MARSDEN & MCGOVERN BLAST THEIR WAY TO TIGER TROPHY VICTORY

 

There were 137 entries at the Tiger this year. Because of the severe weather down South there were 19 that could not make it North to Rutland, so it was a fleet of 118 that made it to the start line, with 48 classes representing 78 different sailing clubs around the country.

 

Saturday brought an icy wind of 15-20 knots from the north. Air temperature was only just above zero, and a lot colder with wind chill factored into the mix. The 420 of Neil Marsden and Jonny McGovern fought it out for the top places with the Fireball of Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff in all three of Saturday’s races. Arran Holman and Pablo Garcia in their 420 split them in race 2 where they took the win. A very strong performance from the 2000 of Simon Horsfield and Katie Burridge in all 3 races with 2, 5, 6 kept them in the hunt prior to the pursuit race.

 

Sunday dawned still very cold and not much wind. However the breeze perked up to about 10 knots and the sun was out for the start of the pursuit race. The temperature was still only just above zero and sailors were seen trying to thaw out their sheets and control lines. The race started on time at 11.00, using the specially designed digital count up clock which helped to avoid any confusion among the competitors about when their start should be.

 

The leading boats off were the Feva and 2.4mR followed by Laser 4.7s. The two largest fleets, 420s and Fireballs, both had tight starts. The wind was fairly steady around 8-10 knots around the course throughout the race, which made it hard for the flying machines, Moths and A-Class cats, to make any inroads having to first unlap themselves from the leading boats as they started.

 

The real progress was being made by the 2000 of Simon Horsfield/Katie Burridge and Steve & Ben Tylecote. Despite the light winds, the 420s were making good progress led by Neil Marsden/Jonny McGovern , Aaran Holman/Pablo Garcia and Eleanor Keers/Faye Chatterton. The 2000s maintained their position to finish 1st and 2nd. The three 420 finished 3rd, 4th and 5th. The “fast boats” just ran out of time but made valiant efforts to catch the leading boats in the light winds. The RS400 of Sam & John Knight, the RS800 of James Plenty/Eddie Grayson and 505 of Tom Gillard/Geoff Edwards N18 of Peter Gray and crew,  and RS400 of Mike Simms/Jack Holden were catching up fast and made up 6th to 10th in the race.

 

The Fireballs really suffered in the winds with Ian Dobson being highest Fireball finisher in 28th place.

 

   Results   Neil Marsden and Jonny McGovern in their 420 were deserved winners, finishing in the top three in all four races. Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge were a strong finisher in all races too, finishing 2nd overall. Aaron Holman/Pablo Garcia in their 420 were also very consistent in all races finishing 3rd overall. Special mention must go to 10-year-old Harry George in his 420 crewed by his dad who finished 27th overall, and eighth 420 out of a fleet of 23. 

 

Jess Lavery was crewed by Ian Walker in the very same 470 that Ian crewed to an Olympic silver medal in 1996 with his old sailing partner and good friend John Merricks, in whose honour the Tiger Trophy is held. They finished a creditable 16th in the 470 with Ian still screwing on fittings just before the first race start. 

 

Ian commented: “It was great fun to sail with Jess but I was shocked how hard I found something that was second nature 20 years ago. The boom seemed a lot lower than I remember! The racing was superb and we always had lots of private battles going on around the race course – particularly with a Merlin Rocket in the pursuit race. Saturday was very cold with gusty Northerly winds and I take my hat off to everyone who stuck at it and sailed all three races. I am delighted that Jonny and my old 1996 Olympic 470 and its original sails, foils and spars all held together despite a few ropes snapping (like Jess’s toe straps!). It is 20 years since it last sailed. I will admit to more than a few aches and pains on Monday morning. A brilliantly organised event that will have raised a large sum of money the John Merricks Sailing Trust to help support youth sailing. It’s also great to see that the winning crew, Jonny McGovern was a JMST award recipient in 2002 when the JMST helped him and [Olympic silver medallist in the 470] Stu Bithell to buy a 420.”

