Write-Up

The Bloody Mary (Sailjuice) - Queen Mary SC, West London, UK, Sat 6th Jan

The Bloody Mary pursuit race was the fifth leg of the Selden Sailjuice Winter Series, held at Queen Mary SC on Saturday 6 January 2024.

A185 boat fleet had sailors representing 52 boat classes from 84 sailing clubs. A dry north westerly force 2 to 3 wind greeted the sailors. With the sun poking holes in the clouds during the race, competitors had no complaints about the conditions.

It was great to see 14 RS Aeros out enjoying the race with all rig sizes represented. The RS Aero 7s shared a start with the National 12s. Sam Blaker pulled off a port flyer but the Race Officer called a recall and Sam dutifully restarted behind the pack. None-the-less in a close finish Sam pipped Tom Ahlheid to the top RS Aero 7 spot, taking 38th and 39th respectively with Luca Mitchell close behind.

The RS Aero 9s started 4 minutes after the RS Aero 7s and Paul Halliwell succeeded where Sam had not and won the start on port at the pin end. The immediate challenge, which lasted all race, was to dig through the largest fleet of 19 RS200s who had started just 2 minutes earlier. Peter Barton led the RS Aero 9s home in 17th overall and Richard Watsham was 2nd RS Aero 9 in 37th overall, just sliding by the lead RS Aero 7s by the finish time. #oldguysrule.

This is the 10th year of the RS Aero. 10 years since the RS Aeros first competed in the Bloody Mary when in 2015 we discovered how nice the RS Aero 5 is in 35kn gusts! During that time there have been 7 events with 3 lost due to a drought and Covid. Here are our top positions in each rig over the years, as a goal going forwards;
RS Aero 5 -12th, Ned Stattersfield, Wells-Next-The-Sea SC, 2020
RS Aero 6 - 18th, Sam Mettam, Papercourt SC, 2023
RS Aero 7 - 11th, Tim Hire, Lymington Town SC / RLymYC, both 2020 & 2023  
RS Aero 9 - 17th, Peter Barton, Lymington Town SC, 2024
So... scope for improvement and we are yet to make the top ten!
Our recored number of RS Aeros at the Bloody Mary was 60 in 2020 when we ran our Youth Training at QM on the Sunday.

NEXT UP in the Selden Sailjuice Winter Series is the King George Gallop on Saturday 20th Jan. For keen racers and aspiring young sailors the SailJuice Series is invaluable to prepare for the new season, providing focus with a year round calendar and big fleet race experience against some of the country's top sailors. The remaining events are;

Results