MERLIN ROCKET RESULTS
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Results / National Championships (Day 5)

East Lothian Yacht Club
15/08/2021 - 19/08/2021
Silver Tiller:
Multi-Day Silver Tiller:
Vintage:
Regional:
Classic:

Olympic Gold Medallist Stuart Bithell sailing with Tom Pygall crowned Aspire Merlin Rocket National Champions 2021!

Day 4 of the Aspire Merlin Rocket Nationals host by East Lothian Yacht Club was looking to be a windy one, and the first warning signal was moved forward to try and get an extra race in if the forecast looked poor for Thursday, however on arrival at the boat park it was already consistently gusting 26knots at 10am, so we were postponed for two hours ashore while the breeze continued to build, and unfortunately the call was made to cancel racing for the day, so competitors were able to do a little sight-seeing, lobster lunching, gin tasting, golf etc, before beach rounders in the evening.

Day 5, and the final day of racing was light, but 9-10knots was forecast to come in at 10am, so the fleet duly launched in little wind, and as if on cue, the breeze filled in. It was a welcome change to have an easterly this time, and once it stabilized, it provided us with a fantastic day of racing. Race 6 started cleanly, and the boats on the right hand side of the first beat were gifted with a 35 degree shift in their favour. James Goss/Chris White took full advantage of this and cruised round the windward mark well clear of the rest of the fleet, never to be challenged again, and taking home the Top Hat trophy. Second was Dave Winder/Ollie Rayner who also came from the right, and who also held second for the whole race. There was a good tussle between Ben Saxton/George Yeoman and Stu Bithell/Tom Pygall for third, and it was Ben/George who came out on top. Fifth was Tim Fells/Fran Gifford, and sixth was Chris Martin/Sam Bailey. First Silver Fleet was James Wells/Anna Alyward, and first bronze fleet was Ben Archer and Olivia Bellini.

Race 7 was for the Ranelagh trophy, where the top 21 boats get a bottle of Champagne each, and there were a few casualties of the black flag general recall, but the fleet got off second time. It was brilliant close racing at the front end, with Stu/Tom rounding in first, Ian Dobson/Charlotte Fildes in second, Ian Sharps/Alex Warren third, Christian/Sam fourth and Ben/George just behind in fifth which they managed to convert to second by the bottom of the first run. Stu/Tom were given a yellow flag penalty by the jury on the first reach but it still wasn’t enough for the following boats to catch them. Ian/Charlotte sailed a great third beat to take back second, but Christian/Sam sailed a hotter angle on the run and overtook both Ian and Ben to clinch second, Ian/Charlotte took third, Ben/George got fourth. James Goss/Chris White sailed a great race to finish fifth on the water, but came ashore to be DSQ in a protest hearing, so fifth went to Ian/Alex, and sixth was Tim/Fran. First Silver fleet was Dan/Ben Alsop in 19th, and first bronze fleet was Tom and Ed Low in 21st which secured the last bottles of Champagne.

Race 8 was the final race in the series after having missed a day of racing, so that meant we lost race nine and our precious second discard. Ben/George got to the windward first this time, with Christian/Sam second, Stu/Tom third, and Dan/Ben Alsop back in the mix again in fourth. Stu/Tom opted for a bold early gybe down the run and was sucked back into the pack by the leeward gate. Ian/Charlotte were now in third, Jon Ibbotson/Robbie Stewart in fourth, Taxi/Pippa in fifth and James/Chris in sixth. Taxi/Pippa made some great gains down the reaches and up the next beat, bringing James/Chris along with them and making a port lay line cross a bit too close for Ian/Charlotte who ended up spinning at the mark. So, Ben/George took the bullet and the Winter trophy with Christian/Sam in second. Taxi/Pippa got third, while Tim Saxton/Mary Henderson sailed into fourth, Alex Jackson/Chris Kilsby were fifth and James/Chris finished sixth. Dan/Ben Alsop were first silver fleet and first bronze was Ben Archer and Olivia Bellini.

The overall results were close, but not close enough in the end, meaning Stu and Tom claimed the Championship title. Christian and Sam did put up a great fight to finish second with a consistent score line even with no practice sailing together this year. Ben and George certainly found their mojo on the last day, and without the gear failures on day one, it may well have been a different story, but they finished in third. Taxi and Pippa came in a very credible fourth, Tim and Mary were fifth and Ian and Charlotte finished much better than they started the week, ending up sixth.

First silver fleet was James and Anna, who had some excellent results all week, and first bronze fleet were new comers in the Merlin fleet, Tom and Ed Low.

