Tag: GJW Sailjuice Page 1 of 6

Oxford Blue 2018 and D-Zero Winter Series final standings

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On February 21, 2018

In Events, News, Open Meetings

Nigel ‘the Traveller’ Austin Photo Copyright Tim Olin

The 17th February saw the hardy winter sailors from all classes gather at Oxford SC for the Oxford Blue. This included 3 hardy D-Zero sailors to decide who would be crowned as the D-Zero Winter Series champion for 2017/2018 and earn the right to carry the coveted ‘W’ on their sail. Netley SC club mates Ian Morgan and Tom Southwell were the only 2 in contention for the title with Nigel ‘I have been to all the events’ Austin having secured 3rd place already.

Ian Morgan take the D-Zero Winter Series title. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

The forecast leading up the the weekend looked favourable at the start of the week but as that week wore on the wind seemed to drop off more and more. On the day the winds were light which favoured the slower hiking boats but led to a lot of traffic. This may explain why Ian posted an 84 in race 1 and Tom managed a 71. If Tom could keep this up then he could steal the title from under Ians nose.

In race 2 normal service was resumed by Ian leaving Tom some distance behind to post a 15 to Toms 34. Ian duly sealed the deal posting a 39 in the final race to Toms 58. Nigel Austin (the D-Zero serial traveller) posted a 77, 61, 64 and will now surely rename is boat the Morgan beater having beaten Ian in race 1…

D-Zero posterboy Tom Southwell  has to settle for 2nd. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

So in the overall standings this mean Ian secured the D-Zero Winter Series title for 2017/2018 (and can leave the ‘W’ on his sail) but was pushed all the way by Tom this year with Nigel completing the podium. For full D-Zero Winter Series standings click here.

In the GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series this left Ian in a respectable 6th overall (full series standings can be found here) . With the D-Zero class finishing 4th in the Dinghy Rope Top Class competition and could easily have topped the rankings with a few more entries.

From here the D-Zero class moves on to the Suzuki RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra palace on the 3rd/4th March. Come and see us and the new D-Zero dealer dzero on stand G6.

Tiger Trophy 2018 – D-Zero Winter Series Update

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On February 12, 2018

In Events, News, Open Meetings

On the 3rd/4th Febraury 2018 2 hardy D-Zero sailors gathered at Rutland Water to compete in the Tiger Trophy. this event was round 6 of the D-Zero Winter Series 2017/2018. With series leader Ian Morgan unable to attend Tom Southwell could take advantage to close the gap if he could beat Nigel Austin in his (now infamous) Southwell Beater. Despite the forecast looking good for most of the week Saturday dawned with very little wind. So little that the RO kept the fleet ashore until deciding to abandon for the day at 2pm. Before the fleet departed a consultation was held as to the format of racing for the Sunday. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of running the 3 fleet races instead of the scheduled pursuit race.

Sunday dawned with a gusty and chilly northerly wind. With the wind strength high enough for the fast boats so really use their extra power it was always going to be a difficult day for the single sail boats. This proved to be the case with Tom posting 46, 59 before calling it a day and Nigel sticking out out for all 3 races to post 88, 80, 60. overall this left Tom in 66th overall and Nigel 82nd.

Overall this means the D-Zero slip down the order in the GJW SailJuice Winter series with Tom Dropping to 8th, Nigel to 15th and Ian down to 24th.

In the D-Zero Winter Series Rankings this means it is between Tom and Ian for the title. Tom has a tall order though as it means he will need to beat Ian in order to secure the title. Full series standings can be found by clicking here.

King George Gallop 2018 – Winter Series Update

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On January 9, 2018

In Events, media, News, Open Meetings

Video highlights courtesy of Ian Morgan

On the 6th January 2018 the D-Zero Winter Series resumed at a new event on the calendar the King George Gallop. This event was a replacement for the much loved Bloody Mary which had to be cancelled due to very low water levels at Queen Mary sailing club.

Photo Copyright Tim Olin

4 D-Zeros gathered on the start the. The usual suspects of Ian Morgan, Tom Southwell and Nigel Austin were joined by Queen Mary refugee Seb Prowse to do battle for class honours. The event was in the same format as the Bloody Mary in that it was a pursuit race so the start line was far from crowded but working hard for the entire races was definitely on the cards.

Photo Copyright Tim Olin

After Ian and Tom nearly tripped over each other at the start they showed Seb and Nigel a clean pair of transoms. Ian managed to pull through to 20th at the finish put some distance between himself and Tom (32nd) at the finish. Seb (50th) got the better of Nigel (56th) in the class honours.

