joe Constable.

Conditions on the day went from windy to nuclear (weapons grade could also be used). However Nigel didn’t seem to think so, here he is pointing out a small section that didnt have any white horses on it….

Out on the water Tom used his poster boy and sailing skills to lead the D-Zeros home placing 115th overall. Nigel led home Gareth Griffiths (who I am told magically transformed into Nick Craig mid-race) with the rest of the D-Zeros either retiring or taking the sensible option and staying ashore to watch the fun.

So in the winter series Andrew stays top of the pile despite not travelling to Queen Mary. Nigel closes the gap and Tom demotes Arran down to 4th. There are still plenty of races to go and with just 4 events required to not carry any DNCs there is still time to snatch the crown from Andrew. Will Tom defend his crown and save himself the chore of removing the W from his sail? Can Nigel find some form and get ahead of Andrew? Who knows…

The next round is the Steve Nicholson Trophy and currently only 1 D-Zero is entered.. Hopefully a few more will travel, you can enter online by clicking here.