Huge thanks to East Lothian Yacht Club and all the volunteers for being a wonderful host club and for such a fantastic reception, it’s a stunning venue and is definitely worth a visit. Also, thanks to our race officer and his team for dealing with the sometimes tricky conditions and giving us some great racing.

Many thanks to our sponsors HD sails, SSE, NB Distillery, Fernhurst Books, Triggernaught Sportsglasses and our title sponsor Aspire Financial Advisers. The Merlin Rocket Nationals 2022 will be hosted by Mounts Bay 31st July to 5th August.

Photos from Day 4 - https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWrzBV5

 

Photos from Day 5 - https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWwnwNV

 

Aspire Merlin Nationals

 

 

Results are final as of 20:00 on 19th August 2021

Overall

Sailed: 8, Discards: 1, To count: 7, Entries: 45, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNos Helm Crew Club Tally R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Total Nett
1st 3811 Stuart Bithell Tom Pygall Parkstone YC 41 2.0 1.0 1.0 (46.0 BFD) 1.0 4.0 1.0 8.0 64.0 18.0
2nd 3788 Christian Birrel Sam Breary Parkstone YC 32 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 (46.0 DNF) 12.0 2.0 2.0 68.0 22.0
3rd 3777 Ben Saxton George Yeoman Itchenor SC 26 6.0 (46.0 DNF) 7.0 4.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 1.0 73.0 27.0
4th 3735 Andy Davis Pippa Kilsby South Staffs SC 13 3.0 3.0 10.0 2.0 7.0 8.0 (16.0) 3.0 52.0 36.0
5th 3807 Tim Saxton Mary Henderson Itchenor SC 40 7.0 5.0 9.0 9.0 4.0 (19.0) 7.0 4.0 64.0 45.0
6th 3804 Ian Dobson Charlotte Fildes Burwain SC 39 (46.0 BFD) 17.0 8.0 10.0 3.0 7.0 3.0 7.0 101.0 55.0
7th 3764 Tim Fells Fran Gifford Salcombe YC 21 (15.0) 7.0 13.0 3.0 12.0 5.0 6.0 11.0 72.0 57.0
8th 3803 Caroline Croft Chris Gould Lymington Town SC 38 9.0 6.0 5.0 6.0 10.0 16.0 9.0 (20.0) 81.0 61.0
9th 3778 David Lenz Victoia Lenz Lymington Town SC 27 5.0 15.0 3.0 (46.0 BFD) 6.0 11.0 10.0 13.0 109.0 63.0
10th 3712 Ian Sharps Alex Warren Burghfield SC 11 4.0 12.0 (19.0) 12.0 5.0 13.0 5.0 12.0 82.0 63.0
11th 3781 David Winder Oliver Rayner Hollingworth Lake SC 28 11.0 4.0 (18.0) 8.0 11.0 2.0 14.0 14.0 82.0 64.0
12th 3795 Alex Jackson Chris Kilsby Shoreham SC 35 13.0 13.0 4.0 5.0 8.0 (17.0) 17.0 5.0 82.0 65.0
13th 3814 James Goss Chris White South Staffs SC 42 14.0 10.0 21.0 18.0 15.0 1.0 (46.0 DSQ) 6.0 131.0 85.0
14th 3756 Sophie Mackley Ollie Meadowcroft Shoreham SC 17 10.0 18.0 6.0 19.0 18.0 (28.0) 11.0 9.0 119.0 91.0
15th 3758 Dave Hayes Will Crocker Lymington Town SC 19 12.0 11.0 20.0 7.0 14.0 (21.0) 13.0 15.0 113.0 92.0
16th 3786 David Wade Ben Rayner Northampton SC 30 19.0 8.0 17.0 15.0 17.0 15.0 12.0 (28.0) 131.0 103.0
17th 3746 James Wells Anna Aylward Starcross YC 16 8.0 20.0 11.0 13.0 22.0 10.0 20.0 (29.0) 133.0 104.0
18th 3796 William Warren Megan Pascoe Shoreham SC 36 18.0 16.0 15.0 17.0 23.0 (25.0) 8.0 16.0 138.0 113.0
