MERLIN ROCKET FORUM

Topic : A quick unofficial Champs report

I always felt a keen sense of anticipation waiting for a report back from a major event.  There will be a proper official one very soon but here is the version from the back of the fleet for no particular reason, please add any other bits to the thread.

Saturday, arrive in Wales, find boat is still the right weight and the sun is shining. Sunshine soon disappears and rain sets in - a pattern repeated over all the next 6 days. Quiet social in bar after very quick AGM.

Sunday, go sailing. Still cloudy, blowing top end of F4 with lots of waves left over from the night before (v wet, v windy). Practice race starts after a general recall (!) then 1st start for the real event also gen recall. Then a big wait while the wind did something or other, followed by another general recall under a black flag, 13 boats go home much to their surprise. Roger Gilbert wins by a mile.

Monday, almost sunny, blowing harder, bigger waves, several boats have fittings pinging off and things breaking, Gilbert wins. Evening fancy dress provides considerable entertainment with a number of unconvincing men in pink frocks (Dan and Philly spring to mind) and no-one doing much with the disco as too interested in the bar.

Tuesday fails to live up to the forecast, no gale, bright conditions and light wind (F2 up to F3 max)with a sloppy chop, after some fiddling about we get away after the 2nd start and Whitworth finds the conditions much to his liking. Too many boats finish to give the sloggers like me a decent placing and only Chris Martin gets black-flagged.

Wednesday back to conditions of day 1 but not such good waves, a lot of sore heads, but Roger Gilbert is back on form again. Fewer fall at the black flag but a number of masts come down (3?) and a couple of booms break. Some of the fleet go off Go-Karting in the wet which is very slippery and entertaining for participants and spectators

Thursday starts with a F4 that builds a bit and only a couple of black flaggers, at the front end something odd must have happened as R.G. can only pick up a 4th, but that is still enough to win the week with a day to spare. The barbecue starts in sunshine, but surprise, surprise it starts to rain hard on it after about an hour. Good steak!

Friday, R.G. doesn't bother getting the boat wet, Tom Stewart wins by not very much after a very biased line causes a big shouting pile-up at the pin end but no-one lobbed - oddly no-one seen doing turns either despite the carnage. Lots of wind on the way out to the start that had dropped quite a bit by the time the race started.

Because of the dire forecast overnight I packed up the tent and went home at this point so cannot give any account of the prizegiving. Competition for the Buttercup trophy was intense with so much gear failure and black flaggery, but I failed yet again to win it.

The racing was very well run with the course resetting after windshifts exemplary, the facilities generally excellent with the exception of the small changing rooms. As the club is so far from the town (unlike Looe) this is a bit of a problem. Free beer after sailing was excellent and not always finished up strangely.

That's it


Posted: 19/08/2007 22:08:48
By: Andrew M
With a fantastic 79 boat championships just having concluded at Pwllheli Sailing Club, our attention is turning towards next year's event at Looe. For those who have followed the discussions, the dates are now confirmed as Sunday the 17th of August until Friday the 22nd inclusive, with weighing-in and registration on Saturday the 16th. We hope that these dates will encourage many of you to come.

The fleet is currently experiencing an exciting time, with open meeting turnouts and the level of the competition at very healthy levels. In addition we are attracting high calibre sailors from other fleets. Notwithstanding the excellent standard of National Championships which has hitherto been achieved, we as an organising committee believe that this is the time to further capitalise upon the interest in the class.

Looe have hosted two Merlin-Rocket National Championships in this decade, with the 2000 champs sticking in many competitors minds as the beginning of the return to health of the class. Looe is a fantastic sailing venue, with fantastic waves and excellent race management. On the social side, the club is the centre of activity for the week, with a plethora of eateries, pubs, bars and even the legendary Admiral Boscarn to keep the adults entertained. Looe is also an excellent holiday venue in its own right, with beautiful beaches and other attractions highly suitable for the family. To whet the appetite visit: http://www.looe.org/ and http://www.looesailingclub.co.uk/.

We hope to shortly have a website up and running to keep you all informed as to what is happening and provide information about accommodation. We are also interested in hearing your opinions about previous championships you have attended, both Merlin Rocket and other classes - it is your championships - please tell us. If you are a potential sponsor, at any level, then please get in touch directly and we would love to have you on board. If you know of anyone outside the Merlin-Rocket fleet who might be interested in coming along, then please also get in touch. If for any reason you may not be able to attend the champs in 2008, but have a boat that you may be willing to charter to the right person for the right fee, then let us know.

Finally, thanks to Martin Hughes and Pwllheli Sailing Club for a fantastic time last week. I think it's fair to say that some had their doubts, but for the vast majority it was one of the best in living memory. Let's try and make next year's even better!

Looe 2008 Organising Team


Posted: 20/08/2007 20:27:56
By: Looe 2008 Organising Team
I forgot to give a really big pat on the back to the organisers, Martin and team for the work of organising the champs and the excellent social programme, I had a really good time, some memorable sailing and I'd really encourage ordinary club sailors to come and play next year, even if your boat is 14 years old by then.

3511 (59th!)


Posted: 22/08/2007 13:23:59
By: Andrew M

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