Pete Barton raced his RS Aero 7 to victory at the Datchet Flyer, the second round of the Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series.
It’s the first time that an Aero has won a Sailjuice event outright. Barton, from Lymington, was very consistent through Saturday’s three races, finishing 2,2,1 in the moderate breezes around a trapezoid course.
The Pursuit Race got going on the Sunday morning in breeze gusting over 20 knots. When the wind kicked up to over 30 knots, there was carnage across the race course and it was becoming dangerous for the competitors and the rescue crews, and the race had to be abandoned.
The outing wasn’t a complete waste, however, as the SailRacer GPS trackers were recording boat’s maximum speeds. One of the top performers was that man again, Pete Barton, recording sustained speeds of over 14 knots in his RS Aero and hitting a peak speed of 17 knots.
But with Sunday abandoned, it would be Saturday’s races that determined the overall outcome of the competition, attended by a maximum entry of 100 boats representing 42 different dinghy classes from 52 sailing clubs.
Datchet Flyer – Leading Overall Positions (100 entries)
1st RS Aero 7 Peter BARTON – Lymington Town SC -2 2 1 – – 3 pts
2nd Wayfarer Andrew WILSON – Datchet Water SC 4 1 -8 – – 5 pts
3rd GP14 Peter GRAY – Staunton Harold SC -12 6 2 – – 8 pts
4th RS800 Hugh SHONE – Swanage SC 5 -9 3 – – 8 pts
5th GP14 Nick CRAIG – Burghfield SC -7 4 6 – – 10 pts
6th B14 Mark BARNES – Whitstable YC -8.5 5 5 – – 10 pts
7th RS800 Robert GULLAN – Hayling Island SC -17 7 4 – – 11 pts
8th 2000 Rob BURRIDGE – Weir Wood SC -43 3 14 – – 17 pts
9th RS400 Stephen COCKERILL – Stokes Bay SC 1 17 -23 – – 18 pts
10th K1 Simon HAWKES – Wimbleball SC 3 -15 15 – – 18 pts
11th RS Aero 7 Nigel ROLFE – Burghfield SC 11 -20 11 – – 22 pts
12th OK Russ CLARK – Stokes Bay SC -23.5 13 10 – – 23 pts
13th Albacore Oliver DAVENPORT – Redesmere SC 6 19 -20 – – 25 pts
14th Comet Trio MK2 Alex HORLOCK – Exe SC 14 12 -19 – – 26 pts
15th Enterprise Ann JACKSON – Burghfield SC 21 8 -22 – – 29 pts
16th 2000 Simon HORSFIELD – ASA -30 11 18 – – 29 pts
17th Enterprise Nigel BIRD – RYA 15 14 -17 – – 29 pts
18th RS Aero 7 Andrew RAWSON – Weston SC OCS 24 7 – – 31 pts
19th Topper James CROSSLEY – Datchet Water SC 13 18 -39.5 – – 31 pts
20th RS Aero 7 Ellie CRAIG – Draycote Water SC 8.5 23 -24 – – 31.5 pts
Full Datchet Flyer results available here
After two of the eight events completed, it’s former Sailjuice Winter Series winner Pete Gray who holds the top spot.
Currently there are four former Series winners in the top 10, proving that some people just can’t get enough of cold-weather competition!
Seldén Sailjuice Winter Series – Overall leaders after 2 Events (144 entries)
1st GP14 Peter GRAY – STAUNTON HAROLD 5 3.3 – – 8.3 pts
2nd RS400 Stephen COCKERILL – STOKES BAY SC 2 9.91 – – 11.91 pts
3rd GP14 Nick CRAIG – BURGHFIELD SC 8 5.51 – – 13.51 pts
4th RS800 Robert GULLAN – HAYLING ISLAND SC 14 7.71 – – 21.71 pts
5th B14 Mark BARNES – WHITSTABLE YC 17 6.61 – – 23.61 pts
6th 2000 Simon HORSFIELD – ARMY SAILING ASSOC 7 17.62 – – 24.62 pts
7th Comet Trio MK2 Alex HORLOCK – EXE SC 11 15.41 – – 26.41 pts
8th OK Russ CLARK – RNSA/STOKES BAY SC 20 13.21 – – 33.21 pts
9th Scorpion Thomas GILLARD – SHEFFIELD VIKING SC 9 27.53 – – 36.53 pts
10th Laser George SUNDERLAND – OLTON MERE SC 12 30.83 – – 42.83 pts
11th Osprey Philip MEAKINS – WARSASH SC 24 23.12 – – 47.12 pts
12th Topper James CROSSLEY – DATCHET 37 20.92 – – 57.92 pts
13th RS Aero 7 Ellie CRAIG – DRAYCOTE WATER 38 22.02 – – 60.02 pts
14th RS Vareo Luke FISHER – EMBERTON PARK SC 34 37.43 – – 71.43 pts
15th Enterprise Paul YOUNG – MIDLAND SC 35 40.74 – – 75.74 pts
16th RS600 Richard SMITH – WILSONIAN SC 31 53.95 – – 84.95 pts
17th Europe Emma PEARSON – STOKES BAY 39 50.65 – – 89.65 pts
18th Miracle Graham WATTS – STAUNTON HAROLD 60 38.54 – – 98.54 pts
19th Finn George COLES – CARSINGTON 55 56.15 – – 111.15 pts
20th D-Zero Andrew SPENCER – BURTON ON TRENT 46 66.06 – – 112.06 pts