19th 3539 Dan Alsop Ben Alsop Lyme Regis SC 3 17.0 14.0 12.0 11.0 (26.0) 23.0 19.0 17.0 139.0 113.0
20th 3763 Mark Barnes Josh Wilce Whitstable YC 20 16.0 19.0 14.0 14.0 16.0 (27.0) 15.0 23.0 144.0 117.0
21st 3766 Andy Dalby Mark Oakey Burghfield SC 45 20.0 9.0 22.0 16.0 9.0 (31.0) 18.0 30.0 155.0 124.0
22nd 3787 Chris Martin Samuel Bailey Midland SC 31 (46.0 BFD) 24.0 33.0 22.0 13.0 6.0 31.0 18.0 193.0 147.0
23rd 3757 Tim Parsons Sarah Parsons Lyme Regis SC 18 (46.0 BFD) 26.0 16.0 27.0 28.0 9.0 22.0 21.0 195.0 149.0
24th 3684 Tom Low Ed Low West Hoe SC 9 (29.0) 29.0 26.0 23.0 24.0 20.0 21.0 25.0 197.0 168.0
25th 3641 Mark Waterhouse Isobel Stewart Salcombe YC 6 21.0 23.0 23.0 26.0 25.0 22.0 28.0 (35.0) 203.0 168.0
26th 3784 Mark Barwell Louise Johnson Lymington Town SC 29 22.0 25.0 27.0 21.0 20.0 (33.0) 30.0 26.0 204.0 171.0
27th 3710 Jon Ibbotson Robbie Stewart Burghfield SC 10 25.0 39.0 25.0 28.0 31.0 14.0 (46.0 BFD) 10.0 218.0 172.0
28th 3775 Dan Willet Pete Nicholson Brightlingsea SC 25 (46.0 BFD) 21.0 24.0 20.0 19.0 29.0 46.0 BFD 22.0 227.0 181.0
29th 3666 John Meadowcroft Imogen Wade Upper Thames SC 8 24.0 28.0 30.0 24.0 33.0 (34.0) 25.0 19.0 217.0 183.0
30th 3767 Ben Archer Olivia Bellini Parkstone YC 22 30.0 33.0 29.0 25.0 34.0 18.0 (46.0 BFD) 24.0 239.0 193.0
31st 3772 Dan Heaton Tom Gurney Mountbatten SC 23 23.0 27.0 (46.0 UFD) 29.0 21.0 35.0 29.0 33.0 243.0 197.0
32nd 3745 Paul Dean Hannah Burt Wembley SC 15 (32.0) 22.0 28.0 32.0 27.0 32.0 26.0 32.0 231.0 199.0
33rd 3751 Phil Emery Phoebe Paine Whitstable YC 43 27.0 32.0 31.0 33.0 (37.0) 24.0 27.0 36.0 247.0 210.0
34th 3723 Geoff Kimber Helen Kimber Stone SC 12 26.0 34.0 36.0 30.0 36.0 (37.0) 32.0 31.0 262.0 225.0
35th 3790 Colin Brockbank Sue Brough Wembley SC 33 28.0 30.0 35.0 31.0 30.0 30.0 (46.0 DNF) 46.0 DNC 276.0 230.0
36th 3740 Pat Blake Jilly Blake Cookham Reach SC 14 (46.0 BFD) 36.0 46.0 DNF 46.0 DNF 29.0 26.0 23.0 27.0 279.0 233.0
37th 3662 Nigel Hudson Freya Hudson Bartley SC 7 (46.0 BFD) 35.0 34.0 36.0 32.0 38.0 33.0 34.0 288.0 242.0
38th 2663 Chris Howarth Mike Hamilton Blackpool & Fleetwood SC 1 34.0 (40.0) 37.0 35.0 40.0 36.0 24.0 38.0 284.0 244.0
39th 3774 Richard Coulter Louis Lappage Fishers Green SC 24 31.0 31.0 32.0 34.0 35.0 (46.0 DNC) 46.0 DNC 46.0 DNC 301.0 255.0
40th 3619 Guy Browne Greg Martin Trent Valley SC 5 35.0 41.0 40.0 37.0 38.0 (43.0) 36.0 39.0 309.0 266.0
41st 3800 Richard Bramley Paul Walker Shoreham SC 37 38.0 (42.0) 41.0 39.0 39.0 39.0 34.0 41.0 313.0 271.0
42nd 3695 Pete Slack Immy Brown Blithfield SC 44 33.0 37.0 42.0 38.0 (46.0 DNC) 40.0 46.0 BFD 37.0 319.0 273.0
43rd 3449 Carl Whitehill Sam Whitehill RYA 2 36.0 38.0 39.0 (46.0 DNF) 46.0 DNC 41.0 35.0 40.0 321.0 275.0
44th 3561 Joe Shaw Patricia Hickey Wembley SC 4 37.0 43.0 38.0 40.0 (46.0 DNF) 42.0 37.0 42.0 325.0 279.0
45th 3792 Alistair McDonald Lydia Bourne Berwick Upon Tweed SC 34 39.0 44.0 43.0 (46.0 DNF) 46.0 DNF 46.0 DNF 46.0 DNC 46.0 DNC 356.0 310.0

 


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