Photo Copyright Tim Olin

So this means little has changed in the overall D-Zero Winter Series standings. Tom maintains a slim lead over Ian with Nigel just a couple of points back in 3rd. Seb moves to 4th having now done 2 events and could still do enough events to not count any DNC results if he goes to the Tiger Trophy and the Oxford Blue now that the Steve Nicholson Trophy is off the calendar due to low water levels at Pitsford reservoir.

You can find the full D-Zero Winter Series standings if you click here. With full results for the King George Gallop full if you click here.

In the GJW Direct/SailJuice Winter Series standings the D-Zero is currently sitting pretty with 3 boats in the top 10 (Nigel in 5th, Tom in 6th and Ian in 8th). You can view more about the GJW Direct/Sailjuice Winter Series bu clicking here.

Grafham Grand Prix 2017 – Report

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On January 3, 2018

In Events, News, Open Meetings

Tom Southwell at the Grafham Grand prix 2017. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

Just a few days after the freezing conditions of the Brass Monkey the D-Zero fleet gathered again at Grafham Water for  round 4 of their Winter Series, the Grafham Grand Prix. With storm Dylan making his ire felt over much of the country this promised to be another windy event with some 50% of the overall event entries electing to stay ashore.

For this event Nigel Austin did have some competition in the form of south coasters Ian Morgan and Tom Southwell, Gordon Stewart and Grafham locals Stuart Brown and Neil Washington. Again Nigel takes up the story:

Well Grafham always delivers something interesting and Storm Dylan spooked a fair number of those who had entered. The first beat saw all but 4 survive, with only 3 finishing – Tom Southwell, myself and Gordon Stewart in that order.
Gusts up to 35 knots were recorded but it was the consistency of 22-25knots that added to the attrition. The same result for Races 2 & 3 but Gordon Stewart was unlucky not to get better results but his daredevil gybes and Mark grazing took its toll.
It was endurance and survival racing – over half those registered to sail decided against, but for those who did because these boats are so exciting and accelerate so quickly, and give such an adrenaline rush, it is difficult to give up, even though on handicap the likes of the Fireballs trampled us.
Totally whacked out but looking forward to the King George Gallop!!!

Full results for the Grafham Grand Prix can be found by clicking here.

The D-Zero results were as follows:

18th – Tom Southwell
20th – Nigel Austin
23rd – Gordon Stewart
25th – Stuart Brown

None of the other D-Zero sailors took to the water although I am told Ian and Neil went out and decided they didn’t much fancy the conditions.

So overall in the D-Zero winter series Tom Southwell takes over the lead of the series from Nigel with Ian dropping to 3rd overall. In the GJW Winter Series Nigel currently sits in second overall with Tom Southwell in 8th. Full D-Zero Winter series standings can be found by clicking here and full GJW Winter Series standings can be found by clicking here.

The next round of the D-Zero Winter Series is the King George Gallop on the 6th January. There are currently 4 D-Zeros entered and there is still time to enter the event.

Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey 2017 – Report

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On January 2, 2018

In Events, News, Open Meetings

Definitely ‘Brass Monkeys’ at the Brass Monkey for Nigel Austin. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

With a forecast of freezing temperatures, high winds and snow, most sailors could easily be forgiven for staying at home and not travelling for several hours to take part in the Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey.

Not so for intrepid Nigel Austin and Mick Green both of whom travelled. Nigel takes up the story as follows:

I was going to write a tome on the epic 2 boat battle of DZeros at the Brass Monkey but unfortunately I was the only one there for the 2nd year running after running the gauntlet of Northamptonshire’s “Blizzard”, not sure where the other one got to?.
Anyway I achieved two things today, wore every thing in my sail bag, thermal vest, steamer, dry suit and rooster fleece top, 2 sets of hot soxs and 2 sets of thermal gloves and 2 balaclavas. Upshot, toaster warm, but couldn’t move, especially in the first race as I also had a Christmas present of power hikers in which slipped and I sailed the whole race like spotty dog, and it was painful!
Result in the overall fleet? No idea
Result in DZero fleet- 1st and last!
All the sheets froze in the 2nd race and so did the floor, nice

Photo Copyright Tim Olin

After a short investigation, and through the power of Facebook, it turned out that Mick did indeed make the journey and got his boat rigged. He then surveyed the rest of the boats trying to rig, and the efforts of some nearby RS400 sailors to simply step the mast, and decided he didn’t fancy it. Typically the wind did drop but only after he had packed away.

