MONOS AND MULTIS SET FOR EASTER FESTIVAL AT WESTON GRAND SLAM

 

The Great British Sailing Challenge moves to the south coast of England for the Weston Grand Slam where boats as diverse as Toppers and foiling Nacra 20 Carbons are set to race each other...

The Weston Grand Slam is ready to welcome a whole range of different boats to come and enjoy some close and friendly racing on Southampton Water over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

 
 Enter Now >>>>>   As part of the Great British Sailing Challenge, there are some small changes to the setup of what has already proven a very popular and successful event over the years. As a preview to the average lap handicap racing on the Saturday and Sunday, on Good Friday there is a chance to race against the clock in the Rooster Time Trials. Using GPS trackers provided by SailRacer, the race course will be open between 12.00 and 15.00, where you will be timed over as many laps as you wish to race, with the winner decided on the best average lap, adjusted to dynamic handicap according to the wind conditions experienced. Rooster have provided some great prizes for the top 3 and winners across GBSC divisions, with class prizes for those with three or more boats competing. 
 
For the Saturday and Sunday, there will be three back-to-back races per day with the racing run under the tried-and-tested Great Lakes handicap numbers. Competition at the front will be tough, with the likes of catamaran superstar Grant Piggott likely to be leading the charge. Other previous category winners at the Grand Slam in the dinghy classes are Steve and Sarah Cockerill who won in a 4000 a couple of years back but are likely to show up in their RS400, Andrew Rawson in the Laser and a host of Contender stars including the local legend Keith Paul. As well as the category winners, there will be an overall winner for the first time.
 
With Rooster Sailing (https://www.roostersailing.com) providing the prizes for Good Friday, the local watersports specialist retailer Andark (https://andark.co.uk/) are sponsoring the prizes on the Saturday and Sunday. 
 
 
Those who have been taking part in the Grand Slam over the past quarter of a century know that Weston offers a beautiful, relaxing setting for the Easter weekend. Camping will be free to competitors, who can camp and park their cars and boats in the large field adjacent to the club, overlooking Southampton Water. The camping field will be open from Friday morning until Sunday evening. The bar will be open during the day and on Friday and Saturday evenings. The galley will be open for breakfast, lunches and snacks. And everyone is welcome to attend the evening meal on Saturday night. Tickets can be booked and paid for (cash only) at registration.
 
 
 
For a great weekend’s sailing over Easter, come and sail at the Weston Grand Slam. Online entry is open at www.sailingchallenge.org. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GBSC Calendar 2018/19 
 
 
 
Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, Draycote Water Sailing Club
 
17 & 18 November 2018
 
 
 
Datchet Flyer, Datchet Water Sailing Club
 
8 & 9 December 2018
 
 
 
Brass Monkey, Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
 
27 December 2018
 
 
 
John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club 
 
2 & 3 February 2019
 
 
 
Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club 
 
16 February 2019
 
 
 
King George Gallop, King George Sailing Club
 
16 & 17 March 2019
 
 
 
Weston Grand Slam
 
19-21 April 2019
 
 
 
Derwent Dambuster, Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club
 
11 & 12 May 2019
 
 
 
Wilsonian River Challenge, Wilsonian Sailing Club
 
1 & 2 June 2019
 
 
 
Bala Long Distance, Bala Sailing Club
 
22 & 23 June 2019
 
 
 
Mountbatten Centre, Plymouth
 
8 to 10 August 2019
 
 
 
Ullswater Ultimate, Ullswater Yacht Club
 
17 & 18 August 2019
 
 
 
Grand Finals, Rutland Water Sailing Club
 
28 & 29 September 2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
How do I get to the Grand Finals?
 
The Grand Finals of the GBSC are designed to celebrate the best of everything in small-boat racing in Great Britain. So there are many ways to qualify....
 
 
 
Finish in the top 10 of the travellers’ series (based on your best three results)
 
Top qualifiers in a number of boat categories:
 
Fast Asymmetric
 
Fast Non-Asymmetric
 
Slow Asymmetric
 
Slow Non-Asymmetric
 
Multihull
 
Sportsboat
 
Best Improver
 
Most attended
 
Any boat valued at less than £1000
 
 
 
Top qualifiers in a number of age and other categories, for example:
 
Youth (Under 19)
 
Master (Over 60)
 
Female
 
Two Generations (two people sailing together, minimum age gap of 18 years - could be parent/child but not necessarily)
 
 
 
There will also be a number of ‘wild card’ invites available based on various criteria.
 
 
 
 
 
 Hang on, but what even IS the Great British Sailing Challenge?
 
 
 
It’s a series of handicap racing events that take place throughout the year, and it’s open to pretty much any sail-powered craft. The Challenge involve events throughout the whole year, running large regattas at a variety of inland and open water venues. Competing sailors will earn ranking points from each event they compete in, with the top 100 sailors invited to a winner-takes-all-final at Rutland Water in September, a celebration to bring together the best British sailors of the year. 
 
 
 
Who came up with the idea?
 
The idea comes from the organisers of the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series which has been one of the big success stories of the past decade. Organised by Andy Rice of SailJuice.com (sailing journalist and marketer) and Simon Lovesey of SailRacer (event organiser and GPS tracking expert) has completed its 10th season. 
 
 
 
 
www.sailingchallenge.org
 

16/4/2019 07:24

 

Photo © Richard Thoroughgood

Enter Now >>>>

Tracking

2020 Great British Sailing Challenge

Draycote Dash
23-24 November 2019
Datchet Flyer
7-8 December 2019
Brass Monkey 27 December 2019
Grafham Grand Prix 29 December 2019
Bloody Mary 11 January 2020
King George Gallop 26 January 2020
John Merricks Tiger Trophy
1-2 February 2020
Oxford Blue 15 February 2020
Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club
4th-5th April 2020
Weston Grand Slam
11th-12th April 2020
Paignton Open for Single Handers (P.O.S.H.)
9th-10th May 2020
Grafham
23rd-24th May 2020
Rutland
13th-14th June 2020
Wilsonian River Challenge
20th-21st June 2020
Bala Long Distance
20th-21st June 2020
The Ullswater Ultimate
15-16 August 2020
Finals TBC

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About

The Great British Sailing Challenge is a series of handicap racing events that take place throughout the year, and it's open to pretty much any sail-powered craft. The Challenge will involve events throughout the whole year, with the target of around 100 boats taking part in each event on larger waters, and running events close to capacity on smaller lakes and reservoirs. Competing sailors will earn ranking points from each event they compete in, with the top 100 sailors invited to a winner-takes-all-final in Autumn 2019 to award the best sailors of the year. The series is managed by SailRacer.