 

Principal race officer David Wilkins was also delighted with the evening meal held in John Merricks’ honour. “The Tiger dinner was a great social occasion with over 120 diners enjoying the ‘John Merricks favourite meal’ and a great talk from Ian Walker. He talked about the history of the Tiger Trophy, told a few stories about their successful partnership, including the last race of the 1996 Olympic Games. Ian explained the work of the JMST and his new RYA role and GBR’s Olympic prospects for Tokyo 2020.” This was followed by the auction of many goodies provided by Ian, Ben Ainslie, JMST Trust and Selden masts (and others). This raised close to £2000 for the JMST.

 

 

Prize Giving

It was great that John’s dad and family were able to make the prizegiving and for Denis making a thank you speech on behalf of John and the JMST.

 

 

A huge thanks

Ian Walker and Suzy Hamel from JMST who organised the auction prizes, and Ian for sailing and a great talk at the dinner.

It was supposedly Dick and Vicky Sanders last Tiger Trophy having been involved in organising all 25 previous Tiger Trophies.

to all the competitors who travelled in the cold conditions.

to all the volunteers who gave up their weekend to help run the event (race teams, safety team, shore teams.

And to all the staff at RSC for their support and Catering staff for keeping everyone fed and watered and providing the Tiger dinner.

 

  SailRacer GPS Tracking    With SailRacer providing GPS tracking for the first time at the Tiger Trophy, this event also served as a qualifier for the Great British Sailing Challenge which culminates with a Grand Final at Rutland Water in late September. 

 

Simon Horsfield and Burridge (2000 - ASA) jump to the top of the Selden SailJuice Winter Series Rankings,  with eight sailors still able to make it to the podium as we go into the final round,  the Oxford Blue which takes place on 16 February and usually fills out to its 150-boat capacity. Enter here while you can: www.sailjuiceseries.com

 

 

 

List of prize winners at the Tiger Trophy

Overall and winner of the “John Merricks Tiger Trophy”                  420         Neil Marsden & Jonny McGovern                Blackpool SC

Tony Everard Trophy (Lowest score for fleet races, no discard)     420         Neil Marsden & Jonny McGovern                Blackpool SC

John Merricks Pursuit Trophy (Winner of Pursuit Race)                    2000       Simon Horsfield & Katie Burridge              ASA

Shere Khan Trophy (Best placed helm over 60)                                    RS400    Mike Simms & Jack Holden                          Carsington SC    

Lady Tiger Trophy (First all Female crew)                                               420         Eleanor Keers & Faye Chatterton              ISC

John Merricks Junior Trophy (U16 )                                                          420         Jamie Cook & Will Martin                             CBYC

John Merricks Youth Trophy (U19)                                                            420         Jack Lewis & Fraser Hemmings                   Draycote Water SC

Tiger Club Trophy (Club with most entries excluding Rutland)                       Draycote Water SC

 

 

Class Winners (excluding winners of above trophies) with 6 or more entries

 

420                         Aaron Holman & Pablo Garcia (2nd after Neil Marsden)

Fireball                 Ian Dobson & Richard Wagstaff

Blaze                     Eden Hyland

Osprey                 Terry Curtis & Peter Greig

Laser                     Eleanor Craig     

RS Aero 7             Richard Pye       

 

 

 

 

 

Report by Dave Wilkins and Andy Rice

 

 

 

 

 

THE EVENTS

 

 

 

The following events constitute the Seldén SailJuice Winter Series 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

 

 

 

Grafham Grand Prix, Grafham Water Sailing Club

 

30 December 2018

 

 

 

Bloody Mary, Queen Mary Sailing Club

 

12 January 2019

 

 

 

John Merricks Tiger Trophy, Rutland Sailing Club 

 

2 & 3 February 2019

 

 

 

Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club 

 

16 February 2019

 

 

You can find out more about the Series here: www.SailJuiceSeries.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credits: Tim Olin

 

 

 

 

 

Notes to editors:

 

 

 

Current and previous winners of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series

 

 

 

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 ma