For the record Nigels efforts netted him a 48th and a 55th in the 2 races leaving him 50th overall for the event (and of course 1st D-Zero).

Full Brass monkey results can be found by clicking here. The D-Zero Winter Series results will be updated shortly (with the Grafham Grand Prix report).

D-Zero Winter Series 2017/2018 Round 2 – Datchet Flyer

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On December 19, 2017

In Events, media, News, Open Meetings


Nigel Austin braves the cold at the Datchet Flyer Photo Copyright Tim Olin

The weekend of the 9th and 10th December saw the D-Zero fleet assemble at Datchet Water Sailing Club  for round 2 of the D-Zero Winter Series 2017/2017.

Unperturbed by the forecast of sub zero temperatures on Saturday and and heavy snow on the Sunday all but one of the pre-entries arrived and set out to race.

Race 1 saw current series leader Ian Morgan show the rest of the D-Zeros the way round the course posting a 27th overall. Some distance behind him D-Zero poster boy Tom Southwell came home second followed by Sebastian Prowse and the ever present Nigel Austin.


Some close racing at the mark roundings Photo Copyright Tim Olin

Race 2 saw little change in the conditions but a much improved performance by Ian who posted a 7th who had Tom hot on his heels in 8th and Sebastian only a short distance back in 11th with Nigel again bringing up the rear.

Video highlights courtesy of Ian Morgan

Race 3 and it was more of the same from Ian who posted an 8th. Tom couldn’t quite match his previous race exploits posting a 15th with Nigel having his best race yet and posting a 22nd. Sebastian probably made the best call though deciding to take and early shower.


Sebastian Prowse before his early shower Photo Copyright Tim Olin

With a good performance on Sunday Tom could get ahead of Ian with Nigel and Sebastian not too far apart for 3rd and 4th. Unfortunately the Met office got the forecast right for once. The heavy snow meant launching and recovery was nigh on impossible on the icy slopes of the reservoir and there was no more sailing to be had.

This means after 2 rounds of the 2017/2018 Winter Series that defending Champion Ian Morgan is leading ahead of Tom Southwell with Rob Lennox in 3rd and Nigel Austin in 4th. For full series results click here.

The next round of the D-Zero Winter Series 2017/2018 is the Yorkshire Dales Brass Monkey on the 27th December. This is closely followed on the 30th December by the Grafham Grand Prix. These events are also rounds 3 and 4 of the GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series.

There will be a further announcement on the Winter Series events shortly as the Steve Nicholson Trophy has been cancelled.

D-Zero Winter Series Round 5 Update

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On December 14, 2017

In Events, News, Open Meetings

As people may be aware the Bloody Mary has been cancelled this year due to extremely low waters levels at Queen Mary SC.

Sailracer have worked hard and have announced a replacement event to be held on the same date, The King George Gallop to be held and King George Sailing Club. As this event will form part of the GJW Direct Sailjuice winter series and the location is similar we will adopt this as round 5 of our own Winter Series.

For more details and to enter see the Series website by clicking here.

D-Zero Winter Series 2017/2018 Round 1 – Draycote Dash

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On December 4, 2017

In Events, media, News, Open Meetings

Video highlights courtesy of Ian Morgan


Ian Morgan showing off his light wind skills. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

Firstly apologies for the delay in getting this done. Your results collator and roving reporter has had a thing called life get in the way. Hopefully that is all now sorted and normal service will be resumed….

On the 17th and 18th November the hardy D-Zero fleet travelled to Draycote Water for round 1 of their winter series. This was also round 1 of the GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series.

Nigel Austin leads Rob Lennox. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

In predominantly light winds on the Saturday current Inland Champion Ian Morgan took fleet honours in all 4 races leaving him placed 13th overnight ahead of the non-discardable pursuit race on the Sunday. Behind him Tom Southwell and Rob Lennox were having a battle for the rest of the podium spots with Rob just edging Tom out in the overnight standings with Nigel Austin in him now (in)famous ‘Southwell Beater’ bringing up the rear.

Ian held a fairly comfortable lead in the fleet and, barring a disaster, looked good to take round 1 of the series. All was to play for between Tom and Rob with only a few points between them.


All together (briefly) Photo Copyright Tim Olin

Sunday dawned and the pursuit race was a very light affair. Ian managed to stay ahead of Tom and take 24th in the race giving him 12th overall for the event. Tom managed to finish a couple of places behind Ian in 26th and had done just enough to get back ahead of Rob in the overall standings the pair of them finishing 27th and 30th overall respectively. Nigel posted a 38th to finish 45th overall, a solid result that he was happy with in the fleet of over 90 boats.


