While the winter events have been largely a light wind affair, the 25th John Merricks Tiger Trophy delivered the sort of marginal sailing conditions the event has become renowned for. Winds gusting 35 knots saw 3 of the 4 scheduled races completed.
505 pairing of Roger Gilbert & Ben McGrane revelled in the conditions to take the overall victory, their 3rd win in the Sail Juice Winter Series this winter.
Asked how the weekend went, Ben was pretty enthused not only by the work on the water this winter but also what it meant to finally win this event. 'We've been happy with the sail design work carried out during the 2021 season and each of the winter events has been a chance to further refine the setting and keep us racing. This has been another productive weekend, right on the ragged edge of what is sailable, but it generally felt as the weekend went progressed we become more comfortable in the boat and made small refinements whether it be rake, strut, kicker tension or jib barbers to get the most out of the rig and sails. With both raced at this event most seasons for over 20 years so it's a cool feeling to have finally got the win having come close a number of times before.'
All 505 products can be found the 505 page of the Hyde Sails webshop along with the most recent tuning guide.