Thank you John & Deirdre Bell for the report
Nine, mainly Vintage and Classic Merlins competed in the Hampton Open Meeting, part of the Thames Series Racing, sponsored by Craftinsure.
The forecast was for a freshening westerly wind throughout the day, so the first two races were sailed back to back. Good starts were key, in fact vital, thereby enabling the first few boats to get away in clear wind.
To ensure fair racing, on the water umpire David Battye was at hand to provide useful advice and clarification on the rules and particularly to ensure rule 42 compliance.
Race one was won by Stuart Jenkins and Nicola Scaddan who made a good start but were closely followed by Andrew Harris and Sara Warren and John Heath & Sophie Penwarden.
Race two John & Deirdre Bell made a good start, got a clear breeze and were never troubled again, with Andrew & Sara 2nd once more and Rob and Hattie Cage 3rd.
This left race three with any one of four boats able to win the day. Andrew and Sara made the best start and had a good lead; however Stuart and Nicola chased him down to ensure a close and exciting finish.
Hampton Sailing Club provided an excellent day of sailing with great race management, and better still bacon sarnies for breakfast, chilli con carne for lunch and tea and cakes to finish.
Sadly the bar was not too troubled as the previous evening, the Merlin’s hosted a curry night after the Saturday sailing which ensured a few sore heads in the morning. All in all a great weekend sailing.
Special thanks to George Bell for his expert race management over the two days, and to all duty teams, caterers and the helpers at Hampton Sailing Club for making the weekend such as success.