D-Zero poster boy Tom Southwell posing for the camera. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

So after round 1 Ian leads the way from Tom, Rob and Nigel. the next event is the Datchet Flyer that is this coming weekend. there is still just about time to get your entry in with discounted entry available until midnight on the 4th and entry closing on the 7th. Online entry can be done by clicking here.

D-Zero Winter Series 2017/2018

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On October 8, 2017

In Events, News, Open Meetings

Ian Morgan, current proud owner of the W as winner of the 2016/2017 D-Zero Winter Series. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

As the Summer of 2017 starts to seem like a distant memory already and following on from a successful National Championships at Royal Torbay SC where we all sizzled in the sun back in June (just a shame the wind decided to not come out to play), followed by an equally successful weekend at Grafham Water in September for our Inland Championships it is inevitable that the D-Zero sailing season is drawing to a close.

However as the evenings draw in there is reason for hope. As in previous years the D-Zero class will be running a Winter Championship series for the bragging rights of the hardiest (and fastest) D-Zero sailor along with the right to run with ‘W’ on your sail to signify your achievement over the winter months. There will also be a chance to win the Class Prize in the GJW Direct/SailJuice winter series should we manage to achieve 15 entries across the series.

So far we have 7 events confirmed. These are of course the GJW Direct/SailJuice Winter Series events:

18th/19th November 2017 – Draycote Dash

9th/10th December 2017 – Datchet Flyer

27th December 2017 – Brass Monkey

30th December 2017 – Grafham Grand Prix

6th January 2018 – Bloody Mary

3rd/4th February 2018 – Tiger Trophy

17th February 2018 – Oxford Blue

Entry for all of the above events is online via the GJW Direct/SailJuice winter series website, click here to get your entry in.

Series scoring will currently be your best 3 scores from the 7 events and will be based on your fleet position. It is anticipated that we will add the Steve Nicholson Trophy to the event line up. At the time of publication there are no details available for the 2018 edition of this event so we have omitted it for now but it is usually held on the last Saturday in January.

GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series 2016/2017 results roundup

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On March 8, 2017

In Events, News, Open Meetings


Ian Morgan takes class honours. Photo Copyright Tim Olin

With the GJW Direct Sailjuice Winter Series 2016/2107 now concluded and the spray has settled down it is time to review the series and and reflect on another successful winter of sailing for the class stalwarts.

In the overall standings current National Champion Ian Morgan led the way coming home 14th overall. With some good placings at the Draycote Dash (7th) and the Datchet Flyer (8th) it seemed a place on the podium might be on the cards. Unfortunately the heavy traffic at the Grafham Grand Prix (21st) and a very light wind Bloody Mary (202nd) put paid to those hopes. Similar heavy traffic and light winds at the Oxford Blue (32nd) rounded off what had started out as a promising series for Ian. Still 14th overall in a field as competitive as this where the weather can play a large part in your results is a good achievement. Ian also, unsurprisingly, placed first in class ahead of Rob Lennox and Nigel Austin.

There are many other prize categories in the series as well, they are summarised below:

Dinghy Rope Top Class:

The class placed 6th overall in this category. A great achievement and a testament to the sailor who are prepared to travel and get out on the water in the depths of winter even when the forecast does look dire. A better showing at the Brass Monkey could have seen the class up as high as second or third overall., Nigel Austin being he only D-Zero to make the trip.

Allen Most Improved:

Nigel Austin placed equal second in this category showing improvement throughout the series with Rob Lennox coming 5th in this ranking. This shows how, even after a bad race, there is still something to play for in the Winter Series.

Gul Top Lady:

Mandy Sweet placed 7th in this category despite only making it to 3 events this year. With a few more ladies making their way in to the class this year perhaps Mandy may face a bit more competition over the 2017 season.

SpeedSix Speed Wall:

With 3 D-Zeros making it in to the top 10 and the only class to have multiple boats in the top 10 this shows that the boat is quick. Ian Morgan placing 3rd in this category, Tom Southwell 6th and Rob Campbell 8th.

Special Achievement Award

Nigel Austin also received a special award which was awarded by GJW Direct, Sailjuice and Tim Olin for his achievement of attending every event (one of only 2 competitors to do so) and having a positive and enthusiastic attitude (even when things were not going his way).

With 56 entries over the series the D-Zero has once again proved that it is a very active class despite having been around for less than 3 years. With the class also hoping to achieve entry to to 50 club at their 2017 nationals the coming year is looking good.

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