A total of 130 dinghies took part in the 2024 Gill Grafham Grand Prix at Grafham Sailing Club over the weekend.
After the early morning fog cleared, three races were completed for each of the three handicap classes.
Chris Gould and Sophie Mackley raced their Merlin Rocket to overall victory at last Sunday. While the fleet was distributed across three race areas for Fast, Medium and Slow Handicap, Simon Lovesey of Sailracer ran the performance analysis across the three race tracks to see who would come out on top in a combined ranking.
Competing in the 46-boat Medium Fleet, Gould and Mackley sailed their Merlin very consistently in the light to medium airs. Winning the first two races in Medium and discarding a fourth in the last race of the session, the Merlin Rocket came out on top overall.
William and Megan Smith’s Formula 18 won the tiebreak to take second overall ahead of Christian Mash helming a singlehanded Spitfire.
Handicap Winners were
- Fast – Christian Mash, Spitfire, Grafham Water SC
- Medium – Chris Gould / Sophie Mackley, Merlin Rocket, Shoreham SC
- Slow – Dave Borrett, Streaker, Beaver SC
The Grafham event was the fifth event of the 2024/25 Selden SailJuice Winter Series. Next-up is the rescheduled Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash, 4 & 5 January 2025, with 117 boats entered.
Gill Grafham Grand Prix 42 – Fast leaders after 3 races (25 entries)
1st Fast Spitfire Christian MASH – – 2 pts
2nd Fast Formula 18 William SMITH / Megan SMITH – – 3 pts
3rd Fast VX One Andrew WILDE / Jon SWAIN – – 5 pts
4th Fast Musto Skiff Andrew PEAKE – – 6 pts
5th Fast A Class Julian BOSCH – – 8 pts
6th Fast 505 Michael SIMS / Carl GIBBON – – 9 pts
7th Fast Musto Skiff Andy RICE – – 12 pts
8th Fast Spitfire Tony STOKES – – 12 pts
9th Fast 505 Charlie CHANDLER / Owen MILLS – – 14 pts
10th Fast Spitfire Kevin CUMMERSON – – 15 pts
Full Fast results available here . . .
Gill Grafham Grand Prix 42 – Medium leaders after 3 races (46 entries)
1st Merlin Rocket Chris GOULD / Sophie MACKLEY – – 2 pts
2nd Scorpion Tom GILLARD / Rach GRAY – – 3 pts
3rd Osprey Roger BLAKE / Iain BLAKE – – 8 pts
4th Flying Fifteen Ben MCGRANE / Scott DAWSON – – 9 pts
5th Merlin Rocket William WARREN / Andy PRINCE – – 9 pts
6th Fireball Peter GRAY / Richard PEPPERDINE – – 10 pts
7th Merlin Rocket Caroline GOULD / Livvy BELL – – 14 pts
8th RS600 Jamie MAWSON / – – 15 pts
9th Merlin Rocket Alan KRAYLING / Pete NICHOLSON – – 15 pts
10th Flying Fifteen Simon KNELLER / Ashley PAINTER – – 15 pts
Full Medium results available here . . .
Gill Grafham Grand Prix 42 – Slow leaders after 3 races (59 entries)
1st Streaker Dave BORRETT / – – 4 pts
2nd GP14 Sam WATSON / Charlie COTTER – – 5 pts
3rd OK Oliver DAVENPORT – – 5.5 pts
4th Solo Ewan BIRKIN-WALLS – – 6 pts
5th GP14 Jasper BARNHAM / Fergus BARNHAM – – 6.5 pts
6th Snipe Matthew WOLSTENHOLME / Mike WARWICKER – – 11 pts
7th ILCA 7 Baabii’o FLOWER – – 12 pts
8th Supernova Tom WHITE – – 17 pts
9th ILCA 6 Tim EVANS – – 18 pts
10th ILCA 6 Freddie SUNDERLAND – – 18 pts
